Re: infrared question

[Bobbie Doyle <doyleb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, 18 Oct 1996, TAMMY L. SULLIVAN wrote:

> I have an infrared question!  Is this the right place to ask it?  <ggg>
> 
> I want to know if it is possible to obtain sharp photographs from infrared. 

> Also, I was told that in camera metering is useless when using infrared.  I set
> my camera meter to 50 with the #25A filter.  If my in-camera meter says 1/15 at
> f/11, I just ignore it and shoot away.  Could it be that I am getting fuzzy
> photographs due to the slow shutter speed?  But, that doesn't make sense either
> because the meter is reading regular light, not infrared.  I'm confused.

I also believe that your negatives have been overexposed. You need a
higher ASA setting. Overexposure gives the really grainy look that many
people associate with IR.

If you have not seen The Infrared Photography Handbook by Laurie White you
should take a look. She goes into some detail about the characteristic
curve for Kodak HIE and Konica. She states, "With the right handling, the
infrared negative can combine the image structure of traditional black and
white with infrared halation. Exposed another way, it will result in a
high contrast, fine-grained print."

She suggests setting the ASA at 200 and altering the look that you want by
changing exposure. If you want a grainy look, overexpose by two stops. If
you want a fine-grained, contrasty image, underexpose by two stops. If you
find your exposures are consistently overexposed, try your next roll at
ASA 400; if all your exposures are underexposed, try ASA 100.

I have found this to be too true. When I shot at higher ASA's recently, I
got extremely sharp, extremely contrasty negatives. 

I got her book through our libray Interlibrary Loan. I copied several
pages, but not the whole book as I was concerned about copyright. :-) I
think you would find it useful, I did. 

Also, Michael Fulks at Apogee Magazine on the Web has a series of three
articles on IR that I found extremely useful. 

Of course, we will probably have to adjust all of our settings for
shooting in the winter. I want to shoot some snow scenes.

Bobbi


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Topic No. 11