David Haye came to the Oxford Union for a chat and I went along to do some photography. I enjoyed the event, David is a good speaker and easy to listen to and I found his knowledge of boxing history very impressive. If you’re interested in boxing I highly recommend watching the video from this event when it goes up on the Oxford Union YouTube channel.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton Classic, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 3200, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.
It’s no secret that filming has begun on Endeavour series 5 but if you’re looking for pictures of the main cast or spoilers I’m afraid you’ll have to move along because this blog post is dedicated to the crew – some familiar faces and some new. Oxford is where the filming for series 5 began and I was fortunate enough to be able to document a little of it on the second day of filming. This really is one of my favourite things to photograph and it’s something I never get tired of.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford FP4 film developed in Kodak HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.
John Cleese came to the Oxford Union to give a talk and I went along to do some photography. I found the talk very interesting with plenty of humour thrown in for good measure. The Union was absolutely packed to the rafters which is something I haven’t seen since Stephen Hawking visited. This event was the first time I got to use my Voigtlander 75/1.8 Heliar lens in low light, I bought it mainly to photograph the Oxford Union events with because I wanted more reach than the 50mm I was using and I have to say I am very pleased with how it performed.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 75/1.8 Heliar, Kodak TMAX 400 @ ISO 3200, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 10mins, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour series 4 episode 2 ‘Canticle’ in New College, Oxford back in July 2016. I shot more film on this episode than any previous ones and some of my favourite shots have come from this episode too. A lot of hard work went into making the dance sequence and the hot weather and sizzling temperatures made it all the more harder. I found the song to be very catchy and couldn’t stop humming it the following day.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Agfa Vista 200 film, developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour episode ‘Canticle’, series 4 episode 2, in Oxford. These shots are from the morning when the temperature was a lot cooler and more comfortable than the afternoon would prove to be. I like how these have turned out and I’m glad we had a morning of softer light compared to the contrasty light we had in the afternoon. All from the same roll of film.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Ilford HP5 film, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour episode ‘Canticle’, series 4 episode 2 in Oxford, July 2016. The film I used to make these pictures was left over from the filming of Star Wars: Episode VII. The film stock is Kodak Vision 3 250D and is designed to be developed in ECN-2 chemistry but as I don’t have any I cross-processed this roll in C41 chemistry which is why the colours are not completely accurate.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5, Kodak Vision 3 250D, developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during the filming of Endeavour 4 episode 2 ‘Canticle’ in Oxford, August 2016. These shots are from the very end of the day as the sun was going down and shadows began to get longer. I wasn’t sure how the film would handle the extremely contrasty light and half expected the shadows to fill in to jet black but I’m very pleased with these results. Not bad for film I bought at Poundland.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Kodak Colourplus 200 film, developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 4 episode 3 in Oxford, August 2016. All of these shots are from the same roll of film and I really like how they turned out. The scene that was filmed in St Helens Passage next to the Bridge of Sighs isn’t very long in the final edit but it took a lot of planning with a student co-ordinator and multiple takes to cover all of the camera angles which wasn’t easy in such a narrow space. On a side note, the helium filled balloons that can be seen in the background were never used and I sometimes wonder what the original plan was for them.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Ilford HP5 film, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5mins. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes photography during the filming of series 4 episode 3 in Oxford back in August 2016. Most of this episode takes place in a hospital so I was fortunate to come across this sequence being filmed on Queen’s Lane. Now that I’ve seen the finished episode I know that the screen time for this sequence is not very long but it took a lot of careful planning to work out the shots and camera angles – I can also tell you that the car boot was a very tight squeeze for both supporting actors. I really like how these shots turned out – all from the same roll of Fuji Reala 100 which sadly Fuji have stopped making. It renders colours in open shade very nicely with plenty of shadow detail. It’s one of my favourite films to use but I only bring it out on special occasions because it’s hard to find now.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Fuji Reala 100 film (expired), developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
Here are some pictures I made on my cycle ride into work on a foggy morning in early November, 2016. The film I used expired in 2012 and was from the first batch of film I bought from Poundland when it opened in the Westgate Centre. I had never seen film at £1/roll so I cleared the shelf and when I got to the checkout they all had to be scanned individually, all 43 of them!
[Tech info:] Contax G1, Carl Zeiss 50/2, Kodak Colorplus 200 film developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit. Pakon scans.
I recently bought a batch of expired large format 5×4 sheet film that I’m unfamiliar with so I made some test shots during my lunch break to see what they would look like. The film expired in 2005 and as I have no idea of how it’s been stored since then I decided to rate the film at ISO64 instead of 100. The camera I used is my smallest and most portable 5×4 camera which is a Polaroid 110B that I had converted by Randy at holgamods.com. It’s a thing of beauty and a joy to use.
[Tech info:] Polaroid 110B, Mac 100 UP b&w film (expired 2005), rated at ISO64 and developed in Rodinal 1+25 for 8mins in a Jobo.
Behind the scenes during filming in Radcliffe Square, Oxford of Endeavour series 4 episode 2. This was the first day of filming in Oxford for this episode on what started out as an overcast morning but turned out to be a very hot and sunny day. The tourists were out in force and the crew did an amazing job of crowd control with minimal staff. I must give a shout out to the props and art departments for the attention to detail that went into the table that was laid out with the petition (most of which was never seen on screen). It was so convincing that I saw some tourists trying to sign up! While all of this was going on the set at New College was being prepared for the dance routine that was due to be filmed the following day (last shot). More to come.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Agfa Vista 200 film developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit. Pakon scans.
