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Oxford: Endeavour series 3 – night shoot

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015

It’s nice when you find shots on film months after the fact. These shots are from 16th May (easily identified thanks to a handy shot of the slate) when the Endeavour crew were filming late into the night in Oxford. Unfortunately for them it didn’t start to get dark until very late so their shoot didn’t end until 2am. I stayed around until close to midnight and  left when I felt I had the best of what I could get in the can. The nice part of this shoot was seeing Radcliffe Square lit up like never before. Those of you that know that part of town might notice something about the phone boxes.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5, Ilford HP5 film developed in Kodak D76 1+1. Pakon scans.

Oxford: St Giles’ Fair 2015 – part 1

Tuesday, September 15th, 2015

St Giles’ Fair rolled into town last week and this is the first of what will probably be quite a few blog posts of pictures shot over the three days (including setting up). This year I only used black & white film for a change. It was nice to see some familiar faces again and as usual there was lots going on and plenty to photograph. I missed the fair last year so I was crossing my fingers for nice weather this time which we were fortunate to have. In the second shot down you can see Tommy Noyce who has been visiting St Giles’ Fair since he was 6 years old. He is now 73. The well known galloping horses carousel has been in his family for three generations and takes five trucks to transport. Sadly it no longer comes to St Giles’ Fair. The last frame below was made on the way back to my office during my lunch time visit to the fair – two of the tailors from Clements & Church on Little Clarendon Street.

[Tech info:] Fuji 6×9, Neopan Acros 100 developed in Rodinal 1+50 for 14 mins.

Oxford: Endeavour 3, episode 2 – part 2

Friday, September 4th, 2015

Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 3 episode 2. It’s not very often that I use colour film when photographing Endeavour filming but the previous day I had been photographing the summer eights rowing competition on the river and the roll was only half used from that. This particular camera has a quiet mode that you can switch to which makes the camera virtually silent – perfect for behind the scenes photography – so I had to take it with me despite it having colour film loaded.

[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Fuji Superia 400 (expired), developed in Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scans.

Oxford: BMX Jam, 2015 – part 1

Sunday, August 30th, 2015

This is the first set of my pictures from this year’s BMX Jam that was held at the Oxford Wheels Project skate park on Meadow Lane in Oxford. I always look forward to the BMX and Skate jam’s that are held there in the summer because the events attract a lot of talented riders and skaters. In previous years I have concentrated more on making portraits but this year I decided to focus more on the action. It can be a challenge trying to photograph fast moving action using a completely manual camera (that doesn’t have a motor-drive or a built in light meter) with a lens no longer than 50mm but I enjoy the challenge and my pictures show what’s possible when you put your mind to it.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander Nokton 35mm and 50mm lenses, yellow filter, loaded with Ilford HP5, developed in Kodak Xtol 1+1.

Oxford: Cowley Road Carnival, 2015

Monday, August 24th, 2015

I did some photography at this years’ Cowley Road Carnival and here’s a small selection. The weather was a bit of a mixed bag, combine that with more people than you can ever imagine on the Cowley Road and you can see why photography was rather difficult this year. Still, I did enjoy the atmosphere and look forward to going again next year.

[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Fuij Reala 100 film, developed in Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 3, episode 4 – part 1

Thursday, August 20th, 2015

The Endeavour crew rolled up into town to start filming the fourth and final episode of series three and here are some pictures from when I came across them on the first day of what was to be an exciting six day shoot. I don’t often use colour film when I photograph Endeavour filming but on this occasion it’s what I had loaded from when I was photographing Cowley Road Carnival the previous weekend. This type of film, Fuji Reala 100, is sadly no longer made but I managed to buy a batch of expired rolls from a company that used it to photograph school portrait and group shots before they switched to digital. It’s one of my favourite films that I bring out on special occasions. Lots more pictures to come from this episode.

[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Fuji Reala 100 film, developed in Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Torpids 2015 – part 2

Monday, August 17th, 2015

If you want to see how beautiful Kodak Vision 3 motion picture film can look when used in a still camera look no further. The film stock I used for these shots was 50D and it’s the same stock that was used to shoot Star Wars Episode VII – I purchased some surplus stock left over from the production. This film loves sunlight and does a superb job at retaining detail in both shadow and highlights in contrasty light when exposed properly. I developed this film myself and removed the dreaded remjet layer by using only hot water and a sponge.

[Tech info:] Minolta Hi-Matic 7, Kodak Vision 3 50D film, developed in Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scan.

Oxford: Endeavour 3, episode 3 – part 5

Sunday, August 9th, 2015

When some of the crew headed down river from the Cherwell Boathouse to film punting scenes the rest of the crew stayed on shore and had some very rare down time. It was nice to see crew members relaxing – something I don’t see very often. It was a perfect day to go punting and I can’t wait to see how the final scenes turned out. There are various places in Oxford where you can hire punts but my personal favourite is the Cherwell boathouse because the stretch of river that they’re on is the nicest to punt along and often the least busy.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Eastman Double X motion picture film, developed in Kodak D76 1+1.

 

 

Oxford: Endeavour 3, episode 3 – part 4

Wednesday, August 5th, 2015

Here’s the final batch of pictures from the University Parks shoot on Endeavour 3. These shots span two different days but I decided to post them together to keep things organised by location. I’ve become a huge fan of Eastman Double X motion picture film recently which is why I’ve been posting so many shots that have been made with it and there are still lots more to come. Anyone thinking of trying it I suggest you develop it in Kodak D76 1+1 dilution. Previously I was using Kodak Xtol developer which did a nice job but you don’t get the same tonal range that you get with D76.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Eastman Double X motion picture film, developed in Kodak D76 1+1, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 3, episode 3 – part 3

Monday, July 27th, 2015

Continuing on from my previous post, here are some images from a second roll of film I shot in Oxford’s University Parks during filming of the third Endeavour episode from series 3. The weather at the beginning of the afternoon was bright and sunny but later it started to cloud over and the light level began to drop a fair bit. After the supporting actors arrived in their 1960’s Police uniform I was a little concerned that all of the black fabric of their outfits might fill in but the Eastman Double X film I used handled everything with ease. This film stock is fast becoming a real favourite of mine and I’ve finally found a developer that brings the best out of it – Kodak D76.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Eastman Double X motion picture film, developed in Kodak D76 1+1.

 

 

 

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Endeavour slate

 

Dakota Blue Richards

 

 

 

Sound crew

 

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Oxford: Endeavour 3, episode 3 – part 2

Thursday, July 16th, 2015

Some more behind the scenes photography from the third episode of series three of Endeavour. A house in North Oxford was the first location and then there were scenes by the river in University Parks. The crew did well to keep the production moving in University Parks because it was quite busy there with not only people walking into shot but also punters on the river that had to be held back as well. I really enjoyed the park location and have lots more images to post from there.

[Tech info]: Leica M2, Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5, Eastman Double X motion picture film, developed in Kodak D76 1+1, Pakon scans.










Oxford: Skateboard pro’s at the OWP skatepark

Sunday, July 12th, 2015

The Globe EU Trippin skateboard tour made a stop at the Oxford Wheels Project skatepark last week and I went along to do some photography. I had no idea who the professional skateboarders were and I didn’t expect there to be so many people but it was a fantastic atmosphere and great to see such a capacity crowd. Photography was difficult because of the amount of people and very little space to manoeuvre but I did manage these two shots on my Polaroid 190 Land Camera (from the 1960’s).

[Tech info:] Polaroid 190 Land Camera, Fuji FP-100C instant pack film (bleached neg).