As a photographer I like to experiment with light. Here’s a set of images that I shot with Jess using only a bunch of fairy lights and a small bedside table lamp, nice and simple. Space was at a premium on this shoot but sometimes it’s nice to work within some constraints to push your creativity a bit. Jess was really good to work with – it always helps to work with someone who is willing to make suggestions and come up with new ideas to try on a shoot.
[Tech info:] Nikon D700, 50mm/f1.4 lens.
We finally got some snow this winter and as luck would have it I got invited to do a fashion shoot with an amazing team in an incredible location. The stars must have aligned just right because it doesn’t get much better than that. I shot mostly on digital because of the fast next day turnaround required for the shots but I also took along a film camera with me to shoot some Polaroids which turned out to be a huge hit. I’m really looking forward to shooting some more with this creative team so stay tuned.
You can view the final photo shoot images on The Tab website here.
[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal, 100mm/f3.5 lens, loaded with Fuji FP100C (expired) instant pack film.
*Trivia fans might like to know that the title of this post comes from the code name given to Photoshop 6.0.
First shot
Black & white
Backlit
Paisley
Paisley
Last shot in the snow
Here are the film shots from my shoot with Georgina H. I found a new location to use that I think works really well in black & white. I think there will be some nice shadows to use on a sunnier day.
[Tech info:] I used two cameras, a Mamiya RZ67 with 110mm lens and a Speed Graphic 5×4 large format camera from the 1940’s. Films used were Tri-X (RZ) and HP5 (SG), processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b).
Large format shots
A new year and I’ve yet to do any photography thanks to the gloomy weather we’ve been having. At least it gives me an opportunity to carry on working through my backlog from last year. Here are some film shots from my most recent shoot with Helen. I love the quality of the light in these and hope to do more. It’s completely different to shooting outside. For the first time I had a digital camera with me on this particular shoot for comparison and you can see some of those shots here. I also shot some colour film but I’m stock piling my colour film so that I can process more of it in one go with fresh chemicals so those will follow later in the year. It’s exciting to wait to see my images.
[Tech info:] Pentax 67, 105/2.4 lens loaded with Kodak TMAX 400 @ ISO1600 processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 7:30.
Comparison of film and digital
Here are some shots of the cast from a student production of a play called Vagrant that was at the Burton Taylor theatre a couple of weeks ago. The writer/director Alex Darby contacted me to see if I wanted to do some photography of the cast before the performance started so I took the opportunity to test out pushing Kodak TMAX 400 film to ISO1600. I had previously had great results with this film while doing some backstage photography during Oxford Fashion Week but I knew the light in the theatre would be a lot more contrasty so it would be a good test. I’m pleased with the results I got here and the grain is amazingly fine apart from the shadows which is to be expected.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67, 110mm/f2.8 lens, loaded with TMAX 400 (rated @ ISO1600). Processed in Kodak HC110 (1+31) for 7:30.
These images are all from the same roll of film that I shot during a recent lunch break photo shoot I had with Georgina who I first met at the Haute Couture show during Oxford Fashion Week 2012. What’s not apparent here is the amazing colour palette we had in these shots. The light was perfect and after I finished this roll of black & white I shot some images in colour but that roll is still in my camera because I ran out of time to finish it. Georgina was very nice to work with – very relaxed and easy going – and I hope we can collaborate some more after the new University term starts in the new year.
[Tech info:] Bronica ETRSi with 150mm/f3.5 lens loaded with Fuji Acros 100, processed in Kodak HC110 (b) for 5:30.
Despite the title of this conference it has nothing to do with models or modelling. One of the organisers had seen my photography on this blog and asked if I’d like to do some photography of the conference delegates. I agreed to go along and although I would have loved to have made some selective portraits on film I know from past experience that these types of events are very difficult to be selective at because for some reason people react with sheer terror if you ask them if they’d like to be photographed by themselves. Anyone know why? The venue was Oxford’s Town Hall, a venue that I’ve photographed in before so I knew from experience the available light there is not very good for photography which is why I took my own lighting along. There was a steady flow of people to photograph but towards the end it got a bit crazy with the groups becoming larger and larger. Overall it was fun. Any delegates wishing to order prints can do so directly from me, please get in touch via email: simplyoxford [at] gmail.com.
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Back in May I was invited to do some photography during the dress rehearsal of a theatre production called Killing Hitler by the director of the production. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it so instead I went along to the opening night to try to squeeze in a little photography during curtain up. You’d think I would have learnt my lesson from trying that during a production of Cabaret with not a huge amount of success but I felt it was worth a try. Needless to say the cast and crew had more important things on their minds than to make time for my photography so all I managed to get was these three shots. It’s a shame because the set for the opening scene looked really good with the lighting. My thanks go to the director, Lucie Dawkins and the cast and crew for putting up with me.
[Tech info:] Mamiya M645 1000S, 80/f1.9 lens, loaded with Fuji Acros 100 film, processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b).
Next month (November) there are a number of events going on for Oxford Fashion Week, some of which I’m hoping to do some photography at. Last year I did a lot of photography backstage at the various fashion shows but it was all digital. This year I’m planning to stick with film. Earlier today there was a casting call that I attended in an ‘unofficial’ capacity simply to do a little portrait photography to blog, just for fun. Thanks goes to Nick Seagrave, the OFW team and everyone that agreed to be photographed. All of these portraits were made on Fuji instant pack film which is just like Polaroid. I have a special back on my camera that slides to allow me to make two exposures on one print.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm lens, sliding Polaroid back loaded with Fuji FP100-C instant pack film.
These images are from a roll of film I shot at the beginning of my Pandora’s Box photo shoot earlier in the summer. I just came across it and realised that it had never been scanned. You can see part 2 here.
[Tech info:] Mamiya M645 1000s with 80mm/f1.9 lens, loaded with Fuji Acros 100 film, processed in Kodak HC110 (dilution b).
I had another photo shoot with Helen recently and here are some of the results. We went to University Parks but used a different area to our last shoot and thanks to some nice late after summer sunshine we had everything we needed to make some nice images. This was a really relaxed shoot just like our previous one and I think that comes through in the images. I’ve had more compliments from people on my shots of Helen than any others on this blog and I look forward to collaborating more in the future.
[Tech info:] Mamiya RZ67, 110mm and 150mm lenses, Fuji Acros 100 pushed one stop in HC110 (8 mins) dilution b.
First shot
Lounging
Near the river
Catchlights
Lotus
The sun was going down directly behind Helen so I'm amazed at how good this turned out.
Last shot
You might recognise Peter from the punting photo shoot I did a couple of weeks ago. Having recently finished his masters degree he’s due to leave Oxford very soon to do a little travelling so we arranged to make some pictures before he leaves. For these images I used a large format camera from the 1940’s with a lens from World War II that was designed for the US military to do aerial photography at night. It’s renowned for its shallow depth of field that has a very unique signature. I don’t get to use this setup all that often partly because of the size of the lens and partly because it’s difficult to use it if the conditions are too bright but on this day it was perfectly cloudy with the sun trying to burn through. I took 6 sheets of film with me and all of them are here below.
[Tech info:] Speed Graphic camera with Kodak Aero Ektar lens on Ilford FP4+ processed in Rodinal (1:50).
On the steps.
Take it to the bridge
Distinctive bokeh
I think the gloves make this shot
Wider shot
No jacket required
