When I call the Rolleiflex 2.8F the oldest camera in my toolkit, that doesn’t mean it is oldest by age, rather oldest having been in my toolkit the longest of any other cameras. I got the camera in 2010 after buying it from the original owner. The original owner having purchased it in Germany in 1969 along with most major accessories, and since then it became a near-constant companion. And the camera saw a lot of action from trips to abandoned buildings, nature to weddings and other portrait sessions. The Rolleiflex 2.8F is my third and honestly final TLR in my kit having solidified myRead More →

Ending off the year on a quiet note. I always make a point after the business of the holiday season to take a breather, go out for a drive and practice photography. I had been passing by this particular house going to my Opa’s place and always wanted to capture it. So I took the chance and headed out on Boxing Day. Thankfully the roads were quiet that I could easily slip onto and off the property without anyone paying too close attention. I’m glad I did, as a few days later, the entire place was gone, burned in a fire. Pacemaker Crown Graphic –Read More →

The malls have been playing Christmas carols since the end of November. Today I heard a Boxing day commercial on the radio. Yep, it’s that time of year again, Christmas! I had initially planned to get an exterior shot of my home church, but after checking what the exposure should be (metered for 4 minutes), then compensated for reciprocity failure (the more a film is exposed to light, the less sensitive to light it becomes, and tri-x has terrible reciprocity) and the app spat out 52 minutes. I love photography and tri-x, but standing outside at 8:45 pm on the main street in the snowRead More →

So the rather odd title comes from a story a friend tells of a D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) match where one of the players doesn’t know what a Gazebo is and proceeds to think it is a mystical creature, the DM (Dungeon Master) fed up by the player informs him that the Gazebo comes awake and kills him. Don’t worry; this gazebo is asleep and hasn’t been pushed into action. Yet. But after several weeks of wanderings, I’ve come back home here for week 48 and the gazebo that sits out over the Mill Pond. Also, this is where the town of Milton originally sprungRead More →

They went with songs to the battle, they were young. Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow. They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted, They fell with their faces to the foe. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them. They mingle not with their laughing comrades again; They sit no more at familiar tables of home; They have no lot in our labour of the day-time; They sleep beyond England’s foam –Read More →

Coming off the last bicentennial reenactment in Canada and a trip to Texas looming next week, I figured I needed something quick and dirty for Week 43, so I decided to give a little bit of still life a try with two of jewels of my working collection. A 1950 Leica IIIc and a 1969 Rolleiflex 2.8F all nicely posed with some APX25 and Ilford Delta 400; the film is for my Texas trip, the cameras will be staying home (As I have my Pentax 645 and Nikon F4 packed up for the trip). But it was the first time I worked with my strobistRead More →

Keeping it nice and simple for this week, a simple white clapboard church along my way to and from work. The Church of Christ in Omagh, Ontario is one of the oldest churches in the area and has always caught my eye, mainly for its simplicity. If you go into the town of Milton proper along the main street are three rather ornate churches, including my home church, but this one made a great subject to shoot right from the hip, yep, sporting the Crown Graphic as it was designed to be shot…handheld. Pacemaker Crown Graphic – Fuji Fujinon-W 1:5.6/125 – Kodak Tri-X Pan (320TXP)Read More →

The weather at the beginning of Week 37 wasn’t too bad, but as the week progressed, it slowly worsened. And I kept on putting off loading up a film holder to get a shot. One of the joys of having a proper press camera is the ability to shoot it handheld. So here is yet another rural farmhouse from the area surrounding Milton. Another one that has always caught my eye is simple and elegant. Pacemaker Crown Graphic – Fuji Fujinon-W 1:5.6/125 – Kodak Tri-X Pan (320TXP) Meter: Pentax Spotmeter V 1/125 – f/16 – ASA-400 Kodak TMax Developer (1+9) 10:30 @ 20CRead More →

Not a setback for me, oh no, the project keeps on trucking! The title comes from the subject, this beautiful Italianate farmhouse is set fairly fair back from the road and a house that I drive past every day going to and from work. Although the land around it has been slowly parcelled off over the years since it was built, thankfully this one, unlike many others in the area, was maintained and owned. Modified Anniversary Speed Graphic – Fuji Fujinon-W 1:5.6/125 – Kodak Tri-X Pan (320TXP) Meter: Pentax Spotmeter V 1/8″ – f/64 – ASA-320 Kodak HC-110 Dil. B 5:30 @ 20CRead More →

I sadly was unable to participate in the week long celebration of Instant Photography last year because I was in the Chicagoland region, but this year I went full force and worked on reducing my stock of expired Polaroid and Impossible material! I got the shooting started early over the weekend before ‘roid week so I’d have two days worth of material already stocked up. Day One – Jaite Depot Anniversary Speed Graphic – Fuji Fujinon-W 1:56/125 – Polaroid Type 79 Located in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, the Jaite train depot one served the company town, the town’s surviving building now serveRead More →