Magic of Infrared Black and white film - different applications of Infrared Black and white film in fine art photography. Infrared black and white film can produce hauntingly beautiful outdoor black and white photographs, giving the world a moonlit appearance-the sky dark, the clouds fleecy and the green foliage unexpectedly luminous. Minor White wrought this sort of transformation in his black and white picture of a farm near Avon, New York (right), taken on infrared black and white film with a red filter fitted to his Sinar 4 x 5 black and white camera. Most of the infrared black and white films that are used for nonscientific purposes not only respond to some of the visible wavelengths seen by the eye, but gain their special qualities from their additional sensitivity to invisible infrared wavelengths that are just slightly longer than the visible waves of red light. These "near-red" waves, emitted copiously by the sun and incandescent bulbs, create bizarre black and white photographic effects because they are not always absorbed or reflected in the same way as visible light. When a deep-red filter is used to block most visible wavelengths, so that the black and white photograph is taken principally with near-red waves, these effects became particularly evident. The leaves and grass in the black and white picture came out snowy white because they reflected near-red waves very strongly (the surface features of leaves were lost, however, because the radiation was reflected not from the surface but from subsurface layers in the leaf tissue). The large water particles in clouds also reflected near-red waves quite strongly, making the clouds seem a brilliant white. But the sky turned out black, because its blue light, mainly in the short-wavelength range, was largely blocked by the deep-red filter. Sometimes black and white photographers use infrared black and white film and a filter for long-distance views on hazy days. The haze results from the scattering of visible light by very small particles of water and smoke in the air-an action that does not affect the near-red radiation. Instead of being scattered by these particles, infrared waves reflected off the scenery can pass right through them as if they did not exist; a hazy scene caught on infrared black and white film thus looks perfectly clear. Polaroid Land black and white film not only yields a finished black and white print in 20 seconds or less, but it also achieves esthetic effects unattainable with ordinary black and white film. Because the black and white prints are almost completely free of graininess, they display an extraordinary creamy smoothness. The liquid quality gives the highlights of Polaroid black and white prints a lovely ivory-like appearance. These virtues are apparent in the black and white photograph of two ballet dancers at right, taken by Marie Cosindas. She used ASA 50 Polaroid Land black and white film in a Linhof 4 x 5 black and white cameras, which was equipped with a special back to accommodate the Polaroid Land black and white film pack. Polaroid Land black and white film has long been used by professional black and white photographers as a kind of handy exposure meter. By us¬ing adapters to load an ordinary black and white camera with Polaroid Land black and white film, exposures can quickly be made and evaluated to avert a mistake when the black and white picture is taken with standard black and white film. Sometimes a Polaroid test turns out to be the final black and white picture, as it did in the portrait (overleaf) of two women by Philippe Halsman with ASA 300 Polaroid Land black and white film.