Backstage portraits of Giffords Circus performers during their 2019 Xanadu tour, University Parks, Oxford.
Oxford: Giffords Circus 2019 – part 2
Written by Nasir Hamid on June 3rd, 2020Oxford: Endeavour 7, FILM 1 – part 8
Written by Nasir Hamid on June 1st, 2020Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 1 in Oxford, August 2019.
Empty Oxford during lockdown
Written by Nasir Hamid on April 15th, 2020On one of my cycle rides around Oxford city centre for my daily exercise during lockdown I took along my Widelux panoramic camera to document the empty streets that would usually be full of people and traffic. Truth be told, I’ve never enjoyed cycling around Oxford more than I have recently especially with cleaner air to breath and the absence of mobile phone zombies crossing the road in front of you with their eyes glued to their screens. Small benefits of lockdown.
[Tech info:] Widelux, Kodak Ektar 100, Noritsu scans.
Oxford: Endeavour 7, FILM 1 – part 7
Written by Nasir Hamid on April 12th, 2020Here are some behind the scenes pictures during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 1 in August 2019. I don’t have any notes to refer to but from memory the morning was spent inside the Oxford Union and after lunch was spent filming inside and outside a flat near St Catherine’s College. The Oxford Union is one of my favourite places to photograph but when I’m photographing speaking events there I almost always use b&w film so it was nice to use some colour film for a change to show the beautiful interior. The set dressing for the interior of the bedroom in the flat looked amazing and contained lots of little details in terms of props which I’ve tried to record in my pictures below.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton, Fuji Superia 200 film (expired), Noritsu scans.
Oxford: Endeavour 7, FILM 1 – part 6
Written by Nasir Hamid on February 28th, 2020Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 1 in Oxford, August 2019.
Endeavour 7: FILM 3 – part 5
Written by Nasir Hamid on February 26th, 2020Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 3 in Merton college, Oxford at the end of October, 2019. These shots are from two different days that the crew spent in Merton College making good use of the lovely grounds and some of the rooms (second unit also filmed a brief scene on Merton Street). Fortunately we had nice weather the whole time, dry but very cold.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss Planar, Fuji 400H (expired), Noritsu scans.
Oxford: Endeavour 7, FILM 1 – part 5
Written by Nasir Hamid on February 4th, 2020Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 1 in Oxford, August 2019.
Oxford: lunch break photo walk around Worcester College
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 21st, 2019First test roll with a 40mm wide-angle lens I recently picked up for my Bronica SQ-A. I’ve had the lens for a while but I needed some dry weather during my lunch break to test it out. The lens is very wide and allows close focusing which I like. The interior shot of Worcester College chapel was an 8 second exposure which is the slowest shutter speed on the camera. I can see that being very useful in some situations. The roll of Ilford Pan F I used expired in 2007 so I rated it at ISO 25. Even though slow films are meant to lose sensitivity over time slower than faster emulsions Pan F tends to suffer quite badly for a film with a box speed of ISO 50. Not a problem on this occasion because I wanted to use the 40mm lens fairly wide open. I’m pleased with the results from this lens and it’s a keeper.
[Tech info:] Bronica SQ-A, 40mm Zenzanon lens, Ilford Pan F (expired), developed in XTOL 1+1.
Endeavour 7: FILM 3 – part 4
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 17th, 2019These shots were from the final day of filming on Endeavour 7 | FILM 3 at the studio that has some of the interior sets. Along with Anton Lesser we have Steve (standby carpenter) and Grant (third assistant director). For some unknown reason there is a mottling on the film which I haven’t experienced before. I developed this roll exactly the same as hundreds of others previously so I can’t work out how this was caused during development. More shots to come after UK broadcast.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss Planar, Ilford Delta 400 developed in Ilford DD-X 1+4.
Endeavour 7: FILM 3 – part 3
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 7th, 2019The last day of filming on Endeavour 7 was mostly interiors but I can’t show any of the action without spoilers so those will have to wait until after UK broadcast. In the meantime here are some non-spoiler shots from the day, mainly the hardworking crew. I had taken along with me some rolls of Kodak TMZ P3200 b&w film because I was expecting low light levels inside and so far I’ve been very impressed with the results since using Kodak TMAX film developer (1+4 dilution, one shot). More to come.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton, Kodak TMZ P3200 @ ISO 1600, developed in TMAX developer 1+4, Pakon scans.
Oxford: lunch break photo walk
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 5th, 2019Some shots here from a lunch break photo walk where I was testing a lens and a film + filter combination. The lens is a Nikon 28mm f2.0 AIS that is very beaten up. There’s a slight rattle inside if I shake it so I’d say all is not well with it but I’m beginning to like the strange almost lens-baby-style blur it gives when used at wide apertures. The film and filter combination I was testing was Eastman Double X motion picture film combined with an orange filter. The D96 developer I’m using is a 1 litre stock solution that I’ve developed 7 rolls through and these negs look fairly thin so I think I should be increasing the development time although there is no mention of doing that from Nik & Trick (the supplier I purchased it from). The 1 litre solution is said to be good for 18 rolls but I’m not so optimistic.
[Tech info]: Nikon FA (aperture priority), Nikon 28mm f2.0 AIS lens, orange filter, Eastman Double X (expired) developed in D96 for 7 mins.
Endeavour: wrap day on series 7
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 25th, 2019It’s always a privilege spending a day with the Endeavour crew and even more so when it’s at the studio where the interior sets are built. The day I picked on series 7 to visit the studio coincidently happened to be the wrap day for the series and I was asked to make a group shot of the crew before their lunch break. I did the same on series 5 but this time the group was larger and even the caterers managed to squeeze in. A nice record of a fun day. More pictures to follow.
[Tech info:] Fuji GW690, Delta 400 @ ISO 800, developed in DDX 1+4.
