Street portraits
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Wednesday, May 8th, 2013
Regular visitors to this blog will know how much I love Fuji instant pack film and last week I decided to try some out on my lunch hour photo walks around Oxford with a camera that I don’t tend to use very much, my Mamiya Universal. Clockwise from top left: Builders working on the new Bodleian Library on their lunch break, security outside the Sheldonian Theatre (graduation ceremony), the red crane at the new Bodleian Library, graduation ceremony photographers (this one was actually shot on my way home after work), the all female a cappella band In The Pink, a guy taking a break in Radcliffe Square.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits, students | No Responses »
Tags: film, fujiroid, oxford, people, portraits, summer
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
One of my favourite times of the year in Oxford is late afternoon/early evening sunlight during spring and summer. The warm coloured light on the colleges and the long shadows are perfect for photography. Here are a few shots from a quick photo shoot I had with Chloe where I wanted to test out one of my cameras that hasn’t had much use recently, my Mamiya Universal. It’s a medium format rangefinder camera that is a bit of a beast but it delivers in the image quality department. I’m not a big fan of rangefinder cameras but the reason I got this one was because it enables me to shoot Fuji instant pack film and Polaroid full-frame, without any blank areas on the print. It’s also completely mechanical which I’m a huge fan of.
[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal, 100/3.5 lens, loaded with Fuji FP100-C instant pack film (expired 2005).
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: chloe, fujiroid, mamiya universal, oxford, portraits, students
Thursday, May 2nd, 2013
Here’s the first set of images that I made last weekend of some of the guests on their way to St Peter’s College ball. It was a bit of a chilly evening and rather overcast so photography became tricky as the light level started to drop quite quickly. A lot of the students decided to wear coats (obviously to keep warm) but it’s not so great for photographs which is why I didn’t stop all that many people. I chose to process this roll in Rodinal for more of an old school look compared to HC110. It does increase the grain a little but I don’t mind that.
I’ll be photographing at Keble College ball on 4th May but as it’s the biggest night of the year for college balls (at least four on the same night) I’ll try to do some more group shots on the street of guests making their way to the ball so keep an eye out for me.
[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80/1.9 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400, processed in Rodinal 1+50.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits, students | No Responses »
Tags: 645, ball, black&white, film, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, students, summer, Tri-X
Saturday, April 27th, 2013
Here’s a set of images from my first shoot I had with Charlie. This was a very quick shoot using only natural daylight coming in through a large window in the late afternoon. I decided to take the opportunity to test out a lens that I’ve had sitting around for quite a while but have never used, a 110mm f2.8. One of my favourite lenses for my Mamiya 645 is the 80/f1.9 and I use it so often that you’d think it was welded on but the depth of field at f1.9 is so shallow that I tend to use that lens mostly at f2.8. When I decided to test out my 110/f2.8 lens I used it wide open at f2.8 for these shots. I really like how these shots turned out but I need to do further testing outside with more distance to the background so that I can see what the bokeh is like with this lens.
[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 110/f2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 film, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 (dilution b).
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | 3 Responses »
Tags: 645, black&white, charlie, film, hc110, oxford, portraits, protl, students, Tri-X
Thursday, April 25th, 2013
These images are all from the same roll that I shot with Chloe a couple of months ago in her room at college. The nice thing about this room is that instead of having a standard window, there are two walls of glass that meet in a corner. This was more of a quick test shoot to see what we could come up with in this location and after seeing these I can’t wait to shoot some more there.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 (expired 2007), processed in Rodinal 1+50.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x7, black&white, chloe, film, oxford, portraits, rb67, room, students, Tri-X
Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013
Here are some shots from the second salon day at Keble College held by dress hire company Wish Want Wear. This was a lunch break shoot so I only had half an hour shooting time. Katherine did an amazing job at changing outfits in record time. I’ll be photographing at the Keble Ball on 4th May and I’m really looking forward to it.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens on Fuji FP100C instant pack film.
Posted in Fashion, film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: ball, diptych, fashion, film, fujiroid, keble college, oxford, rb67, students
Thursday, April 18th, 2013
Some shots from a photo shoot I had with Christy a few months back in January. These were towards the end of the shoot and the late afternoon light coming in through the windows of her room at college was beginning to fade quite quickly so we had to light the background in the left two shots with a desk lamp. Shooting with large format film is not a particularly fast process but Christy was extremely patient and I really like how these turned out.
[Tech info:] Speed Graphic 5×4 camera, Kodak Aero Ektar lens. I think the film was Ilford HP5 processed in HC110 (1+31) but I’m not 100% sure on that. Must keep notes!
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 5x4, aero, black&white, christy, film, oxford, people, portraits, students
Thursday, April 4th, 2013
During my photo shoot at the Wish Want Wear salon day at Keble College, Oxford, not only did I shoot with digital and film, I also shot some Fuji instant pack film (aka Fujiroids). Here they are below. Unfortunately I only had 5 sheets left in the pack and I didn’t take any more with me which was a real shame because these were a huge hit. Keble is such a great location and I am very much looking forward to photographing at the Keble College summer ball that is coming up next month.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens with an Arca Swiss sliding Polaroid back that allows me to shoot two shots on each sheet.
Posted in Fashion, film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | No Responses »
Tags: diptych, fashion, film, fujiroid, keble college, mamiya, oxford, rb67, students
Wednesday, March 20th, 2013
These shots are from the salon day at Keble College that was held by the designer dress company Wish Want Wear. If I had one wish it would be to have had more time to shoot because it really was a case of so many dresses and so little time. I previously posted some of the black & white shots I did there and now here are some colour ones for your viewing pleasure. I usually process and scan all of my own film but processing colour film during the freezing cold winter weather is a bit tricky because of the warm temperature the chemicals need to be kept at and my studio where I do my processing is like a fridge during the winter. That’s why I sent this roll of film away to a lab (Ag Photolab) and I’m very pleased with their scans. Zero retouching was done to these shots, none! Some more shots still to come.
If you’re looking for a ball gown to hire for one of the many upcoming Oxford University summer balls, give Wish Want Wear a look. Hopefully I can work with them again in the future because this was a really fun shoot. The Keble summer ball is on 4th May. See you there.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm f3.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Portra 400NC.
Posted in Fashion, film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x7, fashion, film, oxford, rb67, students
Monday, March 11th, 2013
Some rolls of colour film that I sent off to a photo lab for processing and scanning a week ago arrived back this morning and it was nice to see shots from lots of different photo shoots among them, mostly from the end of last year. I usually do all of my own processing and scanning but colour is tricky during the winter because the temperature of the chemicals needs to be kept within a very small tolerance (less than 0.5 of a degree) and my studio where I usually do my processing is an ice box during the winter. After building up a small batch of exposed colour film I decided to test out a new lab I had heard about rather than wait until the weather warms up in the spring and because I usually struggle a bit with colour scanning I went for the option to have the lab do it for me. I’ll drip feed the scans instead of cramming them all in together.
Here are a few shots from a lunch hour shoot I had with Georgina (I think at the beginning of December). We lucked out with the weather and nice wintery sunshine on that day. These were some of the last shots I made and the ones I was most excited to see, especially the two portrait shots where the sun is backlighting but also bouncing off a stone wall behind me to give a soft front light (one of my favourite kinds of light). These shots have had zero retouching done to them, one of the many joys of shooting with film.
[Tech info:] Bronica ETRSi loaded with Kodak 160VC.
One of my favourite kinds of light.
In front of the Sheldonian Theatre.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: 645, bronica, film, oxford, portraits, students
Wednesday, March 6th, 2013
Here are some shots from a recent lunch break photo shoot that I had with Jess to test out a new (to me) camera and lens combo that I picked up. Despite the sunny weather that we had on this day I decided to use some fast speed film that you’d only usually use in low light because I already had one roll of it to process and I like to process two rolls at the same time whenever possible. I really like how these turned out with the grain and I can see myself doing this a little more often.
[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 150mm/f2.8 lens, Kodak Tri-X rated at ISO1600, processed in Rodinal (1:50).
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 645, black&white, film, jess, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, Tri-X
Sunday, March 3rd, 2013
Here are some shots from a lunch hour photo shoot I had with Chloe a couple of weeks ago on a day where we were lucky enough to have a little sunshine to photograph in. Regular visitors to this blog are probably familiar with the location because I’ve used it a number of times. I like the lines, angles and shadows and I also like the challenge of trying to make good use of the same location. I’m sure there are some great shots still to be made here.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm & 180mm lenses, loaded with Kodak Tri-X, processed in Kodak HC110 (1:31).
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x7, black&white, chloe, film, hc110, oxford, people, rb67, students
