Written by Nasir Hamid on January 16th, 2012
Here are some images from a roll of film I used to test my handheld spot meter last autumn. The vintage Jaguar car is owned by a german couple who had driven it from Germany. I was walking back to my office when I spotted it parked on St Giles. The owners had just parked but needed change for the parking meter – they were 20p short. I didn’t have change for £1 but I did have 20p so I gave it to them in return for being able to photograph the interior. They were very flattered that I was so interested in their car, unfortunately the shadows inside and the black dashboard meant there shot was far from ideal but that’s how it goes sometimes.
[Tech info:] Camera: Mamiya C330f | Lens: 80/2.8 | Film: Fuji Acros 100
Purrrrr.
3.4 litres to fill this thirsty cat.
The owners told me that the stereo was not the original so I made sure that it didn't feature in this shot.
Boatyard, Port Meadow.
I never get tired of photographing old Brooks saddles.
Shard of light. I'd often see this on my way back to my office at the end of lunch break and on this occasion I decided to finally photograph it.
Posted in film, Oxford | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on January 9th, 2012
With the joy of shooting on film comes the ability to have lots of different combinations of cameras, lenses, films and developers to choose from. When trying something out for the first time I often like to do a test shoot where I get to experiment a little and a model in return gets some experience and some unique images for their portfolio. These images are from a lunch break test shoot I did with Kimberly around Oxford. A great thing about shooting on film is that you don’t spend time between shots staring at a tiny LCD screen on the back of the camera inspecting a histogram to see if the exposure was correct or trying to decide on whether you like the shot you just made. With film there’s more of a flow instead of start stop, start stop. In total I think we spent 20mins for this shoot. These are just a few shots from the roll.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 with 110/2.8 lens loaded with Fuji Neopan 400 film which is a black & white film that needs processing through C41 colour negative chemistry. Processed and scanned by me.
Coffee shop window.
Turl Street.
Radcliffe Square.
Double exposure test on Fuji instant pack film (FP-3000B).
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot | 2 Responses »
Tags: black&white, people, portraits, RZ67
Written by Nasir Hamid on January 8th, 2012
Last summer my family and I visited Antwerp for four days and then went on to Brussels for a couple more. We’d been to Brussels before but Antwerp was new to us. The weather was a mixed bag and rained quite a bit. We did lots and lots of walking around but our daughter had just turned three at the time so the amount of ground we could cover each day was limited. Something that really struck me about Antwerp was the amount of really old bicycles still in use there. Cycling is really popular and I happen to have a thing for old bikes and battered up Brookes saddles so I couldn’t help noticing them everywhere. I really enjoyed the trip and while I’m sure Antwerp isn’t a city that immediately comes to mind when planning a trip to Europe I can highly recommend a visit.
[Tech info:] Nikon F90X 35mm camera with Kodak Color Plus film (from Poundland). Processed and scanned by me.
Sunshine and moonlight 4-ever. Tree graffiti in a park near the b&b that we stayed at.
I don't know what these are. Fungi, mushrooms, toadstools? Whatever they are there were a lot of them.
This is the gorgeous park that was a short walk from the b&b that we stayed at. Two of my daughter's favourite things - construction equipment and the colour orange.
Cobbled street in the old town
The street car public transport system was very easy to use and very economical with a 10 trip card.
Horse and carriage for hire
Horse drawn carriage driver.
Horse drawn carriage driver.
Bicycles for hire.
Old bicycles. I especially like the newspaper covered chain guard.
Very old books in one of the oldest printing companies in the world.
Segways for hire. Certainly a different kind of two-wheeled transport.
Posted in film, Street portraits, Travel | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 31st, 2011
As I write this we’re minutes from the end of 2011 and as this is the last blog post of the year I thought it appropriate to show something from the 1st day of this year. When the year began I was a 100% digital photographer. I hadn’t used film for around 7 years and had no intention of doing so but by the time March had come around I had been seeing more and more work from other photographers that I admired and the quality of their images had a look and feel all of their own, they had soul and the thing they all had in common was film. I’d spend hours working on my digital files with Photoshop and filters, trying to get the ‘film look’ but no matter how close I got, the images lacked a soul, that organic look and feel that you only get with film. In the end it dawned on me, if I wanted the film look then why not just shoot on film?
I learnt photography by using film in the mid 80’s so using it wasn’t anything new or scary and fortunately I had kept all of my old cameras. Going back to using film is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and it’s given me a new love for photography and the craft of creating images that I never had in the 8 years I’ve been using digital. It was like coming home after being away for a very long time.
I’d like to thank everyone that’s visited this blog during the year, all of the people that have been kind enough to stop and be photographed and to all of the photographers out there that have inspired me to get back to the root of photography and to fall in love with film, again. I’m excited about 2012, there are still tons of films in my backlog that haven’t been scanned yet so apologies if you’re waiting to see your portrait. I’m working on it 🙂
1st January 2011 (Nikon D700, digital).
Last portrait of 2011 (Mamiya RZ67, film).
Posted in Equipment, film | 2 Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 30th, 2011
A work colleague of mine kindly gave me a free flight in a hot air balloon because she had a couple spare vouchers and was only given 45 mins notice before take-off and her family who were originally meant to go couldn’t reach Oxford in time. We went on the flight with another co-worker of ours and took off from playing fields near the Botley Road. The wind was expected to pick up quite fast and there was only a small window for us to get airborne before it would be too windy to take off. At one point the wind caught the balloon while it was on its side being filled with air and a few of us almost got dragged across the playing field. It was very exciting as we all helped prepare the balloon.
Fortunately we managed to get into the air just in time before it was too windy to do so and to say the flight was thrilling would be an understatement. Never mind a gentle relaxing slow trip, we were moving at quite a clip and covered so much ground that our pilot told us we’d travelled about three times the usual distance. The view was spectacular and everything looked crystal clear, almost like watching a tv documentary in HD. The wind continued to pick up speed during our flight so we had to come down in quite a hurry and landed with helluva bump in someones field. All’s well that ends well and despite me suffering a little whiplash everyone climbed out of the basket in one piece. It was a fantastic experience and something I hope to do again someday when my daughter is old enough and tall enough to look out over the top of the basket!
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f with 80mm lens. Film used was Kodak Portra 400 and Fuji Reala. Processed and scanned by me.
Some assembly required
Unpacking the balloon
Filling the balloon with air
Inside the balloon
View through the inside of the balloon to the top
Preparing for take-off. I was the last one in.
Hot air burners
Oxford University Press below us
The dreaming spires of Oxford
We passed over small villages and lots of fields
I liked the shapes in the landscape below us. This is shortly before we landed.
Posted in film, Oxford | 7 Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 27th, 2011
The weather recently has not been very nice for photography. It’s either been very dark and gloomy with no interesting light or it’s been raining. Here are some images that I managed to get during a brief spell if nicer weather. I think these were all made during the same lunch hour.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67, 110mm lens with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Ilford DDX for 8mins at 20C.
Shoe shop, Turl Street.
One of the very few times I've not asked permission before photographing someone. The Missing Bean, Turl Street.
These two students were so friendly and cheerful about being photographed that it gave me a spring in my step as I headed back to my office. Broad Street.
These two guys seem to be regulars on this blog. They're usually on their lunch break as I head back to my office and my route takes me right past them. They're part of the demolition crew working on the parade of shops along Walton Street.
This shot was made directly after the one above but this time I asked these guys to step out of the direct sun.
Posted in film, Oxford, Street portraits | 1 Response »
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 26th, 2011
I’ve cycled past this laundrette on my way to and from work for over 14 years but this is the first time I’ve ever set foot inside. It’s something I wanted to photograph for a long time because it seems like the sort of place that will probably get knocked down and turned into a Tesco Metro any minute but either I never got around to it or there always seemed to be a car parked out front. The car hasn’t been there for a while so I finally made a point of braving the evening winter temperatures to make a trip to photograph it.
The washing machines aren’t as retro looking as I had hoped, they’ve probably been replaced in recent years but I do like the wood panels on the walls and ceiling which look very 70’s.
Tech info: Mamiya RZ67 with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Ilford DDX for 8mins at 20C.
Laundrette interior
Washing machine operating instructions. I like the hand written painted sign.
Laundrette exterior. The traffic was bumper to bumper so I had to wave my arms to stop the traffic long enough for the 2 second exposure.
Posted in Architecture, film, Oxford | 1 Response »
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 18th, 2011
All of these images are from the same roll of film inside my Mamiya RZ67 medium format camera. I only get 10 shots on a roll so I make every one count. Regular visitors to this blog may have noticed certain themes that I like to photograph quite often – one of them being old or interesting looking bicycles. Another theme I’ve recently decided to work on is builders. There’s a lot of building work going on near my office so I see quite a few builders around during my lunch hour walk into town. I think it’s important to record some images of the people working on the buildings that are going up around us. They may not be all that interesting to look at now but years from now they will be.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 camera, 110mm lens with Kodak Portra 400 film. Processed and scanned by me.
I photographed this man on May Morning but I was using digital back then. I'm pleased to have photographed him on film this time.
The owner of Scriptum, a really nice stationary shop on Turl Street.
This builder was painting the wood panels that surround the Bodleain on Broad Street.
These two builders are part of the demolition crew working on Walton Street. I tend to pass them every day on my way back to my office. They're very pleasant to chat to and probably think I'm a bit mad as I stop to photograph them with my old film cameras. You can see the extra dynamic range in film compared to the shots I made on Fuji instant pack film at the same time as these.
Builder, Walton Street.
Builder enjoying a cuppa, Walton Street.
Phillips bicycle, Beaumont Street.
Chainwheel.
While I was visiting Antwerp earlier in the year I saw lots of bicycles there with double crossbars but this was the first time I'd seen one in Oxford.
Current progress on the building project that is on Little Clarendon Street. Former site of the Oxford Barbers, an image of which you can see further back on this blog.
Posted in film, Oxford, Street portraits | 5 Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 12th, 2011
The Aero Ektar lens was made by Kodak for the US Military to use for aerial photography during WWII. It’s a huge chunk of glass that has a fast aperture of f2.5 which for a large format lens is incredibly fast and the result is a shallow depth of field of around an inch with a very distinctive bokeh. The lens doesn’t have a shutter so it needs to be used on a camera with its own shutter. For this reason its perfectly suited for use with the Speed Graphic 5×4 camera that has a built in shutter at the back. I think my Speed Graphic is from the 1950’s so combined with this Aero Ektar lens this is a vintage camera setup that is still going strong.
Speed Graphic with Aero Ektar lens
This image was made with the setup above. It's a heavy rig that is a little slow to use so hand holding it is not really an option. Fortunately for me this student was promoting a play so he wasn't going anywhere fast and was kind enough to stand still for this portrait.
Posted in Equipment | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 11th, 2011
The weather hasn’t been particularly great for photography recently. These shots are from a couple of weeks ago. A lot of the University students have packed up and are away for the Christmas holidays so the streets I usually photograph on in town are noticeably quieter. This might mean less photography for me but in some ways that’s not a bad thing because I still have a huge backlog of film to scan from earlier in the summer. If you’re one of the people that I photographed and you’ve been visiting this blog to see your picture I apologise for the delay. There have been some unfortunate accidents that happened where I lost some images (either by the film running out in my camera without me realising it or a mistake I made in the darkroom where I ended up with two completely blank rolls of film) but fortunately that only happened on a few occasions.
It would be nice to see some comments so please feel free to leave one. I’d especially like to hear from people that feature in my pictures. Thanks.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f with Kodak Portra 400 film.
Marco, Broad street. A really pleasant guy that I enjoyed speaking about photography with.
I really liked this students' outfit and ended up chasing after her. I'm amazed at how well this has turned out considering the lack of light, I could hardly focus it was so dark.
Maria. This was shot in colour but I prefer this black & white version. Again, it was very dark and cold on this day but film renders everything so nicely.
Tourists eating lunch on the Martyr's memorial.
Some of the demolition crew that are working on the shops along Walton Street. This is the corner of Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street. Notice one of the guys is hiding.
Posted in film, Oxford, Street portraits, Street style | 3 Responses »
Tags: oxford, people, Portra, street style, students
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 11th, 2011
These shots are all from my first attempt at using my Speed Graphic hand held. I think my Speed Graphic is from the 1950’s, it’s a 5×4 large format camera that was used by press photographers and made famous by New York photographer Weegee. As a first attempt I’m pleased to see that there are images on the film especially as I was rushing to make these shots on a really windy cold day. The focus is quite a way off and that’s because I didn’t have the lens parallel with the film – something I only noticed when putting the camera away. Lesson learnt for next time. I’ve scanned the whole negatives so you can see the entire frame.
[Tech info:] Speed Graphic with Ilford HP5+, processed in Ilford DDX for 9mins at 20c.
Art students visiting from London. The girl with the scarf in the front was very excited to see my camera.
This gentleman was my first shot of the three here and he was very patient while I got set up. Thank you.
It's such a shame that the focus is out on this shot. This gentleman looks quite French in this shot but he seemed very English to me.
Posted in film, Oxford, Street portraits | 2 Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on December 7th, 2011
Recently I’ve been having fun using Fuji instant peel apart film. Years ago these were called Polaroids, named after the company that made invented and made the instant films but today Fuji is the only company left making it. I do still tend to refer to these as Polaroids but not without feeling guilty for lack of credit to Fuji for carrying the torch. I heard someone refer to these as Fujiroids which I thought was very appropriate.
Here are a few Fujiroids of shots that I’ve also made on film but I won’t get to process those rolls until the weekend. I love the ability to have a print in your hand within a couple of minutes of pressing the shutter. It’s nothing short of magic.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 camera with Fuji FP100-c pack film. The image of the C330f camera was made with a Speed Graphic large format 5×4 camera.
Laundrette. I've cycled past this laundrette on my way to and from work for nearly 14 years but this is the first time I've ever set foot inside.
Mamiya C330f, one of my favourite cameras for street photography.
Tea time. There's some construction work going on down the street from my office. A couple of the builders have allowed me to photograph them, most of the others are camera shy.
Out of the shadows. This shot shows the limitation of this instant film. The contrast range only seems to be around 3 stops. Here I metered for the shadow under the helmet because I didn't want to lose his eyes but in doing so I had to sacrifice the highlights in his face and jacket.
Posted in film, Oxford, Street portraits | No Responses »
