Comparison of Infrared to Panchromatic Film

When I am out photographing with my view camera it is a rather slow and methodical process.  Once I have found something that I want to photograph I have to give some consideration as to the best angle of view.  Placement of the camera and lens selection is carefully considered.  Once I have reached that decision, the tripod and the camera are set up.  Then comes the process of focusing the camera, and undertaking any necessary movements.  The front and rear standards of the camera can be raised and lowered, shifted side to side, tilted forward or back, and swung left or right.  This controls not only the perspective of the subject, but also the plane of focus.  Then once I am all set up I have to meter the scene with my spot meter.  I take readings off of various elements within the scene and decide what exposure is needed to properly record the scene.  This also establishes the subject brightness range allowing me to make a decision as to how the film will be processed and thereby adjust contrast.  At this point I also decide if any filters will be used, to adjust tonal separation between various elements within the scene.  This entire process usually takes 10 to 15 minutes.  Once I am ready to make the photograph I usually expose two or more sheets of film.  This is done for several reasons.  One, it teaches me which types of film respond best to various lighting situations, and also allows me to try different filters and development routines.  Equally important, it provides me with a backup negative, in case one of the pieces of film ends up getting damaged.  Between the loading of the film into the film holders prior to exposure, to unloading the film after exposure, dust spots on the film, as well as possible damage or fogging during processing and handling, it is a relatively common occurrence to have some negatives with flaws ranging from minor to significant.

Often times when I feel that the subject suits it, or if the lighting conditions look promising, I will expose a sheet of infrared film, in addition to one or more sheets of typical panchromatic black and white film.  As I outlined in my previous blog posts I like to shoot with Kodak High Speed Infrared Film in 4" x 5" sheet film format.  I have attached three examples that compare the same scene shot on Infrared and typical panchromatic black and white film.  The differences are considerable.  In the infrared negatives skies are darker, clouds are whiter and brighter, and living vegetation is lighter and sometimes glows.  Water generally turns quite dark and some subject elements are surprisingly reflective of infrared wavelengths...

Kodak High Speed Infrared Film

I processed a batch of Kodak High Speed Infrared film earlier this week.  This batch consisted of 20 sheets in 4" x 5" format.  It is one of my favorite films, but unfortunately it was discontinued by Kodak in 2000.  I stock-piled several hundred sheets of the stuff... all that I could afford.  Over the years, some friends that have given up on film and gone digital, have given me their remaining supply.  I think I still have a couple hundred sheets left in my freezer.  The expiry date on this film is 2001, but 13 years later, it still seems to work fine.

This film is sensitive to infrared wavelengths, beyond what is visible to the human eye.  I typically expose it through a dark red filter, or sometimes an infrared filter.  The filtration blocks most of the visible light, exposing the film mostly with infrared wavelengths.  It has a look very unique and different from all panchromatic films, and also very different from other, less sensitive infrared films.  I must ration the stock that I have left and use it for important subject matter as once I run out I will never be able to get more.

I believe that many years ago Kodak used to produce this film in 8" x 10" format as well.  This size was discontinued long before I started shooting with large format cameras.  The film was never made in 120 size medium format rolls as the paper backing of this type of film would not have been opaque enough to the infrared wavelengths.  It was made for many years in 35mm format, which required some special handling.  However, this format was more recently discontinued as well.

I process the film in Kodak T-Max developer, diluted about 50% more than the typical standard recommendation.  This developer is prone to uneven development so I give little to no agitation during development, to minimize this problem.  This has been my tried and true routine for many years and it has yielded some spectacular results.  I seem to get a little less of the halos and infrared effect that other artists do when working with this film.  I think I give less exposure than most other shooters do, and my processing routine probably has something to do with it as well.  At this point I will stick with what has worked for me and not waste any of my remaining stock on any further experimentation.

These first two images were taken earlier this spring when I went on a day trip with my girls out to an abandoned Russian monastery north of Edmonton...

These next few were taken back in April of this year, when the girls and I spent a week down in southern Utah and Northern Arizona...

Finally, these last few were also taken down in southern Utah and northern Arizona.  However, these were taken in October of 2013, when I was down there with my friends Rob and Brad...

Canada Day Long Weekend - Part Two

On Sunday morning we packed up in Empress and made our way back west towards Drumheller.  It was a cloudy and windy day, but with two days still left in our long weekend, we were optimistic that the weather would improve.  We had been in touch with Margarit's brother Shawn and he was heading down to meet us for a couple of days.  We headed to the Community Park in Dorothy and set up camp there.  This was once a ghost town that was very photogenic and I used to shoot here a lot.  The locals have a lot of pride in their small community and have put a lot of money and effort into restoring their town.  They have sort of a makeshift museum set up in a few old buildings on the edge of town.  The Community Hall is now mostly restored and it looks as though it has been used for some functions recently.  Both the Catholic and the United Church are now fully restored on the interior, with just a few finishing touches left on the outside.  The old Alberta Pacific Elevator still sits in a state of decay, as do a few remaining old buildings.  The old playground is a popular place and every day a lot of the people passing by, stop to check it out.

Shawn and his two kids met us there and camped out with us.  My friend Frank and his daughter Sabrina stopped by for a little while as well.  We wandered around town, had a fire and a BBQ and just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves for a couple of days.  The weather did eventually clear and by Tuesday when we had to pack up for home it was actually quite hot.

Julia in front of the old bunkhouse, which has now been restored.

The pincushions are present around here but weren't blooming.  But the prickly pears were in bloom all over the place.

An old radio inside the restored house

An old lariat, seeing a second life... used to tie the gate shut

An unmarked grave in the hills behind town

Some views of the old Alberta Pacific elevator...

A fenceline and a few up the valley from the edge of town

On our way home we made a stop in East Coulee.  At this point in time the commercial building was not yet mine, and we had to respect the fact that we couldn't do much there.  I did use the realtors key and briefly went into the building to show the girls.  I spent an hour or two taking some photographs of the building and while I was doing that, the girls wandered over to the nearby schoolhouse museum.  By this time it was getting to be fairly late in the day so we eventually had to hit the road for home.

The Canada Day Long Weekend

This year Canada Day... July 1st... fell on a Tuesday.  It seemed like many businesses were observing the holiday on Monday, with some were more rigid and closing on the Tuesday.  I decided to close the shop for both days, and we had a four day long weekend.  I was optimistic that we could get out, a little further from home, and have a great weekend.  It didn't quite work out that way.
Margarit's cousin's daughter Julia has been staying with us since early June.  She will be here in Canada for a few more weeks.  She has been along with us on all of our outings so far this summer, and this long weekend trip was no exception.

On Friday evening we headed down to the badlands around Drumheller.  This was just a brief stop for the night and the next morning we were on the road.  It was a little overcast and unsettled but we were optimistic that the weather would improve, and headed east.  We decided to head for the Empress and would spend a day here, with the plan being to move on to some badlands around Medicine Hat later in the weekend.

I have been to Empress many times in the past.  It is right on the Alberta border, very near the point where the Red Deer and the South Saskatchewan River meet.  It is a very desolate part of the province with sparse population and minimal precipitation.  It was somewhat of a local center for many years, and included a store, a gas station, a motel, a restaurant, a hospital and a couple schools.  It was always a rather unusual place, with a mix of optimism and regret.  Some people seemed to be settling in and there was a community of artists in the area, and even a few new homes being built.  But scattered in between this was a lot of lost dreams and abandonement.  

The store closed a few years ago, but was replaced by an art studio that took it upon itself to support the local community and offered a few goods for sale, and sold fuel.  The schools closed some time ago and I understand that the few students are now bused to Acadia Valley.  Acadia Valley is some distance north and not much bigger and not much healthier.  This time around I found that the main motel in town is now closed, and along with it, the small restaruant... though I understand that a new restaurant has opened up in the arena.  The hospital is now also closed.  I wonder how much longer this place will hold on.......

This road is pretty much on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border

Its hard to read in this photo but this old signpost beside the abandoned railbed marks the 110th meridian... the Alberta Saskatchewan border

This is the hospital, now abandoned, with my competitors skylight perched on the roof.

The hospital parking lot, slowly becoming overgrown

A shot through the window, into the interior of the abandoned hospital.  The hospital plaque lays discarded in the foreground.  And, a puddle of water accumulates on the floor beneath my competitors skylight.

The pincushion cactus were blooming all over the place... vacant lots, in fields, anywhere where there was a patch of grass.

A couple of the older abandoned buildings in town

An old shed at the edge of town

An old brick commercial building on main street now hosts some small murals over the windows

There foundations were poured about 15 years ago but no buildings were ever built

Didn't dare go into this yard.

Another old building on the edge of town that must have once been a warehouse or shop

One of the artist studios is now closed.  The railway tracks are long gone but the old train station is slowly being renovated into a museum.  The campsite is overgrown and some renovations are being attempted... but a small new trailer park is now open in town with full hookups.  No tourists about... just some workers staying in trailers in the RV park.  Mostly just elderly retired people left in town now.

It rained overnight, at times heavily.  When we awoke in the morning it was heavily overcast, cool and very wet.  We decided it would be a waste of time to try and hike the badlands down by Medicine Hat. Instead of heading in that direction we decided to go back to the Drumheller area.  If the rain continued, at least there were some other things there that we could do.

New Scans - Kodak 400TMax - Spring Utah Trip

Back in early June I processed a couple of batches of Kodak 400TMax film.  This was all 4" x 5" format, shot with my view camera.  Most of the negatives in those batches were from our spring trip down to southern Utah.  Life has been so busy the past couple of months that I have just not found the time to scan and post them until now.  We did not go away camping this weekend, for the first weekend in quite some time.  I am working at home trying to catch up on some chores.  This is an opportunity for me to get these images up, as well as look after a lot of other things that have fallen behind.