One of my favourite cities in Ontario to photograph is Ottawa, Ontario, also the Capital City of Canada. While not as grandiose in planning as Washington DC, this city has plenty of offer the photographer. A recent week’s holiday there with my wife gave me a chance to exersize several cameras from my toolkit and having plenty of my pro gear having shot a weekend before hand I was loaded for bear both in gear and film stock. Nikon F5 – AF Nikkor 35mm 1:2D – Eastman 5363 @ ASA-25 Kodak HC-110 Dil. F 5:00 @ 20C Nikon F5 – AF DC-Nikkor 105mm 1:2D –Read More →

The trouble with photo walks is that you’re walking, this pretty much takes the idea of bringing large format cameras and tripods along. I mean, I love LF and have a press camera which allows me to shoot the Crown Graphic Handheld as I did back at the Summer Toronto Film Shooters Meetup. But again, when making a meet up especially for large format, you can’t call it a photo walk because it’s hard to walk with an LF camera and I know that many members don’t shoot press, technical, or field cameras they use monorails. You don’t walk around with a monorail, while youRead More →

When you think of toy cameras, specific models instantly come to mind—names like Diana, Debonair, Lomography, and Holga. I have in the past reviewed the FPP Debonair, a solid toy camera, but the first toy camera and the one that stuck the most is the Holga. Sadly my camera broke several years back, and I never bothered to replace it. While I did mean to replace the Holga with another one, the sad fact is that in 2015 Holga nearly vanished if not for the quick actions by Freestyle and the Sunrise company. The two managed to recover one mould and restarted production. The HolgaRead More →

One thing is for sure when it comes to film photography unless you have the big bucks, you’re buying used gear. But there’s so much out there, what is a good way to buy this gear, maintain it, or even sell it! The gang jumps into a lively discussion on what to and not to do when buying used gear. Including on how to spot a fake Leica. You can also find additional information at Johan Niel’s site. Talking about optics including the dreaded fungus. Also, we decode Ebay for purchasing your used gear, and how to spot a bad deal! Looking for a goodRead More →

Some time back I came across a sponsored post on Facebook. Now usually when I see these I tend to scroll past them, but the title grabbed my attention, 14 Towns In Ontario To Visit If You’re Too Broke To Go To Europe. While many of the sites mentioned in the article I had heard of and visited there were a couple that caught my eye, the one that I decided would be worth a visit is Almonte, Ontario. Having done a weekend wedding in Bobcaygeon, Ontario and the wife and I heading to a week’s vacation in Ottawa it was the perfect chance toRead More →

The Beach neighbourhood in Toronto is not one that I have explored much. Sure I’ve done a wedding there, the 2015 spring Toronto Film Shooters Meetup happened here, had a week of my latest 52-Roll project there, and even recorded an episode of Classic Camera Revival out there. Okay, so maybe I have spent more time in the Beaches than I thought I had. But, it’s always fun to go and check out a part of the city I don’t often have a chance to visit. Bill Smith, while an Oakville resident often finds himself in the area, and offered to host a little photoRead More →

This previous year I took two chances to visit the lovely historical village of Elora, Ontario in Wellington County. The first trip with my lovely wife in the summer, and a second time on a very dreary Fall day with the Toronto Film Shooters Group. Both trips in addition to shooting plenty of black & white film I shot a roll of colour film each. And in my own typical fashion, that film sat on a self. Now, in my own defense I thought I was going to shoot a lot more slide film this summer than I actually did, so when I realized IRead More →

If you’ve used any of the modern Bronica cameras, you’ve mostly used them all. And that is the beauty of them because of they all act, behave and feel the same in both operation and general, cosmetic details. The only difference is the size of the negative. And while I’ve reviewed the smaller of the three, the ETRS earlier this year, I now switch up to the largest of the three the GS-1. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a fan of Bronica cameras, but I like the GS-1 and would easily rate it higher than the Mamiya as it stands up easier on fieldRead More →

A few weekends back I had a chance to visit the lovely village of Elora, Ontario with my beautiful wife who I am grateful loves such adventures on free weekends. The small village is located just northwest of Guelph and offers a little taste of Europe in Ontario. I’ve had the chance to visit Elora twice in the past, once for my 52-Roll project in 2013 and again to go camping with a group of friends in 2015. But I had always planned to go back yet it never seemed to fit into plans. While the Elora gorge is one of the towns biggest draw,Read More →

Ah the dog days of summer, and yet there’s still the draw to get out, no matter the weather, and just enjoy shooting. This summer meeting saw me visit two areas of the city for some shooting. The first part of the meet was in a part of the city that I don’t often explore, the Riverside neighbourhood on the eastern side of the Don Valley. Fellow film shooter, Bill Smith, did the heavy lifting in planning out the meet. The day started with coffee at the lovely Rooster Coffee Shop. The whole area is a hidden gem in the city with lots to seeRead More →