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Oxford: On the way to the ball

Monday, July 24th, 2017

During the summer ball season here in Oxford you will find that Radcliffe Square is a popular place for students to visit for group pictures before they carry on to the college where their ball is being held. On this particular evening last June there were quite a few summer balls being held so Radcliffe Square was fairly busy with activity. I had been waiting for an opportunity to try out some Kodak Portra 800 film that I bought a while ago and this was the perfect occasion with low light levels but not too low.

[Tech info:] Pentax 6×7, 105/2.4 lens, Kodak Portra 800 film developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit.

 

Oxford: Magdalen College Ball, 2015 – part 1

Tuesday, July 7th, 2015

The only summer ball I had time to photograph this year was at Magdalen College and here are some images from the evening. Ambient light was quite scarce around the college grounds so I had limited options of where I could photograph after dark. For the first time I decided not to use a flash and I’m glad about my decision because it forced me to make pictures I probably wouldn’t have made otherwise. Trying to decide which cameras to take was difficult but in the end I opted for my Leica M2 because of the ease of focussing with the rangefinder in low light and the quality of the lenses. More images to come in a follow up post.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford HP5, ISO 1600, developed in Kodak D76 stock, Pakon scans.

 

Oxford: Christ Church Commemoration Ball 2014 – part 1

Thursday, September 18th, 2014

Christ Church College is such a grand venue for a summer ball and back in July the summer’s evening light was absolutely perfect for the occasion. After doing the promo photography I was really looking forward to this ball and it was worth the wait. These shots were made with a little point and shoot compact camera and I really like the snapshot feel to them. After the sun went down for a time it was so dark in Tom Quad that I could hardly see who I was photographing but somehow the camera still managed to focus. Many thanks to Tori for inviting me and for helping organise such a wonderful event.

[Tech info:] Canon Sureshot Supreme, Fuji Superia 200 film, processed by ASDA in Swindon, Pakon scans.

 

Oxford: English Eccentrics shoot

Sunday, August 17th, 2014

Some film shots from a promo shoot I did for the Christ Church Commemoration Ball 2014 who’s theme was English Eccentrics. This was a really fun shoot to do but one of those times where I wished I had more time to shoot film. Thank you to everyone that gave up their time for this shoot and to the amazing Tori for putting it all together.

[Tech info:] Bronica ETRSi, 75/2.8, Fuji 400H (expired), processed and scanned by Ag Photo lab.

 

Oxford: Teddy Hall Ball 2014

Tuesday, May 13th, 2014

Some shots from the Teddy Hall Ball that I photographed recently, the first ball of the summer for me. I’ve got some exciting ones coming up this year which I’m very much looking forward to.

[Tech info:] Nikon FM2, 50/1.4, Fuji Press 400 film. Developed and scanned at ASDA, Swindon.

Oxford: on the way to the ball

Monday, September 2nd, 2013

On my way to the Keble ball earlier this summer I cycled through Radcliffe Square and came across a group of students waiting to go into the Brasenose college ball so I stopped to make some portraits. The combination of gorgeous summers evening light and the splashes of colour from the various dresses that were being worn made for some great pictures. I don’t know any of these students (apart from Amber with the headphones) so if you recognise any please pass on the link to my blog so that they can see these. The couple in the last picture were sitting patiently watching the fashion show so after everyone had gone I thought it would be nice to include them in this set.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with expired Kodak Portra 400 VC. Developed and scanned by Ag Photo lab.

Oxford: Balliol 750th Commemoration Ball 2013 part 2

Thursday, August 22nd, 2013

At long last I have the shots I made on colour film at the Balliol 750th Commemoration Ball and I couldn’t be more pleased that I decided to send these out to a lab to have developed and scanned. This set of images is every frame from two rolls of film. I find it very exciting to send off rolls of film in the post and then patiently wait for them to return which is something that you only get with film. Despite these films being past their expiry date the colours have turned out beautifully – thank you Ag photo lab in Birmingham for doing such a great job. I bought a good sized batch of this film from a fashion photographer that used to use a lot of it but as his clients request digital photography now he had no need for it.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Portra VC, developed and scanned by Ag Photo lab.

Oxford: Balliol 750th Commemoration Ball 2013 part 1

Sunday, June 30th, 2013

Here are some of my images from the Balliol 750th Commemoration Ball that I made on medium format film. Once the sun had gone down I decided to switch to using only black & white film because I like how classic it looks – with lots of different coloured lights in the evening it can be quite distracting. The live acts in the second grid were King Charles (who were amazing) and Mark Ronson DJing. It was the first time I had photographed a live band with a twin lens reflex camera and although a bit of a challenge it was really good fun. With only 12 frames on a roll you really have to pick your moments carefully.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 rated at ISO1600. Processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Oxford: Balliol 750th Commemoration Ball 2013 preview

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

Last week Balliol College held their 750th Commemoration Ball here in Oxford and I was there to photograph the event. The weather was a perfect summers evening with gorgeous light and as a photographer I couldn’t have asked for more. I believe there were somewhere around 1,200 guests in attendance so I kept busy the whole night. While there was still daylight I used colour film and after it got dark I switched to black & white. The colour images will be a while as I try to decide on whether to develop them myself or to send them out to a lab. I have a pile of colour films I need to develop which has been steadily growing over the past 5 months. I’m waiting to order the chemicals necessary to develop them because the 5L kit is good for 100 – 120 rolls and once you start to mix the chemistry it has a shortish shelf life.

So, here we have a little preview of some of my black & white shots from the evening. The 2012 Balliol Ball last year was the very first Oxford University ball I’ve ever attended and some of the images I made on film that night are my favourites from all of the ball’s I’ve attended so far. It was nice to see some familiar faces at this ball from last year and also to meet some visitors of this blog. Lots more film images still to come but I’ll be drip feeding them because I have so many to post.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 rated at ISO1600. Processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Oxford: guests going to St Peter’s College ball part 2

Saturday, June 1st, 2013

Here are the rest of the shots I made of some of the guests that were going to St Peter’s College ball. A few of these shots were not of the guests but they they were made during the same session so they were on the same roll of film which is why I decided to post them here. The light was fading quite fast at this point so I was struggling a little but these turned out great. According to Kodak you can rate their Tri-X film at ISO 400 or 800 and still develop it for the same amount of time. This proved to be correct even though I was using expired film.

[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL and 80/f1.9 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Oxford: Keble Ball 2013 part 3

Wednesday, May 15th, 2013

These shots are from a roll of medium format film that I shot at the 2013 Keble Ball. This is every frame from the roll. The start of the ball is always tricky for photography because I was racing against the fading light as the sun started to drop behind the college buildings as well as trying to stop people to photograph them amidst the flood of guests that were pouring in. It was helpful that I had photographed at last year’s ball so I knew what to expect.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 film which I processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 7:30.

Photo shoot: Balliol Style Suite (Fujiroids)

Sunday, May 12th, 2013

The Balliol 750th Anniversary Commemoration Ball is coming up next month and in preparation for that dress hire company Wish Want Wear brought a selection of dresses for students to try on. I went along to do some film photography in Balliol’s gardens and here are the shots I made on Fuji instant pack film (just like Polaroid). I’ll be one of the photographers at the ball next month and I’m really looking forward to it. The very first Oxford college ball I ever photographed at was Balliol’s last year, you can see some of my images here.

[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90/3.5 lens, Fuji FP100-C instant pack film.