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Previously captured on film: Analog (Film) Photography - Film Pinhole Photography - Winter Jinx - Seaside Pinhole Photography - Theatre District at Sunrise, Buffalo, NY - On Main Street, Buffalo, NY - On the Road around Buffalo - Lake Erie Lakeshore on Pinhole - Erie Basin Marina on Pinhole - From Ohio Street - As the Names Change - Buffalo Classic on Classic Medium - One More White while Appropriate - More Winter in Hamburg, NY - Palace in Winter - A Shed - The Chimney - Road Trip 2018 in a Page - Road Trip 2018: The First Few Darkroom Prints - First Roll of Infrared Film

Infrared series: First Roll of Infrared Film (Yes, it's a new one!)

Earlier this year, I reached for another personal first. After shooting black and white film for a while and thoroughly enjoying it, I bought a roll of black and white infrared film. While it may feel gimmicky to some I had always liked the characteristic look where green color gets rendered as bright white, and blue as very dark, almost black at times.

Railroad Bridge over Buffalo RiverBuffalo, NY

Railroad Bridge over Buffalo River on Infrared Film, Buffalo, NY

With some photos, the look is obvious, with some it is more subtle. It depends on the amount of infrared light "in the air". The sunnier it is, the better for the signature look. And yes, having plenty of greenery around helps too. This is good, because mid-day is traditionally shunned these days as a really bad time for photography - harsh light, lacking shadows. With black and white, I feel the rules are a bit different and with infrared one really has to seek the bright sun. During the morning and evening golden hours the infrared film may not look much different from regular black and white.
 

A Tree by the FenceFarmland near Buffalo, NY

A Tree by the Fence, Farmland near Buffalo, NY

To accentuate the infrared look, the daylight has to be filtered out so that only infrared light hits the film. This is done with deep red filters like the Hoya R72 or similar. These filters cut the light down by about 5 stops. When I use the meter in the camera, I meter without the filter and to get the right exposure I adjust the ISO by 5 stops. Since these photos were shot on the Rollei 400 Infrared film, I set the ISO to 12. Once metered and focused, the filter goes on and exposure off. For the exact focus, the lens has to be slightly refocused since the infrared focus varies slightly from visible light. The older manual lenses usually have an infrared marking to move the desired focal distance to. When focusing using the hyperfocal distance, I usually don't adjust.

In the future, I would like to try infrared photography with one of my TLR cameras. Their advantage is that the viewing lens and the taking lens are separate, thus, the filter could stay attached making the workflow easier.

Enjoy The Beauty That Surrounds You! #etbtsy

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