boxing
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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.
Posted in film, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, boxing, d76, double x, film, leica, m6, oxford, oxford union, pakon, students, voigtlander
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.
Posted in film, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, boxing, f80, film, nikon, oxford, oxford union, pakon, students, tmax400, xtol
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.
Posted in film, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, boxing, film, hc110, HP5, leica, m2, oxford, oxford union, students, voigtlander
Thursday, June 9th, 2016
The Olympic gold medalist and two-time world heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman came to the Oxford Union and I did some photography at the event. As the event started at 5pm the sun was starting to dip just enough to light up the interior of the library where the event took place so I didn’t have to push the film too much and I really like how these turned out.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, Kodak TMAX 400 @ ISO1600, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 11 mins. Pakon scans.
Posted in Oxford | 2 Responses »
Tags: black&white, boxing, f100, film, george foreman, hc110, iso1600, nikon, oxford, oxford union, pakon, people, tmax400
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.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Sport, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: black&white, boxing, delta 400, f100, film, iso3200, nikon, oxford, pakon, students, varsity
Tuesday, February 9th, 2016
This is the third instalment of my photography from the Oxford Town vs Gown Boxing event at the Oxford Union last week.
[Tech info]: Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Kodak TMAX 400 @ ISO1600, developing in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 8mins. Pakon scans.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: black&white, boxing, hc110, iso1600, leica, m2, pakon, people, students, tmax400
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.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: black&white, boxing, film, hc110, iso1600, leica, m2, oxford, people, portraits, tmax400
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.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Sport | No Responses »
Tags: black&white, boxing, film, hc110, iso1600, leica, m2, people, students, tmax400
Sunday, February 8th, 2015
It was nice to see some familiar faces at this years’ Town vs Gown Boxing competition at the Oxford Union, especially some of the team from last year who had come to cheer on Oxford. Last year was my first time photographing this event and I had no idea what to expect when I arrived there. This year was very different because this time I had access all areas and I also had last years’ pictures to live up to (which can be seen here and here).
After much deliberation on which cameras and film to take with me I eventually decided that I wanted to make some portraits on medium format but the difficult part was choosing which medium format camera to take. In the end I went for my Mamiya 645 Pro TL because it’s the one that I own with the fastest lens and not only did I want a shallow depth of field but I also knew that the light levels inside the Oxford Union are fairly low. The 80/1.9 lens that I took with me is quite unforgiving when it comes to focussing it at anywhere near to wide open and the focussing screen that came in my camera (I’m not sure if it’s the standard stock screen) is very bright and clear which actually makes it more difficult to tell whether something is in focus or not so the sharpness in some of the shots below is lacking. The Mamiya 645 Pro TL is a nice camera to use but the thing I hate most about it is the shutter release travel feels like it goes on forever which can cause movement of the camera (in my experience) just before the shutter fires. I have a motor-drive for mine which came with the camera but I haven’t used it yet because once you’ve loaded the grip with AA batteries it adds quite a bit of weight to it as well as increasing the overall size.
[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80/1.9, Kodak Tri-X 400 @ ISO 1600, processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 16mins.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 645, backstage, black&white, boxing, film, hc110, mamiya, oxford, portraits, protl, students, Tri-X
Friday, February 6th, 2015
This is the first set of my images from the Oxford University Amateur Boxing Club (OUABC) Town vs Gown 2015 competition which was held at the Oxford Union two nights ago. Last year was my first time photographing this event and it’s hard to believe that twelve months have already gone by. I was very pleased with my images last year but I decided to change things up a bit this year in terms of cameras and film choice instead of just repeating the same thing. First up we have some shots made with my Leica M2 but I also took a medium format camera with me and a 35mm point and shoot so those will follow soon. The film I used for the images below (Fuji Neopan 1600) is sadly no longer made by Fuji and the roll I used came in a mixed bag of film I bought from a press photographer a couple of years ago. The film is expired but I have no idea by how much so it was a bit risky using it but that’s also what makes things exciting when you have no idea how or if the shots are going to turn out. When it came to developing this film I had to seek some advice from a friend of mine who’s more experienced than I when it comes to using this film (thanks Jean Pierre) and I’m pleased to say I really like the results. All of these were made using available light, in fact I didn’t take a flash with me and the only camera I had that did have a flash was the point and shoot compact.
Many thanks to Isra Hale for the invite and to the boxers for their patience both before and after their bouts in the ring. I look forward to next year when not only will we have another Town vs Gown but also the Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity will be back in Oxford.
[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 35/1.2, Fuji Neopan 1600 (rated ISO 1600), developed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 8mins. Pakon scans.
Posted in Behind the scenes, film, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 1600, black&white, boxing, film, hc110, leica, m2, neopan, oxford, oxford union, students, voigtlander
Friday, June 6th, 2014
The 107th Oxford vs Cambridge Varsity 2014 Boxing match took place at the Town Hall in Oxford, here are some of my shots from the celebrations at the end when Oxford received the winners trophy. It was a great night and a total contrast to the town v gown match that I photographed previously. Well done guys!
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 17-35/2.8, Ilford XP2 (expired). Developed at ASDA, Swindon.
Posted in film, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: asda, black&white, boxing, film, oxford, people, sport, students, varsity
Saturday, March 29th, 2014
This was a great night at a packed Oxford Town Hall. I struggled with the lack of space back stage to make many pictures, instead I wanted to record the ambience of the venue. In the end Oxford won which was a fantastic end to the night. I have some other shots on a roll in a different camera that I haven’t finished yet but I’ll post those when I have them.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8f, 80/2.8 Zeiss Planar, loaded with expired Ilford Delta 3200, processed in Rodinal 1+25.
Posted in film, Oxford, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, backstage, black&white, boxing, film, oxford, portraits, rodinal, rolleiflex, sport, students, varsity
