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Photo shoot: testing with Tamsin

Wednesday, July 3rd, 2013

I recently bought a batch of expired film which I have no idea about how they’ve been previously stored so I decided to test some out to see how well they worked. In this test I was using Kodak Tri-X 400 which expired in 2002 and 2004. Fortunately Tamsin was happy to help out for the testing but it started to rain just as I was loading the first roll of film so I rattled through the film at quite a pace. Also in this test I was using a lens that I haven’t used an awful lot – a 165mm/2.8 Pentax 6×7 which I found out is very difficult to hand hold steady at f2.8 and 1/125th shutter speed which resulted in quite a few out of focus shots (not shown here). I also shot a roll of Agfa colour film that expired in 1996 which I’m very curious to see the results from.

[Tech info:] Pentax 6×7, 105mm/2.4 and 165mm/2.8 lenses, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 film, processed in Kodak XTOL 1:1.

 

Oxford: Lunch hour session

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

At this time of year it’s not uncommon to see oxford university students around town celebrating the end of their exams and it’s something I enjoy photographing whenever I can. There’s something very photogenic and timeless about their black & white outfits especially when photographed with black & white film. These images are all from the same lunch hour photo walk. At the bottom are Richard and Hugo, the Oxford Tailors that I pass on my way back to my office. I’ve been trying out a film that I never really liked when I first used it many years ago (Kodak TMAX) but I really like the results I’ve been getting recently.

[Tech info:] Nikon FM2 with 50mm/f1.4 lens, loaded with Kodak TMAX 400 film, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Oxford: Balliol 750th Commemoration Ball 2013 part 1

Sunday, June 30th, 2013

Here are some of my images from the Balliol 750th Commemoration Ball that I made on medium format film. Once the sun had gone down I decided to switch to using only black & white film because I like how classic it looks – with lots of different coloured lights in the evening it can be quite distracting. The live acts in the second grid were King Charles (who were amazing) and Mark Ronson DJing. It was the first time I had photographed a live band with a twin lens reflex camera and although a bit of a challenge it was really good fun. With only 12 frames on a roll you really have to pick your moments carefully.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 rated at ISO1600. Processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Photo shoot: Leonore & Cosima

Saturday, June 29th, 2013

These images are from a photo shoot I had a few weeks ago with Leonore and Cosima. I’ve photographed Leonore a few times for Industry magazine and the Oxford Tab but I’ve wanted to photograph her on film for quite a while. I had originally arranged the shoot with just Cosima but fortunately Leonore was able to come along too and as they’re friends everything worked out. I really enjoyed this photo shoot but as I’m not used to working with two people at once it was a little challenging – in a good way. I’ve recently been trying out a new film developer and I decided to put this roll through as a test. So far I really like the results I’m getting. More shots from this shoot will follow at a later time.

[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66 with 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 film (rated at ISO800), processed in Kodak XTOL 1:1 for 8mins.

Oxford: Party elephant

Thursday, June 27th, 2013

Some film shots of Josh with the amazing elephant costume that he made for a party. Tamsin was called in to keep the elephant under control. Some Fujiroids from this shoot can be found here. These shots were from the very end of the photo shoot, I used some colour film earlier on but they’re still in my pile of colour rolls to develop so they will follow in the future. I’m trying out a new film developer (Kodak XTOL) and this was one of the first rolls of film that I put through it. So far I am really liking the results.

[Tech info:] Mamiya 645 ProTL, 80/f1.9 lens, Kodak Tri-X 400 film developed in Kodak XTOL 1:1 dilution.

Oxford: Balliol 750th Commemoration Ball 2013 preview

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

Last week Balliol College held their 750th Commemoration Ball here in Oxford and I was there to photograph the event. The weather was a perfect summers evening with gorgeous light and as a photographer I couldn’t have asked for more. I believe there were somewhere around 1,200 guests in attendance so I kept busy the whole night. While there was still daylight I used colour film and after it got dark I switched to black & white. The colour images will be a while as I try to decide on whether to develop them myself or to send them out to a lab. I have a pile of colour films I need to develop which has been steadily growing over the past 5 months. I’m waiting to order the chemicals necessary to develop them because the 5L kit is good for 100 – 120 rolls and once you start to mix the chemistry it has a shortish shelf life.

So, here we have a little preview of some of my black & white shots from the evening. The 2012 Balliol Ball last year was the very first Oxford University ball I’ve ever attended and some of the images I made on film that night are my favourites from all of the ball’s I’ve attended so far. It was nice to see some familiar faces at this ball from last year and also to meet some visitors of this blog. Lots more film images still to come but I’ll be drip feeding them because I have so many to post.

[Tech info:] Mamiya C330f, 80/2.8 lens, loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400 rated at ISO1600. Processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Photo shoot: Grey Elephant

Wednesday, June 19th, 2013

This was a really fun photo shoot that came together yesterday. Josh contacted me to see if I would be interested in photographing this Elephant costume he had made for a party. I was instantly intrigued to see it so of course I said yes. This took him a week to make and it’s mostly made of foam, I was very impressed! Tamsin came to the photo shoot and we all had a lot of fun making pictures. At least I think Josh had fun because this was the hottest and most humid day of the year so far and I was concerned he might keel over from dehydration. (The last shot got a little ruined from the humidity). These are Fujiroids, I did also shoot some film so those shots will follow once I’ve developed them. I’ve built up quite a batch of colour rolls of film to develop from this year so it will be exciting to start developing them soon.

[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal, 100mm/3.5 lens, Fuji FP-100C instant pack film (expired).

Recent Fujiroids

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

Whenever possible I take a camera along with me to my photo shoots that is able to shoot some Fuji instant pack film (similar to Polaroid). Here are some from recent photo shoots. I haven’t developed any of the film from these shoots yet so they’ll follow on later. The camera I used for these is a bit of a bulky beast with rangefinder focusing (not my favourite) but when I get it right this camera does deliver.

[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal, 100mm/f3.5 lens, Fuji FP-100C instant pack film (expired).

Photo shoot: Imogen

Monday, June 17th, 2013

Here are some images from a photo shoot I had with Imogen recently. I took along two cameras that were completely opposite in size, a 5×4 large format SLR (Super D) and a 35mm rangefinder (Yashica Electro). I’m not a fan of rangefinder cameras (despite owning a few) and whenever I use them it’s not a very enjoyable experience mainly because I much prefer to see the viewfinder image go in and out of focus but I do like the results I got from my Yashica in this session.

I was keen to try out my Super D with an old lens I had adapted to fit but after the first test Fujiroid I noticed the focus was a little bit off – when the image in the viewfinder was in focus the image in the final print was focused slightly in front of the point that I had focused on. As a result of this I had to do a bit of guess work with the rest of the shots so they’re not as sharply focussed as I wanted. Later when I got home I figured out the problem is that the mirror doesn’t rest as low as it should so now I have to manually twist and hold a lever to push the mirror down while I am focussing. It’s a bit of a faff so I need to find an alternate method.

[Tech info:] Graflex Super D 5×4, Pentac f2.9 lens @ f4, Ilford FP4 film processed in Kodak HC110 1+31. Yashica Electro 35 loaded with Kodak TMAX 400, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31.

Photo shoot: Tamsin

Sunday, June 16th, 2013

These images are all from my first photo shoot with Tamsin which went extremely well and was very enjoyable. I’ve wanted to shoot with Tamsin for a while but timings and weather never seemed to work out so I was pleased that we were able to arrange this shoot before the end of the academic year and the summer break. For this shoot I took along three different cameras, these shots are from two of them (medium format Rolleiflex 6×6 and 35mm Nikon), the other was a Mamiya Universal that I used to shoot some Fuji instant pack film, those shots can be found here.

This shoot went so well that I managed to finish a few different rolls of film – I don’t usually have enough time to finish more than one or two. The others haven’t been developed yet so those shots will follow at a later time.

[Tech info:] Rolleiflex SL66, 80mm/2.8 Zeiss lens,  loaded with Kodak Tri-X 400, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 7:30. And a Nikon FM2, 50mm/1.4D lens, loaded with Kodak TMAX 400, processed in Kodak HC110 1+31 for 5:30.

 

Photo shoot: Tamsin [Fujiroids]

Thursday, June 13th, 2013

These Fujiroids are from my first photo shoot with Tamsin. I also shot some regular film and those images will follow after I develop them. It was a really fun shoot and I hope to do some more with Tamsin if time and weather permits before the University summer break. Regular visitors to this blog may recognise the location, I’ve used it quite a few times because I really like the big windows and the quality of light inside.

[Tech info:] Mamiya Universal, 100mm / f3.5 lens, loaded with Fuji FP-100C instant pack film (expired).

Photo shoot: Industry magazine

Sunday, June 9th, 2013

These Fujiroids (aka Polaroid) are from a photo shoot I did a few weeks ago for Industry magazine. The magazine is out now so I can finally share these. Whenever I shoot digital images for a publication I usually take along some film to shoot for myself. We had the perfect location and perfect evening light on this day and I’m really pleased with how these turned out. In a few of the shots that were in the shade I added in a speedlight with an orange gel to mimic late afternoon sunlight. The top right shot was to demonstrate with and without. My thanks go to the models for being so patient while standing in the cold lake and to the rest of the team for organising everything.

Here’s a short video from the shoot.

[Tech info:] Mamiya RB67, 90mm and 180mm lenses, Fuji FP-100C (expired) instand pack film in a sliding Polaroid back.