The Infrared Page

This page documents my experiences with infrared photography.

About

Kodak HIE is a black and white near infrared film. I was inspired by pictures taken by Simon Marsden and I decided to try this film myself. There are several good books available on infrared photography and I'm sure if you search amazon books you'll find plenty of links.

The Camera

You need to find a basic film slr. Newer ones with motor drive are no good as they will fog the film. I have a generic Pentax K mount which I think is the same camera as the one Vivitar sells. I think you can get this as a Nikon too. You could also buy something used. You will also need a red filter and some way of attaching it to your lens. I use the Cokin system which works quite well and inexpensive. The only thing you have to worry about is vignetting at wide angles due to the filter holder. For this reason a screw in filter might be a better choice. The filter I use is a cokin a003.

The Exposure

I generally shoot at around f8/125. I normally bracket 1 full stop up and down. This works well for bright sunny conditions. Generally HIE is going to give you best results in bright conditions with some clouds in the sky.

The Film

You have to load and unload the film in complete darkness. This means doing it at night or climbing into a closet. Keep the container the film came in which is light proof and has an HIE sticker on the top. When you take the film out of the camera (in the dark ) put the it back in the container. I always tape my exposed HIE film containers closed with red tape with the words HIE written on with magic marker. Then I put the container back in its cardboard box and tape that shut. That way both I and my photo lab should be aware that its exposed HIE.

Your Lab

Find a Lab that can do HIE. If you look at you blankly, go somewhere else.

Scanning

The film scans quite easily although you cannot use any dust or grain elimination software. Photoshop to taste and print.

The folly

This is the old folly at Kimmeridge. Last time I was there, it was gone. They are moving it down the hill away from the cliff edge.