As you well know, I’m a huge fan of Kodak Panatomic-X and by far it is the one film I would like to see come back in some modern form. And while I can give TMax 100 a similar look, what if I could find that look I’m fond of in a modern new film? Well, I feel I can find that in CatLABS X Film 80 and sure it’s not an ASA-32 film, but what if I pulled it? I mean I got stable images out of TMax 100 at nearly a two-stop full, in this case, it’s only about a stop and aRead More →

John Lambton is the single man who shaped our view of the rebellions of 1837-8 for better or worse and can take the blame for the general mistrust between English and French Canada, born on the 12th of April 1792 in the City of Westminster, where the centre of the British Parliament sits even to this day. He knew little of his father who passed away in 1797 when John was only five. His mother quickly remarried but his step-father had little desire in raising John and his brother. Instead, the boys were raised by a family friend. Nevertheless, John was well off, being theRead More →

According to the Kodak Datasheets on Eastman Fine Grain Duplicating Positive Film, which I will refer to from now on as Eastman 2366, is a low-speed duplicating film intended for making master positives from black-and-white camera negatives. Eastman 2366 is a blue-sensitive black-and-white film has very high resolution and provides very high acutance. In other words, this is not a film for regular photographic use. But what’s the fun in that? I first came across Eastman 2366 among other specialised Motion Picture Film from the Film Photography Project but to develop these as negatives using standard chemistry, while possible it’s hard to find times toRead More →

Me debunk an American myth? And take my life in my hands? Where the great plains begin At the hundredth meridian At the hundredth meridian Where the great plains begin As a Canadian, I’m ashamed to say the furthest west I’ve ever travelled in our remarkable country is Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. But after getting married two years ago, I gained a whole new branch of the family and my wife, and I decided that it was high time I met them. And earlier in the month, Heather and I went out beyond the hundredth meridian and dived deep into the great plains. While notRead More →

The sheer amount of aid rendered to the Canadian Rebels and the fact that many raids by the rebels came from the United States again proved that Canada remained open to invasion as it always had before the rebellions and even before the War of 1812. It also showed that the post-war practice of reducing colonial garrisons as a cost-saving measure might not have been the best option indicated in the fact that Bond-Head sent all the regular troops in Upper Canada to shore up Colborne in Lower Canada. While the militia enjoyed many victories in 1837 but these were against poorly armed and leadRead More →

The violence caused by the rebellion had been a direct result of political discord and dissatisfaction, however many in the Colonial Office refused to believe this and did little to appease the troubles outside of direct military intervention. They needed to investigate the rebellions, discover the root cause, and determine the best way to prevent such a rebellion from happening again. British authorities were lucky that the rebellions in Upper Canada were poorly lead and poorly armed and even in Lower Canada the aggressive nature of Sir John Colborne put the rebellion down in an equally violent manner. The British Prime Minister, Sir William LambRead More →

Often overlooked by many photographers in favour of Portra 400, Portra 160 is a different film altogether and one that is not a particular favourite of mine. Part of the early resurgence of film from Kodak that brought us Ektar 100 and Portra 400. Portra 160 is the combination of the two early films Portra 160NC and 160VC. As the name suggests, the film is designed primarily for Portraits and presents a low contrast almost pastel look a clear departure from the vibrant colours you get from Ektar 100. Film Specs Type: Colour Negative, C-41 Process Film Base: Acetate Film Speed: ASA-160, Latitude +/- 2-StopsRead More →

If there’s one lens that I don’t use that much is the 135mm focal length. I shoot a tonne with my pair of Nikon 105mm lenses and the 100mm in my Maxxum system is becoming a fast favourite. But I have a pair of 135mm lens one in Nikon the other in Rokkor that just don’t get the same amount of love as the others do. And oddly enough there are plenty of other photographers out there that their lenses feel the same lack of love. Enter Dan Novack when he posted a challenge on the Negative Postive’s Podcast group on Facebook asking if anyoneRead More →

If there is a singular organisation that is synonymous with the Patriot Wars and the Upper Canada Rebellion as a whole that group is the Hunter’s Lodge. The group grew out of the Frise Chassure, a group founded by the Lower Canada Patriotes under Joseph-Louis Papineau. Papineau had been waging his rebellion against Lower Canada out of Vermont. And while Papineau saw no better success than those in the west, the use of a central group and the model of a secret society had kept the group much better aligned with the goals of their rebellion. It also attracted the attention of Charles Duncombe whoRead More →

I honestly don’t mind leaving at 6:30 in the morning, I had a two-hour drive in front of me and these days, especially on the weekend traffic, is an unknown variable. But I was Peterborough bound, having grabbed a coffee at the local Starbucks before getting on the highway. But this wasn’t going to be the average Toronto Film Shooters Meetup, we had guests this time around. I’ve been in talks with our cousin group in Kingston for a joint meetup. It would then just be a matter of finding an interesting spot in the middle of our two cities. Eventually, I settled on PeterboroughRead More →