Intro & a few Questions

[Paul Mullen <pmullen@xxxxxxx>]

     First, the obligatory intro:

- - Name: Paul Mullen

- - Profession/Study: Graphic designer / page layout dude by day, =
computer science student by night

- - Country: U.S. of A.

- - Personal history of photography: Been doin' it since I was =
knee-high to a grasshopper, took the past several years off, and have =
recently begun satisfying the urge to create once again.

- - preferred subjects: Outdoors, wildlife, sporting events =
(motorsports!)

- - materials (film, filters, paper, chemistry): Mostly color & b/w =
prints, no real preference for basic materials; always willing to try =
something new and exciting (hence the interest in IR).

- - format (35mm/medium format/large format): 35mm (tho' my heart =
yearns for a nice view camera).

- - Other strange hobbies: Auto racing (spectating & competing), my =
Rx-7, fishin', rollerblading, exercising my brain, girl watching.

- - How did you find out about this list: Fun with search engines!

- - Expand on anything photographic you like: I'm tired of people =
looking for my "style" and "what I'm trying to say with my images." =
Dammit, I just create images that appeal to me! I honestly never =
meant for anyone too get that far into them. They're just something =
to look at. :-)


     Second, the question(s):

     I just recently began printing the second roll of Kodak HIE I've =
ever tried (the first roll I shot about 5 years ago, and had =
uninspiring results). This roll was purchased around the same time I =
shot my first roll (c. 1992), and the expiration date was 4/1993. =
Yes, I managed to keep it in the fridge for this long! Anyhow, since =
I still had it, it seemed a waste to toss it out.

     I decided to use it on some semi-permanent subjects in the area =
so that if the results were crap I could still try the shots over =
again. I used a #25 red filter, bracketed from ISO 50 to 800 (5 =
frames in 1-stop increments), metering through the lens (in-camera =
averaging meter). Some of the exposures were made in the middle of a =
bright, sunny day, the others towards dusk. I had the film developed =
by a small local lab that I trust (I personally don't find developing =
film to be much fun), and began printing the negatives. I quickly =
found that the negatives are extremely grainy (looks like a mosaic =
when enlarged to around 8x10) with the resulting loss of fine detail, =
and the film had very little exposure latitude. Areas that (judging =
by my infrared-impaired visible light bio-receptors) should have come =
out just fine with only moderate a moderate range of tones, came out =
showing extreme ranges. A tree shot in the middle of the day is =
completely washed out on the sun-facing side, and is quite dense on =
the shadow side.

     My questions, could the high grain and extremely narrow exposure =
latitude be due to the age of the film, or is it more likely that =
this is just a characteristic of HIE?

><><><><><><><><
Paul E. Mullen
 pmullen@xxxxxxx
 RotaryRckt@xxxxxxx
 www.chaparral.los-angeles.ca.us

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is =
essential is invisible to the eye."
  - Antoine de Saint-Exup=E9ry, _The_Little_Prince_

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End of Infrared-Digest V0 #162
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