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Oxford: finals exam celebrations, 2015 – part 1

Sunday, December 6th, 2015

One of my favourite things to photograph at the beginning of summer is when Oxford University students celebrate the end of their exams which is also known as trashing. I love the riot of colour and carnival atmosphere of pure celebration and relief all mixed together. I’ve got quite a backlog of pictures to post going back to last year. Here are some pictures from this year with lots more to come.

[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 85/1.8D, Fuji Press 400 film (expired), Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Torpids 2015 – part 2

Monday, August 17th, 2015

If you want to see how beautiful Kodak Vision 3 motion picture film can look when used in a still camera look no further. The film stock I used for these shots was 50D and it’s the same stock that was used to shoot Star Wars Episode VII – I purchased some surplus stock left over from the production. This film loves sunlight and does a superb job at retaining detail in both shadow and highlights in contrasty light when exposed properly. I developed this film myself and removed the dreaded remjet layer by using only hot water and a sponge.

[Tech info:] Minolta Hi-Matic 7, Kodak Vision 3 50D film, developed in Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scan.

Oxford: Magdalen College Ball, 2015 – part 1

Tuesday, July 7th, 2015

The only summer ball I had time to photograph this year was at Magdalen College and here are some images from the evening. Ambient light was quite scarce around the college grounds so I had limited options of where I could photograph after dark. For the first time I decided not to use a flash and I’m glad about my decision because it forced me to make pictures I probably wouldn’t have made otherwise. Trying to decide which cameras to take was difficult but in the end I opted for my Leica M2 because of the ease of focussing with the rangefinder in low light and the quality of the lenses. More images to come in a follow up post.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford HP5, ISO 1600, developed in Kodak D76 stock, Pakon scans.

 

Oxford: finals exam celebrations, 2014 – part 4

Saturday, June 13th, 2015

I photographed my first trashing in Oxford around 25 years ago and this set of pictures from a trashing last year (summer 2014) is one of the most memorable ones for me so far. Not only was the light perfect but the amount and variety of different substances that got layered on was very impressive. Just when it looked like it was all over out came a roll of cling film! I’ve been looking forward to posting this set and after a year of waiting I’m very pleased to show these now.

[Tech info:] Nikon F100, Fuji Press 400 film (expired), processed in a Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scans.

Oxford: finals exam celebrations, 2014 – part 3

Friday, June 12th, 2015

The great Oxford tradition of trashing is here again so it’s time for me to continue posting some of my shots from last year (summer 2014). Recently I’ve been enjoying the idea of not rushing to post images as soon as I can but instead to hold them back for a while and let them mature in my archive. I have no idea where the students in this set of images are now but I’d like to hope that seeing these a year after the event would bring back some happy memories for them of celebration and relief.

[Tech info:] Nikon F100, Kodak Hawkeye film, processed in a Rollei Digibase C41 kit. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Torpids 2015 – part 1

Monday, March 23rd, 2015

Some photography from the final day of Torpids 2015 in Oxford. This year I only managed to make it to the final day but the weather was fantastic and there was a great turn out of spectators who came to enjoy some racing on the river. I used the sunny weather as a perfect opportunity to test out some special motion picture film I bought recently. This batch of film is surplus stock left over from the new Star Wars (Episode VII) movie that I purchased. It’s daylight balanced and has a film speed of ISO 50 so the sunny weather was perfect. I’m impressed with the lack of contrast in what was at times extremely contrasty light and the control of highlights is very nice too. With spring in the air and blossom starting to make an appearance I hope to be able to use more of this film through the spring and into summer.

[Tech info:] Minolta Hi-Matic 7, Kodak Vision 3 50D motion picture film, ISO 50, developed with a Rollei Digibase C41 kit. Pakon scans.

Lunchtime photography session with Ella

Saturday, February 28th, 2015

Here are some images from a recent lunchtime photography session with Ella. I wanted to practice a little with this camera and lens combination because while I really like the results I get from them, I’m not happy with the shutter release on the camera and how far you need to press before it will activate the shutter. I have a power-winder for it that came as part of the kit but I haven’t tried it yet. Maybe it’s about time I did. Ella was very easy to work with and hopefully there will be more opportunities to do some photography together.

[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80/1.9 lens, Fuji Acros 100 (expired) film, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5:30.

 

Large format lunchtime session – Alice

Wednesday, February 25th, 2015

Some of the results from my large format lunchtime session with Alice using a 1940’s press camera. For this session I wanted to test out some Fomapan 100 film that I’ve had laying around for over a year and recently discovered. So far so good. I like these results. I’m hoping to do more large format photography in my lunch break because I really enjoy composing my shots on a large ground glass screen – often times upside down – and also having a limited amount of shots as well as the slower pace compared to other kinds of photography.

[Tech info:] Graflex Super D 5×4, Pentac 8inch f2.9 (bottom left), Kodak Ektar 190/5.6 lens, Fomapan 100 (expired), processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Film hanging up to dry

Oxford: Lunch time session – Xinlan

Thursday, February 19th, 2015

Here are two Fujiroids that I made at the end of my lunch break photography session with Xinlan yesterday. The sunlight was bouncing off the side of a white building which is one of my favourite kinds of light to photograph portraits in. Prior to these I finished a roll of Fuji Acros 100 in my Mamiya RZ67 and some of those shots will follow soon.

[Tech info:] Polaroid Land Camera 180, Fuji FP-100C instant pack film (expired).

Oxford: Town vs Gown Boxing 2015 – part 2

Sunday, February 8th, 2015

It was nice to see some familiar faces at this years’ Town vs Gown Boxing competition at the Oxford Union, especially some of the team from last year who had come to cheer on Oxford. Last year was my first time photographing this event and I had no idea what to expect when I arrived there. This year was very different because this time I had access all areas and I also had last years’ pictures to live up to (which can be seen here and here).

After much deliberation on which cameras and film to take with me I eventually decided that I wanted to make some portraits on medium format but the difficult part was choosing which medium format camera to take. In the end I went for my Mamiya 645 Pro TL because it’s the one that I own with the fastest lens and not only did I want a shallow depth of field but I also knew that the light levels inside the Oxford Union are fairly low. The 80/1.9 lens that I took with me is quite unforgiving when it comes to focussing it at anywhere near to wide open and the focussing screen that came in my camera (I’m not sure if it’s the standard stock screen) is very bright and clear which actually makes it more difficult to tell whether something is in focus or not so the sharpness in some of the shots below is lacking. The Mamiya 645 Pro TL is a nice camera to use but the thing I hate most about it is the shutter release travel feels like it goes on forever which can cause movement of the camera (in my experience) just before the shutter fires. I have a motor-drive for mine which came with the camera but I haven’t used it yet because once you’ve loaded the grip with AA batteries it adds quite a bit of weight to it as well as increasing the overall size.

[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80/1.9, Kodak Tri-X 400 @ ISO 1600, processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 16mins.

 

Oxford: Kimono Fujiroids

Saturday, February 7th, 2015

Last weekend I photographed lots of beautiful vintage kimono’s for ITO to use in their online store. Each kimono is a one of a kind and it was hard to believe from the amazing condition that most of them are from the 1920’s. For the final images I used a digital camera but as is usually my way I took along some film as well. The shoot went really smoothly but we had a lot of kimono’s to photograph so there wasn’t much time to do a lot of film photography but I did manage to make these two shots with a Polaroid camera. The shot on the left was made with just the window light, the shot on the right was a mix of window light and a Nikon speedlight through a white umbrella which I balanced to look natural. Many thanks to Catriona for organising everything and for keeping the shoot running smoothly.

[Tech info:] Polaroid 190 Land Camera, Fuji FP-100C instant pack film (bleached neg).

kimono

 

Oxford: Town vs Gown Boxing 2015 – part 1

Friday, February 6th, 2015

This is the first set of my images from the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club (OUABC) Town vs Gown 2015 competition which was held at the Oxford Union two nights ago. Last year was my first time photographing this event and it’s hard to believe that twelve months have already gone by. I was very pleased with my images last year but I decided to change things up a bit this year in terms of cameras and film choice instead of just repeating the same thing. First up we have some shots made with my Leica M2 but I also took a medium format camera with me and a 35mm point and shoot so those will follow soon. The film I used for the images below (Fuji Neopan 1600) is sadly no longer made by Fuji and the roll I used came in a mixed bag of film I bought from a press photographer a couple of years ago. The film is expired but I have no idea by how much so it was a bit risky using it but that’s also what makes things exciting when you have no idea how or if the shots are going to turn out. When it came to developing this film I had to seek some advice from a friend of mine who’s more experienced than I when it comes to using this film (thanks Jean Pierre) and I’m pleased to say I really like the results. All of these were made using available light, in fact I didn’t take a flash with me and the only camera I had that did have a flash was the point and shoot compact.

Many thanks to Isra Hale for the invite and to the boxers for their patience both before and after their bouts in the ring. I look forward to next year when not only will we have another Town vs Gown but also the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity will be back in Oxford.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 35/1.2, Fuji Neopan 1600 (rated ISO 1600), developed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 8mins. Pakon scans.

oxford town vs gown boxing 2015