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Monday, April 13th, 2015
On the same day as this year’s Worldwide Pillow Fighting Day the EDL decided to hold a demonstration in Oxford. Good timing! That in turn brought out a large gathering of United Against Fascism demonstrators which led to a massive Police presence in Oxford City Centre which I have never seen before. The Police did a fantastic job of keeping both parties away from each other and the EDL were so well penned in opposite the Police station on St Aldates that whatever message they were trying to get across fell on deaf ears.
From there I went to photograph the pillow fight in Catte Street which was a completely different vibe and fun to get in amongst even if it meant getting bopped on the head a number of times. I decided to use my panoramic camera to try to capture a sense of how many people were there. To be honest I think there were more people photographing the event than pillow fighters but it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately the film ripped off the spool inside the camera when I was winding on the last frame so I was unable to load a second roll. I had to remove the film in a changing bag and the film got scratched when I pulled the film out. A bit of a shame but not the end of the world.
[Tech info:] Zenit S3 Pro Horizon, Ilford HP5, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5mins.
Posted in film, Oxford, People | 2 Responses »
Tags: black&white, film, hc110, horizon, HP5, oxford, panoramic, people, pillow fight, zenit
Tuesday, March 17th, 2015
This set of images were made with what I think is the oldest camera I currently own – a Voigtlander Bessa I 6×9 folder from 1936. It works incredibly well for its age but it is a little quirky (it has separate viewfinder windows for focussing and composing) and it’s not particularly fast to use in a hurry but I do enjoy the size of the frames on the film and it folds down to a very compact size which makes it perfect for carrying around. I’ve only put three rolls through it so far and I think I’ll try a roll with this camera mounted on a tripod to see how much sharper the images become.
[Tech info]: Voigtlander Bessa I 6×9 folder, 105mm Skopar lens, Fuji Acros 100 film, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5:30.
Posted in Equipment, Oxford, Portrait, Street portraits | 2 Responses »
Tags: 6x9, acros, bessa, black&white, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, voigtlander
Saturday, February 28th, 2015
Here are some images from a recent lunchtime photography session with Ella. I wanted to practice a little with this camera and lens combination because while I really like the results I get from them, I’m not happy with the shutter release on the camera and how far you need to press before it will activate the shutter. I have a power-winder for it that came as part of the kit but I haven’t tried it yet. Maybe it’s about time I did. Ella was very easy to work with and hopefully there will be more opportunities to do some photography together.
[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80/1.9 lens, Fuji Acros 100 (expired) film, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5:30.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 645, acros, black&white, ella, film, hc110, oxford, portraits, students
Wednesday, February 25th, 2015
Some of the results from my large format lunchtime session with Alice using a 1940’s press camera. For this session I wanted to test out some Fomapan 100 film that I’ve had laying around for over a year and recently discovered. So far so good. I like these results. I’m hoping to do more large format photography in my lunch break because I really enjoy composing my shots on a large ground glass screen – often times upside down – and also having a limited amount of shots as well as the slower pace compared to other kinds of photography.
[Tech info:] Graflex Super D 5×4, Pentac 8inch f2.9 (bottom left), Kodak Ektar 190/5.6 lens, Fomapan 100 (expired), processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.
Film hanging up to dry
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: 5x4, alice, black&white, fomapan, graflex, hc110, oxford, students, super d
Monday, February 9th, 2015
Yesterday I taught a landscape photography workshop at New College with Anthony (the current Oxford University Photographic Society President) and after a classroom session we all went out into the New College grounds to do some photography. The sky was very clear which made for quite contrasty light with nice shadows. I decided to take my Polaroid 110B to do some large format photography on Kodak Plus-X Aerographic film to test out how it handled contrast. Overall I think the film handled the contrast very well, especially in this first image below. I only took six sheets of film with me and to save time I bracketed the first two shots and then used my last two on Anthony (we couldn’t decide on jacket on or off so we shot both).
[Tech info:] Polaroid 110B, Kodak Plus-X Aerographic film, processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 5 mins.
Behind-the-scenes – film drying in the darkroom
Posted in Architecture, film, Oxford, Portrait | 4 Responses »
Tags: 110B, 5x4, aerographic, anthony, black&white, film, hc110, new college, oxford, plus-x, polaroid, portraits
Sunday, February 8th, 2015
It was nice to see some familiar faces at this years’ Town vs Gown Boxing competition at the Oxford Union, especially some of the team from last year who had come to cheer on Oxford. Last year was my first time photographing this event and I had no idea what to expect when I arrived there. This year was very different because this time I had access all areas and I also had last years’ pictures to live up to (which can be seen here and here).
After much deliberation on which cameras and film to take with me I eventually decided that I wanted to make some portraits on medium format but the difficult part was choosing which medium format camera to take. In the end I went for my Mamiya 645 Pro TL because it’s the one that I own with the fastest lens and not only did I want a shallow depth of field but I also knew that the light levels inside the Oxford Union are fairly low. The 80/1.9 lens that I took with me is quite unforgiving when it comes to focussing it at anywhere near to wide open and the focussing screen that came in my camera (I’m not sure if it’s the standard stock screen) is very bright and clear which actually makes it more difficult to tell whether something is in focus or not so the sharpness in some of the shots below is lacking. The Mamiya 645 Pro TL is a nice camera to use but the thing I hate most about it is the shutter release travel feels like it goes on forever which can cause movement of the camera (in my experience) just before the shutter fires. I have a motor-drive for mine which came with the camera but I haven’t used it yet because once you’ve loaded the grip with AA batteries it adds quite a bit of weight to it as well as increasing the overall size.
[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80/1.9, Kodak Tri-X 400 @ ISO 1600, processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 16mins.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 645, backstage, black&white, boxing, film, hc110, mamiya, oxford, portraits, protl, students, Tri-X
Friday, February 6th, 2015
This is the first set of my images from the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club (OUABC) Town vs Gown 2015 competition which was held at the Oxford Union two nights ago. Last year was my first time photographing this event and it’s hard to believe that twelve months have already gone by. I was very pleased with my images last year but I decided to change things up a bit this year in terms of cameras and film choice instead of just repeating the same thing. First up we have some shots made with my Leica M2 but I also took a medium format camera with me and a 35mm point and shoot so those will follow soon. The film I used for the images below (Fuji Neopan 1600) is sadly no longer made by Fuji and the roll I used came in a mixed bag of film I bought from a press photographer a couple of years ago. The film is expired but I have no idea by how much so it was a bit risky using it but that’s also what makes things exciting when you have no idea how or if the shots are going to turn out. When it came to developing this film I had to seek some advice from a friend of mine who’s more experienced than I when it comes to using this film (thanks Jean Pierre) and I’m pleased to say I really like the results. All of these were made using available light, in fact I didn’t take a flash with me and the only camera I had that did have a flash was the point and shoot compact.
Many thanks to Isra Hale for the invite and to the boxers for their patience both before and after their bouts in the ring. I look forward to next year when not only will we have another Town vs Gown but also the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity will be back in Oxford.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 35/1.2, Fuji Neopan 1600 (rated ISO 1600), developed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 8mins. Pakon scans.
Posted in Behind the scenes, film, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 1600, black&white, boxing, film, hc110, leica, m2, neopan, oxford, oxford union, students, voigtlander
Wednesday, January 28th, 2015
Here are some medium format shots I made during my recent lunch time session with Tori. I previously posted a couple of Fujiroid bleached neg shots here. The format for these shots was 6×9 which is one of my favourite medium format aspect ratios but I only have one camera that was designed to use that format and these shots reminded me that I don’t use it enough. You get 8 shots of 6×9 on a 120 size roll so it’s not a format for the trigger happy. For this shoot I decided to use fresh film stock for a change and while I can’t see a huge difference compared to some of my expired film shots I do think that the contrast was handled better on the contrasty back lit shots. We were a bit rushed in this session because I wanted to use medium format, 35mm and Fuji pack film all within 25mins which is not easy when you’ve got lots of people moving around during lunch time and you have to keep stopping to wait for a clear background but Tori was very patient despite the cold weather and we got everything done in time.
[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal, 100/2.8, Kodak Tri-X 400, processed in Kodak Xtol 1+1.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x9, black&white, film, mamiya universal, oxford, people, students, tori, Tri-X, xtol
Sunday, January 25th, 2015
Towards the end of the Christmas break I did some photography at Magdalen College to test out a Russian lens I had mounted to use with my Speed Graphic 5×4 camera. How appropriate that I would meet up with a Russian flickr contact of mine who was visiting Oxford with his girlfriend. Along with my Speed Graphic I took my Leica M2 which I used for these shots. The light was fading fast but the 400 speed of Ilford XP2 was just fine. There are some shots from this session still to come which I made on Kodak Vision 3 500T motion picture film.
The results from my Speed Graphic can be found here and here.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford XP2 (expired), processed in a Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scan.
Speed Graphic 5×4
Posted in Architecture, film, Oxford, People, Portrait | 2 Responses »
Tags: black&white, film, konstantin, leica, m2, magdalen college, oxford, portraits, voigtlander, xp2
Thursday, January 15th, 2015
Spilt is a short film written and directed by Alvin Yu and I was asked if I’d like to do some portrait photography while they were filming in Oxford a couple of weeks ago. Due to timing conflicts I was only able to make it to set on their final day of filming after it had gotten dark outside so I made these portraits indoors with the available light (a bulb hanging from the ceiling in the hallway). The crew were setting up for a shot so I had to work quickly, one frame on each person, no re-takes and no second shot. What you see here is the entire roll of film, uncropped. Apologies to any crew members that I didn’t manage to include, hopefully I’ll get you on another project.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss Planar 80mm, Kodak Tri-X 400 rated at ISO 1600, processed in Kodak Xtol 1+1.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, backstage, black&white, film, filming, oxford, people, portraits, rolleiflex, spilt, students, Tri-X, xtol
Tuesday, January 13th, 2015
Here are a few more shots from the first time out with my Industar 210mm large format lens. I only took six sheets of film with me and I used two sheets on one of the shots because the light was changing and I decided to try out a greater depth of field on the second sheet. I ended up preferring the light on the building in the first exposure so that’s the one I’ve posted here.
[Tech info:] Graflex Speed Graphic, Industar 210/f4.5 lens, Kodak Plus-X Aerographic film, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6 mins.
Posted in Architecture, Equipment, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: 5x4, aerographic, black&white, film, graflex, hc110, industar, oxford, plus-x, portraits
Monday, January 5th, 2015
These shots are from a few days ago during a photo walk around town with a fellow film photographer friend of mine, Chris. Neither of us had anticipated the icy cold wind that had come in and after braving it up until the light started to fade we decided to head to the Natural History Museum which is not only one of my favourite places to photograph but it’s also guaranteed to be warm 🙂 I made a mistake with this roll because it came in a batch of mixed expired films and had no box. At a glance the roll looked like Fuji Neopan 100 Acros but it was actually Neopan 400. I wanted to test Acros pushed 1 stop in Xtol developer but because this was an ISO 400 film I ended up over-exposing it by 1 stop and then pushed it 1 stop in the developer. I’m amazed I got anything usable from the roll and it’s a credit to the latitude of film.
[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal, 100/2.8, Fuji Neopan 400 (expired), rated at ISO 200 and pushed 1 stop in Xtol 1+1 for 13 mins.
Posted in Oxford, People | No Responses »
Tags: 6x7, black&white, film, mamiya universal, natural history museum, oxford, xtol
