Infra Red Photography at Night

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taxboy

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I've managed to equip myself with an IR72 filter and most of the IR shots I see use the conventional bright sunny conditions with full foliage on the trees. As summer is fast receding I wondered if anyone had shot night time infra red and could share some tips or insights please.
I'm guessing one issue with using the IR filter might be exposure times at night ?
 
I suppose the question is what is the light source at night. If it's modern street lights of any king there's very little deep red in there. Incandescent lights have quite a bit. Naural sources at night not much; the bluish light from the sky that you'd normally use in a night picture has far more blue that red.

So really... give it a go with a long exposure 'cos it might be interesting.
 
I dont think it's going to be great, my IR night vision cameras just lift the light a bit and rely onthe IR light source, thats grainy BW, theres very little natural IR at night. Nothing ventured nothing gained, give it a go.
 
Well if you must you might check out the work of 1940's photographer Weegee who used IR flashbulbs to take "candids" in darkened cinemas. A bit creepy at the time but important social documentary today... and a bit creepy. I suppose the modern equivalent of an IR flash bulb would be a Redzilla IR lamp. This is sometimes used with an ir enabled camera with evf as a poor mans night vision.
It's also worth looking at the work of Russel Savory who films/shoots beavers at night using an ir rig.
I think one thing is for sure you will have to provide your own light source at night which might limit your light to subject distance. One option especially for wildlife would be to set up an ir lamp at a point where animals are active at night but shoot them with a long lens from farther away, it is the light to subject distance which will determin the exposure settings.
 
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Thanks for the replies. I was considering the IR filter for night time city landscapes to see if it gave an alternative look but doesn't look suitable
 
Hello again, your comment out cityscapes reminded me of somthing that might be of interest. In old black and white films many "night time" scenns were shot in daylight but on IR film stock to give them a night time look (the films of the day were just not up to low light shooting). Maybe it's a style you could try to recreate.
 
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