December, 2016

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Oxford: Transformers 5 filming – part 2

Thursday, December 29th, 2016

Hollywood came to Oxford in the form of Michael Bay and his Transformers 5 film crew to film some scenes for The Last Knight (or was it E75). Security was quite heavy handed but I did my best to document some of the goings on in-between the rain showers. There was a good variety of camera vehicles and they used a drone for some aerial footage of the black Citreon car driving along New College Lane. I’ve got a feeling the scenes filmed in Oxford will probably be set in London in the final edit of the movie.

[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Ilford FP4+ @ ISO 200, developed in Kodak D76 1+1 15mins. Pakon scans.

 

Oxford: Remembrance Sunday, 2016 – part 1

Wednesday, December 28th, 2016

This is the first part of my coverage of the 2016 Remembrance Sunday event in Oxford. The sky was clear in the morning which made for very contrasty light. Last year I used large format film so this year I decided to change things up a bit and mainly used 35mm. I did also take a 6×9 medium format camera but didn’t use it very much. More images to follow.

[Tech info:] Olympus OM40, Ilford HP5 film developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5 mins. Pakon scans.

Public Enemy at Common People 2016, Oxford

Tuesday, December 27th, 2016

When I heard that Public Enemy would be performing at the Common People 2016 music festival in Oxford I was really looking forward to photographing them but when Chuck D came on stage he announced that Flava Flav couldn’t make it due to problems with obtaining a visa in time which was very disappointing and quite limiting in terms of photography as I find him the more photogenic of the duo.

[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 70-200/2.8 VR, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 800, HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.

Foggy morning in Oxford

Monday, December 26th, 2016

As 2016 comes to a close I am ever conscious of the photography backlog that has piled up from this year that (if I’m perfectly honest with myself) I probably won’t manage to ever get on top of. It’s not much different to 2014 and 2015 but looking on the bright side I won’t ever run out of new material to post. This set of pictures is from March 2016 when we had a few foggy mornings which felt quite unusual at the time.

[Tech info:] Nikon F100, Ilford FP4 developed in Kodak D76. Pakon scans.

Oxford Union: Sir Michael Gambon Q&A

Sunday, December 25th, 2016

Here are some pictures from the Q&A session with Sir Michael Gambon at the Oxford Union. It was a very entertaining talk and I highly recommend viewing the video which can be found here.

[Tech info:] Nikon F100, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 3200, developed in Ilford DDX 1+4, Pakon scans.

Portrait: Rachel Owen, Artist

Wednesday, December 21st, 2016

In the summer of 2012 I was starting to experiment with large format x-ray film and looking for willing volunteers to sit for a portrait so that I could test things out. One of my test portraits was of Oxford artist Rachel Owen who I knew also worked with film when we chatted at her Artweeks exhibition months earlier. Yesterday I was very sad to hear that Rachel died on Sunday 18th December from cancer. Pembroke College announced the news on their website.

[Tech info:] Wista 10×8, green sensitive x-ray film rated at ISO 50, processed in Rodinal 1:50 for 6 mins.

Rachel Owen, Artist (1968-2016).

Rachel Owen, Artist (1968-2016)

Gear: Voigtlander 40/1.4 test shots

Monday, December 19th, 2016

After seeing lots of great shots from other photographer’s that use a Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens I decided it was time to try one myself. The weather recently has been very overcast and the light less than inspiring but you don’t have to always have sunny weather to test out gear. So far I am very fond of this little lens – the size and weight being two standout features – and I’m very pleased with these initial results.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 40/1.4 multi-coated, TMAX 100 (expired), developed in HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.

Kodak Retina test shots

Sunday, December 4th, 2016

Here are some test shots from the first roll of film through a Kodak Retina camera that I recently got as part of a job lot of darkroom equipment. I don’t know anything about this camera but as it’s completely mechanical it was very easy to figure out the controls. The rangefinder is coupled and the leaf shutter is very quiet. I enjoyed using it and hope to put a roll of colour film through it soon.

[Tech info:] Kodak Retina, Kodak TMAX 100 (expired), developed in HC110 1+31 for 6mins. Pakon scans.