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Saturday, April 21st, 2018
Glenn Close visited the Oxford Union for a Q&A event and here are some of the pictures I made to document what was a fascinating, funny and quite moving talk. The video from the event isn’t on the Oxford Union YouTube page yet but hopefully soon. I highly recommend it. My go to film for Oxford Union events is usually Ilford HP5 but on this occasion I decided to give Delta 400 a try and I do like the results. It feels like there is slightly less grain and a tad more shadow detail than HP5 but I need to do a more controlled comparison to really tell. In any case I’m very pleased with these results.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford Delta 400 @ ISO 1600, developed in Ilford DDX 1+4. Pakon scans.
Posted in Oxford, People | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, ddx, delta 400, film, ilford, iso1600, leica, m6, oxford, oxford union, pakon, people, students, voigtlander
Friday, April 20th, 2018
For the past few years I’ve have had a lens sitting around that I wanted to make use of but never quite got around to it, until now. The lens originally came off of the Polaroid 110B Land Camera that I had modified to a 5×4 large format camera and I didn’t see much point in mounting it to a lens board to use on a different 5×4 camera so it’s been sitting around doing nothing. I wanted to adapt it to work on my Rolleiflex SL66 but the only place I knew of that made an adapter was asking around $80 which is more than I wanted to pay but fortunately a friend mentioned RAF Camera where an adapter cost just under half the price.
After modifying the adapter slightly (two small holes need to be drilled so that small screws on the back of the lens can stop it from twisting) it was ready for testing. Below are some test shots from the first roll. A few things to mention are firstly the focal length is a surprise if you’re mostly used to using the 80mm standard lens as I am and I frequently found myself taking a few steps back from where I thought I would need to stand to a given composition. Secondly, the depth of focus is extremely shallow even at f8 and because the image through the viewfinder gets darker as you stop down it’s difficult to get precise focus without a bright focussing screen in your camera – something that affected my hit rate of sharp shots on this roll. I’ll use a tripod for the next roll I use with this setup to see the difference. All shots made during my lunch break.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, Enna Werk München 127mm f4.7 lens, Ilford Delta 100 (expired), developed in Tetenal Ultrafin T-Plus.
Posted in Equipment, film, Oxford | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, delta 100, film, ilford, land camera, oxford, rolleiflex, SL66, tetenal
Thursday, April 5th, 2018
Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 5 FILM 4 on Holywell Street in Oxford. The scenes filmed here were cut short in the final edit which was a bit of a shame but it’s often the way when you’re working to a set running time. Back when Inspector Morse was being filmed it was here outside the Holywell Music Room that I first encountered the crew, they were setting up a dolly track for an establishing shot as I recall. I’ve got the pictures in my archive somewhere, on slide film as that’s what I was mostly using back then.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4 Nokton, Agfa APX 100 (expired) developed in Tetenal Ultrafin developer. Pakon scans.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, Oxford | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, agfa, apx 100, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, leica, m6, oxford, pakon, people, summer, tetenal, ultrafin
Sunday, March 11th, 2018
Sunday morning in Oxford’s University Parks, what a perfect place to film a punting scene for the tv show Endeavour. If only the sun would co-operate. After a very overcast start the sun did peek through the clouds just long enough to light everything up. I have some colour shots that will follow in a future blog post.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton, Eastman Double X film developed in D76 1+1. Pakon scans.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, Oxford | 1 Response »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, d76, double x, endeavour, film, filming, leica, m6, oxford, pakon, people, voigtlander
Saturday, March 10th, 2018
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour 5, FILM 5 in Brasenose college, Oxford. These shots are all from the same roll of film through my Rolleiflex. The scenes filmed on this day take place before the scenes filmed on the previous day in Radcliffe Square but it all matched up well in the final edit. Whenever I get the chance I try to photograph SA’s (supporting artiste’s) because I like the outfits from the 1960’s. You may recognise the college don below from various different Endeavour episodes and maybe even some other tv shows and movies.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar, Ilford HP5 developed in Kodak HC-110 1+31.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, Oxford | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, hc110, HP5, oxford, rolleiflex
Thursday, March 8th, 2018
Behind the scenes photography from the filming of Endeavour series 5, FILM 4 in Oxford. It was mid-August when the picnic scene was filmed in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens and what was meant to be a nice summer’s evening ended up looking more like drizzly October. That’s when the magic of a large light ended up transforming the scene to look like the sun had broken through the heavy overcast sky – I shot some wider shots to show how dark the sky was. The last frame is from the next setup which was a nice scene that didn’t make the final edit. This was the last frame on this roll, more from that scene will follow in a future blog post.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F, Zeiss planar, Ilford HP5 film @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak HC-110.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, Oxford | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, hc110, HP5, oxford, rolleiflex, summer
Saturday, March 3rd, 2018
In this instalment of behind the scenes Endeavour photography you get a look at scenes that were filmed outside and inside the Oxford Union debating chamber. These shots are all from the same roll and the last frame was at the unit base on the last day of filming a couple of weeks later. I’ve photographed quite a lot of events at the Oxford Union so I’m familiar with the interior of the debating chamber and I really enjoyed seeing it completely transformed with lighting and haze lingering in the air. The scene outside where the flour bomb was thrown took a lot of planning and rehearsing. The shots below were with a stunt woman. One of my favourite b&w films to use is Ilford HP5 but to mix things up a bit I decided to use Kodak Tri-X for these shots.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar, Kodak Tri-X film @ ISO 800, developed in Kodak HC-110 1+31.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, Oxford | 5 Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, hc110, oxford, oxford union, people, rolleiflex, Tri-X
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.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Sport, students | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, ddx, delta 400, f80, film, iso1600, nikon, oxford, oxford union, pakon, people, students
Friday, February 16th, 2018
Behind the scenes photography during filming of a night scene for Endeavour series 5 FILM 2 in Oxford. The scene of an arsonist setting fire to a house was filmed after the scene that follows it where you see the fire brigade and the distraught family in the morning. The art department did an amazing job with this house to not only make it look fire damaged but to also clean it up as if nothing had happened, all in the same day. This was a tricky scene to film with the flames going up timed with the driver lighting his cigarette while getting the flames to reflect in the driver’s door window without making it obvious that the flames were coming from a gas burner. This was all done on an Oxford street and not on a studio backlot so you can imagine how exciting it was for the local residents to come out and watch. The light level on the street was very low (street lighting in the 1960’s wasn’t what it is now) and that’s where working with a rangefinder camera can make it that much easier to focus than with an SLR.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 35/1.2 Voigtlander Nokton, Fujicolor Superia 1600 film (expired), developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, Oxford | 2 Responses »
Tags: 35mm, endeavour, film, filming, fuji, leica, m6, oxford, pakon, superia 1600, voigtlander
Tuesday, February 13th, 2018
As I’ve been looking through the rolls of film I shot for this Endeavour FILM I can see that it was a busy time for the crew with lots of different setups, mostly exterior and they came to Oxford at the end of May and early June 2017. This blog post contains a lot more pictures than usual because I had a hard time leaving shots out from this roll – there were too many that I liked so here they are.
[Tech info:] Hexar AF, Fujicolor Reala 100 film, developed in Fuji Xpress C41 kit, Pakon scans.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, Oxford | 2 Responses »
Tags: 35mm, endeavour, film, filming, fuji, hexar, oxford, pakon, people, reala, summer
Sunday, February 11th, 2018
Behind the scenes photography during filming of Endeavour series 5 FILM 2 in Oxford Covered Market in June 2017. The space inside Brown’s Café was quite limited so I decided to stay outside to stay out of the way. I quite liked the reflections in the windows and how you could see through them but also some of the people standing outside looking in, myself included. I’ve previously posted other shots from this roll that didn’t contain potential spoilers but now that this FILM has been broadcast here in the UK I’m posting some of the shots that I previously left out.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, Oxford | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, hc110, HP5, iso1600, leica, m6, oxford, pakon, people, voigtlander
Tuesday, February 6th, 2018
Quite a few pictures in this post from Endeavour 5 FILM 1 which was filmed in April 2017 but these scenes were filmed in September as pickups – not sure of the correct technical term, perhaps additional photography. The Director and DOP of these scenes also directed FILM 2. The first set of behind the scenes pictures shows just how much work can go into a straightforward scene that doesn’t necessarily last very long on screen – two actors walking towards a parked car while chatting. Reflector’s and flags are used to control and shape the light on the actor’s and can mean the difference between having some mood or none at all. It’s these details that I always find interesting on a film set and watching a Director of Photography work is always a learning experience for me. After the scene with the black Jag we moved to Exeter college dining hall for the auction scene.
[Tech info:] Hexar AF, Kodak TMAX 400 film developed in Kodak HC-110 1+31 dilution. Pakon scans.
Posted in Behind the scenes, Endeavour, film, Oxford | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, hc110, hexar, oxford, pakon, people, tmax400
