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Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 4 – part 5

Thursday, August 17th, 2017

Behind the scenes during late night filming of Endeavour series 5 episode 4 in Oxford. This was a tricky little set up that took quite a bit of planning, rehearsing and lighting to transform what is usually a very dark street. You can see in some of the earlier shots how dark the background is compared to when the bright background light was switched on to give a wash of light across the fronts of the buildings.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 3 – part 1

Sunday, August 13th, 2017

Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 5 episode 3 in Oxford. It was a very hot day in July and the crew had a very busy schedule as I recall because they were only in Oxford for one day on this occasion. I decided to use colour film for a change to capture the summery feel. It’s not often you see the lighting crew setting up lights outside in bright sun but I must say it did make the front of the Jaguar look nice.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 and 75/1.8 Voigtlander lenses, Fuji Superia 200 film, developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 4 – part 3

Saturday, August 12th, 2017

If you’ve ever travelled around the back streets of Oxford at night you’ll know how dark they are but that all changes when the Endeavour crew come to town. With a few well placed lights they can completely transform a place as you can see here in Lamb and flag passage – a place usually so dark you could easily bump into someone without too much effort. The first couple of shots are from a very quick setup in Radcliffe Square which were at the start of this roll. For the night shots I was frequently dropping my shutter speed to 1/15th and 1/8th to prevent the shadows from plugging up and I have to say how impressed I am with my Leica M6 because although there’s no mirror inside to cause camera shake the cloth shutter does move in the back of the camera but the body is so solid that vibration is next to none at all. Of course steady hands are required to avoid camera shake but having a solid camera body does help a lot. More pictures to come after the episode is broadcast some time in 2018. No spoilers.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.

 

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 4 – part 2

Friday, August 11th, 2017

Behind the scenes photography during the filming of Endeavour series 5 episode 4 in Oxford. There was interesting looking equipment being used in this setup but I’m afraid I don’t know the correct technical name for the large ARRI crane. I’ve picked out the most spoiler-free shots, others will follow after the episode has been broadcast some time in 2018. Most exciting for me was the sight of old cameras being used!

[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5 mins. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 4 – part 1

Thursday, August 10th, 2017

The Endeavour crew were back in Oxford for a few days of filming for episode 4 of series 5 and I did some behind the scenes photography. Here are some shots from Exeter college where they were mostly doing interior scenes. I’ll share some of the interior pictures after the episode has been broadcast – no spoilers! For these shots I was trying out a film I don’t often use – Ilford Delta 100. The day was sunny and bright but most of the action was in the shade and I struggled with sufficient depth of field on some of these shots. Next time I’ll stick with Hp5. The last shot on this roll is from Radcliffe Square where a short scene was filmed. The big light on the scaffolding provided a little rim light.

[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Ilford Delta 100, developed in Tetenal Ultrafin 1+20.

 

Oxford: Kodak HIE high speed infrared film test

Wednesday, August 9th, 2017

Here are some test shots from a roll of Kodak HIE high speed b&w infrared film that expired in 1990. I think it’s been frozen since purchase but I can’t be sure so I bracketed my exposures widely erring on the overexposure side which turned out not to be necessary. I rated the film at ISO 10 and used a B+W 093 filter which is around 5 stops in density which is too dense to look through so for that reason I decided to use a rangefinder camera which meant I wouldn’t need to keep removing the filter to compose my shots. Out came my M2.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton, Kodak HIE high speed infrared b&w film developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 6mins. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 2 – part 5

Sunday, August 6th, 2017

Behind the scenes photography during the filming of Endeavour Series 5 episode 2 when the crew were in the Covered Market in Oxford. There was an impressive lighting setup for this which I guess was to simulate sunlight coming through the windows. I have some other pictures that I will post after the episode has been broadcast to avoid any spoilers but to be honest I stayed outside the café the whole time so I managed to avoid spoilers for myself.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4 Nokton lens, Ilford HP5 developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.

 

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 2 – part 4

Thursday, August 3rd, 2017

Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 5 episode 2 in Oxford. I’ve carefully selected a spoiler-free set of images from this roll, others will follow once the episode has been broadcast in 2018. The film I used here is Eastman Double X motion picture film which I usually develop in Kodak D76 but I don’t have any of that mixed at the moment so on this occasion I used HC-110. I’ve previously used HC-110 at 1+31 dilution with  Double X but I find the contrast is too high for my liking so here I’ve experimented with a 1+62 dilution and I much prefer these results.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens, Eastman Double X film developed in Kodak HC-110 1+62, Pakon scans.

Oxford: BMX Jam 2015

Thursday, July 27th, 2017

The last time the OWP skate park held a BMX Jam event was 2015 and here are some pictures from that event that I just found in my archive. I don’t manage to get over to the skate park as often as I’d like for photography but whenever they hold an event – whether that’s BMX or skateboarding – I always do my best to make it. Some of these guys can be a tricky bunch to photograph because they tend to be camera shy but I do my best to stay out of the way to record some candid moments and hopefully they’ll now see the value of documentary photography at an event such as this, two years later. More to come.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton Classic, Ilford Pan F (expired), developed in Rodinal 1+50. Pakon scans.

 

Oxford: On the way to the ball

Monday, July 24th, 2017

During the summer ball season here in Oxford you will find that Radcliffe Square is a popular place for students to visit for group pictures before they carry on to the college where their ball is being held. On this particular evening last June there were quite a few summer balls being held so Radcliffe Square was fairly busy with activity. I had been waiting for an opportunity to try out some Kodak Portra 800 film that I bought a while ago and this was the perfect occasion with low light levels but not too low.

[Tech info:] Pentax 6×7, 105/2.4 lens, Kodak Portra 800 film developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit.

 

Oxford: Giffords Circus, 2017 – part 2

Sunday, July 23rd, 2017

When Giffords Circus were here in Oxford last month I tried to do as much backstage photography as I could manage in my limited spare time. Here are some backstage portraits during a performance when we had scorching hot weather. These were difficult to do because obviously I didn’t want to delay anyone so I had to be quick, one shot each, no bracketing exposure, no second chances, one and done. Many thanks to the Giffords performers for being so generous with their time.

[Tech info:] Pentax 67, 105/2.5 lens, Fuji 400H (expired), developed in a Fuji Xpress C41 kit.

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 2 – part 3

Friday, July 21st, 2017

Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour series 5 episode 2 in the Covered Market, Oxford. I rated this roll of HP5 at ISO 1600 because the light level is usually quite low inside the market but I completely underestimated the brightness of the lighting which looked like sunlight pouring into the café windows. I enjoyed looking into the café from outside with the cast and crew moving in and out of shafts of light and shadow mixed with reflections from the glass.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4 Nokton lens, Ilford HP5 at ISO 1600, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31.