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Oxford: Town vs Gown Boxing 2019 – part 1

Friday, February 1st, 2019

The annual Oxford Town vs Gown boxing event was held at the Oxford Union at the end of January and I went along to document it with my camera. The lighting was far from ideal with lots of hot spots and dark shadows from the spot lights in the corners of the ring so I used the situation to experiment a little. The majority of these shots were made with a slow shutter speed to record some blur as the boxers moved around at great speed. More to come.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double X, ISO 250, developed in D76 1+1. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Summer Eights 2018 – panoramic

Friday, June 1st, 2018

The final day of Summer Eights is always a favourite event of mine to photograph during the summer. Here are some shots I made with a Russian panoramic camera. Each frame is approximately 1.5 times the width of a regular 35mm frame and the camera has a built in spirit level that you can see through the viewfinder to help you keep the camera level when required. It’s fun to use and I like the results especially at an event where there is so much going on around you.

[Tech info:] Zenit Horizon S3 Sport, Fuji Superia 200 film, dev and scan by fimdev.co.uk

 

Oxford: Town vs Gown Boxing 2018 – part 2

Monday, February 19th, 2018

Here are some of my pictures from the Town vs Gown 2018 boxing event which was held at the Oxford Union. These shots are from the final bout when I decided to try out a film I don’t usually use very often – Ilford Delta 400. I pushed this roll to ISO 1600 because the light levels were low and I’m pleased with the results.

[Tech info:] Nikon F80, Nikkor 24/2.8 lens, Ilford Delta 400 @ ISO 1600, developed in Ilford DDX 1+4. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Town vs Gown Boxing 2018 – part 1

Tuesday, January 30th, 2018

For the past four years I have photographed the Town vs Gown boxing event at the Oxford Union and this year I decided to experiment a little with my photography and try some ideas out that I’ve been thinking about recently – multiple exposure and using slow shutter speeds to record movement. Recently I bought a Nikon F80 camera body which has a multiple exposure mode on it which makes it very easy to layer exposures on a single frame so this was a perfect opportunity to use it. The film I used for these shots expired in 1991 which has reduced the contrast somewhat in very contrasty light conditions. I didn’t make any notes on which shutter speeds I used but I think I was between 1/30 and 1/90 for most of these. This roll of film was rated at ISO 400 but developed for the ISO 800 time to account for the age of the film. Overall I’m pleased with how these turned out.

[Tech info:] Nikon F80, 24/2.8, TMAX 400 (expired 1991), developed for ISO 800 time in Kodak XTOL 1+1.

 

Oxford: Town v Gown Boxing, 2017 – part 1

Tuesday, February 14th, 2017

Lots of images to share in this post. All from the same roll of film shot at the Town v Gown 2017 boxing event which was held in the debating chamber at the Oxford Union Society. As in previous years I tried to document both the behind-the-scenes goings on as well as some of the actual boxing in the ring which wasn’t easy because of the distance between the two buildings where both of these things were happening. I wanted to travel light so I only took two lenses with me for my Leica M2 – a 40/1.4 and a 50/1.5 but I ended up using the 40/1.4 for the whole evening.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 40/1.4, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 3200, developed in HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.

Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity Boxing 2016 – part 1

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016

The Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity Boxing 2016 event was held at the town hall in Oxford and I was invited along to do some photography to document the occasion. I had previously photographed this event in 2014 and it was nice to be back. It was also nice to see some familiar faces from previous alumni who had come along for support. The overall score was 52 – 52 so tension was high and I’m pleased to say that Oxford won to bring the trophy back home for another year. More pictures to come.

[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 17-35/2.8, Ilford Delta 400 @ ISO3200, developed in Ilford DD-X 1+4, pakon scans.

Oxford: Town vs Gown Boxing, 2016 – part 2

Sunday, February 7th, 2016

This is the second instalment of my photography from the Oxford Town vs Gown Boxing event at the Oxford Union earlier this week. More to come.

[Tech info]: Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Kodak TMAX 400 @ ISO1600, developing in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 8mins. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Town vs Gown Boxing, 2016 – part 1

Saturday, February 6th, 2016

The Oxford University Boxing Club invited me to photograph this years’ Town v Gown Boxing event at the Oxford Union because they really liked my pictures from the previous two years and I was very happy to go along. It was nice to see some familiar faces and new ones too. I tried to mix things up with photographing some action in the ring along with behind the scenes shots but the lighting on the ring was too harsh to record it well. More to come.

[Tech info]: Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Kodak TMAX 400 @ ISO1600, developing in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 8mins. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Skateboarding tour

Friday, November 6th, 2015

Back in the summer some professional skateboarders from North America visited the OWP skatepark on meadow lane for a skate around as part of a European tour. I must confess I’m not a skateboarder so I didn’t know anything about the guys that were coming but a lot of people did and I’ve never seen the skatepark so busy. Here are some frames from the roll of film I had in my M2. The beginning of the roll had Lewis shots on it (see previous post). I think I have some other shots from a different camera which I’ll post at a later date.

[Tech info]: Leica M2, Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5, Fuji Reala 100 (expired), developed in a 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: 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: Torpids 2015 – part 1

Monday, March 23rd, 2015

Some photography from the final day of Torpids 2015 in Oxford. This year I only managed to make it to the final day but the weather was fantastic and there was a great turn out of spectators who came to enjoy some racing on the river. I used the sunny weather as a perfect opportunity to test out some special motion picture film I bought recently. This batch of film is surplus stock left over from the new Star Wars (Episode VII) movie that I purchased. It’s daylight balanced and has a film speed of ISO 50 so the sunny weather was perfect. I’m impressed with the lack of contrast in what was at times extremely contrasty light and the control of highlights is very nice too. With spring in the air and blossom starting to make an appearance I hope to be able to use more of this film through the spring and into summer.

[Tech info:] Minolta Hi-Matic 7, Kodak Vision 3 50D motion picture film, ISO 50, developed with a Rollei Digibase C41 kit. Pakon scans.