Many people have heard me complain about lugging around the large format gear, a heavy tripod, lots of film holders, and all the extra gear that comes with shooting large format. But I keep on shooting it. So many ask why…so in response to Mat’s blog on the subject. And while it’s complaining, it’s nothing compared to when Mat and I drove around the Cleveland Flats in 2013, and he had the massive Sinar P2 8×10 camera. So why do I shoot it? Because the results are outstanding, I find that it disciplines me; I can go out with ten sheets of film and comeRead More →

Returning to the classic combo, Tri-X and HC-110. Due to flooding on my usual route to and from work, I had to take a road that I hadn’t driven in a while, and that’s where I came across this gem. It’s becoming fairly common in rural Milton to find old abandoned farmhouses, the field still used by others now, but the old houses left boarded up. I’m a little ticked at myself for leaving the gatepost in the frame, but sadly it was the only way to get the house through the trees without having to put the camera on a weird angle or findRead More →

Anyone who is a fan of the Film Photography Podcast is probably aware of a fantastic photographer named Jim Austin or Jimages. Well, week 5 is probably because of Jim and his philosophy of slow photography. See, I took this photo before I lugged out the camera. I came across this scene the day prior, stopped the car, got out, and admired it, but I didn’t take the photo then. I waited a good 24 hours before dragging the camera out. It took me that long to build the final picture in my head. And while that is taking the risk of not seeing theRead More →

At least my drive to work isn’t all city driving; there are some suburbs, and my favourite section, the rural areas, which can be a pain this winter, especially with the number of storms we’ve been hit with in Southern Ontario. When I first started driving past it almost ten years ago, this barn was intact, part of an abandoned farm (my first experience with urbex). The fields around it are still used, but the barn and the house are not. Sadly the decade has not been kind; storms, rain, snow and ice have knocked it down. Modified Anniversary Speed Graphic – Kodak Ektar f:7.7Read More →

It’s the week that all Instant Photographers look forward to, that week where we celebrate in our little (well not so little) obsession with Instant Film. ‘Roid Week. This year, I actually managed to get in photos for all five days (last year I made it only four…due to a camping trip on the Friday that took me away from my computer/scanner, not a bad thing overall). It was as always fun, a bit qwirky, and filled with strange stares from students and coworkers as I lugged these old cameras around and smiled as I tucked away Integral film from the Impossible Project, or peeledRead More →

110 is back, the Film Photography Project predicted that 2012 would be the year of 110 film, and they were right. The format gained popularity through the 1970s when Kodak introduced the format based on the subminature 16mm format but in their own cartridge. My very first camera was a 110 camera that I used a grand totally of twice before it broke. So when all this hype about 110 was brewing through the FPP, I sort of shyed away from it. There are better formats in my mind. But still the question remained who would make the film? Sure FPP had found a stashRead More →

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 →