Some pictures from a brief visit to Dawlish back in April.
[Tech info:] Nikon FE2, 28-75/2.8 Tamron zoom, Delta 100 film developed in Ilford DDX 1+4, Pakon scans.
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Devon: Dawlish
Thursday, December 1st, 2022
Oxford: Graflex Super D street portraits – part 1
Monday, August 22nd, 2022After 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.
Oxford: Gowlandflex street portraits – part 1
Sunday, August 21st, 2022Here 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.
Dorset: Symmondsbury
Saturday, November 6th, 2021Some pictures here from a recent trip to Dorset. There are nice views of Colmers Hill from Symmondsbury and it’s also easily accessible from there if you want to walk to the top. The first and second pictures below were a comparison of how different focal length lenses affect the relative size of distant objects. The first shot was with a 28mm lens and notice how small and far away Colmers Hill looks compared to the second image which was made with a longer focal length (either 50mm or 135mm, I can’t remember which). I tried to keep the size of the gate in the frame the same for each.
[Tech info:] Pentax MX, Ilford HP5, developed in Promicrol 1+14, Pakon scans.
Exmouth: a day at the beach
Friday, November 5th, 2021Some pictures from a recent trip to Dorset. On one of the days we went to Exmouth and spent the day on the beach. A nice place to visit. Easy parking and not too extortionate. We lucked out with the weather especially it was getting towards the end of September. On this trip I decided to travel light and only took a small 35mm film kit (Pentax MX, 28mm, 40/2.8, 50/2 and 135mm lenses). I didn’t take all the lenses out at the same time, usually only 2 but sometimes 3 (28, 50, 135). I like the jump in focal length from 50mm to 135mm because the perspective is very different which makes carrying them both well worthwhile.
[Tech info:] Pentax MX, Ilford Pan F, orange filter, developed in Promicrol 1+14.
Oxford: quiet morning in Jericho
Thursday, November 4th, 2021Here 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.
Oxford: flooded meadow
Thursday, January 14th, 2021During 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).
Oxford: Foggy New Year’s Eve
Monday, January 4th, 2021During the evening of New Year’s Eve 2020 a thick fog descended on Oxford and it was the most atmospheric I’ve seen especially with the empty streets and shops and restaurants closed. Here are some pictures from that evening which I made on b&w film. I shot two rolls of colour but they haven’t been developed yet. I should’ve packed more film.
The roll expired in 2019 so I didn’t expect there to be any problems. Unfortunately there is a mottling on these images which has been caused by the film being in contact with the backing paper, something which I haven’t experienced with Ilford film before. Apparently this is a common problem.
[Tech info:] Pentax 645NII, 45-85mm, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Ilford Ilfosol 3 1+9 for 6min 30sec in a Jobo.
Oxford: lunch break photo walk around Worcester College
Saturday, December 21st, 2019First test roll with a 40mm wide-angle lens I recently picked up for my Bronica SQ-A. I’ve had the lens for a while but I needed some dry weather during my lunch break to test it out. The lens is very wide and allows close focusing which I like. The interior shot of Worcester College chapel was an 8 second exposure which is the slowest shutter speed on the camera. I can see that being very useful in some situations. The roll of Ilford Pan F I used expired in 2007 so I rated it at ISO 25. Even though slow films are meant to lose sensitivity over time slower than faster emulsions Pan F tends to suffer quite badly for a film with a box speed of ISO 50. Not a problem on this occasion because I wanted to use the 40mm lens fairly wide open. I’m pleased with the results from this lens and it’s a keeper.
[Tech info:] Bronica SQ-A, 40mm Zenzanon lens, Ilford Pan F (expired), developed in XTOL 1+1.
Oxford: 10×8 photography
Saturday, September 14th, 2019For the longest time I have wanted to take my 10×8 camera into town to do some large format photography and recently I finally managed to do it on a Saturday morning. Even though I only took one lens – the smallest and lightest I have that is suitable for 10×8 photography – the combined weight of the camera, tripod and film holders is more than my back can comfortably handle so I have to drag the camera around with a foldable hand cart which works really well. I took with me both Ilford Delta 100 b&w film and Fuji Velvia 100F transparency film. Below are a couple of shots made with the Delta 100, I’ve processed the Velvia and the shots turned out very nicely but I haven’t scanned them yet. The group shot of the Zappi’s Cycling Club was very impromptu – I was photographing the Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street when I was approached by one of the cyclists about photographing them with my big camera.
[Tech info:] 10×8 field camera, Nikon 210mm f5.6 lens, Delta 100 film (expired), developed in Ilford DD-X with a Jobo processor.
Oxford: Endeavour 6, FILM 4 – part 6
Wednesday, June 12th, 2019Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour 6 | FILM 4 in November 2018. This was the penultimate day of filming on the series and my last day documenting the crew. It was all interiors in the studio on this day with various scenes filmed out of order which I found both intriguing and confusing.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton, Ilford Delta 400 pushed to ISO 1600, developed in DDX 1+4, Pakon scans.
Oxford: Endeavour 6, FILM 4 – part 5
Friday, June 7th, 2019Some behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour 6 | FILM 4 in Oxford, October 2018. After filming some scenes in the main quad of Teddy Hall the action moved out to New College Lane. This was late in the afternoon with rapidly fading light as I recall. The light seemed to suit the mood of the scene.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar, Ilford HP5 film.
