Shooting Old School B&W Infrared Film
By peggy gardner
22 May 2008
Ten things about shooting old school, traditional Black & White Kodak Infrared (HIE) from a die hard fan.
Due to declining demand, KODAK High-Speed Infrared Film / HIE has been discontinued, effective YE 2007.
1. So....now you have to find the film first. Good luck. It's extremely light sensitive and can't even be taken out of the film can in the sunlight, so unless you find a brick of unopened frozen film in some hippy chic's freezer (me), you may not be able to use this information right away. So, in the event the earth stops and rewinds or Kodak starts making it again, (or get you some on ebay for about $20/roll) print this out because it's 1:1 tried and true.
2. Always shoot Kodak Infrared (HIE) with an fstop no larger than f16. That means f16 or f22, 32, etc. In direct sun, 125@f16 with the best red filter you can afford is the "average" formula. Slow your shutter down for shadier areas, do not fiddle with the fstop. And, do not factor for your red filter, that is the formula with the filter. If you're shooting in a shady area you're looking at f16 @ 30 right there, so motion isn't going to work well for you and camera shake is a more common reason for fuzzy prints in infrared in low light. Hold VERY still at 30, and tripod at 15...but don't open that fstop. Old cameras with no light meters are perfect. You don't need anything metered. And of course....don't forget to throw your focus forward a dash.
3. Density is the key factor for sharpness with Kodak infrared film. Therefore, the more dense (hard) your subject (stone, cement, rock) the sharper your image, and the less dense (soft) your subject (eyeballs, leaves, skinned apples) the fuzzier/grainier. Remember low light situations will also render grainier images. Indoors is tough due to low light levels and fact that you rarely can use a flash with infrared with good results, so drag out your tripod and don't be afraid to try over exposing in low light situations.
4. And think about the color you're shooting: While in color photograpy a red filter will enhance red colors, it will be canceled out in B&W. So if you take a picture of a stop sign with a red filter....it will appear all white and meaningless. And, shooting a woman wearing red lipstick will give white lips that aren't as defined with a white face from pinkish skin tones. Using a blue eyeliner as lipstick is far more dramatic. Because....
5. Blue turns black. If you're shooting with a lot of sky in the image, the darker blue the sky, the more dramatic the white clouds set against it will be. Especially nice if you're shooting a tree set against the sky. Because....
6. Green turns light gray. And if overexposed, white. Therefore using green makeup on someone's face would enhance tonal range. They do make green foundation base, and it works great. Shooting leafless trees against a boring solid gray sky would look dramatic because the bark is dense and would be detailed and dark and the sky would be gray.
7. Now, in the darkroom: Middle toned grain can be reduced by constant agitation in developing tank. Using straight d76 @68 degrees is best for developing.
8. Overexposure is common for highlighted areas. Ceasing the development ½ way through development time by pouring d76 out into cup and giving film in tank a good rinse in cool water for one minute, pour out, then reintroducing again straight d76 at 75 degrees for the remainder of the development time (do not count time doing waterbath) will prevent overexposed areas from overdeveloping and shadows to come up more. Stop, fix and rinse normally. If you have dark shadows you can even extend the development time without risk of overexposing highlighted areas. The "water bath" method is a way to develop for several exposures values within one image (this works for b&w films too - except lith).
9. Middle toned grain is prevalent with infrared so toning your b&w print sepia, copper or blue is a way to make the grain become more texture than spots. Fiberbased papers accommodate tonal range better than RCs.
10. If you can't find the film, and are shooting digital, remember, the color shift will be the same, but the density factor is null & void - and don't expect the same spectacular results.
3 responses
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Jean Pierre Vacherot gave props (18 Oct 2008):
Great photo essay, my vote
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Norman Caldwell said (29 Dec 2008):
Peggy, you're such a wealth of good information. I'm printing this for my future reference. Thanks!
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JOE FAILK gave props (1 Mar 2009):
Thanks again, I an old Guy 55 back in the I used infrared film and B/W developed and printed myself. Only an amature. Great story.
