It’s been a while since I got to do a film of the month challenge put on by the team at the Embrace the Grain Podcast, mainly because some of the more recent ones have focused on colour films. And I’m not often one to jump on colour films. For a couple of reasons, first being I don’t like scanning colour film, and second, it’s difficult to get processed on time as I don’t keep colour chemicals at home. So when January’s film was announced as being Japan Camera Hunter Streetpan 400, I jumped, and I had a roll stashed away. I took the filmRead More →

Let’s face it, the idea of rebranding items, especially in photography, is nothing new. Kodak, Fuji, and Agfa have sold their films to resellers, even putting them in custom cartridges and boxes. Even some camera manufacturers build more cameras for other companies and sell under those names than under their name. And today, the trend continues, with Agfa still making films but as a contract manufacturer with names like Rollei under Maco Direct selling their product, or Fomapan producing films stocks for Kosmo Foto, New Classics, and Lomography. Plus, ORWO provides the sweet motion picture film for Lomography and our friends at Cinestill and theirRead More →

Established in 2013 by MainStreetHost and taken on by Alex Luyckx Photography in 2015, #photochat is a community of photography professionals and enthusiasts who congregate to talk shop and discuss anything and everything photography. To participate in our weekly chat (every Thursday at 1:00pm) search the #photochat hashtag to see the conversation, or find me at @AlexLuyckxPhoto on Twitter for more info. Be sure to include the hashtag in your tweets to answer the questions and talk with the other participants. If there’s a topic you’d like to see covered in #photochat, hop onto Facebook, Twitter, or good old fashioned Email and let me know!Read More →

The interesting thing about the Guelph Central Station is that I have walked past it many times but have never been drawn to the structure. I’m more likely to walk past it to get a better angle on the armoury or move past towards the old city hall turned courthouse. But Central Station is one of only a few surviving propaganda stations built to instil confidence in the railway operator in the second decade of the new century. Guelph and the railroad share an interesting relationship since the first Grand Trunk Railway line rolled through 1855. Having acquired the Toronto & Guelph Railway, Grand TrunkRead More →

The year was 2013, a new voice had recently joined the Film Photography Podcast, one Mat Marrash. Mat had dived headfirst into the world of film photography and had not looked back and begun speaking about a type of developer I had never heard of before, Pyro developers. Well, I was instantly interested, having myself dived headfirst into the wonderful world of home B&W development. I was also looking for something outside the normal D-76, HC-110, and Rodinal developers. Well, this Pyrocat-HD stuff seemed interesting, but getting it shipped to Canada proved difficult at the time, so with a trip to New York City inRead More →

When I was starting to shoot film seriously, I stuck mainly to negative colour stock but started experimenting with black & white, but slide film was something that I avoided. Slide film was for professional photographers or travel photographers who wanted to share their trips on a slide projector. My first experience with slide film was Fuji Sensia and I was hooked. So I decided to jump right into the iconic Fuji slide film, Velvia. The original Kodachrome killer, and yet I only started shooting the stock after it got discontinued, the first roll running through my camera in 2009. Film Specs Type: Colour ReversalRead More →

Established in 2013 by MainStreetHost and taken on by Alex Luyckx Photography in 2015, #photochat is a community of photography professionals and enthusiasts who congregate to talk shop and discuss anything and everything photography. To participate in our weekly chat (every Thursday at 1:00pm) search the #photochat hashtag to see the conversation, or find me at @AlexLuyckxPhoto on Twitter for more info. Be sure to include the hashtag in your tweets to answer the questions and talk with the other participants. If there’s a topic you’d like to see covered in #photochat, hop onto Facebook, Twitter, or good old fashioned Email and let me know!Read More →

Most people would drive past a small red building sitting along Highway 25 south of the Canadian National train line running over the roadway heading into downtown from Highway 401. The red building has the appearance of a railroad station. Still, the rail line is sitting high above, and there is no way for the station even to serve the line when Canadian National operated passenger services. The building is Milton’s third train station. It is not so far from its original location located on the outskirts of the downtown next to Milton’s claim to fame, the P.L. Robertson factory, maker of the Robertson screw.Read More →

When it comes to a 50mm lens, they are often overshadowed by faster fifties, the f/1.4 and f/1.2 and even crazier f/0.95. But sometimes, all you need is something at f/1.8, and the Olympus F.Zuiko, 50mm f/1.8, is a spectacular choice for your OM-System. While the lens has gone through several changes since its inception, this chrome nose version fits in nicely next to my 50mm f/1.4 chrome nose and is a tack sharp option for the more budget-minded Olympus user. Lens Specifications Make: Olympus Model: OM-System Auto-S F.Zuiko 1:1,8 f=50mm Focal Length: 50mm Focal Range: ∞ – 0.45m Aperture: f/1.8 – f/16, 6 BladesRead More →

The winter is a good time to kick back and enjoy a good movie or TV show, so for our season 8 premiere, the gang is going to talk about our favourite shows that have some feature of photography or a photographer. As a group, our tastes are rather varied and encompasses both fiction, non-fiction and even a bit of anime thrown in. Blow Up First spotted on a local PBS channel Blow Up directed by Michelangelo Antonioni caught Bill’s eye not just for the photography but also the mystery thriller aspect of the film. From the wrong side of the tracks to the highRead More →