portraits
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Saturday, May 26th, 2012
There’s a Shakespeare festival here in Oxford at the moment and a few weeks ago I was contacted by the director of a one-off performance to see if I’d like to do some photography at one of their dress rehearsals. The actual performance is on 29th May 2012 at Blackwells Bookshop on Broad Street but these images were made at Lady Margaret Hall a few days ago. Only one of the cast is in elizabethan costume and I felt she’d make for better images than the others. For the colour shots I was experimenting with some film that expired in 2005 and I quite like the results. The black & white shots were made with fresh stock. If you do go and see it please leave a comment.
[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).
LMH has nice gardens.
Window light.
Bounced light from the floor.
Dramatic.
LMH gardens.
Cast group shot.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Photo shoot, Portrait, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, backstage, black&white, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students
Friday, May 25th, 2012
These images are from earlier today. The first two were made during my lunch break, the other two were made near the University boathouses. The summer eights rowing competition is on at the moment so I went over to the boathouses after work to photograph anyone that caught my attention but I’m sorry to say that I didn’t manage to do much photography. The buzz that was there last year seemed to be missing which I found quite disappointing.
[Tech info:] I used a sliding Polaroid back on my Mamiya RB67 to shoot two frames on each sheet of Fuji instant pack film. I really enjoy thinking of two shots that will work together and it’s a shame I can’t shoot a roll of film like this.
Tailors in Little Clarendon Street. These guys are always sharply dressed which makes them very photogenic.
Triumph on St. Giles. I was rushing to make this shot and didn't notice the Polaroid back wasn't pushed all the way to the left. I hope I get to photograph this car again.
Edd and Owen of Hacked Off Films.
BMXer 'Pipe' Williams.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait | 2 Responses »
Tags: fujiroid, oxford, pack film, people, portraits, rb67, summer 8's
Friday, May 25th, 2012
These shots are from my last test shoot with Hai Lin it’s just taken me a while to process the roll of film because it was colour. With black & white film you can mix up the quantity of chemistry you need to process a single roll. With colour the chemistry is different because you can reuse it so I save up some colour rolls so that I can do them in batches. These shots were made on Kodak Ektar 100 film which I haven’t used very much. I like it so far.
[Tech info:] Mamiya M645 with 80/1.9 lens. Kodak Ektar 100 film. Processed and scanned by me.
Late afternoon sunshine.
Broad Street. I like the shadow in this shot.
Fading light. In the shade the colours look a little funky.
The light level was really low after the sun had gone down behind buildings.
I like the bokeh in this shot.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Photo shoot, Portrait | 3 Responses »
Tags: 645, film, people, portraits
Thursday, May 24th, 2012
Here are some images from the Oxford Union Ball 2012 that I photographed earlier this month. I was fortunate enough to be granted permission the day before the ball and for the first time among a really wet spell of weather we had some gorgeous evening summer light. All of these images are from my digital camera, the shots I made on film will follow as soon as I have time to scan them. I’ve processed all of the films and the shots on the negatives look great.
[Tech info:] Nikon D700 camera with 50/f1.4 lens.
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Posted in Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: ball, black&white, D700, digital, oxford, people, portraits, students
Monday, May 21st, 2012
These images are from a quick lunch time test shoot I had with Jessica last week. Test shoots are great for testing out different cameras, lenses and films which is very difficult to do with my usual street photography because I only tend to make one shot of each person and I don’t want to risk losing any shots or having them not turn out well. There were so many great shots on the roll so this is just a quick preview. More testing to come…
[Tech info:] Nikon F90 (35mm) camera with Nikon Series E 100mm/2.8 lens, loaded with expired Ilford XP2 film. Processed and scanned by me.
Next to the Bridge of Sighs
We had a natural wind machine.
Between the columns.
I don't usually give my images any kind of colour treatment but I thought I'd try it with this one.
Posted in film, Oxford, Photo shoot | No Responses »
Tags: 35mm, black&white, film, oxford, portraits, students
Sunday, May 20th, 2012
Here’s the full gallery of my portraits from the Keble College Ball 2012.
To navigate the gallery click on a thumbnail to enlarge it in a pop out window and then you can use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to view previous and next images. The lightbox gallery doesn’t work on Internet Explorer so please use a real web browser such as Apple Safari or Firefox.
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Posted in Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: ball, D700, digital, keble college, oxford, people, portraits
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012
Earlier this evening I did a little photography at the O’Reilly Theatre in Keble College as the actors were warming up for the opening night of Killing Hitler, a production directed by Lucinda Dawkins. My original plan was to do photography during the dress rehearsal yesterday evening but I was unable to make it. You’d think I would have learnt my lesson about photographing during an opening night after I tried it at a production of Cabaret at the very same theatre but no, I didn’t learn so it was no surprise that the actors were busy preparing for the production so I didn’t manage to get many shots. Sorry. It was such a shame because the costumes, set and lighting looked really good. If you get a chance you should go and see it.
I might have time to go back again on Saturday, we’ll see. For now all I have to post is this diptych of Freddie who I had previously photographed during a dress rehearsal for POSH earlier this year. I manage to get a few other shots but I haven’t finished the roll that they’re on.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens and diptych Polaroid back which allows me to make two exposures on the same print. This scan is from the reclaimed negative part of Fuji FP-100C instant pack film.
Freddie Bowerman as Anthony Eden.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | 1 Response »
Tags: backstage, black&white, drama, film, oxford, portraits, students
Sunday, May 13th, 2012
I was fortunate enough to be granted last minute (as in the day before) permission to photograph at the Oxford Union Summer Ball a couple of days ago and here’s a small preview of some of the images I made. This was my first summer ball where there was actually some summery weather and it made a huge difference to the look and feel of my images. For once I was able to rate the film at it’s normal speed and there was tons of gorgeous ambient light to make use of. I really like the architecture at the Oxford Union, both inside and out and I’d love to do more photography there. How amazing would it be to photograph the guest speakers there on black & white film?
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/f2.8 loaded with Kodak Tri-X rated at 400. Processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B (1:31) for 7:10 at 21c.
Pouring drinks before the guests arrive.
The current society president (centre) with two friends.
Books in the library.
The library was used as a cloakroom for the evening and very impressive it was too.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, Portrait, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: 6x6, ball, black&white, c330, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students, Tri-X
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012
Another batch of film shots from the Keble College Ball 2012. Here you can see some from inside the Sheesha tent that was put on by Mr Flavour. It seemed like a popular spot with a constant queue leading out from the entrance. Not surprising really since it was cosy and warm in there. I did a lot of my portrait photography right outside underneath the big light ball. Those light balls were amazing and gave off a beautiful quality of light. The previous two sets of images from the Keble Ball have been very popular, thank you to everyone that has sent me messages. Feel free to add me on Facebook or like my photography page there if you want to keep updated on new posts here. Lots more images to come. If you were at the Lincoln Ball don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about you, more from there coming soon.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/f2.8 lens loaded with Kodak Tri-X, rated at ISO1600 and processed in Kodak HC110 dilution B (1:31).
Guests have fun in the Shisha tent.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | No Responses »
Tags: 6x6, ball, black&white, c330, film, hc110, oxford, people, portraits, students
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012
Here we have the first batch of shots I made on film at the Keble College Ball 2012. I’ve been feverishly processing and scanning into the wee small hours this morning to get these posted here as soon as I could because I love how they look. All of these were made using the available light. I decided not to use flash on any of my film shots during the evening.
[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f and 80mm lens with Kodak Tri-X film rated at ISO 1600. Processed in Kodak HC110 (1:31) dilution b for 16:30 at 20c.
Long live film.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: 6x6, ball, black&white, c330, film, oxford, people, portraits, students, Tri-X
Monday, May 7th, 2012
The Keble College Ball was the biggest college ball that I’ve attended so far and I really enjoyed it. When I first heard that around 1,850 guests were expected it didn’t quite register in my mind what that would actually look like but when I saw the guests queuing up around the edge of the main quad at Keble waiting to come into the ball it was quite a sight. Fortunately it didn’t rain at all on the night but the temperature outside was quite chilly. It’s a shame we didn’t have more summery weather because I think the cold temperature forced a lot of people to stay in the warmth of the marquees or the college buildings which were difficult to photograph in because they were so packed. I saw so many people that I would like to photograph again with some of my old film cameras so if you’re in any of these pictures below and you’d like a test shoot together please get in touch.
This is the first batch of images from the ball. I have a lot of images to sort through but I’ll try to post new batches as soon as I can. Lots of the guests asked where they could see the pictures. I’ll post as many as I can here but I’ll put a gallery together of everything in case anyone wants to order prints. I still have lots more images from Lincoln to post so expect plenty of updates.
[Tech info:] Nikon D700 with Zeiss 50mm/f1.4 lens.
There were lots of photogenic guests in attendance.
Posted in Oxford, People, students | 1 Response »
Tags: ball, black&white, D700, keble, oxford, people, portraits, students
Friday, May 4th, 2012
Here’s the 4th batch of images from the Lincoln College Ball 2012. These were all shot on film and there are plenty more to come. One of the many things I love about using film is the fact that it takes time to create the images. Sometimes well over a week or more has passed between me processing the film and scanning it and in that time I’ve often forgotten what was on the film in the first place. Take some of these shots for example. It’s not quite 7 days since I shot these images but as I was sorting through them just now there are at least a few frames that I don’t remember making so coming across them is not only a surprise but also a treat. I was aiming to post new images every day this week but I’ve been feeling unwell the past couple of days, sorry about that. Lots more to come from the Lincoln Ball (both film and digital) and I’ll be photographing at the Keble Ball tomorrow night so there’s lots to look forward to from that too.
I’d love to photograph at the upcoming Oriel Ball so if anyone can hook me up with permission to photograph there it would be much appreciated!
Shots from the beginning of the evening before the rain started.
Posted in film, Oxford, People, students | 2 Responses »
Tags: 6x6, ball, black&white, c330, lincoln, oxford, people, portraits, rodinal, students, Tri-X
