Behind the scenes (socially distanced) photography during filming of Endeavour 8 episode 1 on Merton Street in Oxford. I can’t remember the last time the streets were this empty while the Endeavour crew were here – it was rather nice.
[Tech info]: Leica M6, 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double X film developed in D96. Pakon scans.
Sunrise in Bagley Wood, September 2020. I hadn’t used my Pentacon Six for quite a long time up until this point so I decided to take it out for some exercise.
[Tech info:] Pentacon Six, Fuji 400H (expired), Noritsu scans.
During December 2020 the UK saw a lot of rainfall and some parts of the country were flooded. I don’t remember Oxford receiving enough rain to cause flooding but as the massive volume of water from other parts comes rushing through Oxford the rivers swell which in turn causes some areas to flood, especially a local meadow. I made the most of the flooding and did some photography with a large format camera I’ve been wanting to try out for a while. It’s custom made with a 75mm Schneider lens which is fitted to a helicoid for focussing and the back rotates – something I found out by accident which was a nice bonus. There is no branding on it but it’s extremely well designed and made.
I wanted to fill the frame with sky and the reflection in the water so I had to stand in the water because a 75mm on 5×4 film gives an extremely wide angle of view. The Benbo Mk 2 tripod is perfect for this because the legs extend upwards from inside the bottom part of the legs and is designed to stand in water. What a didn’t realise was how easily one of the feet would end up coming off in the mud because it had a split in it, something I only noticed once I got back home. Fortunately Paterson in the UK still sell spares and supply them in a pack of 3. I’ve included some behind the scenes pictures below.
[Tech info:] Custom red dot 5×4 camera, 75mm Schneider lens, FP4 film (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 (-1 minute to prevent the highlights blowing out).
A foggy night in Oxford on New Year’s Eve, 2020.
On 29th December 2020 there was an unusually bright moon so I ventured out to do some moonlighting. The moon was possibly a day away from being full and the sky was completely clear. Here’s a shot of a flooded meadow I had been photographing at the end of December (more of those pictures to come). The exposure time for this was 2 minutes. I bracketed exposures and made a 3 minute exposure which has a brighter sky but the reflection in the water is not as clear.
[Tech info]: Mamiya Universal, 50/6.3 lens, Fuji Across 100, 6×9 back, developed in Ilford Ilfosol 3, 1+9 for 6m 30s in a Jobo.
I’ve borrowed a Contax T2 point and shoot camera from a kind friend of mine and have been taking it with me on a few walks recently to see if it lives up to its reputation. So far I can’t say it has. Below are some examples from a recent walk and you can see in three of them only the centre of the frame is in focus and the outer edge of the frame looks so distorted I wonder if there’s an alignment problem with the lens. Surely it can’t be down to a shallow depth of field. The strange thing is in the shot of the moss covered branch (second image) the blurry edges aren’t there so maybe it’s more to do with focussing at infinity? Maybe this is normal for this camera but no one has mentioned it in any reviews? Not sure.
[Tech info:] Contax T2, Eastman Double X film, developed in FPP D96 for 7mins 30secs. Pakon scans.
Pictures from the Sunny 16 photowalk in Oxford, 8th February 2020. Eastman Double X film developed in FPP D96.
Here are some shots I made on 10×8 x-ray film recently. The shot from Catte Street with the Radcliffe Camera was actually made last summer but I only came across the film holder recently. That’s over 12 months that the latent image was sitting quietly on the film before it got developed. Speaking of developing, I used a bottle of developer that expired in 2014, it was sealed and the colour looked good so I thought I’d give it a try. If anything it seems to have tamed the contrast that is often found in x-ray films so I’m happy with that.
[Tech info:] Intrepid 10×8 camera, 300mm/f4.2 Plaubel Anticomar lens, Fuji Super HR-T x-ray film, developed in HC110 1+100 for 7 mins.
Radcliffe Camera image: 10×8 Tachihara, 210mm/f5.6 Nikon lens which just about covers 10×8. I applied some front rise on this shot.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 3 in Merton college, Oxford.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 1 in the Goodman Library at the Oxford Union, August 2019. This location is a favourite of mine and one I am very familiar with having photographed quite a few speaking events there over the past few years. Once the artificial sunlight came streaming in through the windows and the library was filled with haze the space was completely transformed.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in XTOL stock, Pakon scans.
When I heard there was going to be a wrestling match being filmed for Endeavour series 7 I jumped at the chance to do some behind the scenes photography – even if it did mean driving to London at the crack of dawn. The location was a working mens club and as well as the wrestling match there was also the interior of the Jolly Raja Indian restaurant which was a two for one bonus. As a kid I used to watch wrestling on World of Sport on Saturday afternoons so it was quite a treat to be transported back.
Usually I would only post pictures from the same roll of film but this time I’ve combined two rolls – a two for one bonus.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton, Kodak Portra 400, Noritsu scans.
Castle Gate police station interior set from the final day of filming Endeavour 7.
