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Oxford: flooded meadow

Thursday, January 14th, 2021

During December 2020 the UK saw a lot of rainfall and some parts of the country were flooded. I don’t remember Oxford receiving enough rain to cause flooding but as the massive volume of water from other parts comes rushing through Oxford the rivers swell which in turn causes some areas to flood, especially a local meadow. I made the most of the flooding and did some photography with a large format camera I’ve been wanting to try out for a while. It’s custom made with a 75mm Schneider lens which is fitted to a helicoid for focussing and the back rotates – something I found out by accident which was a nice bonus. There is no branding on it but it’s extremely well designed and made.

I wanted to fill the frame with sky and the reflection in the water so I had to stand in the water because a 75mm on 5×4 film gives an extremely wide angle of view. The Benbo Mk 2 tripod is perfect for this because the legs extend upwards from inside the bottom part of the legs and is designed to stand in water. What a didn’t realise was how easily one of the feet would end up coming off in the mud because it had a split in it, something I only noticed once I got back home. Fortunately Paterson in the UK still sell spares and supply them in a pack of 3. I’ve included some behind the scenes pictures below.

[Tech info:] Custom red dot 5×4 camera, 75mm Schneider lens, FP4 film (expired), developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 (-1 minute to prevent the highlights blowing out).

20201229_Flooded_Meadow_75mm_FP4_HC110B_001_web

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Posted in Equipment, film, Oxford | 2 Responses »
Tags: 5x4, 75mm, black&white, film, flood, fp4, hc110, ilford, meadow, oxford

Oxford: Foggy New Year’s Eve

Monday, January 4th, 2021

During the evening of New Year’s Eve 2020 a thick fog descended on Oxford and it was the most atmospheric I’ve seen especially with the empty streets and shops and restaurants closed. Here are some pictures from that evening which I made on b&w film. I shot two rolls of colour but they haven’t been developed yet. I should’ve packed more film.

The roll expired in 2019 so I didn’t expect there to be any problems. Unfortunately there is a mottling on these images which has been caused by the film being in contact with the backing paper, something which I haven’t experienced with Ilford film before. Apparently this is a common problem.

[Tech info:] Pentax 645NII, 45-85mm, Ilford HP5 (expired), developed in Ilford Ilfosol 3 1+9 for 6min 30sec in a Jobo.

Oxford at night in fog

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Posted in film, Oxford | 2 Responses »
Tags: 645, black&white, film, fog, HP5, ilford, ilfosol 3, jobo, night, oxford, pentax

A walk in the woods

Thursday, November 12th, 2020

I’ve borrowed a Contax T2 point and shoot camera from a kind friend of mine and have been taking it with me on a few walks recently to see if it lives up to its reputation. So far I can’t say it has. Below are some examples from a recent walk and you can see in three of them only the centre of the frame is in focus and the outer edge of the frame looks so distorted I wonder if there’s an alignment problem with the lens. Surely it can’t be down to a shallow depth of field. The strange thing is in the shot of the moss covered branch (second image) the blurry edges aren’t there so maybe it’s more to do with focussing at infinity? Maybe this is normal for this camera but no one has mentioned it in any reviews? Not sure.

[Tech info:] Contax T2, Eastman Double X film, developed in FPP D96 for 7mins 30secs. Pakon scans.

20201107_Bagley-Wood_Contax-T2_XX_D96_05_web

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Posted in Equipment, film | No Responses »
Tags: 2020, 35mm, bagley wood, black&white, d96, double x, film, kodak, pakon

Oxford: Sunny 16 photowalk – part 1

Sunday, November 8th, 2020

The Sunny 16 photography podcast arranged a photowalk in Oxford back in February and I agreed to show the group of film photographers around my home town. After 9 months I’ve finally managed to develop my films from the day and here’s a selection from the first roll. Part of the delay was because I wanted to wait until I had enough rolls to develop at once before ordering special developer to bring the best out of this motion picture film – Eastman Double-X.

There are different developer options on the market but on this occasion I decided to give FPP D96 a try partly because one packet of powder mixes into 3.8 litres of stock solution which is great value. I’ve been using 1 litre of stock to develop my rolls with 70ml of replenishment from fresh stock per roll. After 8 rolls developed the results still look great.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double-X, developed in FPP D96 stock for 7min 30secs, Pakon scans.

20200208_Sunny16_Photowalk_M2_XX_D96_32_web

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Posted in film, Oxford, People | No Responses »
Tags: 2020, 35mm, 40mm, black&white, d96, double x, film, leica, m2, nokton, oxford, pakon, people, photowalk, voigtlander

Oxford: Endeavour 7, FILM 1 – part 9

Monday, June 15th, 2020

Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 1 in the Goodman Library at the Oxford Union, August 2019. This location is a favourite of mine and one I am very familiar with having photographed quite a few speaking events there over the past few years. Once the artificial sunlight came streaming in through the windows and the library was filled with haze the space was completely transformed.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in XTOL stock, Pakon scans.

20190819_Endeavour_S7E1_Oxford-Union_M6_HP5_1600_Xtol-stock_00A_web

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Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, Oxford, People | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, HP5, iso1600, leica, m6, oxford, pakon, people, s7e1, summer, voigtlander, xtol

Oxford: lunch break photo walk around Worcester College

Saturday, December 21st, 2019

First test roll with a 40mm wide-angle lens I recently picked up for my Bronica SQ-A. I’ve had the lens for a while but I needed some dry weather during my lunch break to test it out. The lens is very wide and allows close focusing which I like. The interior shot of Worcester College chapel was an 8 second exposure which is the slowest shutter speed on the camera. I can see that being very useful in some situations. The roll of Ilford Pan F I used expired in 2007 so I rated it at ISO 25. Even though slow films are meant to lose sensitivity over time slower than faster emulsions Pan F tends to suffer quite badly for a film with a box speed of ISO 50. Not a problem on this occasion because I wanted to use the 40mm lens fairly wide open. I’m pleased with the results from this lens and it’s a keeper.

[Tech info:] Bronica SQ-A, 40mm Zenzanon lens, Ilford Pan F (expired), developed in XTOL 1+1.

20191209_Worcester-College_SQA_40mm_PANF_Xtol_001_web

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Posted in Equipment, film, Oxford, People, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: 40mm, 6x6, black&white, bronco, film, ilford, oxford, pan f, portraits, sqa, worcester, xtol

Endeavour 7: FILM 3 – part 4

Tuesday, December 17th, 2019

These shots were from the final day of filming on Endeavour 7 | FILM 3 at the studio that has some of the interior sets. Along with Anton Lesser we have Steve (standby carpenter) and Grant (third assistant director). For some unknown reason there is a mottling on the film which I haven’t experienced before. I developed this roll exactly the same as hundreds of others previously so I can’t work out how this was caused during development. More shots to come after UK broadcast.

[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss Planar, Ilford Delta 400 developed in Ilford DD-X 1+4.

bright_web

20191120_NDVRS7E3_Brights-office_2.8F_Delta400_DDX_001_web

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Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, People, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: black&white, ddx, delta 400, endeavour, film, filming, Milford, people, portraits, rolleiflex, s7e3

Endeavour 7: FILM 3 – part 3

Saturday, December 7th, 2019

The last day of filming on Endeavour 7 was mostly interiors but I can’t show any of the action without spoilers so those will have to wait until after UK broadcast. In the meantime here are some non-spoiler shots from the day, mainly the hardworking crew. I had taken along with me some rolls of Kodak TMZ P3200 b&w film because I was expecting low light levels inside and so far I’ve been very impressed with the results since using Kodak TMAX film developer (1+4 dilution, one shot). More to come.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton, Kodak TMZ P3200 @ ISO 1600, developed in TMAX developer 1+4, Pakon scans.

20191120_Endeavour_S7E3_Langleybury_M6_TMZ_P3200-1600_TMX-Dev_04A_web

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Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, People | 1 Response »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, iso1600, leica, m6, pakon, people, s7e3, tmax, tmz, voigtlander

Oxford: lunch break photo walk

Thursday, December 5th, 2019

Some shots here from a lunch break photo walk where I was testing a lens and a film + filter combination. The lens is a Nikon 28mm f2.0 AIS that is very beaten up. There’s a slight rattle inside if I shake it so I’d say all is not well with it but I’m beginning to like the strange almost lens-baby-style blur it gives when used at wide apertures. The film and filter combination I was testing was Eastman Double X motion picture film combined with an orange filter. The D96 developer I’m using is a 1 litre stock solution that I’ve developed 7 rolls through and these negs look fairly thin so I think I should be increasing the development time although there is no mention of doing that from Nik & Trick (the supplier I purchased it from). The 1 litre solution is said to be good for 18 rolls but I’m not so optimistic.

[Tech info]: Nikon FA (aperture priority), Nikon 28mm f2.0 AIS lens, orange filter, Eastman Double X (expired) developed in D96 for 7 mins.

20191129_LunchBreak_FA_28-f2.0_Orange-filter_DoubleX_D96_02_web

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Tags: 2019, 28mm, 35mm, black&white, d96, double x, film, nikon, oxford, pakon

Endeavour: wrap day on series 7

Monday, November 25th, 2019

It’s always a privilege spending a day with the Endeavour crew and even more so when it’s at the studio where the interior sets are built. The day I picked on series 7 to visit the studio coincidently happened to be the wrap day for the series and I was asked to make a group shot of the crew before their lunch break. I did the same on series 5 but this time the group was larger and even the caterers managed to squeeze in. A nice record of a fun day. More pictures to follow.

[Tech info:] Fuji GW690, Delta 400 @ ISO 800, developed in DDX 1+4.

20191120_NDVRS7E3_Langleybury_Fuji-6x9_Delta_400-1600_DDX_001_web

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Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, People | 7 Responses »
Tags: 6x9, black&white, ddx, delta 400, endeavour, film, filming, Milford, people, s7e3

Oxford: instant film promo shoot

Monday, November 18th, 2019

I was recently asked to make a promo shot for a new band called Transmission From Nowhere to coincide with the release of their new CD. One of the band members is a fellow film photographer and suggested doing the shoot on the now illusive Fuji FP-3000B instant b&w film which I was more than happy to do. I’ve got a range of cameras that can use this film but I decided on my Mamiya RB67 because I have a sliding back for it that allows two different exposures next to each other on the same print which results in a diptych.

We used the whole pack of film for the shoot – a whopping 10 shots – and I can’t begin to tell you how much fun it was. All double exposures were done in camera. No batteries and no squinting at LED screens required.

[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 127mm lens, Fuji FP-3000B instant b&w film (expired).

IMG_1277_900px tfn-in-studio-900px

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Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait | 8 Responses »
Tags: 6x7, black&white, film, fp-3000b, fuji, fujiroid, mamiya, oxford, people, portraits, rb67

Oxford: Endeavour 7, FILM 3 – part 1

Saturday, November 2nd, 2019

Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 7 | FILM 3 in Merton College, Oxford. A cold day for the cast and crew but at least it wasn’t raining! As usual, no spoilers. More pictures to follow after UK broadcast.

[Tech info:] Leica M6, 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double X film, developed in D96. Pakon scans.

20191029_Endeavour_S7E3_Merton_M6_XX_D96_03_web