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Oxford: Lunch break photography – Yashica Electro

Thursday, February 25th, 2016

One of my favourite rangefinder cameras to use is the Yashica Electro and it’s the camera I most often have with me to take on my lunch break photo walks when I haven’t chosen something else to use. It’s light, quiet, simple to use and the lens gives excellent results. It also looks beautiful too. It’s an aperture priority only camera so there’s no need for an external light meter. Just choose an aperture, focus and click. Simple. Here are some shots from December 2015 and January/February 2016.

[Tech info:] Yashica Electro 35, Eastman Double X motion picture film, developed in Kodak D76 1+1. Pakon scans.

 

Gear: Olympus OM1 test

Monday, February 22nd, 2016

A generous friend of mine (thanks Clive) gave me an Olympus OM1 that he had been given over 10 years ago but never got around to using it. I was very pleased to accept it as I’ve been curious about the Olympus OM1 for a long time. I keep hearing so many positive things about it but I don’t have any experience of Olympus SLR cameras having been a lifelong Nikon user. It turned out that the light meter doesn’t work in this OM1 but fortunately it’s a manual mechanical camera and still works fine without the light meter or batteries. These shots are from the first test roll I put through it during my lunch break.

[Tech info:] Olympus OM1, Zuiko 50/1.8 lens, Kodak TMAX 1oo developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.

Gear: Pentacon Six TL

Saturday, February 13th, 2016

Here are some images from the first test roll through a medium format camera that I picked up recently. The Pentacon Six TL has been on my radar for the last couple of years because of one particular lens, the Carl Zeiss Jena 180/2.8. As luck would have it I came across a nice condition setup for sale last weekend for a reasonable price so I decided it was time to give it a go.

The first thing that struck me was the size of the front element of the 180/2.8 lens, it’s huge! My largest filters are 77mm but this lens requires 86mm filters. The camera is very nice to use, especially with a prism instead of a waist level finder which makes it easier to balance the big lens. The only camera I have that is similar in size and design is a Pentax 6×7 but two immediate differences struck me about the Pentacon Six TL – it’s a 6×6 format camera so you use it in landscape orientation the whole time, also the mirror in it is a lot quieter than the Pentax 6×7 and doesn’t cause as much camera shake. One thing I didn’t realise about the prism is that the viewfinder is not 100%. I’ve got a lot more image in the frame on the film than I remember seeing through the lens. I’m not sure if this is down to the prism or whether you get the same with the waist level finder (which I don’t have).

So far I’ve enjoyed using this camera and lens combo and look forward to seeing more results from it.

[Tech info:] Pentacon Six TL, Carl Zeiss Jena 180/2.8, Kodak Tri-X (expired 2002) developed in Kodak HC110 1+47 for 8 mins.

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: Endeavour 3, episode 4 – part 8

Thursday, January 21st, 2016

Some more shots from the last night of filming in Oxford for Endeavour series 3. This was close to when the crew wrapped just after midnight. I remember it feeling quite chilly out there despite this being the end of July. I’m very much looking forward to seeing how this scene looks in the final episode of series 3.

My sincere thanks go to Olly Blackburn, the director of this episode, for allowing me on set to photograph. I wish more directors were as accommodating. More pictures to come.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 35/1.2 Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak Xtol stock. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 3, episode 4 – part 7

Tuesday, January 5th, 2016

This set of behind the scenes pictures are from the final day of filming in Oxford for Endeavour series 3. It was a beautifully lit outdoor concert that took place on a summers evening in Exeter College gardens. The lighting crew did a fantastic job with all of the lights and the string quartet played for real which was a joy to listen to during every take. As it was the end of July the sky didn’t become dark until quite late so filming didn’t start until around 9pm and wrapped at almost exactly midnight.

My sincere thanks go to Olly Blackburn, the director of this episode, for allowing me on set to photograph. More pictures to come.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford HP5, ISO 1600, developed in Kodak Xtol stock solution. Pakon scans.

Oxford: Endeavour 3, episode 4 – part 6

Thursday, December 24th, 2015

Mark your calendar, Endeavour series 3 starts on ITV on 3rd January 2016. I can’t wait! Here’s some behind the scenes photography I did while filming was taking place in Oxford at the end of July. Looking back through these images it doesn’t feel like 5 months ago. I’m particularly looking forward to this episode because the scenes I saw being filmed looked very exciting and it was the first time that I’d seen so many of the cast members together.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Ilford HP5 developed in Kodak D76 1+1. Pakon scans.

Oxford: finals exam celebrations, 2015 – part 1

Sunday, December 6th, 2015

One of my favourite things to photograph at the beginning of summer is when Oxford University students celebrate the end of their exams which is also known as trashing. I love the riot of colour and carnival atmosphere of pure celebration and relief all mixed together. I’ve got quite a backlog of pictures to post going back to last year. Here are some pictures from this year with lots more to come.

[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 85/1.8D, Fuji Press 400 film (expired), Rollei Digibase C41 kit, Pakon scans.

Oxford: Remembrance Day, 2015

Sunday, November 15th, 2015

Last year I photographed the Remembrance Day ceremony is Oxford with only 35mm film so this year I decided to change things up and only use large format. There’s no sense in repeating things, right? After much deliberation I opted to use my Speed Graphic 5×4 and 7 inch Aero Ektar lens (aka The Burnett combo). Using a lens from WWII seemed somewhat appropriate and I need all of the speed I could get because the sky was very overcast and the light level very low. Once I had packed my camera bag I only had space for 6 film holders (12 sheets of 5×4 inch film) so that’s all I took. Some of my shots ended up with very strange looking focus shift so I think in my rush to set up I must have moved the lens from being parallel with the film plane. Overall I think this camera and lens combo is well suited to this subject and hopefully I’ll get a chance to photograph some more military parades when I’m not rushing so much.

[Tech info]: Graflex Speed Graphic 5×4, Kodak Aero Ektar lens, Ilford HP5 developed in HC110 1+31 for 5 mins.

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: Lewis IX, episode 2 filming

Monday, November 2nd, 2015

Some of my behind the scenes photography during filming of Lewis season 9, episode 2 in Oxford back in the summer. The was some very clever set dressing on this one when they converted the front of the Oxfam bookshop on Turl Street into a tattoo parlour. I came across it when the conversion was almost complete and it looked so authentic I was struggling to remember which shop used to be there. The university offices building was once again made to look like oxford police station and the crew spent the best part of a day filming different coming and going shots.

[Tech info:] Leica M2, Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Fuji Reala 100 (expired), developed in a Rollei digibase C41 kit. Pakon scans.