October, 2014
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Monday, October 27th, 2014
Never say never! That’s probably the best way to describe this post because there was a time when I swore I would never own a Leica. That was when time and time again I would notice people carrying them around as some sort of display of wealth when clearly they had no idea about how to best use it. But not all Leica’s are the same and while the digital models can set you back more than a Rolex watch, there are plenty of old film models that are cheaper than a lot of DSLR’s and built to last much longer too. After I started to enjoy using my Yashica Electro 35 rangefinder camera more and more I began to look for something that would give me more options such as interchangeable lenses and full manual control and when it comes to rangefinders it’s hard to ignore the king of the hill. I ended up getting an M2 from 1964 which seems to have been looked after and is a pleasure to use. This is a 100% mechanical camera – no batteries required. This set of pictures are from the first roll I put through it in my lunch break last week. It started to rain on my way into town so I spent most of my time in the Ashmolean Museum.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, 50/2 Summicron rigid, Ilford FP4 (expired Dec/1999), processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.
Posted in film, Oxford | 4 Responses »
Tags: ashmolean, black&white, film, fp4, hc110, leica, m2, oxford
Tuesday, October 21st, 2014
One of the things I enjoy about photographing drama productions is being able to test out films that I wouldn’t usually be able to test out during my lunch hour because they need low light conditions. These shots are from a roll of expired Ilford Delta 400 which I rated at ISO 800 and pushed one stop in the processing. It looks a lot different to the Kodak Double-X that I shot in the same conditions but rated at half the speed. Once again my Yashica Electro 35 proved to be the right camera for the job and I’m becoming a bigger fan of it the more I use it.
[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, expired Ilford Delta 400 (ISO 800), pushed one stop in Kodak D76 1+1.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Drama, film, Oxford, students | No Responses »
Tags: backstage, black&white, d76, delta 400, electro 35, film, oxford, students, yashica
Monday, October 20th, 2014
This is the first set of pictures from my time backstage at The Oxford Playhouse while the cast of The Furies were getting ready. There isn’t a lot of space in the dressing rooms so I did my best to keep out of the way while still making pictures – notice my reflection in two of the shots. Before arriving I didn’t know what the light levels were going to be like inside but I wanted to test out some Eastman Kodak Double-X motion picture film (the same type that was used by Spielberg for Schindler’s List) so I took a gamble and rated this roll at ISO 400 which is a 1 stop push from box speed. Overall I’m very pleased with the results considering how much contrast there is in these shots – bright lights and black clothing is a torture test for any film. A quick shout out to Charles Graham, the director, for allowing me access and a big thank you to the cast for being so accommodating which always helps to make my job a little easier.
[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Eastman Kodak Double-X film rated at ISO 400, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6:30.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Drama, film, Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: backstage, black&white, double x, drama, electro 35, film, hc110, oxford, students, yashica
Wednesday, October 15th, 2014
Last Saturday was Worldwide Photo Walk Day (in case you didn’t know) and there was a walk organised in Oxford with the theme of film. I didn’t sign up so I wasn’t officially part of the group but I decided to go along to show some love for film and to make some pictures on a Saturday afternoon. It was a good opportunity to put a second roll through the Pentax 645N that I recently got but haven’t had much time to test out. The film I used came in a batch of expired films but there was no date on it. I suspect it’s quite old because the backing paper has left a mottled texture on the film – something I don’t actually mind here.
[Tech info:] Pentax 645N, 105/2.4 lens (attached with a 6×7 to 645 adapter), expired Ilford HP5 film, processed in Kodak D76 1+1 for 13mins.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: 645, black&white, d76, film, HP5, oxford, pentax, people, photowalk, portraits
Sunday, October 12th, 2014
These shots are from the beginning of our day in the city (which started at around 10.30am), coffee in the Rapha cycle shop and then we stopped for lunch near the Lloyds building. I was using three different cameras so these blog posts will be out of order as I’ll be posting my favourite shots from each roll of film.
[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35 loaded with Kodak TMAX 100, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.
Posted in London, People, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: black&white, electro 35, film, hc110, kodak, london, people, tmax, tmax100, yashica
Friday, October 10th, 2014
Last week I spent a day in London with my friend Benedict Campbell doing street photography and here’s the first set of pictures Ben and I used to work together at the same studio many years ago and it’s been over 20 years since we were out photographing together so I was really looking forward to this trip.The weather was surprisingly warm for October, there was a nice atmosphere on the street and people were in a good mood – all good ingredients for an enjoyable day to be photographing on the street. I took three different cameras with me and a selection of different films so there is a good variety of images to follow.
[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Kodak Hawkeye traffic surveillance film, processed in a Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scan.
Posted in film, London, People, Street portraits | 4 Responses »
Tags: ben, c41, electro 35, film, hawkeye, kodak, london, pakon, yashica
