  In this note I present an outline of infrared (IR) photometric AGB
properties, based on two samples of Galactic Long Period Variables (C- and
S-type respectively). I show the various selection criteria used during the
choice of the sources and describe the motivations of observing them at near-
and mid-IR wavelengths. I discuss the problems encountered in estimating their
luminosity and distance and motivate the methods I choose for this purpose.
Properties of the luminosity functions and of the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR)
diagrams obtained from the analysis are discussed. Finally, the choices made
for estimating of the mass loss rates are described and preliminary results
concerning them are shown.
