Written by Nasir Hamid on December 4th, 2011
This is the third instalment of images from my last day trip to London. My walk along the Thames led me to Tate Modern where I saw the a short film that was projected on a huge screen inside the turbine hall. It was shot on film which was very appropriate for me as that’s my medium of choice. From the Tate I walked over the Millennium bridge to see the Occupy protesters. By this time it was getting late into the afternoon and the light level was falling rapidly so I didn’t manage to get very many shots. I did see three other photographers there that were using film and managed to photograph each of them.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f camera with New Kodak Portra 400 film. Processed and scanned by me.
Rolley golfers. These golf carts are a cross between a regular golfing trolley and a Segway. I saw these guys coming along with a small video crew following them. When I asked what they were doing they said they were making a viral video. They seemed intrigued by my old skool camera and were kind enough to let me photograph them.
Golfer.
Golfer.
Golfer.
One leaf.
FILM art installation inside Tate Modern. I made a guess at the exposure for this and the slant of the camera is because I was resting it on a padded bench. I loved how the little girl was fascinated by the projection and her shadow that was cast on the screen. I'm sure she was unaware that lots of people were staring at her from the darkness.
Rolleiflex user at Occupy protest, St. Paul's Cathedral.
Leica user. I had a great conversation about photography with this photographer.
Mamiya M645 user. I have one of these cameras but this one was really battered up. It had a lot of character to it and is a good example of how well built these cameras are.
Breakdancing crew.
Wedding couple. This shot has turned out amazingly well considering how low the light level was. New Kodak Portra 400 is incredible film. I got this shot as the official wedding photographer was setting up some of his equipment.
Posted in film, London, Street portraits | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 29th, 2011
Here’s the second batch of images from my day trip to London on 19th November 2011. Quite a few of these images centre around a used book market that I came across on my walk along the Thames from Westminster bridge to Tate Modern. I’m not sure which bridge this was under but the light was fantastic. I made some candid shots which is very unusual for me because I prefer to ask people’s permission and have eye contact with the camera but a lot of people were so engaged with browsing the books that I found it very photogenic.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f camera with Kodak Tri-X 400 film. Processed in Ilford DD-X (1+4) for 8mins, 20c.
Listen all y'all it's a sabotage. This guy looked so cool and reminded me of the Beastie Boys music video for Sabotage.
Book browsing. I like the retro look of this guy.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
This guy approached me to ask about the camera I was using. He's a film director studying 3D movie making and he wondered whether I was using a 3D camera because of the twin lenses. We had a great conversation about stereography and movie making. A very cool guy.
Books for sale.
The previous frame on the roll to this was a candid shot I made of this couple looking at poetry books but after they saw my twin lens reflex camera we got chatting about it and I decided to make a more regular portrait of them. They were a lovely couple and after I made this shot Adrian offered to make one of me (see below).
A portrait of me made by Adrian (above). Not quite in focus but a gallant first time effort with a strange camera :-)
Posted in film, London, Street portraits, Street style | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 26th, 2011
These images are all from a day trip to London that I made last weekend. I went to visit some photography exhibitions including the Taylor Wessing portrait winners at the National Portrait Gallery. I entered two prints but didn’t get shortlisted out of the 6,000+ entries. Looking at the 60 shortlisted portraits I noticed only two were black & white. Both of my entries were black & white so perhaps that reduced my chances? The weather was nice all day and the light was fantastic for photography. People seemed to be in a good mood and a number of people came up to me to ask about the film camera I was using, something I am always happy to talk about.
On this day trip I shot more film than on any previous visit to London. I will break the images down to multiple posts as I make my way through scanning the film.
[Tech info:] Kodak Portra 400 film in a Mamiya C330 medium format camera. Processed and scanned by me.
Into the light. I love the long shadows in this shot. You can see the London Eye in the background.
Bagpipes, Westminster bridge. This man's jacket and tie was well co-ordinated with the colour of the bridge.
Ice-cream van, Westminster bridge. With the nice weather this man was quite busy. I ended up holding up foot traffic to get this shot.
Lunch break.
Freestyle football. I like the reaction of the man on the right.
Breakdancer. When photographing tall people with a camera using a waist level finder the images tend to be on the unflattering side.
Joseph the horse. I was drawn to the bright colours of these horses in the sunlight.
This gentleman came up to me to say that he learnt photography back in the 1970's on the same camera that I was using. He still has some lovely film cameras but sadly doesn't use them any more because digital is so convenient. What a shame.
This lady's red hair caught my eye as she was browsing secondhand books under one of the bridges along the Thames. The was amazing under there and I could have easily spent all day there.
Posted in film, London, Street portraits | 2 Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 24th, 2011
Here’s something a little different from my usual street portraits. I bought this large format 5×4 camera brand new in 1990 and it’s still going strong. Whenever I used to take it out around Oxford it would always draw a crowd of people that thought it was a hundred years old. This image was made in total darkness and ‘painted light’ with a Mini Maglite torch that I focussed down to a small spot of light. It was total guess work as to what the exposure needed to be but it turned out great.
[Tech info:] Speed Graphic 5×4 camera, 127mm lens at f8 on Fuji FP100-C pack film.
Wista field 5x4 camera.
Posted in film, Still life | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 20th, 2011
This morning I spent a few hours photographing the dress rehearsal of a new play called ‘POSH’ which is being staged at the Oxford Union Debating Chamber, a fantastic building dating back to 1823. The cast and crew were really nice to work with and I photographed what I could without being too intrusive. I didn’t have time to stay to the end but what I did see was really very good. The show runs from 21 – 25th November, more details are on the website: http://www.poshoxford.co.uk
I approached the team putting on this production after I saw their website written in chalk outlines of bodies on the pavements of Oxford city centre. A clever marketing campaign that certainly got my attention. I really enjoyed working with this team and would really like to do more of this kind of documenting of goings on in the city.
Cast members from 'Posh'
Drinking club.
A member of the cast. This shot was made on Fuji instant pack film and seems to have lost detail in the shadows. I did make some exposures on Tri-X film and I'll post them when I've processed them as a comparison.
A cast member in character.
Posted in film, Oxford | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 13th, 2011
These shots are all from the first roll through a Pentax 67 medium format camera that I recently got. I’ve been having some random issues with my other Pentax 67 so I decided to pick up a second body that can be a spare and also for when I want to shoot colour and b&w at the same time. The weather for the past week has been day after day of heavy cloud that has felt very oppressive. The light level has hardly been brighter than 4pm on a winter day. All of these shots bar one were shot during the same lunch hour on the brightest day in over a week.
[Tech info:] Pentax 67, 105mm lens, loaded with New Kodak Portra 400. Processed and scanned by me.
Oxford students relaxing in the sun. I really like the autumnal colours in this shot.
Building work at St. Mary's Tower. The stonework is beginning to crumble on this old tower so it's in desperate need of repair before a chunk falls on someone.
Plebs' College is back.
Vicar's bike. I love this bike and can't help photographing it whenever I come across it. It belongs to a vicar and looks 100 years old.
Private sign.
Rusty spiral staircase near the Turf Tavern.
Mayfair bike. I love the retro look of this bike, especially the chrome chain guard.
TV camera crew filming a documentary. That's a big HD camera.
Posted in film, Oxford, Street portraits | 2 Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 11th, 2011
This is one of my all time favourite images that I made during a trip to the states back in (I think) 1993. This shot is from Yosemite National Park, somewhere along the Tioga Pass. Every year the Tioga Pass is closed for the winter because the snow fall is so heavy it’s not possible to safely travel along it. This shot was made on the day before it was to be closed off. Unfortunately this scan doesn’t do the original justice because when you view the original transparency on a lightbox the colours and clarity in the image have to be seen to be believed.
[Tech info:] Wista Field 5×4 camera, 90mm lens, Fuji Velvia 50 film rated at ISO64 and pushed 1 stop in processing.
Lone tree, Yosemite National Park.
Posted in film, Travel | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 9th, 2011
Recently it occurred to me that so far I’ve only posted film images made on negative films, either colour or b&w. My archive of film photography mostly consists of transparencies (slides) stretching back to the late 80’s. From the late 80’s to early 90’s I used to work in a photo lab that specialised in processing E6 slide films by hand so I got free processing and discount film. I’ve got so much material that if I continue to create new images at the rate I’ve been doing recently I will probably never have enough time to scan it all.
After seeing one of my contacts on Flickr get excited about shooting some slide film I thought I’d dig something out of my archive. The image below is from the early 90’s and is a view from the top of Magdalen Tower looking up the HIgh Street towards Carfax.
[Tech info:] Wista 5×4 large format camera loaded with Fuji Velvia 50 film. I used to rate Velvia at ISO64 and then push process it 1 stop.
Oxford dreaming spires.
Posted in film, Oxford | No Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 7th, 2011
These images are from earlier in the summer. I’m slowly working my way through a huge backlog of film. The weather is really grim at the moment which is preventing me from creating any new images so if this is the start of things to come I might actually get a chance to catch up with my scanning. All of these images are from the same roll of Kodak Ektar 100 which I was testing out for possibly the first time.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f loaded with Kodak Ektar 100. Processed and scanned by me.
Impressive hair do. I chatted with this girl about photography. She shoots film. I encouraged her to try processing her own. I think she was visiting from North America. A very pleasant girl.
I seem to remember that this guy was rather tall. I like his sunglasses. Outside the Sheldonian Theatre.
Italian tourists. There was a 4th person belonging to this group but she didn't want to be in the shot. I wonder what she'll think when she sees this.
Brown and black. Just as I was on my way back to my office I noticed this girl locking her bike so I waited until she had finished before asking her to stop for a shot. I like how her shoes match her retro shoulder bag.
They don't make 'em like they used to.
Posted in film, Oxford, Street portraits | 8 Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on November 5th, 2011
Some images from the end of the summer that were made in a wood near my house. I was accompanied by my friend and work colleague Martin because he knows this place very well and it’s easy to get lost in there. The first image here of the sunrise was the second trip we made. The first trip as the sun was going down one evening was to have a scout around so that when we decided to revisit the wood at sunrise we would know exactly where to go. Our preparation paid off because a couple of weeks later we went back to the wood on a chilly Sunday morning for the sunrise and the light was magical (first image below).
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 loaded with Kodak Portra 160 and 400 film. The sunrise image was made on Portra 400, the others on 160. Processed and scanned by me.
Sunrise through the trees
Leaves are beginning to turn.
Evening light.
Smooth bark.
Posted in film, Oxford | 3 Responses »
Written by Nasir Hamid on October 30th, 2011
Earlier in the year I noticed some great photography posted on Flickr from a photographer based in Oxford. After sending him a message it turned out that he works down the road (literally a stones throw away) from my office. He exclusively uses medium format b&w film and I always enjoy seeing which parts of Oxford he’s been exploring from his abstract images. A few weeks ago we arranged to meet up after work to go on a photo walk which took us down to Port Meadow. Here are some images from that trip. Unfortunately I lost some shots from the end of a previous roll of film but I don’t know how or why. The film came out blank. It might be a faulty lens, I’m still looking into it.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330 loaded with Kodak Portra 400 colour film. Processed and scanned by me.
Rainbow over North Oxford.
Empty triangles.
Sinking tree.
Gold plated heart.
Weeping willow.
Posted in film, Oxford | 1 Response »
Written by Nasir Hamid on October 25th, 2011
I like this image so much that I think it deserves a post all by itself. How cool does this guy look? This was on Broad Street, Oxford. Hopefully I’ll get to photograph him again with some other cameras.
[Tech info]: Pentax 67, 105/2.4 with Tri-X @ 200, processed in Rodinal 1:50 for 9 mins, 20C.
Sharp dressed man.
Posted in film, Oxford, Street portraits, Street style | 2 Responses »
