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The city of Toronto offers many photographic opportunities, and doing a general Toronto post would be incredibly difficult. So instead, I will try to break it down into bite-sized pieces of history. So having to go into the city for an appointment at Sick Kids and being close to my birthday, we all headed out for a lovely walk over to one of the best examples of Victorian-era industries that survived in the city, the Distillery District. The history of the creation of alcohol dates back to the earliest parts of human history, but distilling spirit alcohol is something a little newer. First recorded inRead More →

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If there is one city in Ontario that I always like to visit on projects, it is Stratford, Ontario. While far smaller than most cities in Ontario, Stratford offers a glimpse of what cities looked like in the 19th Century, with plenty of historic buildings scattered throughout. The city still holds onto some of its historical past with the railroad and furniture making. But also fully embraces its Shakespearian tourist present. The part of Ontario where Stratford is found was once home to the Attawondernk Civilisation; these indigenous peoples were lumped together under the Neutral name by the first French explorers and fur traders whoRead More →

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There is nothing more essentially Canadian than maple syrup. And while Canada doesn’t have exclusive rights to this sweet and slightly sticky condiment, it certainly is wrapped up in the Canadian mythos, at least for us here in Ontario and Quebec. Plus, several American states, especially Michigan and Vermont. And through the middle of March and into April is the season where the sap starts to run, and the sugar bushes are filled with steam as maple syrup is made. And while there are many large-scale producers, there are also many spots that host festivals where you can learn about the history, the process, andRead More →

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I love trying out new film developers or new-to-me developers. So a while back I wrote an article on seven film developers that are worth trying. Since then, I’ve tried several more unique developers and have another five options to try something different in your home development experience. And this time, I’ve also included a colour developer. 1 – Kodak D-19 Originally designed for X-Ray Film, Technical Film, and IR Films, Kodak D-19 is a high-contrast developer. But that should not stop you from giving it a try. Because while it is a specialised developer, it works surprisingly well with regular panchromatic films. It alsoRead More →

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It is always a plus when a mid-week vacation day also results in beautiful weather. So taking advantage of this, the family and I packed up and headed to Niagara Falls. While we did stick to the more tourist-oriented area, this stunning area is home to a lot of history and a natural wonder of the world, the titular Niagara Falls. It all began at the end of the last great ice age. The retreat of a glacier formed the Great Lakes and the Niagara Escarpment. A river connected Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and ran down the great cliffs of the escarpment at Queenston.Read More →

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If you’ve been following along with my photography for a while, one of my favourite places to visit and take photos is the historic downtown of Milton, Ontario. I’ve called Milton home for forty years and have never tired of photographing the downtown. While I need to drive these days to get here promptly, where I grew up, I could walk here without difficulty. So as an introduction to a group of potential new blog viewers, I look into my hometown for the first month of 2023’s Frugal Film Project. The modern town of Milton, Ontario, sits upon the traditional territories of the Neutral, Huron-Wendat,Read More →

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I love a good photography project, and while most of my projects have been a solo affair, I have been a part of group projects a few times. A couple of my fifty-two roll projects were shared projects with other photographers. But this one is interesting because I am not the one starting the project. Instead, I’m joining in after it has been around the block several times. Initially created by my good friend and fellow film photographer and podcaster, Sherry, it is trying to keep the cost of film photography as low as possible while still being realistic. And while I love working withRead More →

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This past year has been a lot of fun looking at different cameras. While some of these cameras I will have already released a review, others will be coming out next year. But that’s the thing about writing these reviews is that I’m often working 2-3 months ahead of the actual release. I put a lot of work into these reviews, between looking up specs, shooting multiple rolls of film through the cameras and trying to get the best results so I can give a fair and balanced review. But a group in the film photography blogging community decided to put out a series ofRead More →

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One of the more exciting aspects of home development is the ability to produce black & white slides. While these days this is more of a novelty, it is something that adds a punch to your black & white negative films. But it’s something that isn’t well known. Sure we had Dr.5 until recently, Foma has a reversal kit (which I hope to find and review), and even Kodak produced a TMax reversal kit. But Kodak no longer makes it there, and Dr.5 is shutting down due to increased costs, but not before letting the world know about their process. And it’s right in Adox’sRead More →

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This was truly Minolta’s last hurrah; the age of the film SLR was starting to come to a close. Rather than let it go out with a whimper, Minolta took things by the reigns and rode out into the sunset with a sixth and final generation of film cameras before merging with Konica and leaving 35mm behind. Meet the Maxxum 70, elsewhere known as the Dynax 60 or α-70. While much of the final era of cameras from Minolta were continuations of their original three market segments, the Maxxum 9 (Professionals), Maxxum 7 (Advanced Amatures), and Maxxum 5 (Consumers). But this final subset of camerasRead More →