oxford
...now browsing by tag
Friday, April 6th, 2012
At the beginning of March I was fortunate enough to be granted permission to photograph at the Balliol College Ball but I didn’t know that the ball was even taking place until the day before! As usual I was on my lunch time photography walk around Oxford when I noticed some dodgem cars being unloaded into Balliol College on Broad Street. I stopped to shoot some pictures and got chatting with a couple of the guys. It turned out that they were a family run business that specialised in fairground rides and they mainly dealt with colleges in Oxford and Cambridge, it was then that they told me about the ball that was happening the next night at Balliol. Below are some pictures from that day and the lunch time of the following day. The end of this roll of film has shots from the beginning of the ball. It’s nice to have all of these shots on the same roll of film because it’s a nice time line for me when looking back through them.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2 loaded with Ilford XP2 film. Processed in a Tetanol C41 kit and scanned by me.
These two guys were really fun to chat with
Unloading the dodgems
Dodgems controller
Setting up the dodgems in Balliol's quad
A little break from shopping, Broad Street
I love the light the comes around this side of the Sheldonian Theatre
Another film photographer. This girl had only just got this Diana F Lomo camera.
I love this shadow and the way the light bounces around in this passageway
One of the ground crew workers currently working on the building project at the corner of Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street
One of the ground crew workers currently working on the building project at the corner of Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street
One of the ground crew workers currently working on the bulding at the corner of Walton Street and Little Clarendon Street
Posted in Architecture, film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | 2 Responses »
Tags: black&white, fm2, oxford, people, portraits, xp2
Sunday, April 1st, 2012
Here’s another batch of images from the Balliol college ball that I attended a few weeks ago. The images are very grainy due to the expired film I was using. I’m not sure of the expiry date of this film, it came in a batch of different films that I bought as a job lot. Despite the grain I like how these images have turned out, they capture the mood of the evening which was people having fun.
Some exciting news related to my Balliol ball photography is that a couple I photographed that evening liked my photography so much that they’ve booked me to photograph their wedding next year and I’m going to be doing it on film! It’s not obvious from this blog but I do photograph weddings as well as doing other photographic commissions and I’m really glad they emailed me to enquire about it. Here’s a little extract from the lovely email I received “…have been looking at the websites of wedding photographers around Oxford, and we haven’t found a single one whose work we like as much as the photographs on your blog.”
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f camera and 80mm lens on expired Ilford Delta 3200 film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B (1:31).
Backlit in the live music marquee
Hai Lin and friend
Outside the live acts marquee
I really like the moment I've captured here, especially with the guy laughing next to the very serious guy next to him
Outisde the live acts marquee
I asked these girls to follow me all the way to the side entrance of the college just so we could use the light in the archway. It worked out well.
Posted in film, Oxford, People | No Responses »
Tags: ball, balliol, black&white, c330, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students
Thursday, March 29th, 2012
This is Rupert Penry-Jones starring in Silk 2 which is due on the BBC later this year. There was a small film crew shooting a scene where he rides this Norton Commando underneath the Bridge of Sighs. I came across them during my lunch break. He seemed nice enough. The funny thing is I don’t watch much tv at all so I had no idea who he was and had to ask a gushing fan nearby.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2 camera loaded with Kodak Color Plus film (£1/roll in Poundland). Processed and scanned by me.
In front of the Norton Commando
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits | 1 Response »
Tags: 35mm, fm2, oxford, people, portraits, tv
Wednesday, March 28th, 2012
It’s been while since I posted some lunch hour street photography so I apologise if you’ve been needing your fix. There’s no shortage of it to post (as I’m out with a camera just about every weekday if it’s not raining) it’s just that I wanted to get the bulk of my Balliol College Ball photography posted. Speaking of College Balls, I’m going to try to obtain permission to photograph some more this summer so fingers crossed on that. If you know anyone that can authorise permission please send them a link to this blog and ask them to contact me. Thanks.
All of the images here are from the same roll of expired Tri-X. I don’t know how expired it was because there was no wrapper on it but judging from the base fog of the film I’d say it’s over 10 years out of date.
[Tech info:] Expired Kodak Tri-X film loaded in a Mamiya C330f with 80mm lens. The film was rated at ISO 200 and processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b.
This guy was visiting Oxford for the day. We had a pleasant conversation about photography, film and digital. He had travelled from Ohio.
This scout was visiting from British Columbia, Canada.
Creative graffiti on a red telephone box on St Giles.
Construction work going on inside the Bodleian Library. The openings on the right will be the new entrances.
This bike was all chrome.
A shady spot underneath the scaffolding on Walton Street
This seat has had a lot of use. The bike it's on is nice and old but it's had a recent paint job which is a bit of a shame
It's a bit of a shame I didn't have colour film in the camera because the colour scheme of this guy's outfit was pretty cool. I like the shadows cast by the sun.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Street portraits, Street style | No Responses »
Tags: black&white, c330, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, street style, students, Tri-X
Monday, March 26th, 2012
Following on from my previous of experiments with my Aero Ektar lens, here are a couple more shots with the same camera/lens combination from a test shoot I did with Hai Lin during my lunch break in Oxford. I first met Hai Lin during the launch party of Oxford Fashion Week 2011 and since then we have photographed together a handful of times. I have to say that Hai Lin is one of the nicest people I’ve collaborated with, totally reliable, easy to get along with and she always arrives ready to shoot with no fuss.
Working with a large format camera is not something that is particularly fast so it helps to be working with someone that is patient. The other key ingredient required from your subject when photographing them with an Aero Ektar lens is an ability to stay perfectly still because the depth of focus when using the lens wide-open is around an inch so a tiny bit of movement either way would mean an out of focus shot. Not a problem for Hai Lin.
I’ve enjoyed using the Aero Ektar lens and with spring finally here with lots of sunny weather I hope to use it some more.
[Tech info:] Speed Graphic 5×4 camera with Kodak Aero lens shot wide-open at f2.5 on Kodak Tri-X 320, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b (1:31).
The key signature of the Aero Ektar is the lovely bokeh (blurry background).
We had to wait a couple of minutes for clouds to pass so the sun would cast some shadows.
Posted in film, Oxford, Portrait | 6 Responses »
Tags: 5x4, black&white, hc110, oxford, portraits, Tri-X
Tuesday, March 20th, 2012
These are the remaining images that I made during my first visit to the Oxford v Cambridge Varsity 2012 at the Iffley Road sports centre. Still to come are some images I made the following weekend of Rugby so stay tuned.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 loaded with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b (1:31).
Netball team member
Netball team member
Badminton team member
Badminton spectator
Powerlifter (available light only)
Powerlifter (ambient light only)
Powerlifter (ambient light only). The far corner is where I made the portrait shots.
Athletics track spectators
Posted in film, Oxford, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: 110mm, hc110, oxford, portraits, RZ67, sport, Tri-X
Sunday, March 11th, 2012
These images were all made with a 35mm camera – my first SLR that I bought back in 1987 and it’s still going strong. I really enjoyed using it for these available light shots because it’s smaller and lighter compared to using medium format.
[Tech info:] Nikon FM2 with 35/f2.0 lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X film rated at ISO 1600, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b (1:31) for 17mins.
On the dance floor in the live acts' marquee. Notice the band on stage in the background
I think these guys really wanted to be photographed because they wouldn't move from in front of my camera
Immediately to my right was a spotlight that gave a very film noir look to anyone that stood in the light beam
Enjoying the music
After the band had finished
Eye contact
Group shot
Posted in film, Oxford, People | 1 Response »
Tags: black&white, fm2, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students, Tri-X
Thursday, March 8th, 2012
Here’s the third batch of my images from the Balliol Ball 2012 and they’re the best so far. I really like the look of these and that’s largely due to the film, Kodak Tri-X. I should give this film more credit in low light, most of these shots were made in light levels that were so low that I could hardly see the eyes of my subjects to focus on. Most of these images revolve around the live acts’ marquee because that seemed to have the most light. More images to come.
If you’re involved in organising any summer college balls and you like my photography please let me know. I’d love to do more documentary photography of other college balls.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f and 80mm lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X film rated at ISO1600, processed in Kodak HC110 B (1:31) for 17mins at 20C.
Fixing a bow tie (live acts marquee)
Watching one of the live bands
Outside the live acts' marquee
Outside the live acts' marquee
Outside the live acts' marquee
The lighting in this shot is coming from the live acts' stage. It was very noisy in the marquee which made asking people if I could photograph them a little tricky
This girl looked very striking with her tattoos. I'd like to photograph her again so if anyone knows her please let her know
I thought it was a great idea to have Mission Burrito at the ball. The people behind the counter were very friendly
Hai Lin. This portrait was made right next to the Mission Burrito stand to make use of their light
Posted in film, Oxford, People | 3 Responses »
Tags: 6x6, ball, balliol, black&white, c330, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, Tri-X
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012
These images are the first of what will be quite a large collection of images shot on film from the Balliol Ball that I was fortunate enough to attend last week. I didn’t label the rolls of film as I finished them on the night so when it came to choosing which roll of film to process first I decided to pick the last roll from the night. The film (Ilford Delta 3200) expired in 2005 and was part of a batch that I recently bought on eBay. It’s always a gamble when buying expired film because you never really know how the film was stored or whether it has suffered heat damage. Judging by the quality of this film I’d say it has suffered from being badly stored over the years. Still, these images have a unique look to them that is 100% real, no Photoshop filters or plugins were used on these images.
Earlier this evening I processed another few rolls of film from the ball and I can’t wait to start scanning them in. I left them hanging up to dry in the darkroom and will collect them tomorrow.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f and 80mm lens loaded with Ilford Delta Pro 3200, processed in Ilford DD-X 1:4 at 20C for 9 mins.
One of the few places I found available light to photograph with was near the loo in the basement by the photo booth.
I found this group of people in the photo booth room and managed to convince them to stand in front of my camera.
Photo booth group. I like how this one turned out.
The lighting here reminded me of an old movie set. These two guys were watching the dodgem cars which are directly behind me.
The light level was so low here that I couldn't see these people clear enough in my viewfinder to focus and the exposure was a bit too long for me to hand hold steady.
The light level in this shot seems a bit brighter than the previous shot but it was still too low to focus properly.
Posted in film, Oxford, People | 1 Response »
Tags: 6x6, ball, balliol, black&white, c330, oxford, people
Tuesday, March 6th, 2012
Shortly before I photographed the Oxford Powerlifting team I caught the start of the Taekwon-do in the Oxford v Cambridge 2012 Varsity competition. I didn’t have much time so I only managed to photograph three members of the Oxford team, the other two portraits below are of spectators. I made these portraits off to the side of where the fighting was taking place and unfortunately I couldn’t find a clear section of wall to use as a background.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67 and 110mm lens with Fuji Acros 100 film, processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b) 1:31.
Fighter #1
Fighter #2
Fighter #3
Joram helping me test my lighting
A cool looking spectator that I thought would make a good portrait.
Posted in film, Oxford, Portrait | 2 Responses »
Tags: 110mm, black&white, hc110, oxford, portraits, RZ67, sport
Monday, March 5th, 2012
When I went to see the powerlifting during the Oxford V Cambridge Varsity competition my main intention was to make portraits of some of the guys. There was something about the light and ambience of the building where the competition was being held that made me think of old vintage photographs of wrestlers and strongmen. The walls looked like black boards that I remember from school and there was a nice pattern made by chalk dust all over. As soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to use it as a background for my portraits. Fortunately I was able to set up my camera in a corner that was out of the way of the guys as they warmed up before the competition.
I made portraits of both sides, Oxford and Cambridge but I feel it’s only right to post some of the Oxford portraits first, not least because the first three guys below all won. I’m really pleased with how all of my powerlifting images turned out and I’m hoping to carry on with some documentary style photography during future training sessions if I can get permission.
[Tech info:] First two portraits were on Fuji Acros 100 film, processed in Kodak HC110 B (1:31), last two portraits were on Fomapan 200 processed in Rodinal 1:50. My camera was a Mamiya RZ67 with 110mm lens.
Jamie van Reijendam
Richard Stebbing
Geoffrey Lynn
Alex Robinson
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait | No Responses »
Tags: 110mm, acros, black&white, fomapan, hc110, oxford, rodinal, RZ67, sport
Saturday, March 3rd, 2012
I was fortunate enough to be granted permission to do some roaming photography at the Balliol Ball yesterday and the most amazing part is that I only found out about the ball the day before when I saw dodgem cars being unloaded outside the college. I was walking past on my lunch hour street photography session and got chatting with some of the guys unloading the dodgems. It was a great evening that was a lot of fun and my thanks go to Omid for allowing me to attend. I’ve never been to an Oxford college ball and this one was a nice one to start with because not only do I have friends that studied at Balliol but I also photographed and designed their prospectus a number of years ago.
I’d love to photograph more Oxford college balls so if anyone out there is connected in any way and can give me permission to attend I’d really like to hear from you. Thanks.
The images below are from the digital camera that I took as a back up, the majority of my photography was all done on medium format and 35mm film which I haven’t processed yet. Those images will follow as soon as I process and scan the films next week.
Praying mantis style
Fist in the air
All of the lights. I like the mixture of formal outfits here and the girl on the left who isn't so formal.
Posted in Oxford | 4 Responses »
Tags: ball, balliol, oxford
