Time to use a tripod, too. IR light passes into the camera and onto the imaging chip. The live monitor on many digital cameras will help. The black and white image from the camera will help you compose infrared images in the same way it helps to compose color images, except you are seeing IR directly through the camera, live. A self timer will help with long exposures and the camera's autofocus will help.
Infrared wavelengths are longer and focus at a different distance behind the lens.
If you want to set the camera at infinity, choose a distance of ten feet instead. Since lenses behave differently, some experimentation may be required. For a real treat, use a Wratten gel filter between the camera lens and an accessory lens. Now you can shoot telephoto and wide angle images in infrared. Here's an image made on a Nikon 950 with a Wratten 88A filter gel sandwiched under Nikon's fisheye lens.