Street portraits
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Friday, August 31st, 2012
Some more images from my punting photo shoot on the river Cherwell here in Oxford. These shots were all made on film whereas the previous ones were all from Fuji instant pack film (similar to Polaroid). Part one is here. More to come from this photo shoot.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 with 110mm and 150mm lenses on Fuji Pro 400H film, processed and scanned by me.
I love how this image turned out. One of the first frames of the photo shoot.
Looking at the setting sun.
Despite this being underexposed I like how this has turned out. Note the heavy colour shift towards green.
We kept the punt turning to vary things up. Some shots have the sun to camera right, others to the left.
A lovely bit of rim lighting and lens flare.
Posted in film, People, Photo shoot, students | 1 Response »
Tags: 6x7, film, oxford, people, portraits, RZ67, students, summer
Thursday, August 23rd, 2012
Yesterday I had the most amazing photo shoot with a very creative and photogenic couple, Peter and Alexandra. They hired a punt and we all travelled slowly along the river Cherwell while the sun was setting. It was pretty much perfect and felt like I was in a movie. I first met Peter and Alexandra while I was photographing the Oxford Union Society summer ball back in May and I knew that I wanted to do a photo shoot with them but the idea of doing it on a punt was all Alexandra’s. This is a little taster of some of the images I made because I haven’t processed the film yet. These shots were made with Fuji instant pack film (the same as Polaroid) but for these I scanned the negative part after bleaching the black backing off. I can’t wait to see the film shots. Please note that none of these images have been retouched in any way, they are all straight scans. More to come.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 with 110mm and 150mm lenses. Fuji FP100C instant pack film.
First frame
We are all still in the punt for this shot. The Willow was overhanging the river. Zero Photoshop effects, this is a straight scan.
Looking at the setting sun.
Leaning back.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | 6 Responses »
Tags: 110mm, 6x7, fp100c, fujiroid, oxford, people, photo shoot, portraits, punt, students, summer
Sunday, August 19th, 2012
These images are from the second half of a roll I shot during my lunch hour photo walks a few weeks ago. The first half of the roll is here. I’ve got a bit of a backlog of images to scan and post but I’ll have more time in the coming weeks to catch up so if you haven’t seen your portrait yet don’t worry, it’s more than likely coming soon.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f and 105mm lens loaded with Fuji Acros 100 film, Processed in Rodinal 1:25.
Lock and load. There's not much some WD40 can't fix.
Coffee break on the Walton Street construction project.
This guy was a bit camera shy. I like his flat cap and rolled up jeans.
David, a fellow film photographer carrying a camera that I don't own. A real beast of a medium format.
Olympic photographer from Uruguay. He didn't speak any english but somehow I managed to communicate with him. I'm sure he was intrigued by my camera.
Scaffolding on the Walton Street construction project at the corner of Little Clarendon Street.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, acros, black&white, c330, film, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, summer
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012
After months of rain we finally had a short lived spell of dry weather. These images are from the first half of a roll of film I shot recently during my lunch break. We are now back to wet/overcast weather. Is it summer yet?
I used this roll to experiment with a different developer that I usually use with this brand of film and so far I like the results. My developer of choice for Fuji Acros 100 film is Kodak HC110 but with this roll I used Rodinal at a dilution of 1+25.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f with 105mm lens loaded with Fuji Acros 100 film, processed in Rodinal 1+25.
This gentleman wasn't keen to be photographed but after we chatted a little about photography he seemed okay with it. I hope he agrees that it was worth stopping for.
This man called me over after he saw me photographing the building project on the corner of Walton street. We had a good chat. He's a local musician.
This girl was waiting for a friend outside Brasenose college. The friend turned up right before I made this shot. She's standing to camera right just out of frame.
High street. I like the arrows in this frame.
A Police speed trap on St Giles. I saw a few cars being pulled over for speeding. Easy money.
The building project on the corner of Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street is beginning to take shape.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, acros, black&white, c330, film, people, portraits, rodinal, summer
Sunday, August 5th, 2012
For the longest time I’ve wanted to be able to do large format street photography but up until now I’ve always found it difficult because of the time required to set up a shot. Most of the people I stop to photograph on the street probably don’t want to have to stand still for a few minutes while I set up a shot so I’ve been searching for a camera that I can hand hold and operate quite fast. My hope was I had found such a camera in the Graflex Speed Graphic which was a favourite among press photographers as far back as the 1920’s but the rangefinder focusing and approximate framing guide never really worked very well for me so my search continued. Once I came across the Graflex Super D which was designed as a large format SLR it looked like my search was over. I’ve wanted one of these cameras for a long time and now I finally have one. It’s a big wooden box with a mirror inside that helps you with focussing and composition and the really nice thing is the image you’re looking at isn’t upside down, it’s just flipped horizontally. My Super D came from New York and dates from the late 1940’s to early 1950’s. It looks like it’s had plenty of use but it still works perfectly. These images were all made in the space of around an hour on my first time using it with 5×4 inch film.
[Tech info:] Graflex Super D camera, 190mm lens and Ilford HP5+ film processed in Ilford DD-X (1+4).
This young lady works at 'Objects of use' on Market street, a lovely shop that is well worth a visit.
I've photographed this fantastic bike a few times but this is the first time I've seen its owner. The girl he was speaking to, just out of frame on the right. said to me 'Oh, so you're the Simply Oxford guy that keeps taking those annoying pictures of pretentious people'. I can't see how my pictures would be annoying. What a strange thing to say.
Brooks saddle, Market street.
I thought I was composing this to be portrait orientation but I was working in a hurry and forgot to rotate the camera back. Ship Street.
Coffee break, Ship street.
This man is an old skool photographer that I bump into from time to time. We usually chat about whatever camera I happen to be carrying. Outside Carfax tower.
Here's a shot I made quite a while ago of the friendly staff at 'Objects of use' on Market street. I struggled a little with the low light.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | 2 Responses »
Tags: 5x4, black&white, film, graflex, HP5, oxford, people, portraits, super d
Wednesday, August 1st, 2012
This is a short post of some frames from a a lunch hour session a few weeks ago. I’ve already posted the other frames from this roll but I forgot to post these.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, 80mm Zeiss lens, with Fuji Acros 100 film processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b).
Top: David working on his bike, middle: builders working on the Walton street site, bottom: waiting for the bus, Magdalen Street.
Top: Martin, middle and bottom: Korky Paul and Valerie Thomas book signing. They're the duo behind the Winnie the Witch series of books.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, film, hc110, people, SL66, summer
Sunday, July 29th, 2012
The long awaited summer weather has finally arrived here in Oxford and after months of rain we’ve been enjoying scorching hot sun. When the sun comes out people are generally in a good mood and that makes for better conditions to make street portraits. I’ve got quite a backlog of films to process and scan but I’m working through them slowly. Here are some images made on a brand of colour film that I haven’t tried before but I keep hearing and seeing great things about it so I decided to give it a go. So far I love the results. These images are all consecutive frames on the same roll of film. I like how they’re sequenced. As you can see the tv show Lewis is currently being filmed in Oxford and Kevin Whately was nice enough to stop for a quick street portrait in Turl Street.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, 80/f2.8 lens, loaded with Fuji Pro 400H film, processed and scanned by me.
Top frame: focus puller with the Lewis crew
Top frame: Party shop in Market Street, middle: Kevin Whately, bottom: sound crew working on Lewis.
Top: Michael, middle: Jamie, bottom: conservators working on restoring St Mary's Church.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait, Street portraits | 1 Response »
Tags: 400H, 6x6, film, fuji, oxford, people, portraits, SL66, summer
Wednesday, July 25th, 2012
Here’s a little something different, triptych’s. Each set of three frames are consecutive shots on the same roll of film. As I was scanning them I liked how they fitted together and it also shows you the order in which the images were made. While I was waiting to make the image of the walking tour on the steps of the Clarendon Building a man walked past me and I could see by the way his head turned as he walked past that the camera I was holding caught his attention. After he passed me he turned around and came back. We chatted briefly about the Rolleiflex camera that I was holding and he began to tell me about his parents and how they both met while working at the Rolleiflex factory in Germany many years ago. They couldn’t afford to buy the classic twin lens Rollei so instead they bought the cheapest one they could afford (which I think was 35mm). I wish I had made a portrait of the man.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, Zeiss 80/2.8 lens, loaded with expired Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b (1:32).
Top: a bench where I work, middle: Walton Street Post Office, bottom: Richard the tailor.
First two: Little Clarendon Street, third: Broad Street.
Top: Broad Street, middle: Divinity Schools quadrangle, bottom: Nya giving me two thumbs up on Broad Street.
Top: a rare grab shot for me, middle: a barber on Walton Street, bottom: Mick the security guard.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, SL66, summer, Tri-X
Saturday, July 7th, 2012
During my second test shoot with Helen I was able to test out a number of different rolls of film. The shots below are all from the same roll (with this particular camera I only get 10 shots on a roll). This was towards the end of the shoot and we decided to change things up a bit by making use of a nearby tree. Helen showed her excellent climbing skills, barefoot! It was tricky to find a comfortable spot in such a cramped space but I think Helen did a great job. The film I used here is Kodak BW CN which is sadly no longer made. I bought some expired rolls from a photographer who was having a clear out. The advantage was that you could have the film processed at any regular photo lab because it requires colour film chemistry even though it’s a black & white film. This is only the second roll I’ve used of my batch and I really like it so far.
[Tech info:] Pentax 6×7, Kodak BW CN (expired 2009). Processed and scanned by me.
Branching out.
Backlit.
Lean back.
Perched on the edge.
Eye contact.
Looking at the horizon.
Last frame.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x7, black&white, film, helen, oxford, pentax, people, portraits, students, summer
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012
Here come the girls! I was asked to photograph some students in their ball gowns before they attended the Oriel 2012 commemoration ball and I have to say it turned out to be a really fun photo shoot. These shots are all on film, I previously posted some Polaroid shots from the same shoot. You can see there’s a huge difference in the colour and clarity of film compared to scanning a print.
While we were photographing in the middle of Oxford’s High Street at Queen’s lane the girls literally stopped the traffic (I later found out from someone who happened to be walking past that the traffic was tailed back to Carfax!). I found it hard to choose between these shots so I decided to post more than usual because you get a sense of how fun this photo shoot was. It’s a shame that Oriel didn’t reply to any of my requests to photograph at the actual ball itself.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens, loaded with Fuji NPH 400 rated at ISO 100 and processed as normal. Processing and scanning by me.
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Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | No Responses »
Tags: ball, film, oxford, portraits, rb67, students, summer
Monday, June 25th, 2012
These images are from the first test shoot I had with Helen during my lunch break. At this time of year the light between 12 noon and 2pm is not particularly flattering so it can be a bit of a challenge to find nice natural light to use during my lunch break which falls between those times. My mantra is there’s always good light to be found, you just have to find it so it’s something I’m constantly looking for on my photo walks around town. A slight difficulty for photography at this time of year in Oxford is the volume of tourists around so it can sometimes take a while to wait for them to clear from the background of a shot and because I only usually have around 30 mins for photography during my lunch break after I’ve travelled to and from the centre of town from my office my test shoots are usually fairly rushed. There isn’t much time for my subject to ease into the shoot but fortunately Helen was ready from the first frame and a complete natural in front of my camera. It was difficult to reduce the amount of shots to post here.
I’m very pleased with the tones in a lot of these images and I put that down to the possibility of using a slightly different agitation method when I processed the film. There seems to be slightly more contrast. I also scanned these images slightly different from my normal method so that’s probably a factor too.
[Tech info:] Mamiya M645 1000S, 80/f1.9 lens, loaded with Fuji Acros 100, processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b).
Railings.
Passageway.
Against the wall.
Around the corner.
Railings.
Steps.
Bottom step.
I really like this kind of light where you're in the shade but there is bright sunlight being bounced up from bright stone.
Last frame.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: 645, acros, black&white, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students
Tuesday, May 29th, 2012
I managed to shoot a whole roll of film through my Rolleiflex SL66 camera during one of my lunch time walks a few weeks ago. Here are the first 5 frames. I’ve got so many images still to post from the college ball’s that I photographed recently and then on top of that I have a backlog of other images that I can’t wait to share from my lunch hour sessions and test shoots. Some people have asked if I sell prints of my photography and the answer is yes. Although I don’t make it obvious on this blog I assume that anyone wishing to purchase a print would contact me so please get in touch. All prints are hand done by me.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66 camera, 80/2.8 lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X film processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. Processed and scanned by me.
Cool glasses, Broad Street.
Gone to the beach.
Matt Sage - musician and promoter, outside The Randolph Hotel.
Taylorian Institute steps.
Unicorn window display, Ship Street.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, SL66
