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Oxford: glass dry plate portrait

Friday, March 1st, 2024

Here is my first portrait on dry glass plate. I found a box of old Ilford FP4 glass dry plates at home and have no idea when I bought them. The box doesn’t have an expiry date on it. As luck would have it they’re the correct size  (2.5 x 3.5 inches) to fit the Mamiya Press plate holders I’ve got but so far have been unable to make use of. This portrait of another fellow photographer during his visit to Oxford was made last weekend in Radcliffe Square. I don’t know him but I enjoyed chatting about photography with him as I set up the shot. I’m very pleased with this result (it has a vintage feel to it) and look forward to making more portraits with the remaining glass plates. The emulsion is very fragile when wet and you can see it lifted along the right hand side.

[Tech info:] Mamiya Press Super 23, 100/2.8 lens (at f4), FP4 glass dry plate exposed at ISO 10, developed in Rodinal 1+25. (Thanks to Nicholas Middleton for his inspiration and blog posts full of info about using old glass plates).

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Oxford: graduation day 2023

Tuesday, October 10th, 2023

Graduation day, end of September. I was channeling some Diane Arbus with my C330f and fill-flash on a sunny day – a combo I haven’t tried before. The flash was a small Rollei model without any power setting. I think it worked quite well overall. The low perspective is from using a waist level finder – not an obvious choice with a wide-angle lens when photographing people but it helped to include some architecture in the background.

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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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Gear: Rolleiflex SL66 & 125mm f2.5 Leitz lens

Monday, September 18th, 2023

Recently I came across an interesting lens I was curious to try out – a Leitz 125mm f2.5 modified for use on a Rolleiflex SL66. The lens was originally designed for use on a 35mm format system but amazingly it covers 6×6 without any issues. The previous owner carried out the modification and it’s very nicely done. Here are the first test shots from a photowalk with a photographer mate of mine.

[Tech info]: Rolleiflex SL66, 125mm f2.5 Leitz lens, shots 1-3 Ilford FP4, the rest are Ilford HP5, developed in Adox XT-3 stock.

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Endeavour 9: FILM 1 – part 2

Thursday, March 2nd, 2023

Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour 9 | FILM 1 in Oxford, May 2022. The location was New College fellows garden which isn’t within the main New College grounds but tucked away on the opposite side of New College Lane.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 50/2 Voigtlander Nokton and 75/1.8 Voigtlander lenses. Ilford FP4 film developed in HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.

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Oxford: Happy Valley

Thursday, April 7th, 2022

Some pictures from an evening walk around Happy Valley in March 2021. I was experimenting with depth of field as the sun was dropping. I keep meaning to go back here with a larger format camera and feel the pond there has potential in different seasons.

[Tech info:] Nikon FA, 50/1.4D, Ilford FP4, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.

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Oxford: Foggy Boxing Day

Tuesday, January 4th, 2022

Here are some shots made during a foggy night in Oxford on Boxing Day last year, between 10pm and 12am. I chose to develop the film in 510 Pyro to see how well it held the highlights and I’m pleased to say it did exceptionally well as you can see from the pictures. The dynamic range between the street lights and the dark shadows in these night shots is huge but it didn’t seem to give 510 Pyro any problems. One of the last shots I calculated to be a 4 minute exposure with reciprocity but in hindsight I feel I miscalculated and overexposed the shot by at least 1.5 stops but the shot it still totally usable.

[Tech info:] Pentax 645N, 55/2.8, Ilford FP4, developed in 510 Pyro 1+100 for 11mins.

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Oxford: quiet morning in Jericho

Thursday, November 4th, 2021

Here are some pictures from a recent walk around Jericho with a mate of mine. I wanted to test out a camera and it’s been quite a while since I walked around Jericho so it was nice to combine the two. This roll of FP4 film is part of the blotchy batch I have and rather than throw it away, I use it for testing.

[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 ProTL, 80/2.8N, Ilford FP4, developed in HC110 1+31.

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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).

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Oxford: Endeavour 5, FILM 1 – part 6

Tuesday, December 25th, 2018

Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour series 5, FILM 1 in Oxford on 30th October 2017. Despite the overcast looking light I think it was fairly bright on this day because I used a relatively slow film, certainly slower than I usually would on a dull day. It was nice not to be fighting contrast for a change.

[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Ilford FP4, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 5, FILM 6 – part 3

Sunday, April 22nd, 2018

Behind the scenes photography during the filming of Endeavour series 5, FILM 6 in Oxford. This was a busy day of filming for the crew with the bulk of the time spent on the drive-by shooting outside the pet shop on Turl Street (the Oxfam bookshop on any other day). The first set up was outside Joan’s flat – you can see leaves on the ground as this was the end of October and Autumn was on the turn. More shots to come from this day of filming.

[Tech info:] Hexar AF, Ilford FP4 film developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.

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.