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I’ll be the first to admit that pinhole photography and I have not gotten along well in the past. It’s a bit hit or miss with me, and I don’t always associate photographic success with the gear I use. Sometimes having the right equipment will make you enjoy the format. Pinhole is one such format. My first attempts were bit misses, using a pinhole body cap adapter on my Pentax 645, and then again on various Nikon cameras. It wouldn’t be until I got my hands on a dedicated pinhole camera that I started to see results that I actually liked. So when I startedRead More →

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There are few legal options to see some of Ontario’s electrical generation infrastructure, especially historically significant ones. At the same time, you may still be able to take a public tour of the Sir Adam Beck Generating Station or get a glimpse at the RL Hearn station if you’re there for an event. But even in those, you are limited in what you can see unless you’re suitable for some casual trespassing. But when I learned that one of the iconic Niagara Falls generating stations was opening up as a tourist destination, I knew I had to check it out. So back in July, IRead More →

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While attending the local Toronto Urban Exploration Meetups, the biggest question in conversation was where we wanted to visit? In those days, the UE community was tight-knit and often secretive, and things like Instagram were still new and not so much in the public eye. During one cold January event, we ended up in Leaside to check out a warehouse from Winpack. I quickly discovered through my work that we were not in a warehouse but rather a significant historical building that maintained locomotives, not storing paper products. The Canadian Northern Railway grew out of a small collection of defunct railways in Manitoba to extendRead More →

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When keeping things simple, look no further than a monobath. As the name implies, a monobath developer will do all the steps for you, from developing to fixing. All you’ll need to do afterwards is clear and wash the film. It can also act as an almost universal developer being able to develop multiple rolls of film for the same period. Perfect if you need to develop film in the field to avoid it getting cooked in an airport scanner or want to keep your life simple at home for development. Monobaths are nothing new, they’ve been around for a while, and I’ve worked withRead More →

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While Film Photography has been around for a while, some recent developments have occurred within the hobby and community. So in today’s episode, Alex, James, John, and Bill sit down to discuss the recently B&W developers they’ve been using and the newest photo-sharing site, Grainery! Developers Mentioned On Today’s Show 510-Pyro A new player in town, 510-Pyro, takes a typically toxic developer type and tones it down to something far safer than even Pyrocat-HD. First released in 2006 and refreshed in 2012, 510-Pyro is another magic bullet developer. It offers everything you love about a pyro developer; it gives you that desired stain on theRead More →

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If you have ever walked north on Yonge Street, you will probably notice a tall clock tower next to a rail overpass that looks straight out of Italy. While it has spent more time selling alcohol than train tickets, Toronto North remains a station that genuinely shows the grandeur of rail travel during the golden age. Canadian Pacific gained a foothold into the city of Toronto through two means, on the western approach through the Credit Valley Railway and from the North-East by way of the Ontario & Quebec Railway and the Toronto, Grey & Bruce Railway. Ontario & Quebec was revived in 1881 throughRead More →

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Minolta certainly got right if there is one thing the number of sleeper lenses in their initial autofocus offerings. Mostly among these sleeper lenses are the zoom lenses, and one of the best is the 35-70mm f/4. Without breaking the bank, a lens with little fanfare or flare can certainly deliver quality images. This lens was my first experience with Maxxum glass, first on a Maxxum 5000 and then again on the 7000. And while this lens looks proper on those two cameras, it is dwarfed on the Maxxum 9, but it doesn’t matter as the image quality is superb. Lens Specifications Make: Minolta Model:Read More →

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I had forgotten how much fun and work it is to photograph a wedding. The last time I worked a wedding was in 2019, and that one was pretty low-key compared to Crystal & Joe’s. But despite all of the work, it is always worth it, especially when you turn over the final images to the newlyweds. The day started early, waking up at 4:30, showering, breakfast, and then onto the road. Despite being in Brussels, Ontario, the route and area are familiar. And one excellent part, everything was contained in a single location. And it was worth the early morning to catch some ofRead More →

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Last week I alluded to the rail lands in Toronto; these lands dominated the space between the lake and Union Station on Front Street. These lands grew up through the late 1850s as the anchor point to major and minor operators. Space was used to marshall, maintain, and store rolling stock fleets. And one of the most prominent buildings in these yards was the roundhouse. The idea of the roundhouse as a means to store and maintain locomotives is credited to Robert Stephenson. He designed the structure and used one with the London & Manchester Railway. While that roundhouse is long gone, the world’s oldestRead More →

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When it comes to instant film, there isn’t much that draws me to the medium. Other than the fact that it’s an instant film, it’s amazing that after Polaroid pulled the plug, someone was able to backwards engineer and recreate it. And I’ve been with them since the beginning from those early steps and some pretty terrible prototypes. And while Impossible Project turned to Polaroid Originals to reclaim the Polaroid name, the spirit of this has remained and started to produce normal repeatable products. Sure they may have lost their spirit of adventure, having a colour instant integral film in the 21st Century is somethingRead More →