How to Take Infrared Pictures

By eHow Arts & Entertainment Editor

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Taking good pictures is a subjective statement. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Many advanced amateurs want to try their hand at shooting something new, so they opt for infrared film. This is not an easy format to work with; but if you follow these steps, you will be assured as least some success.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

35mm SLR film camera capable of using infrared film
Darkroom or light tight box
Cooler or refrigerator.

Step1

Acquire a camera that can handle infrared film. This usually means a Single Lens Reflex camera, and a high end SLR at that. In general, point and shoot cameras cannot handle infrared film.

Step2

Maintain the temperature. Infrared film must remain cool when not in use and always be secured in a light-tight environment (complete black).

Step3

Load your film in total darkness. Infrared is extremely sensitive to light. Practice loading some old, regular 35mm film with your eyes closed. You need to be comfortable loading your film in complete darkness and be adept at doing it quickly. Infrared film is not cheap, and you would be upset if you ruined your investment before you even got started.

Step4

Shoot your pictures. Try shooting scenes that contain objects with various ambient temperatures. Experiment with different objects of differing composition. Infrared film will have many different effects from the varying objects.

Step5

Process your film quickly. You have taken this much care this far so don't leave your infrared film exposed to the elements longer than necessary so that you get the best possible pictures and will be happy with your work.

Tips & Warnings

Try to shoot trees near blacktop in the hot sun and see the effects that the leaves versus the pavement put on your film.
Shoot live animals next to metal objects.
Find an antique car show in the hot summer sun and shoot the colorful cars with the highly polished chrome bumpers.