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Oxford: large format film street portraits

Friday, September 20th, 2024

Recent street portraits on large format film. Making the most of what will probably be the last week of warm weather this year I took my camera gear into town to make some portraits as the sun was rapidly dropping. There is a glow to some of the skin tones which I think might be down to the warm colour temperature of the early evening light. The camera is from somewhere around the 1950s, the brass lens is around 150 years old, the film is fresh. Thank you to everyone who stopped to be photographed.

[Tech info:] Graflex Speed Graphic, Dallmeyer 2B petzval lens, Fomapan 400 film rated at ISO 200, developed in Rodinal 1+25.

2024092_Oxford_Dallmeyer-2B_Fomapan400_Rodinal_01_web 2024092_Oxford_Dallmeyer-2B_Fomapan400_Rodinal_02_web 2024092_Oxford_Dallmeyer-2B_Fomapan400_Rodinal_03_web 2024092_Oxford_Dallmeyer-2B_Fomapan400_Rodinal_04_web 2024092_Oxford_Dallmeyer-2B_Fomapan400_Rodinal_06_web

Oxford: large format portrait

Sunday, May 5th, 2024

Here’s a quick large format portrait from last weekend when I was testing a 210mm f4.5 Docter Wetzlar lens. Thanks goes to these guys who were very obliging. I believe this was at f6.8.

[Tech info:] Chamonix 5×4, 210mm f4.5 Docter Wetzlar lens, Ilford FP4 film, ISO 80 (expired but stored frozen), developed in Promicrol 1+9 5 mins.

20240504_Oxford_Chamonix_210-4.5_FP4_Promicrol_1-9_02_web 20240504_Oxford_Chamonix_210-4.5_FP4_Promicrol_1-9_01_web

Oxford: Xenotar lens test

Wednesday, December 27th, 2023

Some shots from yesterday when I was testing a Schneider Xenotar lens I recently picked up. Very overcast flat light but the results are OK.

[Tech info:] Chamonix 45F2, 135/3.5 Xenotar lens (yellow filter apart from the portrait), Fomapan 100 @ ISO 64, developed in ID-11 1+1 for 10m 30s.

20231226_Chamonix_135-Xenotar_Foma100_ID11_1-1_02_web 20231226_Chamonix_135-Xenotar_Foma100_ID11_1-1_01_web 20231226_Chamonix_135-Xenotar_Foma100_ID11_1-1_05_web 20231226_Chamonix_135-Xenotar_Foma100_ID11_1-1_03_web

Oxford: portraits by the river

Wednesday, October 4th, 2023

A few portraits made by the river to test a lens I’ve had for a while. Aperture used for these was f8-f8.5.

[Tech info:] Chamonix 45F2, 10 inch f6.3 Kodak Commercial Ektar lens, yellow filter, Fomapan 200 film @ ISO 100, developed in Adox XT-3 stock for 6 mins.

20230921_Chamonix_10in-Comm-Ektar_Foma200_XT-3_003_web 20230921_Chamonix_10in-Comm-Ektar_Foma200_XT-3_002_web 20230921_Chamonix_10in-Comm-Ektar_Foma200_XT-3_001_web

Oxford: Misty morning

Tuesday, September 19th, 2023

Some misty morning shots from April this year. I have photographed this location with various different cameras but this was the first time with a wider format. I feel 6×12 worked perfectly for these shots.

[Tech info]: Wista 5×4, 90mm Schneider lens, Ilford FP4+ developed in Adox XT-3 stock.

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Oxford: Aero Ektar lens test

Wednesday, December 7th, 2022

Here are a couple of pictures made with my Graflex Speed Graphic 5×4 camera and Kodak Aero Ektar lens. It’s been a very long time since I last used this set-up so I decided to test it out in Jericho, Oxford. I always envisioned this camera/lens combo for making portraits and was very fortunate to have a friendly couple that were willing to stand very still for me. The camera movements are very limited but I used some front swing to try to bring both faces into focus without stopping the lens down too much (I think I was at f4). The maximum aperture is f2.5 which gives a razor thin depth of field on 5×4 film.

[Tech info:] Graflex Speed Graphic 5×4, Kodak Aero Ektar lens, Fomapan 100 film (expired), developed in HC110 1+63 for 10 mins.

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Oxford: Speed Graphic street portraits – part 1

Wednesday, August 24th, 2022

After being on a bit of a roll with my large format street portraits I decided to take my Speed Graphic out with a lens I’ve been meaning to use for a while – 165mm f2.7 Zeiss Tessar. I repurposed the lens from a folding camera which was well past its best with a perished shutter. Steve at Chroma Camera kindly designed and 3D printed a custom lens board for me. It’s a lot lighter than my Aero Ektar lens but gives a very different look. Depth of field is very shallow as you’d expect – most of these were shot around f4.5.

[Tech info:] Speed Graphic 5×4, 165mm f2.7 Tessar lens, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6mins.

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Oxford: Graflex Super D street portraits – part 1

Monday, August 22nd, 2022

After the focus issues I was having with my Gowlandflex I decided to take my Graflex Super D into town after work to use it for some more large format portraits. The benefit is I’m able to cycle with the Super D in a rucksack, my Gowlandflex is too large to fit into any rucksack I currently own. The lens I used was designed for aerial photography during WWII and is uncoated which gives a low contrast almost dreamy look which I like.
[Tech info:] Graflex Super D, 8 inch Pentac lens, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6 mins.

20220815_Broad-Street_Oxford_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110B_05_web 20220815_Nicola_Rad-Sq_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110_06_web 20220815_Broad-Street_Oxford_SuperD_Pentac_Acros_HC110B_02_web 20220815_Broad-Street_Oxford_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110B_08_web 20220815_Broad-Street_Oxford_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110B_04_web 20220815_Broad-Street_Oxford_SuperD_Pentac_HP5_HC110B_07_webSuperD

Oxford: Gowlandflex street portraits – part 1

Sunday, August 21st, 2022

Here are some street portraits from the first trips out with my Gowlandflex large format TLR camera on a Saturday and Sunday morning in Oxford. The camera is a beast and attracted a fair bit of attention. I enjoyed chatting with people and making their portraits – something I haven’t done for a couple of years.

The mirror calibration was completely wrong when I received this camera so I replaced the springs to lower the mirror by 2.5mm. This is the first time I’ve used it properly and it looks like I need to re-check the calibration because most of these shots are front focussed but overall I’m pleased with the results. A couple of the shots have some strange light leaks which might be from the film holder not being seated properly. Further investigation needed.

[Tech info:] Gowlandflex TLR, 180/4.5 Voigtlander Heliar lens, Ilford HP5 & Funi Across 100 film (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6 mins.

20220813_Bus-Driver_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_01_web 20220813_Gowlandflex_Oxford_HP5_HC110B_01_web 20220813_Gowlandflex_Oxford_HP5_HC110B_03_web 20220813_Radcliffe-Square_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_02_web 20220813_Radcliffe-Square_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_03_web 20220814_Broad-Street_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_05_web 20220815_Andrew_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_10_web 20220815_Broad-Street_Gowlandflex_HP5_HC110B_09_web

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Oxford: flooded meadow

Thursday, January 14th, 2021

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).

20201229_Flooded_Meadow_75mm_FP4_HC110B_001_web 20201229_Flooded_Meadow_75mm_FP4_HC110B_002_web 20201229_Flooded_Meadow_75mm_FP4_HC110B_003_web 20201229_Flooded_Meadow_75mm_FP4_HC110B_004_web IMG_5044 IMG_5045 IMG_5049 IMG_5053

 

 

 

Oxford: Paper negative testing

Wednesday, June 12th, 2019

These shots are from a lunch break session of testing paper negatives. In previous tests I had found using ID11 film developer diluted to 1+2 tamed the contrast nicely compared to using Ilford Multigrade paper developer but having run out of ID11 I wanted to test D76 film developer which I had just mixed up (apparently they are both based on the same recipe). The sky was very overcast which kept the contrast down and I was in-between rain showers.

[Tech info:] Graflex Crown Graphic 5×4, 135/4.7 lens, Ilford Multigrade RC paper (ISO 6), D76 1+2 dilution, 2 mins.

Black Country Living Museum

Friday, March 30th, 2018

Last month I visited the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley for the second time and on this trip I decided to take along a large format camera for a change. The most portable 5×4 camera I have is a modified Polaroid 110B which folds up nicely to make it very portable and easy to travel with. I’ve got some sheets that I haven’t developed yet and those will follow in a future blog post.

[Tech info:] Polaroid 110B, Yashinon 127mm lens, Ilford FP4 film (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Last shot was made on Fomapan 100 (expired), developed in Rodinal 1+25.