Everyone needs a space where they can escape to, get out of the grind that is work. For me that spot is close to where I work, and some parts are technically still on the Sheridan Campus. I’m talking of the McCraney Valley. This little trail takes the name of one of the early families that settled in the Trafalgar Township in the area that would become part of the modern town of Oakville, Ontario. While mostly I only frequent a small part of the trail, today I’m going to go along the entire length of the trail from where it starts at Upper MiddleRead More →

I first found the beautiful downtown of Dundas in 2010 when I did an epic two-day multi-site tour at Doors Open Hamilton. Although I would not return for several more years, I only recently started returning to this stunning downtown as it offered up a different backdrop to my photography but a familiar theme, that stunning mid-19th-century small-town feel. Dundas has this in spades, all in a small, compact, and easily walkable community. Archaeological records show that 10,000 years ago, long before European contact, the first humans settled in the rich valley in the shadow of the Niagara Escarpment. The woods, streams, and fertile soilRead More →

If you’re going to start the year off with a bang, you should go all in! Despite this year starting almost the same way as last year, I decided not to let that stop me. Visiting Niagara-On-The-Lake was initially planned for December 2023. Rain stopped that, so we moved it to January to start the new year. Niagara-On-The-Lake is much larger today, but I spend most of my time in the historic old town where we’re visiting today! The charming historic old town of Niagara-On-The-Lake owes its current existence to two key points in local history: the American occupation and destruction of 1813 and aRead More →

When it comes to reviewing film cameras when I first started back in 2015 I thought was among the first to be doing so, as it turns out I probably was based on the times that a few fellow alliance members have been around reviewing film cameras. Throughout the previous 120 camera reviews, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve considered a hand-built camera, that number is one. Reviewing a homemade camera is difficult mostly because there’s a strong chance no one else has reviewed it or in the case of today’s camera even shot it outside the person who builtRead More →

One of my favourite things to do in both new and familiar cities is to simply wander, get lost even. In fact, this tactic has yielded some amazing photos on my previous trips. And while my wife does not share this same affinity to simply ‘get lost’ in a city she does enjoy the wandering parts. As long as we can stop for coffee or pop into some of the stores along the way. But out of all the cities, I’ve visited my favourite to simply wander around in is Chicago. To be more specific, the loop and the museum campus. These two areas areRead More →

Ever since I sold off my Pentax 645, I honestly thought I would not want another 645 camera; I mean, I had my Hasselblad. But there is some draw to the 645 formats; you don’t want a square, but that nice rectangle. And with my Hasselblad acting up, I wanted something similar but in 645. In other words, I wanted a system camera that could be customisable. One day I was sitting in the Higher Grounds coffee shop in Belfountain, having shot some 4×5, and an older man came over. We started talking as he recognised the Crown Graphic. He promptly offered his Mamiya m645Read More →