The second set of my images from back stage at the Oxford Fashion Week 2012 Haute Couture show at the Ashmolean museum. These all turned out extremely well considering the amount of space I had to work in. Just out of shot to the left is a lift that I didn’t want to include in the shots! (Click on the thumbnails below for a larger preview).
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For a long time I’ve wanted to do a photo shoot where I experimented with window light so this is what I did in my recent photo shoot with Helen. Previously we have always shot outside so it was nice to have some limitations to work within (space being one and the light being another). These shots were all made a few hours after my shoot with Jake Dean (previous post) and by this time the sun had already started to drop along with the light level. The windows that were directly behind me face north which helped give a beautiful softness to the light quality which reminded me of paintings by the old masters. It was very interesting to see how moving a small amount made quite a difference and by using curtains you can completely change the feeling of the light altogether.
As with my previous shoot I shot both film and digital – these are all digital. I’m especially excited to see the results from film because I used a new type (Kodak Portra 800) which I haven’t used before. I also shot a roll of TMAX 400 at ISO 1600 after the great results I got from Oxford Fashion Week. Those shots will follow at a later time.
[Technical info:] Nikon D700, 50mm/f1.4D lens.
Here are images from a photo shoot I had with one of the models from the Oxford Fashion Week Couture show yesterday. The light outside was amazing and I’m really pleased with the results. It’s very rare for me to take a digital camera with me on a photo shoot these days but I decided to on this occasion simply for convenience so that I could get some images to Jake without too much delay. I also shot some film so some of those may follow at a later date. Jake was very easy to work with and it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets snapped up by a London agency soon.
[Technical info:] Nikon D700 with 50mm/f1.4D lens.
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These images span two shows, The Elysium Show (held at Oxford Town Hall) and The Haute Couture Show (held at the Ashmolean Museum). All of these images are from the same roll of film. There are only 15 frames on the roll so I had to exclude some here because I wanted to make a neat grid. I’ll post the others in a different post. This was the first time I had used Kodak TMAX 400 film in many years so this was somewhat a bit of a test to see how it would cope in low light being pushed 2 stops. I’m stunned at how fine the grain is and how smooth the tones are considering the harsh lighting conditions I was working in (overhead ceiling lights). The results look better than the Tri-X I shot at the same time.
[Tech info:] Bronica ETRSi with 75mm lens, loaded with Kodak TMAX 400 film, rated at ISO 1600. Processed in Kodak HC110 for 7.5mins.
To break up all of the images I have to post from Oxford Fashion Week we return to our regularly scheduled programming to bring you images of some people that I photographed during my lunch hour photo walks around Oxford city centre. These are mostly from the same day. You’ll notice some familiar faces in amongst this set. I’m very pleased with how these all turned out.
[Tech info:] Bronica ETRSi, 75mm and 50mm lenses. Fuji Acros 100 film stand developed in Rodinal 1:100 for 1 hour. Note the top left image was made on expired (2002) Tri-X. I meant to semi-stand and agitate at the 30min mark but I was processing some other film at the same time and forgot.
Some of my photography from backstage at the Haute Couture show which was held in Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum. Regular visitors to this blog may recognise the tailor’s from Clements & Church (especially Richard) who I tend to photograph quite regularly. It was great to see them in their element, doing what they do best. I have lots of images to post so I’ll be drip feeding them as I get time to do so. I’ve been doing so much photography recently that my backlog is slowly building up. Apologies to anyone waiting to see their images.
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Here are the Fujiroids (aka Polaroids) that I shot last night, back stage at the Haute Couture show which was held in the Ashmolean Museum as the finale to Oxford Fashion Week 2012. When I think back at all of the amazing dresses and stunning models that were at the show I can’t help feel a little frustrated that this is all I managed to come away with in terms of instant pack film shots. The schedule was so tight compared to last year there wasn’t enough time allowed for photography – something that surprises me considering the benefit to everyone (designers, models, photographer and OFW). I did my best with the time and limited space I had to work in and came away with a set of images that I am pleased with but it’s the ones that got away that are hard to forget. I shot with a range of cameras, digital, colour and black & white film so there are plenty of more shots to come. Something I love about Fujiroids is that they are unique one of a kind gems. You want limited edition? This is it! The scans here don’t do the original prints justice.
Thanks goes to the back stage crew that helped me and to the models for being patient while I juggled different cameras and lighting. The shot in the bottom right corner is of two of the OFW crew that helped me test my lighting setup.
Haute Couture show, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. OFW2012.
Oxford Fashion Week 2012 is currently on and I’ve been doing some backstage photography. Here are some images from the Elysium show held at Oxford’s Town Hall last night. Space was at a premium so it was extremely difficult to photograph there but I did my best to stay out of the way amidst the busyness that comes with fashion shows. I really wanted to do some stunning photography that completed some of the amazing outfits and styling but sadly I didn’t get the time I needed. At the very end I did get some help from designer Crimson-Rose O’Shea (who had designed the colourful outfits that were accompanied by big paper hats) which was nice. I especially liked the outfits from designer Chloe Reynolds (the black designs with lace across the models’ eyes) so it was a shame not to get a chance to make more shots of them.
I’ll add more images to this post when I get time to process them all. I shot both film and digital and a few shots on Fuji instant pack film (aka Polaroid).
Recently I’ve been using quite a bit of Fuji instant pack film (similar to Polaroid) and while my go to camera is usually my Mamiya RB67 with the sliding Polaroid back that allows me to photograph diptych’s I’ve been missing the ability to shoot full-frame with a single image filling the print on a camera with manual controls. Enter the Mamiya Universal press camera. It’s certainly not going to win any prizes in a beauty contest but it is fun to use and delivers nice results. I’m still getting to grips with it, below are some shots I made on a walk near Hinksey lakes last weekend. The temperature outside was quite cold which resulted in some streaky/uneven development of the pack film. I’ll try to remember to take my cold clip with me next time.
[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal press camera, 100mm/f3.5 lens, loaded with Fuji FP100-c instant pack film.
Despite the title of this conference it has nothing to do with models or modelling. One of the organisers had seen my photography on this blog and asked if I’d like to do some photography of the conference delegates. I agreed to go along and although I would have loved to have made some selective portraits on film I know from past experience that these types of events are very difficult to be selective at because for some reason people react with sheer terror if you ask them if they’d like to be photographed by themselves. Anyone know why? The venue was Oxford’s Town Hall, a venue that I’ve photographed in before so I knew from experience the available light there is not very good for photography which is why I took my own lighting along. There was a steady flow of people to photograph but towards the end it got a bit crazy with the groups becoming larger and larger. Overall it was fun. Any delegates wishing to order prints can do so directly from me, please get in touch via email: simplyoxford [at] gmail.com.
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The first roll through a Mamiya 645 Super camera that I’m testing out and unfortunately quite a few frames have focus problems. I was rushing to shoot the whole roll in my lunch hour so that has to be factored in but I have never had so many badly focussed pictures, ever. Another test roll is required for me to make any final judgements, I’ll be more careful with that one!
[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Super, 80/f2.8 lens, loaded with Fuji Acros 100 film, processed in Rodinal 1:100 (semi-stand) for 1 hour. (3 gentle agitations after 30mins).
