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Wednesday, January 1st, 2014
Happy New Year to everyone that visits my blog. December was a bit slow in terms of new posts and activity because of various things that were taking up my time but I still have a backlog of shots from 2013 that I haven’t had time to post so there’s no shortage of new images to come. Usually I try to group the shots in my posts together so they make sense but that’s also led to delays so I think what I might do more of is just concentrate on posting whatever images are on a particular roll of film which sometimes is spread over a wide time period when I’ve used a camera for a day or two but then haven’t come back to it until weeks later because I’ve been using other cameras.
Here we have some behind the scenes shots from some filming of Endeavour (episode 2 of the forthcoming season), there was a night scene outside the cinema on Jeune Street (that’s the make-up crew on the bench) and also some shots of the major roadworks that were going on along St Aldates for 5 weeks which was a real pain. There’s also a shot of the new entrance to the Radcliffe Camera being built which I believe was to allow wheelchair access.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2, 50/1.4D lens, loaded with Fuji Press 400 film, processed and scanned by ASDA in Swindon.
Posted in film, Oxford | No Responses »
Tags: asda, c41, endeavour, film, filming, fm2, oxford, roadworks, tv
Monday, December 23rd, 2013
Here are some more shots from day two of the recent Endeavour filming in Oxford. This episode looks like it will be very exciting. It’s hard to make out in the bus picture but Colin Dexter is making a cameo appearance, he’s sitting next to the window on the lower level, first window from the right.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex Automat 3.5 loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400, processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 7:30.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, hc110, oxford, portraits, rolleiflex, Tri-X
Saturday, December 21st, 2013
The Endeavour film crew were back in Oxford for a couple of days at the end of last month and I managed to fit in a quick bit of behind the scenes photography during my lunch break and after work. On the first day the weather was really cold which is why you can see the supporting actors dressed in warm coats. For the night time part of the shoot there was a smoke machine wafting in fake fog which really added to the atmosphere. I’m really looking forward to seeing these episodes next year.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex Automat 3.5, loaded with Kodak TMAX 400 film, processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 5mins.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait, Street portraits | 4 Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, endeavour, film, filming, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, tmax, tv
Thursday, December 5th, 2013
These shots were made on the end of my roll of Cinestill motion picture film that I had used during the Chicago dress rehearsal. As it’s a tungsten balanced film I thought it would be useful for using inside Clements & Church on Little Clarendon Street because the interior of the shop is lit with tungsten spot lights. I think these turned out really well. I rated this film at ISO 500 but my exposure time was a little on the slow side to handle hold the camera so I used a tripod for all of these. Thank you Jason and Hugo for being so patient and for standing very still.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 50/1.4 lens, loaded with Cinestill 500T film, dev & scanned at ASDA in Swindon (thanks Simon for the wonderful service).
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: asda, cinestill, f100, film, oxford, people, portraits, tailors
Saturday, November 30th, 2013
When I arrived at the Chicago dress rehearsal last week there was already a roll of film in my camera so I finished it off with some quick portraits of some of the performers before the dress rehearsal started proper. I rarely use on-camera flash in any kind of auto mode but I thought this was a good opportunity to test it out so I set the flash to TTL mode and bounced the flash from the ceiling in the corridor. I manually set the exposure on the camera to keep things consistent. These were all shot between f2 and f4.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 50/1.4D lens loaded with Agfa Vista 200 (Poundland), processed and scanned by Simon at ASDA Swindon.
Posted in film, Oxford, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: backstage, chicago, drama, f100, film, oxford, people, portraits, students
Tuesday, November 26th, 2013
If you’re one of the lucky people that got to see Chicago last week I’m sure these pictures will remind you how great the production was, if you didn’t manage to catch it then these pictures will show you a little of what you missed. I’ve got some very special film that I keep for special occasions and I was excited to photograph this dress rehearsal because it meant I could test out some of this film because it’s designed to be used under tungsten lighting conditions. What makes it so special is that it’s Kodak motion picture film, the same stock that is used by Hollywood studios for movies and tv shows. Under regular tungsten lighting this film can look incredible but because the colour of the lights kept changing during the performance it’s hard to get a sense of what this film is capable of rendering. I’m very pleased with these results and look forward to testing some more of it soon.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 50/1.4D lens, Cinestill 500T film, developed and scanned at ASDA, Swindon (thanks to Simon).
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: chicago, cinestill, drama, f100, film, oxford, students
Sunday, November 17th, 2013
Here are some medium format film shots that I made last weekend during one of the rehearsal’s for Chicago that is on in a few days at the Keble O’Reilly theatre. This film expired in 2007 and generally high-speed film doesn’t age well so I’m very pleased with how these turned out considering the light level was incredibly low and not very contrasty. I was partly using this occasion as a test for a bright (Beattie) viewing screen that I recently installed into my Mamiya C330f camera and I’m happy to report that it’s a lot brighter and easier to focus with than the stock screen.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens loaded with Ilford Delta 3200 (expired 2007), rated at ISO 1250, processed in Rodinal 1+25 for 10mins.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, c330, drama, film, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, students
Thursday, November 14th, 2013
Some shots from a rehearsal for Chicago which is on next week at the Keble O’Reilly theatre from 20th – 23rd November. From what I saw I can tell you that it’s going to be excellent. I almost titled this post ‘adventures in grain’ because that’s something I was testing when I chose to use some Ilford Delta 3200 that expired in 2006 for this shoot and then developed it in developer that is renowned for its ability to increase film grain. I think the film coped very well considering the room where the rehearsal took place had sunlight pouring in at one end while the other end was only lit by the energy saving light bulbs hanging from the high ceiling which was quite a punishment test for this film. My thanks go to Jack Sain, the director, for allowing me to photograph during the rehearsal and I hope to do some more photography during the dress rehearsal next week.
[Tech info:] Nikon F100, 50/1.4D and 70-200/2.8 lenses, loaded with Ilford Delta 3200 rated at ISO 1250 (expired), processed in Rodinal 1+25 for 10mins.
Posted in film, Oxford, students | No Responses »
Tags: black&white, drama, f100, film, oxford, rodinal, students
Tuesday, November 12th, 2013
These guys need no introduction as they feature fairly regularly on my blog, Clements & Church, the Oxford tailors. They’re some of the sharpest dressed guys in Oxford and as I pass their shop on Little Clarendon Street during my lunch time photo walk to and from town I tend to stop by there to shoot a bit of film with whatever camera I happen to have on me at the time. They’re always friendly, generous with their time and happy to chat so if you’re ever passing that way pop in and tell them you saw them on my blog.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2, 50/1.4D lens, loaded with Fuji Press 400 film (expired). Dev & scan by ASDA Swindon. (Thanks Simon for your speedy service).
Posted in Fashion, film, Oxford, People, Portrait, Street portraits, Street style | 2 Responses »
Tags: film, fm2, hawkeye, kodak, oxford, people, portraits, tailors
Tuesday, October 29th, 2013
Roll up, roll up, Billy Smart’s Circus is in town and it’s a helluva show! They were kind enough to contact me last week to ask if I’d like to photograph their show and of course I said yes. It’s not often I blog an event the same day as seeing it but I wanted to get my pictures online as soon as possible because the show was excellent and I thoroughly recommend it. When I was a kid I remember seeing Billy Smart’s Circus on tv but this was my first time seeing the show for real. There are no animals in this show, it’s all humans. I shot quite a lot of images but I’ve only posted a small selection here because I didn’t want to give away the entire show which last around 2 hours. They’re on Oxpens for the rest of this week, check them out. Here’s their website.
[Tech info:] Nikon D700, 70-200mm/2.8 lens.
Posted in Oxford, People | No Responses »
Tags: billy smart, circus, D700, digital, oxford
Monday, October 28th, 2013
This is the last set of images I managed to make behind-the-scenes during the Endeavour filming last Sunday before heavy rain put a dampener on things. This roll of film was part of a batch that a kind friend of mine brought me over from New York but when I hung it up to dry after processing it in the darkroom I noticed x-ray scanner fogging on the roll which took the form of a zig zag pattern all the way along the film. Fortunately it’s hardly visible in the scans and that’s if you’re looking very hard. I’m really looking forward to the Endeavour crew coming back so that I can hopefully do some more behind-the-scenes photography.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar loaded with Kodak TMAX 400 film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b for 5:30.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, endeavour, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, rolleiflex, tlr, tmax, tv
Sunday, October 27th, 2013
There’s something that just feels right about photographing behind-the-scenes pictures of a tv show set in the 1960’s with a camera that is from the 1960’s. These shots are the entire contents of my first roll of film last Sunday morning when the Endeavour film crew were in town shooting the second episode of four new ones that will be broadcast next spring. The episode title of this one is Nocturne so keep an eye out for some of these smartly dressed supporting actors. Just as I was getting going with my photography rain stopped play and I had to head for shelter in the Covered Market. The photographer is not part of the filming but he just happens to be one of my favourite Oxford street photographers and we bumped into each other completely by chance and had a nice chat while it poured down with rain. Shortly after that the film crew relocated to Exeter College gardens where they managed to film a little more before the sky opened up again and they stopped for lunch. I did manage to shoot another half a roll, those shots to follow soon.
[Tech info:] Rolleiflex 2.8F Zeiss Planar loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400, processed in HC110 dilution b for 7:30.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, black&white, endeavour, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, rolleiflex, Tri-X, tv
