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Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012
Here come the girls! I was asked to photograph some students in their ball gowns before they attended the Oriel 2012 commemoration ball and I have to say it turned out to be a really fun photo shoot. These shots are all on film, I previously posted some Polaroid shots from the same shoot. You can see there’s a huge difference in the colour and clarity of film compared to scanning a print.
While we were photographing in the middle of Oxford’s High Street at Queen’s lane the girls literally stopped the traffic (I later found out from someone who happened to be walking past that the traffic was tailed back to Carfax!). I found it hard to choose between these shots so I decided to post more than usual because you get a sense of how fun this photo shoot was. It’s a shame that Oriel didn’t reply to any of my requests to photograph at the actual ball itself.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens, loaded with Fuji NPH 400 rated at ISO 100 and processed as normal. Processing and scanning by me.
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Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | No Responses »
Tags: ball, film, oxford, portraits, rb67, students, summer
Monday, June 25th, 2012
These images are from the first test shoot I had with Helen during my lunch break. At this time of year the light between 12 noon and 2pm is not particularly flattering so it can be a bit of a challenge to find nice natural light to use during my lunch break which falls between those times. My mantra is there’s always good light to be found, you just have to find it so it’s something I’m constantly looking for on my photo walks around town. A slight difficulty for photography at this time of year in Oxford is the volume of tourists around so it can sometimes take a while to wait for them to clear from the background of a shot and because I only usually have around 30 mins for photography during my lunch break after I’ve travelled to and from the centre of town from my office my test shoots are usually fairly rushed. There isn’t much time for my subject to ease into the shoot but fortunately Helen was ready from the first frame and a complete natural in front of my camera. It was difficult to reduce the amount of shots to post here.
I’m very pleased with the tones in a lot of these images and I put that down to the possibility of using a slightly different agitation method when I processed the film. There seems to be slightly more contrast. I also scanned these images slightly different from my normal method so that’s probably a factor too.
[Tech info:] Mamiya M645 1000S, 80/f1.9 lens, loaded with Fuji Acros 100, processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b).
Railings.
Passageway.
Against the wall.
Around the corner.
Railings.
Steps.
Bottom step.
I really like this kind of light where you're in the shade but there is bright sunlight being bounced up from bright stone.
Last frame.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: 645, acros, black&white, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students
Saturday, June 16th, 2012
Here’s a gallery of images that I made with medium format film at the recent Oxford Union Society 2012 summer ball. It was a fun event and the weather was perfect for a summers evening. Please email me if you’d like to order any prints. Prints look much nicer than looking at images on a computer screen and they’re all hand printed by me.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f and 80/f2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b (1:31). Processed and scanned by me. I think I used some expired Tri-X for these which accounts for the lower contrast in most of them.
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Posted in film, Oxford, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, ball, black&white, c330, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students, summer
Thursday, June 7th, 2012
These images are from the first roll of film through my Rolleiflex SL66 on the day that I received it. As I bought the camera sight unseen it was clear to me early on that the camera and I were going to get along just fine. One of the many nice things about using manual mechanical film cameras is not having to spend time navigating unfamiliar menus or having to trawl through an instruction manual just to change one simple setting. You just set the exposure, compose, focus and then *click*.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66 camera with Zeiss Planar 80mm/f2.8 lens, loaded with expired Kodak Tri-X film. Processed in Rodinal (1:50) by me.
Estate agents' window, Walton Street, Oxford.
Walton Street, Oxford.
Walton Street, Oxford.
Right after the previous fruit and veg shot I turned around and grabbed this shot. There was a coach blocking this Mini from turning, that's why the driver looks so unhappy.
Posted in film, Oxford | 2 Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, rodinal, SL66
Tuesday, May 29th, 2012
I managed to shoot a whole roll of film through my Rolleiflex SL66 camera during one of my lunch time walks a few weeks ago. Here are the first 5 frames. I’ve got so many images still to post from the college ball’s that I photographed recently and then on top of that I have a backlog of other images that I can’t wait to share from my lunch hour sessions and test shoots. Some people have asked if I sell prints of my photography and the answer is yes. Although I don’t make it obvious on this blog I assume that anyone wishing to purchase a print would contact me so please get in touch. All prints are hand done by me.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66 camera, 80/2.8 lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X film processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. Processed and scanned by me.
Cool glasses, Broad Street.
Gone to the beach.
Matt Sage - musician and promoter, outside The Randolph Hotel.
Taylorian Institute steps.
Unicorn window display, Ship Street.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, SL66
Monday, May 28th, 2012
Here’s every single frame from a roll of film I shot at the Keble College summer ball 2012. I only get 12 shots on a roll  This is dedicated to everyone that has ever told me that you only get a few good shots on a roll of film and that digital is so much better 🙂
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330 and 80mm/2.8 lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b (1:31).
Frame 1: The drummer.
Frame 2: The trumpeter
Frame 3: Cool glasses.
Frame 4: Roses.
Frame 5: Candles.
Frame 6.
Frame 7: I photographed this guy at the Balliol ball.
Frame 8: The trumpeter.
Frame 9: The band.
Frame 10: President of the ball committee (second from left) with friends.
Frame 11: Group shot.
Frame 12: Here come the girls.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, ball, black&white, film, hc110, keble college, people, portraits, students, Tri-X
Sunday, May 27th, 2012
While cycling home from my dress rehearsal shoot at Lady Margaret Hall (see previous post) I passed this nice looking motorbike (MZ Trophy) as it was waiting in the line of traffic at the South Parks Road traffic lights. I asked the rider (Simon) if I could do some quick photography of him on his motorbike with the cool film camera I had in my bag and he agreed so we carried on down to the Bridge of Sighs next to Hertford College. The motorbike is from 1971 so it’s a similar age to the camera I used. The camera I had with me was a Rolleiflex SL66 that had arrived in the morning so these are some of the first shots through it. Naturally I was a little nervous about whether or not they would come out because with old cameras you just never know. Fortunately they turned out great and  I had both colour and black & white film backs loaded with me so I was able to do a bit of both. On the b&w roll I had a few blank frames at the start of the roll and I’m missing a few shots from the end so I’ll have to look at why that happened, possibly user error. Thank you Simon for stopping and for being so patient while I juggled with the film backs.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66 and 80mm/2.8 Zeiss lens, loaded with Kodak 160NC (rated at ISO100) and Fuji Acros 100. Processed with a Rollei digibase C41 kit and Kodak HC110 dilution H (8.5 mins).
In front of the Bridge of Sighs.
I'm not sure where the light leak came from but I quite like it.
On the corner. (Movie trivia: the building in the background was used as the front of The Eagle pub in X-Men First Class).
Cool goggles (I'm in there).
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, acros, black&white, film, oxford, people, portraits, SL66
Saturday, May 26th, 2012
There’s a Shakespeare festival here in Oxford at the moment and a few weeks ago I was contacted by the director of a one-off performance to see if I’d like to do some photography at one of their dress rehearsals. The actual performance is on 29th May 2012 at Blackwells Bookshop on Broad Street but these images were made at Lady Margaret Hall a few days ago. Only one of the cast is in elizabethan costume and I felt she’d make for better images than the others. For the colour shots I was experimenting with some film that expired in 2005 and I quite like the results. The black & white shots were made with fresh stock. If you do go and see it please leave a comment.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66 and 80mm/2.8 Zeiss lens, loaded with Kodak 160NC (rated at ISO100) and Fuji Acros 100. Processed with a Rollei digibase C41 kit and Kodak HC110 dilution H (8.5 mins).
LMH has nice gardens.
Window light.
Bounced light from the floor.
Dramatic.
LMH gardens.
Cast group shot.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, backstage, black&white, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students
Friday, May 25th, 2012
These images are from earlier today. The first two were made during my lunch break, the other two were made near the University boathouses. The summer eights rowing competition is on at the moment so I went over to the boathouses after work to photograph anyone that caught my attention but I’m sorry to say that I didn’t manage to do much photography. The buzz that was there last year seemed to be missing which I found quite disappointing.
[Tech info:] I used a sliding Polaroid back on my Mamiya RB67 to shoot two frames on each sheet of Fuji instant pack film. I really enjoy thinking of two shots that will work together and it’s a shame I can’t shoot a roll of film like this.
Tailors in Little Clarendon Street. These guys are always sharply dressed which makes them very photogenic.
Triumph on St. Giles. I was rushing to make this shot and didn't notice the Polaroid back wasn't pushed all the way to the left. I hope I get to photograph this car again.
Edd and Owen of Hacked Off Films.
BMXer 'Pipe' Williams.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait | 2 Responses »
Tags: fujiroid, oxford, pack film, people, portraits, rb67, summer 8's
Friday, May 25th, 2012
These shots are from my last test shoot with Hai Lin  it’s just taken me a while to process the roll of film because it was colour. With black & white film you can mix up the quantity of chemistry you need to process a single roll. With colour the chemistry is different because you can reuse it so I save up some colour rolls so that I can do them in batches. These shots were made on Kodak Ektar 100 film which I haven’t used very much. I like it so far.
[Tech info:] Mamiya M645 with 80/1.9 lens. Kodak Ektar 100 film. Processed and scanned by me.
Late afternoon sunshine.
Broad Street. I like the shadow in this shot.
Fading light. In the shade the colours look a little funky.
The light level was really low after the sun had gone down behind buildings.
I like the bokeh in this shot.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Photo shoot, Portrait | 3 Responses »
Tags: 645, film, people, portraits
Thursday, May 24th, 2012
Here are some images from the Oxford Union Ball 2012 that I photographed earlier this month. I was fortunate enough to be granted permission the day before the ball and for the first time among a really wet spell of weather we had some gorgeous evening summer light. All of these images are from my digital camera, the shots I made on film will follow as soon as I have time to scan them. I’ve processed all of the films and the shots on the negatives look great.
[Tech info:] Nikon D700 camera with 50/f1.4 lens.
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Posted in Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: ball, black&white, D700, digital, oxford, people, portraits, students
Monday, May 21st, 2012
These images are from a quick lunch time test shoot I had with Jessica last week. Test shoots are great for testing out different cameras, lenses and films which is very difficult to do with my usual street photography because I only tend to make one shot of each person and I don’t want to risk losing any shots or having them not turn out well. There were so many great shots on the roll so this is just a quick preview. More testing to come…
[Tech info:] Nikon F90 (35mm) camera with Nikon Series E 100mm/2.8 lens, loaded with expired Ilford XP2 film. Processed and scanned by me.
Next to the Bridge of Sighs
We had a natural wind machine.
Between the columns.
I don't usually give my images any kind of colour treatment but I thought I'd try it with this one.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, film, oxford, portraits, students
