I’ve been shooting film for over 45 years having shot my first roll of infrared film back in the 80’s. This type of film and others are getting impossible to find these days, recently saw a roll of Infrared for sale for $300 on eBay. I have been saving a couple rolls in my fridge for years and recently decide I better see if this 30-year-old film is still usable.
I recently moved to Charleston SC and with many cities, there are spots most tourists go to see. Being new to the area I made the mistake of going downtown during the tourist season and a cruise ship had just docked, so lots of folks were walking around. I managed to get a bunch of interesting shots using 2 different filters to expose the infrared.
Shot with my Canon EOS 3, one of the last and best film cameras Canon ever made, I will never sell it, I use it as much as my Sony A7 series cameras. I used the Canon 17-40 L at different focal lengths and apertures. A yellow and orange filter were used to create the effects. I’ve shot with infrared film many times years ago and every time the expectation is different because of the way the film reacts.
I kept the film in my refrigerator for over 30 years, maybe should have kept it in the freezer. Getting the correct exposure is purely a guess. I currently have one roll left of this extremely hard-to-find film, if you know anyone that has any try to get them to let you experiment, lol might cost you a few bucks. Luckily I have a fridge full of other old slide and negative films and purchase more when I can find a good deal.
Next up is some old Tri-X BW, been a while since I’ve shot BW film, not the same as changing the color in PS…
~ Dan
Share your knowledge, story or project
The transfer of knowledge across the film photography community is the heart of EMULSIVE. You can add your support by contributing your thoughts, work, experiences and ideas to inspire the hundreds of thousands of people who read these pages each month. Check out the submission guide here.
If you like what you’re reading you can also help this passion project by heading over to the EMULSIVE Patreon page and contributing as little as a dollar a month. There’s also print and apparel over at Society 6, currently showcasing over two dozen t-shirt designs and over a dozen unique photographs available for purchase.
