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Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 2 – part 2

Monday, July 10th, 2017

Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour series 5, episode 2. There are other shots on this roll that I can’t post yet because of spoilers but I’ll post them after broadcast next year. On this roll there are some shots from Oxford and others from the amazing day I spent at the Endeavour HQ. I’ve been using quite a lot of Fuji Superia 200 film recently and I’m impressed with the results so far. At nearly half the price of Kodak Portra 400 you can’t go wrong.

[Tech info:] Konica Hexar, Fuji Superia 200 developed in a Fuji Xpress C42 kit, Pakon scans.

Endeavour crew portraits – part 1

Thursday, June 29th, 2017

This is a slightly different Endeavour post than usual because there are no shots of filming equipment, cool looking vintage cars or costumes. Here are portraits I made of some of the Endeavour crew on the last day of filming on series 5, episode 2. I really enjoyed spending the whole day with them at their base and can’t say enough about how hardworking and talented this crew is. This was towards the end of a very busy and extremely hot day of filming. A lot of my pictures from the day will be posted after the episode has been broadcast next year.

[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss Planar loaded with Ilford HP5, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5 mins.

Oxford: Giffords Circus, 2017 – part 1

Sunday, June 25th, 2017

Giffords Circus rolled into town and set up in University Parks for a series of sold out performances and I went along to make back stage portraits of some of the performers as I have done in previous years. This time last year I was suffering from a lot of back pain so unfortunately I don’t have any portraits from that show. Most of the performers this year are new but there are still some familiar faces in the group and it was nice to see them again. If you haven’t seen the show I highly recommend it. You can see some of my photography from previous years here.

[Tech info]: Polaroid 180 Land Camera, Fuji FP-100C instant pack film bleached negs.

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 2 – part 1

Monday, June 19th, 2017

Behind the scenes photography from filming of Endeavour series 5 episode 2 in Oxford a couple of weeks ago. I’ve picked out a selection of spoiler free shots, others will follow after the broadcast of the episode. I did a good amount of colour photography as well which is not my first choice but sometimes a situation calls for it and I couldn’t resist it when I saw the vintage bus pull up – those pictures will follow in the future. I am beginning to really like the Voigtlander 40/1.4 lens that I used for all of the these shots to the point that I don’t even pack my 50/1.5 Nokton classic – something I never thought would happen.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4, Ilford FP4 developed in Kodak HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Ducker & Son Ltd

Tuesday, June 6th, 2017

Ducker & Son Ltd, Turl Street, Oxford, traditional shoemakers since 1898. All gone now. Soon to be a wine shop, right next door to the Whiskey Shop. Just what Oxford needs. When I found out that Duckers was closing for good I felt compelled to document what was left of the shop. Over the years I have photographed the shoes in the window countless times but this was the first time I had actually set foot inside the shop. It’s a real shame to see this shop close. When I got there in my lunch break there were lots of people coming and going and it was difficult to not be in the way with a tripod set up. I wanted some nice quality pictures so I decided to take a Pentax 67 with a wide-angle lens. I knew the shop was quite dark inside so film choice was very simple – Neopan Acros 100 because it doesn’t suffer from reciprocity failure until you go past 1 minute exposures. Most of my exposures were around the 30 seconds mark. I only had enough time to finish one roll of 10 frames but that was more than enough to get these results.

[Tech info:] Pentax 67, 50/4, Neopan Acros 100 developed in Rodinal 1+50.

 

Oxford: Endeavour 5, episode 1 – part 2

Tuesday, June 6th, 2017

Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 5, episode 1 in Oxford. These are spoiler-free images of the crew hard at work. I’ll post the rest of my pictures after each episode has been broadcast.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4, Ilford FP4 developed in HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 4, episode 3 – part 5

Tuesday, May 30th, 2017

This set of pictures is from August 2016 when Endeavour series 4 was being filmed in Oxford. This set is a bit of a mixed bag. The shots below that I made outside the Examinations School were intended for a different episode but I don’t think they got used. The two signs on the front of the building were there to make it look like the front of the Cowley Swimming Baths.  The shot of two people in the shadow of the big tree wasn’t used in the final edit. Lastly there are shots from Headington cemetery which I didn’t even know existed. The film I used is one of my favourites (Reala 100) but it’s sadly been discontinued by Fuji.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton Classic, Fuji Reala 100, developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Woody Harrelson movie screening Q&A

Monday, May 29th, 2017

The Oxford Guild Business Society arranged for Woody Harrelson to screen his new movie Lost in London with a Q&A session afterwards and I went along to do some photography. The movie is not only starring Woody but it’s also written and directed by him as well. If that wasn’t enough it was also filmed in one continuous take and was originally broadcasted live into select cinemas in London and L.A.

The movie was excellent and had me riveted from start to finish. It was a bit like watching a tightrope walker performing without a safety net – you know that anything could go wrong at any time. The Q&A session afterwards was very interesting with some varied questions asked. Woody appeared relaxed and came across as very down to earth. I can’t recommend the movie enough and feel very fortunate to have seen it in this way.

[Tech info] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss planar, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Gear: Lubitel 166U test

Monday, May 22nd, 2017

Here are some test shots from a Lubitel 166U camera that I got in a job lot of stuff that I bought on eBay. For a twin-lens medium format camera it’s very light and similar in styling to the Yashica 124 cameras. I found the viewfinder tricky to use because the image in the viewfinder doesn’t quite cover from corner to corner so you have to move your head around while holding the camera still if you’re to stand any chance of a decent composition. I found it tricky to hold level because it’s light weight but overall I did enjoy using it in a toy camera kind of way.

[Tech info:] Lubitel 166U, Ilford HP5 film, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Lubitel test shots

Lubitel test shots

 

Oxford Union: Jeremy Irons – part 1

Monday, May 22nd, 2017

Jeremy Irons came to the Oxford Union for a Q&A session with current president Michael Li and I did some photography at the event. Unfortunately the event wasn’t filmed for the YouTube channel but I can tell you it was a lot of fun to listen to Jeremy share insights about his career on stage and in movies. I did struggle slightly with the lower than usual light levels because the video crew set up two lights whenever they’re filming but I dropped down to a slower shutter speed to compensate and lucky for me Jeremy doesn’t move too much when he speaks. I’m very pleased with these results and Ilford HP5 is a firm favourite of mine when I need a b&w film for low light photography.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 3200, developed in Kodak HC110 1+15. Pakon scans.

Oxford: lunch break – around and about

Monday, May 15th, 2017

Here are some pictures from a recent lunch break photo walk. My Yashica Electro is one of my go to cameras and as I already had the shots from the filming of The Favourite (see previous blog post) on this roll I was keen to finish it to see how they turned out.

[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Eastman Double X film, developed in HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.

Oxford: filming The Favourite

Sunday, May 14th, 2017

During my lunch break photo walk I came across a movie being filmed in part of the Bodleian, it’s titled The Favourite and it turned out that the crew were on their lunch break too. Here are pictures of some of the supporting artists having a smoke break. I really liked the Sheldonian Theatre as a backdrop for these shots and despite the heavy overcast sky I think the light worked out ok.

[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Eastman Double X film, developed in HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.