Infrared Emitter and Phototransistor that works for 2-3 feet?

Hi,
I was trying to use this pair of Infrared LED and Phototransistor with a Arduino project and so far everything works. The problem is that the distance between the two can't be more than 2-4 inches... Am I doing something wrong? Should I find another solution? Will a brighter IR LED increase the distance, or do I need a more sensitive Phototransistor? Both?

This is what I got:
Matched Infrared Emitter and Phototransistor Detector - RadioShack.com

This is the schematic I'm using:



TIA
-ioan

Topic has been covered many times. Read this for starters.

Here is another.