Baz Luhrmann came to the Oxford Union for a Q&A event and I went along to do some photography. Most of the conversation centred around his movies and it was clear to see his passion for directing. He mentioned that he’s currently working on a project but no other information was given.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak HC110 1+15, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of pickup shots for Endeavour series 5, episode 1 in Exeter College, Oxford. There are lots of nice shots on this roll but I can’t share them just yet because of spoilers so for now these are the only ones I can share. This is the first time I had seen the Endeavour crew filming pickup shots for an episode that had finished filming months previously and goes to show how the production team never stop short until they’re completely happy with an episode.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 800, developed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Pakon scans.
There has been an impressive list of guests at the Oxford Union so far this term and a big highlight for me was when Sir Ian McKellen visited last week. His last visit to the Oxford Union was in 2015 which was before I started to photograph some of the guests there so I was pleased to see him listed on the term card for this month. The debating chamber looked completely full from where I was sitting and I wouldn’t be surprised if there was still a queue out on the street. It was a great event which started with Sir Ian McKellen giving a talk as he walked around the debating chamber as if it was a stage and then afterwards there was a Q&A session. So far this has been the most challenging of all the speaking events I’ve photographed at the Oxford Union because I’m not used to tracking focus as the guest speaker walks around. Fortunately there was a video crew with their additional lights which helped a lot with the exposure.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 film @ ISO 1600, developed in Kodak HC110 1+15 for 10 mins. Pakon scans.
The Endeavour crew were back in Oxford for two days of filming for the sixth and final episode of series 5. These behind the scenes pictures are from the morning of day one. More pictures will follow after the episode has been broadcast but for now here are the spoiler-free ones. For this roll I used the 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton lens for a change because I’ve been favouring the 40/1.4 Nokton for a long time now but because the Leica M6 displays 50mm frame lines when you use a 40mm lens it’s difficult to be precise with composition. On another technical note I used distilled water to dilute the D76 developer. The water in the darkroom I use is quite hard and I’ve also been using distilled water for the wetting agent and have seen a big reduction in drying marks on my films.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 50/1.5 Voigtlander Nokton lens, Eastman Double X motion picture film developed in Kodak D76 1+1. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during the filming of Endeavour series 5 episode 6 on the first of two very busy days in Oxford for the cast and crew. I documented as much as I could and have a lot of behind the scenes pictures to share but in order to avoid spoilers I will post most of them after the episode has been broadcast. Oxford city centre was particularly busy on this day – especially for a Sunday – and it was most likely due to it being the first weekend after the new Westgate shopping centre had opened. Turl Street ended up getting crowded quite quickly as more and more people stopped to watch the filming.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Ilford HP5 film developed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5 mins. Pakon scans.
Legendary guitarist and Led Zeppelin founder Jimmy Page came to the Oxford Union for a Q&A event and I went along to do some documentary photography. I must admit to not knowing very much at all about Jimmy Page but it was very interesting to hear him speak about his music career and how he started by teaching himself to play the guitar. It was obvious how passionate he is about music and how being in a band with equally passionate and talented musicians was a perfect recipe for creating so many rock anthems. This Q&A event was video recorded so keep an eye on the Oxford Union YouTube page, I highly recommend it.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 at ISO 1600, developed in Kodak HC110 1+15 for the 3200 development time, Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour series 5, episode 5 in the grounds of Brasenose College, Oxford. The whole day was spent at Brasenose but these are the only shots I can share from this roll without giving any spoilers. The others will follow after the episode has been broadcast.
[Tech info:] Konica Hexar AF, Ilford HP5 developed in Kodak HC110 1+31, Pakon scans.
The start of a new academic year at Oxford University involves a matriculation ceremony for the new students at the Sheldonian theatre and it’s one of my favourite things to photograph on the streets of Oxford. Thousands of students dressed in their black and white subfusc filling the streets is quite a sight. Here are some pictures from this year. The sky was very heavily overcast so I had to push my film one stop for a speed boost and I decided to use a little fill-flash for some shots because the black fabric soaks up light.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 17-35/2.8, Eastman Double X film @ ISO 500, developed in D76 stock. Pakon scans.
J. J. Abrams came to the Oxford Union for a Q&A event and I went along to do some documentary photography. In March last year I photographed Mark Hamill sitting in the same chair while on a break from filming Episode VIII so it was nice to hear J. J. Abrams talk a little – but not much – about Episode IX. Conversation mostly centred around Star Wars but tv shows that he had created and worked on did get mentioned – I highly recommend ALIAS if you’ve never watched it. There were no video cameras at the event so unfortunately this won’t be appearing on the Oxford Union YouTube channel. Without help from the lights that the video crew use the light level in the debating chamber is quite low for photography which is why I had to push my film to ISO 3200 which isn’t a problem for Ilford HP5.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, 40/1.4 Voigtlander Nokton, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 3200, developed in Kodak HC110 1+15. Pakon scans.
Behind the scenes during filming of Endeavour series 5, episode 4 in Oxford. At the start of this roll the main action was taking place inside rooms at Exeter College – you can see the big lights used to simulate sunlight through the windows. After that it was a location move around the corner to Radcliffe Square for a very quick shot involving supporting artists only and once again a big light was used to simulate sunlight. It’s amazing how much work goes into what will probably end up being seconds on screen.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4 Nokton lens, Ilford FP4 developed in Tetanol Ultrafin. Pakon scans.
This is a short Endeavour post because most of the shots on this roll contain spoilers so they will have to wait until after the episode has been broadcast. This day of filming took place in the grounds of Brasenose College and apart from a rain shower in the morning and at the end of the day we were fortunate with the weather. It was a busy day with quite a few setups to get through and because of the rain at the end of the day and the rapidly dropping light level the last setup was reshot the following day in much better conditions. Rain or shine the crew always soldier on.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4 and 75/1.8 lenses, Eastman Double X motion picture film developed in Kodak D76. Pakon scans.
Music composer Howard Shore came to the Oxford Union for a Q&A event and I went along to do some documentary photography. He has composed the scores for over 80 films but appears to be most well known for his work on the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. I’ve been a fan of his film scores for many years and was hoping there would be some discussion on his collaborations with David Fincher – one of my favourite directors – but the Lord of the Rings movies was the main topic of conversation on this occasion. The projector screen you can see in some of the pictures was used to play some movie clips to talk about which was a great idea.
This was my first event at the Oxford Union since the summer break and with a new term there is a new President – Chris Zabilowicz. There’s an impressive line up of guest speakers planned for this term and lots to look forward to.
[Tech info:] Leica M6, Voigtlander 40/1.4, Ilford HP5 @ ISO 1600, developed in HC110 1+15 using the time for 3200 to give an extra boost to the negs. Pakon scans.
