First Infrared Film Experiements and a Bluefire Police Bonus

I've had two rolls of infrared film sitting in my fridge for about six months, waiting for an opportunity to use them. So I used them camping. I shot four copies of the same image -- ISO 400 with no IR filter, and then ISOs 6, 10, and 12 with an IR 720nm filter. The final images in the series are a Photoshop-generated composite of each image.

400

6

10

12

Combined

I find the combined image to be the best. Not only because the horizon is level, but also because the shadows have suitable darkness mixed with suitable detail and the overall infrared look gives it a desolated field suitable for the somewhat beat-up concrete.

For this shot I wanted to try a deep-field shot. In the 1930s, using PLATE cameras and infrared-sensitized emulsions, the U.S. Military was taking pictures with fields of view up to 330 miles (from airplanes.) Even today with great cameras, fields of clear view are not much more than 70 miles or so from an airplane (that's partly an estimate, partly a guess based on my own experience photographing the planet from airplanes.)

So, for reference, there's a tall bump on the left horizon line. That's Mount Tamilpas in Marin County, 35.36 miles as the crow flies from Juniper Campground.

400

6

10

12

Stacked images

Again I like the stacked image the most. Photoshop does a nice job of selecting each image's best qualities and ignoring the worst.

For my camera, I used my Pentax K1000. The lens was my Sigma Macro 50mm. Film: Rollei IR 820. This is a fabulous film and I strongly recommend trying it for fun, artistic expression, and experimentation.

As an added bonus, some images I took with Bluefire Police: a 64 ISO microfilm with a great amount of detail and pretty intense contrast. My scanners does NOT like this film, though, so there's a bit of scanner noise in the images.