What makes this week a bit more interesting is that almost this time last year, Heather and I were on vacation and driving along the Niagara Parkway, a favourite drive for us that is perfectly safe to do even during a global pandemic (but unlike last year, the end is now very much insight). Like last year, I was shooting my Nikon FM loaded with Fomapan 100. But I learned from last year and brought a slightly longer lens and picked a different developer! Long before the arrival of the Europeans, the earliest human settlers in the Niagara Region, those of the Neutral Nation thatRead More →

Despite the title of this week’s entry in the project, nothing actually has died, but I’ll bet it drew you into the post! This week we’re back in Halton Hills at another historical site. You will remember back earlier in the project; we visited Georgetown, Ontario, a part of Halton Hills, today. This week we’re a bit north of the historic community in another one of those settlements that sprung up, Silvercreek and specifically the historic Scotsdale Farm. I first learned about this place from two good friends, Bill Smith and Andrew Chapman and had a chance to visit under less than ideal conditions atRead More →

I can always remember seeing this massive building off in the distance going to and from Guelph when visiting my Opa. When I first got to see the building up close, it wasn’t as big as I thought it was. In fact, it was rather small. I’m talking about the former Guelph Jail. I’ve known it has been abandoned and closed for some time, and back in the day, I always contemplated trying to sneak in under cover of darkness. But things never aligned properly, I did get a chance to see inside during the one Guelph Doors Open event I attended in 2009. TheRead More →

When I originally planned out this week of the project, I had a completely different name for the entry, “The Second Wedge”, after Uxbridge’s position in the Second Wedge of the Oak Ridges Moraine and a local craft brewery. But after spotting an interesting statue downtown, which I initially thought was another war memorial, I decided to change the name. It was not another war memorial, not in the cenotaph sense that many communities across Ontario feature in their downtown; this was a memorial to Samuel Sharpe. A Lieutenant-Colonel in World War One, Distinguished Service Order recipient, Member of Parliament, and dead at 45 byRead More →

Two weeks in a row outside of Halton Region? Yes, the continuing lockdown has made me go stir-crazy, and you can honestly only find so much to photograph within your own little part of Ontario. Plus, I have to keep a few ideas in the back pocket as backups if something big prevents me from getting out. After doing plenty of these types of projects, you need some ideas as backups. But this week, we’re back into rural Ontario and the community of St. Jacobs, home to an amazing farmer’s market, a tourist railroad, Mennonites, and a cute little downtown. While I would have likedRead More →

It felt good to get up and out of my own little part of the province, and a solid drive (only an hour and a half) put me well outside the paved sections of the Greater Toronto Area to the small community of Palmerston. A community that owes its founding to the railroad, a rarity here in Ontario where most communities were founded along a river, canal, major road, or post-war colonization. While you can walk end-to-end in a short time, there is a lot more to Palmerston than the railroad alone; there is also some medical history to the community that helped defeat aRead More →

There’s something to be said about being able to hammer out an entire roll of thirty-six exposures in a single location in a short period of time. Sure, it’s easy to do when you have a medium format roll with 15, 12 or 10 exposures. But thirty-six can be a bit trying. Thankfully, the introduction of multiple lenses helps, especially when you set limits on how many frames you can shoot with one focal length. This week we’re still in Milton (ish) [Esquesing actually] exploring one of the oldest churches in the region, Boston Presbyterian Church. And to add to this week’s excitement, these wereRead More →

To be perfectly honest, I had a whole other location planned for this week. But as with last year, this year continues to remind me that plans mean nothing. No matter how angry you get. Thankfully I have an amazing and supportive wife who suggested I get out and go for a hike. I always feel better after getting out into the fresh air and taking photos. So I hoped onto the Halton Conservation Booking site and tried to find a spot, but getting out for a hike is almost all we can do right now. Thankfully Found a spot at the Kelso Summit. ForRead More →

Often you’ll drive past a space constantly and always think, I should stop here one day and explore. That is exactly what this week’s location is all about. I drive past the Oakville Memorial Park every day going to and from work and always think to myself; I should stop here. So I made an effort to check the space out one day at lunch. Being close to the campus and offering up wide-open spaces, I decided to walk the park’s entire length and discovered that it has a far longer history than a park. I honestly did not think I would have any historyRead More →

We start this week with high school English. I don’t know about you, but English seemed to love the topic of Shakespeare. Don’t get me wrong. Shakespeare is brilliant but way over analysed by the average high school student, but what does that have to do with photography? One of my first favourite historical downtowns in Ontario. That reason is Stratford, Ontario. I remember one of my first visits to the city in 2009, and it quickly became a spot where I would test out a new camera and clearly shows what a late 19th-Century City in Ontario once looked like. While the Canada CompanyRead More →