London Skyline Infrared #3

Nice shot. There are 3 things that surprise me here, two of which are pleasant surprises and one of which is a bit of a puzzle. These are: 1. An EI as high as 25 was possible with this film( most use as little as 6 or at most 12)
2. The feathery look(wood effect) in the foliage is as strong as it is given how early in the year it still is.
3. The surprise is how normal the sky looks. I had expected a much darker sky.

I wonder if the higher exposure at 25 as opposed to one or even two stops less at EI 12 or even 6 has something to do with this?

If you look at the "control" photo (#4) I posted of the film exposed at EI 400 with no filter then the sky looks completely featureless and the buildings on the horizon are difficult to discern. The deep red filter made vapour trails visible that could barely be seen with the naked eye and made the horizon much clearer. Yes the "wood effect" is striking but this only worked with direct sun. I chose to include the gorse foreground as it was in flower and I thought it might be interesting. Some of the trees are Scots Pines and so are evergreen, the Silver Birches have very reflective white bark and they are just about coming into leaf.

There is another picture in the sequence (#1) were a shaft of sunlight is illuminating a patch of trees but the foreground is in overcast light. This shows the effect very strongly.

As for why EI 25 with the R72 worked: the day before I shot a roll of Ilford SFX which is rated at a box speed of 200. I set my camera to meter at 6, that is +5 stops for the filter. I haven't even scanned those negatives as they were so dark, they look very overexposed. I didn't have another roll of SFX but I did have the Rollei infrared so I simply chose +4 stops instead. It is 10 minutes up the road so I thought I can always try again if I'm wrong. Now of course they are different films but I felt I had established that the correct adjustment for the particular filter I was using, +4. I think it has a lot to do with the specific sensitivity of the film to different wavelengths, the wavelengths that the particular filter allows to pass and the spectrum of the light at the time the shots were taken.

On the other hand, maybe it was just luck!

@Svenedin I hope it wasn't just luck which tends to be a "one-off". I am now tempted to try this film. Since the demise of Kodak HIE the low EI that has to be used with the rest of the range of IR films has put me off due to very slow exposure speeds. Yes I could haul round a tripod but prefer the freedom of handheld.

I had to use a tripod and cable release for all of this but you might just get away with it. I didn't just use the tripod because the exposures were on the long side but because I had to hold a 49mm Hoya R72 filter (which fits some of my OM lenses) pressed up against the lens of the Super Ikonta. I read quite a few posts before deciding where to start with the EI and as I said it led to overexposure with my roll of SFX. Having said that I think almost all of the posts concerned the use of an 89B filter which may have a different filter factor -I don't know but I have a Cokin type square 89B on order (don't mount in a Cokin holder, press it up against the lens or light will leak through the edges or you could tape the gaps). I shot a second roll of Rollei Infrared that day, negatives look OK (but not so striking) I haven't scanned them yet so we shall see if it was luck! I think the luck was in the warm sunshine to be honest.

Filters are still a bit of a mystery to me. They rarely have as striking an effect as I want them to. There is a picture in the gallery of Tri-X with an orange filter and the sky is very dramatic. I very recently took a sequence of photographs on FP4 using the sequence no filter, yellow, yellow/green, orange, red. Apart from the obvious difference between no filter and yellow filter (darker sky and more obvious clouds) there was very little difference between any of them (if you looked at the negatives you couldn't tell them apart).

I received a new tripod for my birthday. I have always hated my Bembo tripod. So heavy and cumbersome. My new one is made by a company called "MeFoto" and is very light and compact so it will be used more.

The main reason I chose the Rollei was that SFX is shockingly expensive. If you reuse your dev you may want to pre-soak because the anti-halation dye will stain your dev bright orange/red but in water the dye is blue (may be pH related) I use one-shot dev myself.

Personally I think it is worth a go with the Rollei. It's a lot of fun but it is experimental photography so it has to be taken in the spirit of fun and to be prepared for ruined photos.

Terrific view and the quality and glow. Great work with the S-I and IR. I had to look up where Croydon is now seeing your photos. Ruskin House, the Edwardian house, and the history they represent. I love visiting the UK and staying in Windsor just for views that look similar to this from the castle. I always look towards Runnymede imagining King John flying down the steep cliff on a horse to meet up with the Archbishop and unruly landowners. I was in Salisbury once and popped in to see a copy of the Magna Carta, a magnificent looking document on the parchment, and that pen work is amazing. Nice tip the MeFoto also. I use a Bembo also, but it was meant to support a monorail view camera, now supports my 8x10. I have now hiked that kit up a mountain and appreciate the pain more than ever, though the tripod was put into service as my walking stick to keep me from slipping off the side a trail into a ravine. I need something practical for my Chamonix 4x5 field camera - the mefoto looks nice. Thanks for that.

As it happens, there were a series of brass markers at the viewpoint where I took the IR photos. One of the markers pointed to Windsor Castle but it was so distant that I never saw it. Metal thieves stole all the markers so they could sell them for a pittance. It was fun for children (and adults) to see where all the different places are and how far distant they are. Salisbury is magnificent and so is seeing the Magna Carta. We are a bit spoiled in the UK and tend to take a lot of this history for granted. I have been ill and off work after a major operation so getting out to take a few photographs has been an important part of my recovery. I am glad you like the shot. It turned out much better than I had hoped.