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Oxford: Skaters and riders

Sunday, July 22nd, 2012

There is a ramp near my house that is used by skateboarders and BMX riders. It’s been there a very long time. Originally there were two but the higher one slowly rotted away so it was torn down. This weekend I decided to make some portraits there of whoever I came across as a way of documenting the ramp and the people that use it. On my way over there I found out that the ramp is due to be demolished and a new one is going to be built in its place. I’m glad I found this out now rather than when it was too late. My old middle school is next door to where this ramp is so I can remember the time before the ramp was there. I can also remember a time before BMX was popular in the UK. It all started with the movie E.T.

[Tech info:] Wista 10×8 camera with Sinaron 300mm lens on green sensitive x-ray film (ISO 50), processed in Rodinal 1:50 for 6 mins.

Skateboarders. These guys were leaving just as I arrived. Thanks for stopping.

A photographic first? BMX action shot on 10x8.

 

Test shoot: Helen part 2

Saturday, July 7th, 2012

During my second test shoot with Helen I was able to test out a number of different rolls of film. The shots below are all from the same roll (with this particular camera I only get 10 shots on a roll). This was towards the end of the shoot and we decided to change things up a bit by making use of a nearby tree. Helen showed her excellent climbing skills, barefoot! It was tricky to find a comfortable spot in such a cramped space but I think Helen did a great job. The film I used here is Kodak BW CN which is sadly no longer made. I bought some expired rolls from a photographer who was having a clear out. The advantage was that you could have the film processed at any regular photo lab because it requires colour film chemistry even though it’s a black & white film. This is only the second roll I’ve used of my batch and I really like it so far.

[Tech info:] Pentax 6×7, Kodak BW CN (expired 2009). Processed and scanned by me.

Branching out.

Backlit.

Lean back.

Perched on the edge.

Eye contact.

Looking at the horizon.

Last frame.

Oxford: Pandora’s Box part 2

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

Here are some more images from the Pandora’s box themed shoot I did a couple of weeks ago. I had previously photographed a few of these students at the Keble college 2012 summer ball, they liked my shots from there so I was asked if I wanted to make some shots of them all dressed up before their party. This was a really fun shoot with a bunch of very creative people. Those wings were made by Josh from scratch and it was quite a sight to see him walking down the road with them strapped on his back. The location we chose to shoot at was a local lake which had the most beautiful summer evening light but unfortunately we didn’t have very long for photography before they all had to leave for their party. Some Polaroids I made during this shoot can be seen here.

I hope to do more photo shoots like this so please get in touch if you’ve got anything interesting planned.

[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens, loaded with Fuji NPH400 film. Home processed and scanned by me.

Group shot.

At the water's edge.

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Pandora's Box group shot (I'm the one without a cool outfit).

Oxford: Oriel Ball 2012 pre-shoot

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

Here come the girls! I was asked to photograph some students in their ball gowns before they attended the Oriel 2012 commemoration ball and I have to say it turned out to be a really fun photo shoot. These shots are all on film, I previously posted some Polaroid shots from the same shoot. You can see there’s a huge difference in the colour and clarity of film compared to scanning a print.

While we were photographing in the middle of Oxford’s High Street at Queen’s lane the girls literally stopped the traffic (I later found out from someone who happened to be walking past that the traffic was tailed back to Carfax!). I found it hard to choose between these shots so I decided to post more than usual because you get a sense of how fun this photo shoot was. It’s a shame that Oriel didn’t reply to any of my requests to photograph at the actual ball itself.

[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens, loaded with Fuji NPH 400 rated at ISO 100 and processed as normal. Processing and scanning by me.

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Oxford: Lunch hour session

Monday, June 25th, 2012

These images are from the first test shoot I had with Helen during my lunch break. At this time of year the light between 12 noon and 2pm is not particularly flattering so it can be a bit of a challenge to find nice natural light to use during my lunch break which falls between those times. My mantra is there’s always good light to be found, you just have to find it so it’s something I’m constantly looking for on my photo walks around town. A slight difficulty for photography at this time of year in Oxford is the volume of tourists around so it can sometimes take a while to wait for them to clear from the background of a shot and because I only usually have around 30 mins for photography during my lunch break after I’ve travelled to and from the centre of town from my office my test shoots are usually fairly rushed. There isn’t much time for my subject to ease into the shoot but fortunately Helen was ready from the first frame and a complete natural in front of my camera. It was difficult to reduce the amount of shots to post here.

I’m very pleased with the tones in a lot of these images and I put that down to the possibility of using a slightly different agitation method when I processed the film. There seems to be slightly more contrast. I also scanned these images slightly different from my normal method so that’s probably a factor too.

[Tech info:] Mamiya M645 1000S, 80/f1.9 lens, loaded with Fuji Acros 100, processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b).

Railings.

Passageway.

Against the wall.

Around the corner.

Railings.

Steps.

Bottom step.

I really like this kind of light where you're in the shade but there is bright sunlight being bounced up from bright stone.

Last frame.

Test shoot: Helen

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

Some images from a test shoot I did with Helen in a local park recently. It was a nice change compared to photographing on the street with architectural backgrounds. Usually I tend to arrange my test shoots during my lunch break but this one I did after work and immediately I noticed a difference in the colour and quality of the light. To say the conditions were perfect would be an understatement. Helen is one of the easiest people I have ever photographed and seemed completely at ease in front of the camera. As a photographer you can’t ask for any more than that. Often when I’m photographing people they’re waiting for me to tell them what to do but with this shoot it was more of a collaboration which is something I prefer. I hope we get to collaborate on more shoots in the future. I tested a number of different types of film on this shoot so more images will follow once I find time to process and scan them.

[Tech info:] Pentax 67 loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400, processed through Kodak HC110 (dilution b).

At the edge of the tree line.

X

Dappled light.

In the shade.

In the open.

 

Oxford: Ready for the ball

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012

Yesterday evening I had a fun photo shoot with some Oxford University students that were all dressed up to go to the Oriel College commemoration ball. I had photographed one of them before at the opening night of Cabaret at Keble College a while back and it was from those images that I was contacted for this shoot (thanks Gen). It was a bit rushed towards the end as they all had to make their way over to Oriel College but I thoroughly enjoyed it. We used three different locations – a back garden, the grounds in Teddy Hall and the middle of the High Street where they were all literally stopping traffic. All of that fabric fluttering in the strong wind looked amazing. I was half expecting to be told to move along because of health and safety!

I contacted Oriel about photographing at their ball but no one replied to me. Magdalen College also had a commemoration ball happening at the same time but the President of the ball committee turned down my request for photography. Such a shame and a missed opportunity to create some great images as they only happen every three years.

These are all scans from Fujiroids (Polaroid). I also shot some film images which will follow on when I’ve had time to process and scan them.

[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm, Fuji FP100C instant pack film.

Stopping traffic on the High Street.

In the back garden before the taxi arrived.

I like the colours of the dresses in the shade.

Teddy Hall quad.

Last shot before leaving.

Behind the scenes
One of my Flickr contacts happened to be walking past while I was photographing on the High Street and he sent me these two behind the scenes shots. We’ve never met in person and this is what he had to say: ‘When I saw a photographer last night in the middle of the road with a medium format camera I knew it just had to be you. I’m surprised the police didn’t move you on, you had traffic tailed back up to Carfax’.
Photography by Darrell Godliman.

In the middle of the High Street.

Me at work, light meter in hand.

Oxford: Pandora’s Box

Thursday, June 21st, 2012

You may recognise some of these students from my Keble College Ball images but then again you might not because of the cool outfits and make-up they’re wearing. I really enjoyed photographing this creative group as they prepared to go to a party where the theme was Pandora’s Box but it was a shame we didn’t have much time for photography before they had to leave for the party. Hopefully we can collaborate on other future photo shoots.

These are all Fuji instant pack film prints (similar to Polaroids). I did also shoot a little bit of film but the rolls aren’t finished yet.

[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens and sliding Polaroid back.

The evening light was fantastic by our local lake.

Lit by the setting sun.

In the garden of the house where everyone was getting ready.

The wings ended up getting coloured in a little later.

Another shot in the back garden.

Oxford Union Society Summer Ball 2012 (film)

Saturday, June 16th, 2012

Here’s a gallery of images that I made with medium format film at the recent Oxford Union Society 2012 summer ball. It was a fun event and the weather was perfect for a summers evening. Please email me if you’d like to order any prints. Prints look much nicer than looking at images on a computer screen and they’re all hand printed by me.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f and 80/f2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b (1:31). Processed and scanned by me. I think I used some expired Tri-X for these which accounts for the lower contrast in most of them.

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Oxford: Lunch hour session

Tuesday, May 29th, 2012

I managed to shoot a whole roll of film through my Rolleiflex SL66 camera during one of my lunch time walks a few weeks ago. Here are the first 5 frames. I’ve got so many images still to post from the college ball’s that I photographed recently and then on top of that I have a backlog of other images that I can’t wait to share from my lunch hour sessions and test shoots. Some people have asked if I sell prints of my photography and the answer is yes. Although I don’t make it obvious on this blog I assume that anyone wishing to purchase a print would contact me so please get in touch. All prints are hand done by me.

[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66 camera, 80/2.8 lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X film processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B. Processed and scanned by me.

Cool glasses, Broad Street.

Gone to the beach.

Matt Sage - musician and promoter, outside The Randolph Hotel.

Taylorian Institute steps.

Unicorn window display, Ship Street.

 

Oxford: Keble College Ball 2012 part 5

Monday, May 28th, 2012

Here’s every single frame from a roll of film I shot at the Keble College summer ball 2012. I only get 12 shots on a roll  This is dedicated to everyone that has ever told me that you only get a few good shots on a roll of film and that digital is so much better 🙂

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330 and 80mm/2.8 lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X film, processed in Kodak HC110 dilution b (1:31).

Frame 1: The drummer.

Frame 2: The trumpeter

Frame 3: Cool glasses.

Frame 4: Roses.

Frame 5: Candles.

Frame 6.

Frame 7: I photographed this guy at the Balliol ball.

Frame 8: The trumpeter.

Frame 9: The band.

Frame 10: President of the ball committee (second from left) with friends.

Frame 11: Group shot.

Frame 12: Here come the girls.

 

Motorbike: MZ Trophy

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

While cycling home from my dress rehearsal shoot at Lady Margaret Hall (see previous post) I passed this nice looking motorbike (MZ Trophy) as it was waiting in the line of traffic at the South Parks Road traffic lights. I asked the rider (Simon) if I could do some quick photography of him on his motorbike with the cool film camera I had in my bag and he agreed so we carried on down to the Bridge of Sighs next to Hertford College. The motorbike is from 1971 so it’s a similar age to the camera I used. The camera I had with me was a Rolleiflex SL66 that had arrived in the morning so these are some of the first shots through it. Naturally I was a little nervous about whether or not they would come out because with old cameras you just never know. Fortunately they turned out great and  I had both colour and black & white film backs loaded with me so I was able to do a bit of both. On the b&w roll I had a few blank frames at the start of the roll and I’m missing a few shots from the end so I’ll have to look at why that happened, possibly user error. Thank you Simon for stopping and for being so patient while I juggled with the film backs.

[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66 and 80mm/2.8 Zeiss lens, loaded with Kodak 160NC (rated at ISO100) and Fuji Acros 100. Processed with a Rollei digibase C41 kit and Kodak HC110 dilution H (8.5 mins).

In front of the Bridge of Sighs.

I'm not sure where the light leak came from but I quite like it.

On the corner. (Movie trivia: the building in the background was used as the front of The Eagle pub in X-Men First Class).

Cool goggles (I'm in there).