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Oxford: lunchtime fujiroids

Tuesday, January 28th, 2014

These two portraits were made during my lunch break today, I wanted to test out a Polaroid 110B camera that I recently bought. This one has been converted to use instant pack film just like the Fujiroids that I enjoy using so much. This camera has a rangefinder for focussing which I’m not a big fan of  but that’s how it is. I wanted to see if the rangefinder and lens were calibrated so I needed some test subjects and fortunately for me Amber and Freddie (who I’ve photographed before) came along. To eliminate camera shake I decided to set the camera on a tripod and I used a cable release to trip the shutter. So far so good, everything seems to be working. The interesting thing about these two shots is the exposure used is exactly the same (1/125th F4.7) with the lens wide open, the only thing that changed is the lens to subject distance. Look at the difference in depth of field when I focussed closer on Amber than I did Freddie.

[Tech info:] Polaroid Pathfinder 110B camera, Enna Werk Munchen Ennit 127mm/f4.7 lens, Fuji FP-100C pack film (expired 2007).

Oxford: some shots from 2012

Sunday, January 12th, 2014

These shots are from a couple of shoots that I did towards the end of 2012 (oct/nov) that I don’t think I posted before. I’ve always liked how these turned out so here they are. The shots of Helen were made with window light (I was backed up right against it) that was controlled with curtains to create a strip softbox kind of light. The shoot with Jake was done around town on a bright sunny day but I was able to find some nice bounced light to use.

[Tech info:] Helen: Mamiya 645 1000s, 80/1.9, loaded with Kodak Portra 800Z (expired). Jake: Pentax 67, 105/2.4, loaded with Fuji 400H (expired).

helen

jake

 

 

Oxford: Mods and Rockers on the streets

Monday, January 6th, 2014

Here are some behind the scenes shots of an episode of Endeavour that was being filmed on the streets of Oxford last November. From what I saw this is going to be an excellent episode. There were mods and rockers, fake fog, cool cars and tons of atmosphere. I’m not going to give any details away of what I saw being filmed but I will say that the scene with the bus driving through the fog was a real joy to see, it felt like being inside a movie. I really like how the colours have turned out in these shots especially as I was using daylight balanced film in conditions that were mostly lit by yellow street lights. Most of the exposures were made at 1/15th or less and I just guessed a lot of the exposures because of the huge contrast between the shadows and the street lights, it’s amazing how well colour negative film handles it all with ease.

[Tech info:] Nikon FM2, 50/1.4D lens loaded with Fuji 400 Press film (expired). Processed and scanned at ASDA in Swindon.

mods and rockers

Endeavour filming

Oxford: Endeavour filming

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.

Endeavour filming

Oxford: Tailor’s on Cinestill film

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).

cinestill film

 

Oxford: Chicago dress rehearsal part 2

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.

chicago dress rehearsal

Oxford: …and all that jazz part 2

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.

Oxford: Suited up

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).

oxford tailors

Brighton: 24 hours on the coast

Monday, November 4th, 2013

A friend of mine (Ewan) from school has made his first feature length movie and during a visit to see him in Brighton I was treated to a private screening at a local cinema. In order to raise some funding to complete the film Ewan started a Kickstarter  project to which I contributed and as a result I was listed in the thank you’s at the end of the movie. It was very cool to see my name up on a cinema screen! I travelled down on one evening and left to come home pretty much 24 hours later. The weather was mostly overcast with some rain so I didn’t manage to do a whole lot of photography but I did do a little. We had some late afternoon sun which was nice but by that time we were heading back home for dinner so I didn’t manage to photograph the sunset. The shots below are all from the same roll of film.

Here’s the IMDB page for Ewan’s movie Nightmare Hunters

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80mm/2.8 loaded withKodak Portra 400VC (expired), developed & scanned by Ag photolab

brighton

Oxford: Endeavour series 2 behind-the-scenes part 3

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.

Oxford: Endeavour series 2 behind-the-scenes part 2

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.

endeavour filming

Film: Kodak Colorplus 200

Saturday, October 26th, 2013

All of these shots are from the same roll of Kodak Colorplus 200 film that has been sitting in my fridge for many months since I shot it. I’m not sure when these images are from, my best guess is April or May this year. Kodak Colorplus is the first film that I saw stocked in Poundland Oxford when it first opened in the Westgate shopping centre and I was so excited to see it for £1 a roll that I cleared the shelf. It didn’t seem to be stocked for long and was replaced by Agfa Vista 200. I like the look of this Colorplus film and have had nice results from processing it myself. Some things have changed since I shot these pictures, the motorbike window display was in Shepherd & Woodward, Aubin & Wills are no longer on the High Street and Richard has moved from the Oxford branch of Clements & Church to the Leamington Spa branch.

[Tech info:] Nikon F90, 50/1.4 lens (shots of Tailor’s Richard & Nick with 28mm/2.8), Kodak Colorplus film, dev & scan by ASDA in Swindon.