When you use Leica, Nikon, Carl Zeiss optics the idea of plastic lenses and “toy” cameras will often scare a photographer, you really don’t know what you’re going to be getting out of your image. It certainly won’t be the sharpest image on the block, vignetting is going to be there, soft focus, light leaks, all very possible. Add Expired film into the mix and things just start getting dicy. Something that many photographers won’t even touch, and I used to be like that…until I picked up, on a whim, a Holga from The Film Photography Project. And instantly was dragged into the wonderful worldRead More →

When it comes to iconic locations in the city of Hamilton within the exploration community, there is none more wildly known as the Lister Block. A steadfast icon of the decline and decay within downtown Hamilton. From my first trip in 2006 to my last trip in 2010 and into 2012 and beyond as a restored building, this post will explore three different scenes from the first trips (2006 and 2007) a chance to see the stripped-down interior in 2010 and the re-opening in 2012 at a Doors Open event we are checking out Lister Block between the Darkness and the Light. When Joseph ListerRead More →

So what do tractors and a never completed nuclear power station have in common? Well nothing really…except in the case of a small station somewhere in the volunteer state, better known as Tennessee. The power station was one of many that were planned by the TVA through the 1970s to bring clean, efficiant power to the southern United States. Of course as a student of history there were several accidents in the 1980s that really turned the world view on nuclear power in a negitive light. Chernobyl in the former USSR and the Three Mile Island incident in the United States. Then there was theRead More →

This one is for my friends at Kodak! Despite Ektachrome being cancelled in 120 and 35mm formats, I happened to find a decent sized stash in the back of my stores, mostly E100VS. Over the Easter weekend I had a chance to go south…to Tennessee, and one of my stops was the towns of Bristol. Why towns? Simple there are two Bristols, one in Virginia and one in Tennessee, and they share a common downtown along State Street, as the name implies is the State line. When I stopped in on the town on my way down I was quickly rained out, but Monday asRead More →

Some may think I’m crazy, especially with my love of long distance driving. But I had never before undertaken a twelve-hour drive, the drive would take me from my hometown of Milton to Johnston City. I had been invited back in December to an event called MAMU, the Mid-Atlantic Meetup, so I booked the time off. With my route mapped, gas stations, rest areas and areas of interest noted in my notebook. With an iPhone full of episodes of the Film Photography Podcast and a CD Wallet filled with music as my Microsoft Zune kicked the bucket, and most importantly, my trusty Nikon F3 loadedRead More →

One of the joys of working in Oakville is having access to a wonderful water front within a ten minute drive from work. Taking advantage of one of those really nice days we’ve been having I took my trusty Rolleiflex out and some Kodak Portra 400 out for a lunch hour photowalk. Have I mentioned how much I love Portra 400? Rolleiflex 2.8F – Carl Zeiss Planar 80mm 1:2.8 – Kodak Portra 400Read More →

I had gotten three hours of sleep before my alarm clock woke me up. But I knew there was some strange reason I had done this to myself. So by five in the morning, I was back on the road again, aiming myself into Toronto. I reached Polson Pier just before six. The wind and cold were wicked that morning. My iPhone told me it was -10C. I quickly set up my camera at the pier’s edge; two huge cargo ships were busy getting loaded. But my interest was in the Toronto skyline. The sky was still dark, with no sign of the sun yetRead More →

Hidden behind a hospital and a massive shopping mall, a tiny road dies at a park. You can still see the old light standards continuing down. I had some time to kill on a Saturday afternoon, so I decided to stop and check it out; having a camera with me, I naturally brought it along for the hike. Down at the base of the road, I was drawn out onto one of the side trails that ran along a river bank; following it around, I noticed something in the distance; it looked like a bridge, but not a bridge one would expect; it looked likeRead More →