By:
On:
In: Photography
With: 0 Comments

One of the best parts of being a historical reenactor is that you often get a chance to visit and stay in some of Canada’s historic sites, and many find their home in some of the beautiful towns in the province. And while it can be hit and miss along the Niagara River, Fort George in the picturesque Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario is certainly one such site. Having an event there during the July edition of the Summer Film Party offered me a chance to shoot in the historic walls of Fort George, a site deep in military history. Both the fort and the town have aRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

At first glance, you may not be too interested in this mid-century camera. But if you look at the design, you can tell it’s mid-century, beautiful lines. But one thing that it does do, it takes excellent photos that have the feel of what we would today call a toy camera. Don’t get me wrong, when Kodak first started producing this camera they probably never thought that it would be called a “Toy Camera” by some blogger fifty-years later, but the Pony is a basic snapshot camera, the evolution of the box camera. I have to say; I was surprised by this camera. Big thanksRead More →

By:
On:
In: Project:1812
With: 0 Comments

Brigadier General William H Winder, like many officers in the American Army, made a name for himself in the War of 1812, and I don’t mean that in a good way. Winder has been grouped by many in the same category as William Hull and is considered one of the worst generals of the war. The ill-starred general was born in 1775 near Baltimore, Maryland, Winder wound attend the University of Pennsylvania and study law and return to Baltimore and began to practice law in 1798 and earned a reputation for being one of the best lawyers in the entire state. The battle field fromRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 0 Comments

If there is a single camera out there that most people will associate with professional film photographers, it is the Hasselblad V-System. Designed and built in Sweeden, the Hasselblad is the luxury camera of the medium format market. While the 500c is the original model to use a leaf shutter, it is a good entry point into the Hasselblad system if you can find one at the right price. Thankfully I was able to find a complete setup (lens, finder, back) for a reasonable price, but soon found that there is a certain cost to owning a Hasselblad system. And the fact you can’t justRead More →

By:
On:
In: Camera Review Blogs
With: 1 Comment

What is it about Soviet-made cameras that attract such a cult following? I mean they are notorious for breaking, or just being of poor quality right off the factory line. But what is the mark of quality? For the West, we look at cameras such as the Leica and Hasselblad which are precision built cameras with a great deal of research, development, and quality checks before they get into the hands of photographers. But for the Soviets, it was something that could be quickly built, easily repaired, and put into everyone’s hand. And the FED-2 has that mark of quality. But these were far criesRead More →

By:
On:
In: Project:1812
With: 0 Comments

One of the more contested figured in the Anglo-American War of 1812 was the Governor General and Military commander of British North America, General George Prevost. Prevost was groomed into the military from an early age, born the 19th of May, 1767 in the province (now state) of New Jersey to a lieutenant-colonel in the British Army, Prevost attended schools in both the American colonies and England before being commissioned an ensign in the 60th Regiment of Foot, his father’s regiment, in 1779. Prevost soon rose quickly through the ranks, mostly due to his having a grandfather who was a banker in Amsterdam as aRead More →

By:
On:
In: Project:1812
With: 0 Comments

Publisher, Parliamentarian, and Traitor, the strange case of Joseph Willcocks started in 1773, born in the Republic of Ireland, at the age of 27 the young man found his way to the town of York in Upper Canada. He soon found employment as the private clerk of the receiver general, Peter Russell, but it would not last, as Russell was not pleased with Willcocks’ advances towards his half-sister. But that did not stop Willcocks, who found another patron quickly in the form of the colony’s chief justice, Henry Allcock and with his influence was appointed to Home District Sheriff. However his views on the landRead More →

By:
On:
In: 52:320TXP
With: 0 Comments

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. While I continue to push my War of 1812 project, another significant milestone is happening right now, the Centennial Celebrations of the First World War. So I wasn’t going to let it slide in the sheet-a-week project, so when I attended a timeline event (where a bunch of reenactors from various periods gather to show their stuff to the public) at Fort George National Historic Site in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Ontario I made a point to find a group of reenactors fromRead More →

By:
On:
In: Project:1812
With: 0 Comments

One of the most controversial and convoluted battle in the War of 1812 is that of the Battle of Beaver Dams. It’s also been my most active posts in the project, at least my original posts. I have received more hate mail and rude comments (both of which will never be made public) so rather than let it stand as it is, I did what any good student of history would do, that is research more and learn more. In doing so I came across two books (both of which are cited at the bottom of this post) that have greatly opened my eyes toRead More →

By:
On:
In: 52:320TXP
With: 0 Comments

Probably one of the most photographed buildings in all of downtown Niagara-On-The-Lake. The Niagara Apothecary operated as an actual practice from 1820 to 1964. Today still serves partly in that role but mostly acts as a museum, restored to how it would have looked in 1886. There were stares as I setup the camera in the middle of the street, don’t worry, I wasn’t blocking traffic. But a big monorail camera certainly cuts a figure. “Looking for cast members?” one of the many tourists asked. While the Sinar F2 is a great camera, and I understand the monorail camera’s value, there’s too much bulk toRead More →