Ir Photography

donbga said:

Absolutely! PMK 1:1:100 @77F for 12.5 minutes with Kodak HIE. Highlights are not blown and shadows aren't blocked. Try 1/60 to 1/125 @ f11 - f16 with a 25 or 29 red filter.

Don Bryant

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What effect does the warm temperature have on the developer?

Don, can we see some of your HIE work made as you described above?

Hi Soeren,
Joining this thread late already but I found Laurie White's Infrared Photography Handbook to be very helpful when I first started shooting IR. Cheap, easy read, good overview of IR, and lots of useful information. Basic things from effects you can expect if you use a Red #25 filter in the sunlight versus with tungsten light, to more advanced topics too. This book is geared more toward roll film but a lot of the general principles apply to sheet film as well. Though this thread has a lot of great information in it too!

I have been using Kodak IR film for years and have always developed in D-76 straight for 12 mins @ 75 degrees and although it did the job, I spent way too much time dodging/burning contrasty subjects. Tried Xtol today for the first time. Used 1:1 for 12.5 min @ 20 degrees and the negs were EXTREMELY flat. Of course I can add contrast in printing, but I like a better starting point. Anyone have suggestions. I would like to try a staining developer as well and would like to see Don's prints also. Another thing....I get pinholes in my film. Again, any suggestions? Thanks - Jim

colrehogan said:

What effect does the warm temperature have on the developer?

Don, can we see some of your HIE work made as you described above?

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Diane,

Perhaps you are drawing the wrong conclusion about the developer temperature. I use 77F as my standard developer temperature because I can always make my water temp. 77F, winter or summer. The temperature has not effect on the physical properties of the emulsion or film base. You could process at 80F if you wanted to. Pyro-Cat would also be a good developer to use as you get less film base stain but I haven't calibrated HIE with it since I have shoot any in a few years.

The attached image is a scan of a small test print made from a digital negative. It is a gold toned Van Dyke Brown. The negative was processed as mentioned above. The print has not been sharpened and I've only set the white and black points after scanning - in other words the actual print looks better than the scan.

Don

Don,
Nice picture!

No, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing anything wrong by not controlling my temperature. I develop at whatever the temperature is in the room.

colrehogan said:

Don,
Nice picture!

No, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't doing anything wrong by not controlling my temperature. I develop at whatever the temperature is in the room.

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If possible try contolling the developer temperature. You will get much more consistent results. Of course I know you know this!

If you are processing sheet film try processing in tubes. I've been doing a lot of semi-stand development and one of the nice side effects of this method is that a large volume of developer tends to have a more stable temperature gradient and is less temperature sensitive.

BTW, I'm using Unicolor print processing tubes which are easy to find on e-bay. The down side is that you are limited to fewer sheets per run.

Good luck,

Don

I use a Jobo 3005/3006 tank with a Unicolor motor, so it's not really possible to control temperature very much. I don't think I've had inconsistent results. I do keep notes when I'm developing though, so if something goes wrong, I'll know what not to do next time.

Wow Don! You are hiding some great work! Don't be bashful about showing more.