Photographs

Rachael, April 1997  Blasts From the Past  Proud , privileged and very much looking forward to walking my wonderful daughter, Rachael, down the aisle this weekend.

Sidmouth, August 2004  Blasts From the Past  Rediscovered a particular favourite landscape: Sidmouth seafront with the cliffs beyond.

Nathan, Brian and Ella, York, April 2002  Blasts From the Past  Key of the door today for Ella, here with her brother and father on holiday with us in York. Happy Birthday! I prefer the monochrome version so it's on here first. Below is the colour version from a scanned Kodachrome transparency. And the original, direct from the scanner - very contrasty in the sunshine.

Cousins, 1995  Blasts From the Past  Happy Birthday to neice, Jen.

Candlestick Maker, 2002  Blasts From the Past  Happy Birthday to nephew, Phil.

Sonia, June 1990  Blasts From the Past  In May 1990 I was fortunate enough...

Pretty Flamingo  Blasts From the Past  This is the first one that I can't tie down to a month and a year or even a location.

Eights Week, May 1980  Blasts From the Past  It's Eights Week in Oxford a gain - this time it's May 1980 and the Hertford College Ladies Schools VIII taking a leisurely paddle up the river.

Anne, Christmas 1991  Blasts From the Past  Here is my sister, Anne, again (see Blast From the Past No. 2 ) - this time though it's Christmas 1991. The original Kodak Ektar 100 negative was scanned and then processed in Lightroom and Photoshop to arrive at the result above. The monochrome version below was converted using Nik Silver Efex (Soft Sepia). Below is the output from the scanner... 

Rachael, April 1995  Blasts From the Past  Three for the price of one this week. There was clearly a bit of a photoshoot going on here, as I discovered several very similar shots. Above is the one I like the best. I've also included the following two though...

Sale Rugby Club, April 1988  Blasts From the Past  Sale RUFC in action in April 1988. Huw Thomas with the ball with no. 13 Phil Stansfield assisting. Subsequently (via Facebook comments) identified Martin Callery with the elbow in his head and Mike Kendrick at the back.

Bluebells Blasts From the Past  Something a little bit more pastoral for a change - a bluebell wood at Chartwell in Kent.

Rowing, May 1981  Blasts From the Past  Every year during the Summer term the rowing races known collectively as Eights Week take place on the Thames (known as the Isis at this point in Oxford). So, despite never having set foot in such a contraption myself, it would be wrong of me to dismiss this from my collection. So here is a Hertford College eight splashing about in May 1981, shot on Ilford HP5. Below is the scan of the original negative...

Howzat! Grappenhall C.C., June 1981    Blasts From the Past This was taken during the summer between my finishing university and starting work. It was shot on Ilford HP5 probably on a Chinon CM4 35mm camera with a Steinheil zoom lens at the long (140mm) end, which just about works with this composition from the short boundary. The match is between Grappenhall Cricket Club and a Cheshire XI. I don't recall whether or not the batsman was given out or not, but looks likely to me. The original scan is shown below, so just some dust removal and a tweak to the contrast.

Wedding Party Blasts From the Past  I originally posted this photographs when my own daughter announced her engagement. So, with talk of weddings then in the air, here is sister Anne's marriage to Martin Woollacott. Colour and black and white conversions of an original Kodak VR 100 negative.    ...and the output directly from the scanner... 

Hollywood Comes to Oxford, April 1980  Blasts From the Past  The corner of Catte St. and the Broad in Oxford, April 1980, Kodacolor II with a Rolliecord TLR. This is one of my earliest photographs. It's from the first roll out of the Rolleicord TLR I borrowed to document my final term at university. I don't expect I'd have used the word "document" at the time; rather I would just have said "take some pictures". That was in April 1980. The image shows the corner of Catte St. in Oxford dressed up as Divinity Rd. in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for the filming of Michael Cimino's western, "Heaven's Gate". Note the anachronistic graffiti bottom left. The film itself was a commercial flop which ruined both the studio and Cimino's reputation. There is more about it here , although the photographs have since been removed. The original scan is shown below. I've tweaked tone and contast in Lightroom, then B&W co...

Back to School, June 1981  Blasts From the Past  ...well almost. Here are old school chums, Roger Pickup and Hywel Benjamin, during a visit Hywel and I made to Anglesey in June 1981. Shot on Kodacolor CII probably in Beaumaris.  Here in black and white... Here it is straight from the scanner...

Wilmslow v. Dicky Greenwood's XV, October 1984  Blasts From the Past  Continuing the sibling theme, here's eldest brother, Howard, in October 1984.

Eyes Wide Shut.  Blasts From the Past.  Here's my sister, Anne, aged 19. Scanned from the original Kodacolor VR 1000 negative, so fairly soft and grainy. Processed in Lightroom to produce the image above and the monochrome version below. Here is the output from the scanner...

Sonia, New Year 1989/90, Sandwich in Kent. Blasts From the Past.     This was the first of my " Blasts From the Past " series of scanned slides and negatives, so stay tuned for regular additions. Watch out for embarrassing clothes, haircuts and baby pictures. This one shows my wife (then fiance), Sonia, during a New Year break in Sandwich in Kent. It was taken with a Pentax ME Super camera on Kodak Ektar 1000, so quite grainy and flat in the colour original. Below is a monochrome version. The unedited scan is shown below. I had to do some scratch and dust removal then B&W conversion with some added contrast in Photoshop.