May, 2013

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Oxford: Fuji instant pack film

Friday, May 31st, 2013

Here are some shots I made today at two different photo shoots. My first shoot was with Sarah who I first met during Oxford Fashion Week 2012. It’s only taken 6 months to find a day where we were both free and the weather was dry. It was a great shoot and I really like how these shots turned out and hopefully there will be more collaborations to come.

My second shoot was with Helen who has also been very busy so we haven’t shot much together so far this year. I ended up underexposing a couple of the shots because the slowest shutter speed on the camera I was using for these is 1/30th and there wasn’t enough light. I know that the negative (once I bleach it) will have another 2 stops of detail in the shadows so it’s not a big deal. I also shot some black & white film at both of these photo shoots and they will follow at a later time.

[Tech info:] Speed Graphic 5×4 camera with a variety of lenses (Dallmeyer 12inch, Pentac f2.9 and Kodak Ektar 203mm) on Fuji FP100-C (similar to Polaroid).

 

Oxford: Keble Ball 2013 part 3

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013

These shots are from a roll of medium format film that I shot at the 2013 Keble Ball. This is every frame from the roll. The start of the ball is always tricky for photography because I was racing against the fading light as the sun started to drop behind the college buildings as well as trying to stop people to photograph them amidst the flood of guests that were pouring in. It was helpful that I had photographed at last year’s ball so I knew what to expect.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 film which I processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 7:30.

Oxford: Lunch hour session

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Here’s a set of shots from the same roll of film, all made during my lunch hour photo walk. These are from the end of March when the weather was still a bit chilly. You’ll see some familiar faces in this set.

[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80/1.9 lens, Kodak Tri-X 400 film processed in Rodinal 1+50.

Photo shoot: Balliol Style Suite (Fujiroids)

Sunday, May 12th, 2013

The Balliol 750th Anniversary Commemoration Ball is coming up next month and in preparation for that dress hire company Wish Want Wear brought a selection of dresses for students to try on. I went along to do some film photography in Balliol’s gardens and here are the shots I made on Fuji instant pack film (just like Polaroid). I’ll be one of the photographers at the ball next month and I’m really looking forward to it. The very first Oxford college ball I ever photographed at was Balliol’s last year, you can see some of my images here.

[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90/3.5 lens, Fuji FP100-C instant pack film.

Oxford: Keble ball 2013 part 2

Saturday, May 11th, 2013

Here are the rest of the shots from the first roll of film that I developed from the 2013 Keble ball. I forgot to label which ISO speed I had exposed this roll at on the night so when it came to developing the roll I had to make a guess and unfortunately I was wrong so this roll is underdeveloped. It’s amazing that there are any images on the roll at all. Less on to self, must label rolls when you take them out of the camera!

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 film, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 7:30.

Oxford: Keble ball 2013 part 1

Friday, May 10th, 2013

Last year (2012) I photographed at the Keble ball and the ball committee were so pleased with my photography that they asked me back to photograph at this years’ and of course I said yes. It was nice to see some familiar faces that I had photographed there last year and I in turn got recognised too. Just as I did previously I shot with both film and digital – the digital ones I’ve uploaded to Facebook, the film ones I will post here.

So far I’ve developed one roll from the night and below are the first four frames as a bit of a teaser.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8, Tri-X 400 processed in Kodak HC110 for 7:30.

Oxford: Lunch time Fujiroids

Wednesday, May 8th, 2013

Regular visitors to this blog will know how much I love Fuji instant pack film and last week I decided to try some out on my lunch hour photo walks around Oxford with a camera that I don’t tend to use very much, my Mamiya Universal. Clockwise from top left: Builders working on the new Bodleian Library on their lunch break, security outside the Sheldonian Theatre (graduation ceremony), the red crane at the new Bodleian Library, graduation ceremony photographers (this one was actually shot on my way home after work), the all female a cappella band In The Pink, a guy taking a break in Radcliffe Square.

 

Photo shoot: Chloe on Fujiroids

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

One of my favourite times of the year in Oxford is late afternoon/early evening sunlight during spring and summer. The warm coloured light on the colleges and the long shadows are perfect for photography. Here are a few shots from a quick photo shoot I had with Chloe where I wanted to test out one of my cameras that hasn’t had much use recently, my Mamiya Universal. It’s a medium format rangefinder camera that is a bit of a beast but it delivers in the image quality department. I’m not a big fan of rangefinder cameras but the reason I got this one was because it enables me to shoot Fuji instant pack film and Polaroid full-frame, without any blank areas on the print. It’s also completely mechanical which I’m a huge fan of.

[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal, 100/3.5 lens, loaded with Fuji FP100-C instant pack film (expired 2005).

 

 

Oxford: OxHoli 2013 – the festival of colours

Sunday, May 5th, 2013

Holi is the Hindu festival of colours and 1,000+ Oxford university students got together today to celebrate by throwing coloured paint powder and squirting water at each other. I had to keep a safe distance to avoid trashing my camera so I didn’t manage to get any shots of the masses, instead I concentrated on some portraits. Helen originally tipped me off about this get together and we planned to do a photo shoot there but our plans ground to a halt when the paint powder that was for sale ran out before we got there. Our models were Jess and Charlie (last image) and Luke (not shown here) but with only half a cup of blue powder that Helen managed to find we were a bit limited with what we could achieve. After some brainstorming with Megan we set up some shots which I shot digitally, I’m only showing my Fuji pack film shots below. It was a fun session despite the difficulty of fighting against bright sunlight and struggling to find decent shade (this is where a white sheet and two helpful assistants can come in handy).

Tech info: Mamiya RB67, 180/4.5 lens on Fuji FP100C instant pack film loaded into a sliding Polaroid back.

Oxford: guests going to St Peter’s College ball

Thursday, May 2nd, 2013

Here’s the first set of images that I made last weekend of some of the guests on their way to St Peter’s College ball. It was a bit of a chilly evening and rather overcast so photography became tricky as the light level started to drop quite quickly. A lot of the students decided to wear coats (obviously to keep warm) but it’s not so great for photographs which is why I didn’t stop all that many people. I chose to process this roll in Rodinal for more of an old school look compared to HC110. It does increase the grain a little but I don’t mind that.

I’ll be photographing at Keble College ball on 4th May but as it’s the biggest night of the year for college balls (at least four on the same night) I’ll try to do some more group shots on the street of guests making their way to the ball so keep an eye out for me.

[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80/1.9 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400, processed in Rodinal 1+50.