I am a huge fan of trying new techniques when it comes to photography, whether different gear, angles, or in this case, film. I have become quite hooked on infrared photography, and where better to practice but in the Alps. Join me for some colour and black & white infrared film goodness!
I recently spent a weekend in Bavaria with my friend Conor, who is conveniently also a photographer (sporting the wonderful Pentax 67 medium format beast of a camera). I had quite a bit of Rollei black & white infrared film in the fridge and I also got my hands on some colour infrared film from Dean Bennici, the so-called "CIR 120" film. I believe this was very similar (maybe the same) film as the one I had tried out a while ago for a review, in a blog post here. Not only does Dean hand roll this wonderful film, but his own IR body of work is super impressive, you must have a look!
More about the photos
Shooting infrared film can be immensely rewarding when you get it right, but to say it is hit-and-miss is a bit of an understatement. Notwithstanding knowing how to adjust your exposure settings to manage the various filters you need (standard IR "black" filter for black & white and an orange filter for colour IR film), you also need to compose well and imagine how it might look in infrared. Easier said than done. A simple "it is midday so the sun is at its brightest, let's shoot now" seems to work most of the time, however a more in-depth research and understanding of how infrared light works results in a much more complicated assessment.
However, not one for over thinking the technicalities, my aim was to focus purely on the composition of the shot, looking for strong vegetation and other subjects that might "glow" with respect to how they come out in infrared. For the most part I think I did quite well, although the results varied a bit. Concluding remarks at the end as usual.
Exposure remarks
One thing I have not been diligent at is taking notes on how I expose my shots, so no surprise when I can never remember to do it for infrared photography. Here are some brief notes for future reference and for anyone who might be interested.
1. Camera equipment
- Hasselblad 501c with 50mm f4 and 150mm f4 lenses. IR markings on both lenses used for IR focus adjustment.
- Filters: IR 72 "black" filter for Rollei IR film; Orange filter for CIR 120 film
2. Exposure notes
- For Rollei IR 120 film with R72 IR filter: 6 stops exposure compensation. All shots metered at ISO 6 (original ISO 400)
- For CIR 120: 2 stops exposure compensation with orange filter, all shots metered at ISO 80 (original ISO 320)
- For bright snow scenes, added 1 stop of exposure compensation
More about the location
In addition to shooting infrared film over this weekend, I also shot Kodak Ektar 100, Kodak Portra 160, and Fuji Acros 100. These will form part of a separate post, which will be more documentary in style about the area itself. But to summarise, the shots below are taken in the Schonau am Konigsee part of Bavaria and along the world famous Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria.
The wonderful CIR 120 film at its best. It really produces some fun results. I also really like the composition of this shot, although somehow with a normal film it might be a bit boring.
Rollei's standard infrared film in 120mm format. When shot correctly, vegetation turns bright white and you have very dark and even black skies. The shot below is at Schonau am Konigsee.
Funky shot! You never know what you're going to get with this film, which makes it all the more intriguing to use.
Not much vegetation to get a real IR feeling here, but what IR film does really well is cut through any haze and fog to produce a really sharp photo. This shot is cropped and still comes out very sharp!
Kinda has an 'Alice in Wonderland' look to it at times....eerie, spooky and fairytale look all at once!
Shot a bit later in the day, which may be a reason why the vegetation is not showing as bright white. Even so, I still like the overall look especially the dark sky.
I really enjoy looking at the details here, how some of the trees are dark red compared to others than are orange and even light green.
I think this actually might be Acros 100 film with an orange filter, I cannot remember!
There is a lot going on in this shot, and I like the overall composition. The white "clouds" in the middle of the shot are actually a massive amount of pollen coming off the trees, it was really quite the sight! Pity the focus is slightly off.
St Bartholomew's Church in the middle of the Konigsee. Really wonderful IR effects in this shot. The 'Watzmann' peak in the background is the third highest in Germany, standing at 2,651m.
It is really interesting how the colour IR effect changes through this image, going from dark and pronounced to lighter orange and green towards the top.
Wonderful.
I am surprised this came out so well as it was later in the day, with the best time to shoot IR film being in the middle of the day with the sun right above you. I love the foreground in this shot.
A front view of the 'Watzmann' peak, with some really nice black & white IR effects going on in the foreground.
The colours are a bit washed out here for some reason, but I like the composition with the river running down the middle of the frame. I also added the shot as the first shot I took of this was without the filter on (d'oh!), so I was not going to waste 2 frames without at least publishing 1 of them!
One of my favourite shots of the CIR 120 film (along with the cover of this post), I really like the composition. Taken on the Grossglockner road.
I spent ages on this composition, and with the help of Conor's minimalist eye, I think it is a really cracking composition with strong IR effect to add to it!
Overall observations
I am delighted with how these shots came out, particularly the CIR 120 film. I better put an order in for more CIR 120 film before all of you do the same after seeing the huge potential this film has. I would certainly like to try it for some portraiture work, that could be really interesting. I think this film and the Rollei Infrared black & white film are really complementary, allowing you to create really interesting images, and in this case, explore landscapes in a very different and unique way.
I hope you enjoyed reading this post and seeing the photographs as much as I enjoyed taking them. "Good things come to those who wait", and that could not be more true for infrared photography. Patience and composition discipline can produce some really stunning results. And if all else fails, it is all an experiment for fun anyways!
With that in mind - go and and try something new! Thanks for stopping by and thanks to Dean for providing this wonderful film.
See you next time!
Neil
