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Sunday, March 2nd, 2014
More backstage shots from The Benefactor Charity Fashion Show that I attended earlier this week. These are all on different film to the first post and you can see a clear difference in terms of both contrast and grain. I’ve found that Kodak Tri-X pushes to ISO 1600 very nicely if you have enough light. The hard thing about trying to photograph backstage at a fashion show is usually the lack of space and time to work in because of all the other things going on – hair, make-up, styling etc. The other hurdle is usually the quality of light you have to work with which tends to be fluorescent tubes in the ceiling which is the case at the Town Hall. It’s all of these challenges that make it exciting and I quite like having to work for my shots. The downside is that during the show the models usually have a minute between outfit changes which makes it impossible to photograph them which can be frustrating when you see lots of amazing outfits flashing past without being able to photograph any of them. You take the rough with the smooth, do the best you can and enjoy the journey. These shots are all from the same roll of film, I only get 15 frames with this medium format camera so it’s not a bad hit rate.
Credits: Hair by Toni & Guy, Oxford. Make-up by Majenta.
[Tech info:] Bronica ETRSi, 80mm/2.8, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired) @ ISO1600, processed in HC110 1+31 for 16 mins.
Posted in Fashion, film, Oxford, students | No Responses »
Tags: 645, backstage, black&white, bronica, fashion, film, hc110, oxford, students, Tri-X
Saturday, March 1st, 2014
Oxford’s Town Hall is a great venue for a fashion show, I’ve photographed quite a few there in the past and earlier this week that was where The Benefactor Charity Fashion Show was held. Here’s a first set of images but there are lots more to come. I decided to experiment a little and for these shots I combined a grainy film (Ilford Delta 3200) with a developer that is known to exaggerate grain (Rodinal). The film expired in 2007 and has lost some of its low light sensitivity but I like the results.
[Tech info:] Bronica ETRSi, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Ilford Delta 3200, processed in Rodinal 1+25 for 9mins.
Posted in Fashion, film, Oxford, students | No Responses »
Tags: 645, backstage, black&white, bronica, fashion, film, oxford, portraits, students
Thursday, February 27th, 2014
These portraits of Filippa were made last June (2013) but they got a little lost in my mountain of negatives so I’ve only just scanned them. All from the same roll of 10 frames with not a duff shot between them. Less is more. Zero retouching on these. Filippa was extremely easy to work with and it was a very relaxed shoot as I recall in tricky lighting which was rather flat. I think it worked out well in the end and I really like how these turned out. I hope I get to shoot with Filippa again, perhaps with large format next time.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67, 110mm and 180mm lenses. Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired) film. Processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 110mm, 6x7, black&white, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, RZ67, students, Tri-X
Monday, February 24th, 2014
A couple of weeks ago I met with The Oxford Revue to make some portraits for them to use for publicity. It was at the end of one of their rehearsal sessions at the Burton Taylor theatre and there was not a great deal of time but it was a fun session with a really nice group of people who I hope to work more with in the future. We shot a variety of different expressions but I prefer the more serious ones especially as that’s not what you’d expect for a comedy group. The list of previous members of The Oxford Revue is quite impressive so keep an eye out for these guys (and girl), they’ll be touring soon. My thanks go to George (the director) for contacting me.
[Tech info]: Nikon D700, 50/1.4D. Fake Ilford HP5 filter applied to look less like digital and more like film. Not a chance!
Posted in Oxford, People, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: D700, digital, oxford, oxford revue, portraits, students
Sunday, February 9th, 2014
I have never photographed boxing so when I heard about the OUABC’s Town vs Gown competition that was being held at the Oxford Union Society I thought it would be a great opportunity to do some behind the scenes photography. The were already two official photographers covering the fights from ringside but that’s not what interests me. I’m more drawn to to what you don’t usually get to see before and after the fights and I have to say it was a fascinating evening. This is the first set of pictures, more to come. My thanks go to Jack, the boxing club president, for granting me permission and access and also to the rest of the club for being so accommodating.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 50/1.4D lens, loaded with Ilford XP2 film, rated at iso 1600, processed for 5mins in a home C41 kit.
Posted in film, Oxford, Sport, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: black&white, boxing, f100, film, nikon, oxford, oxford union, portraits, sport, students, xp2
Friday, January 31st, 2014
Last Saturday I did some backstage photography during TEDx Oxford 2014 which was held at the New Theatre on George Street. I have fond memories of going to the New Theatre as a child and once even saw a double bill screening of The Spy Loved Me and Revenge of the Pink Panther there. A large white safety screen was hung over the stage and the movies were projected onto that. So, I was excited to be backstage and get a glimpse behind the curtain.
I did do some photography of the speakers from the wings but for me I most important thing was to photograph the worker bees that were making the event happen because without them there wouldn’t be much of a conference. These shots are all from the same roll of medium format film, made in available light.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8f, 80mm Zeiss Planar lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired), rated at ISO 800, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 9 mins.
Posted in film, Oxford, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 2.8f, 6x6, backstage, black&white, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, rolleiflex, students, TEDx, Tri-X
Tuesday, January 28th, 2014
These two portraits were made during my lunch break today, I wanted to test out a Polaroid 110B camera that I recently bought. This one has been converted to use instant pack film just like the Fujiroids that I enjoy using so much. This camera has a rangefinder for focussing which I’m not a big fan of but that’s how it is. I wanted to see if the rangefinder and lens were calibrated so I needed some test subjects and fortunately for me Amber and Freddie (who I’ve photographed before) came along. To eliminate camera shake I decided to set the camera on a tripod and I used a cable release to trip the shutter. So far so good, everything seems to be working. The interesting thing about these two shots is the exposure used is exactly the same (1/125th F4.7) with the lens wide open, the only thing that changed is the lens to subject distance. Look at the difference in depth of field when I focussed closer on Amber than I did Freddie.
[Tech info:] Polaroid Pathfinder 110B camera, Enna Werk Munchen Ennit 127mm/f4.7 lens, Fuji FP-100C pack film (expired 2007).
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait, Street portraits, students | No Responses »
Tags: 110B, film, fujiroid, oxford, people, polaroid, portraits, students
Sunday, January 12th, 2014
These shots are from a couple of shoots that I did towards the end of 2012 (oct/nov) that I don’t think I posted before. I’ve always liked how these turned out so here they are. The shots of Helen were made with window light (I was backed up right against it) that was controlled with curtains to create a strip softbox kind of light. The shoot with Jake was done around town on a bright sunny day but I was able to find some nice bounced light to use.
[Tech info:] Helen: Mamiya 645 1000s, 80/1.9, loaded with Kodak Portra 800Z (expired). Jake: Pentax 67, 105/2.4, loaded with Fuji 400H (expired).
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 645, 6x7, film, mamiya universal, oxford, pentax, people, portraits, students
Saturday, November 30th, 2013
When I arrived at the Chicago dress rehearsal last week there was already a roll of film in my camera so I finished it off with some quick portraits of some of the performers before the dress rehearsal started proper. I rarely use on-camera flash in any kind of auto mode but I thought this was a good opportunity to test it out so I set the flash to TTL mode and bounced the flash from the ceiling in the corridor. I manually set the exposure on the camera to keep things consistent. These were all shot between f2 and f4.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 50/1.4D lens loaded with Agfa Vista 200 (Poundland), processed and scanned by Simon at ASDA Swindon.
Posted in film, Oxford, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: backstage, chicago, drama, f100, film, oxford, people, portraits, students
Tuesday, November 26th, 2013
If you’re one of the lucky people that got to see Chicago last week I’m sure these pictures will remind you how great the production was, if you didn’t manage to catch it then these pictures will show you a little of what you missed. I’ve got some very special film that I keep for special occasions and I was excited to photograph this dress rehearsal because it meant I could test out some of this film because it’s designed to be used under tungsten lighting conditions. What makes it so special is that it’s Kodak motion picture film, the same stock that is used by Hollywood studios for movies and tv shows. Under regular tungsten lighting this film can look incredible but because the colour of the lights kept changing during the performance it’s hard to get a sense of what this film is capable of rendering. I’m very pleased with these results and look forward to testing some more of it soon.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 50/1.4D lens, Cinestill 500T film, developed and scanned at ASDA, Swindon (thanks to Simon).
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: chicago, cinestill, drama, f100, film, oxford, students
Sunday, November 17th, 2013
Here are some medium format film shots that I made last weekend during one of the rehearsal’s for Chicago that is on in a few days at the Keble O’Reilly theatre. This film expired in 2007 and generally high-speed film doesn’t age well so I’m very pleased with how these turned out considering the light level was incredibly low and not very contrasty. I was partly using this occasion as a test for a bright (Beattie) viewing screen that I recently installed into my Mamiya C330f camera and I’m happy to report that it’s a lot brighter and easier to focus with than the stock screen.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens loaded with Ilford Delta 3200 (expired 2007), rated at ISO 1250, processed in Rodinal 1+25 for 10mins.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, c330, drama, film, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, students
Thursday, November 14th, 2013
Some shots from a rehearsal for Chicago which is on next week at the Keble O’Reilly theatre from 20th – 23rd November. From what I saw I can tell you that it’s going to be excellent. I almost titled this post ‘adventures in grain’ because that’s something I was testing when I chose to use some Ilford Delta 3200 that expired in 2006 for this shoot and then developed it in developer that is renowned for its ability to increase film grain. I think the film coped very well considering the room where the rehearsal took place had sunlight pouring in at one end while the other end was only lit by the energy saving light bulbs hanging from the high ceiling which was quite a punishment test for this film. My thanks go to Jack Sain, the director, for allowing me to photograph during the rehearsal and I hope to do some more photography during the dress rehearsal next week.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 50/1.4D and 70-200/2.8 lenses, loaded with Ilford Delta 3200 rated at ISO 1250 (expired), processed in Rodinal 1+25 for 10mins.
Posted in film, Oxford, students | No Responses »
Tags: black&white, drama, f100, film, oxford, rodinal, students
