In the Urban Exploration hobby there is a concept of a risk to reward ratio. The idea is that an explorer needs to determine if the risk of entering the abandoned building is worth the reward of what might be seen inside. In my case, if I saw an abandoned house in an active neighbourhood, I might think that the risk of getting caught inside what could be a mundane house is not worth the potential reward of having a perfectly intact time-capsule. Another explorer might think differently. But if I saw an abandoned factory, I would probably think that the risk of getting caughtRead More →

Photography is a journey, and sometimes that journey intersects with another, and that’s what today’s episode is all about. For those who don’t know, the Camino de Santiago or Way of St. James is a network of pilgrim ways all leading to the Shrine of the Apostle James at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain. And a couple of months ago, it was completed by a friend of the podcast, James McFarlane. James and Alex sit down to talk about the journey, the photography, and how it changed him. It’s something a little different for the podcast, but something thatRead More →

One of the most rewarding and frustrating parts of working with traditional film mediums is developing the film yourself. This often allows for faster turnaround and greater control. However, when things go sideways, you can only blame yourself. I started developing black & white film myself over ten years ago now for two reasons. First, I was inspired after attending my first Photostock event, where I saw all the fantastic work people were doing and had the opportunity to chat with my good friend Matt Marrash. Second, my local lab had reduced its processing to a single day of C-41. The owner (Joan) took meRead More →

In today’s hot seat is Ebi Agbeyegbe, a local GTA photographer. Ebi, originally from Nigeria, came to Canada to study chemistry but eventually went into photography and then Sociology. But it was photography that got him going, first with real estate and then into film production. He loves medium format, 35mm, and even a bit of large format work. Most importantly, he loves expired film. You can find Ebi’s work Online Website: www.filmstockreel.com Substack: filmstockreel.substack.com Instagram: instagram.com/visualsbyebi YouTube: youtube.com/@filmstockreel CCR is ten years old this year, and to celebrate, we’re hosting a Photowalk in Brewery Tour on 12 July starting at 11 am from theRead More →

I’ll be the first to admit that when I first started taking my photography seriously, I looked down on people who used their mobile devices to take pictures. I’m also a bigger person and have grown much as a photographer. The cameras available on mobile devices are far better now than in the early 2000s, and I have come to appreciate the power they bring. While I have written on this subject in the past, this entry will be different. Rather than focus on mobile photography, I’ll look at some of the apps I have collected and why I like using them outside the stockRead More →

The one aspect of my photography that I rarely discuss is how and why I make images the way I do. I love talking about history, gear, and the technical aspects of the craft but not about why I pick the subjects, the composition and why I mainly shoot in black & white (mostly with film). The primary reason is that these are all highly subjective, each individual has their thoughts and options. In this case, all the options are valid and personal. And no, this is not about a hot take or a controversial option; it’s only my thoughts on the creative process. EvenRead More →

In today’s episode Alex sits down with Joe Pollock, one half of Joe & Clayton Start a Film Photography Podcast to talk about everything photography, starting a film podcast today and much more! The pair talk about cameras (Leica & Nikon), the joys of being dads, choices in film, and love of photography. And surprisingly not a single dad joke was shared the entire episode! Last year and this month, two natural disasters directly affected tens of thousands of Americans; among them, we’re sure are listeners of this podcast and members of the film podcasting community—the floods in North Carolina and, more recently, the firesRead More →

Like many film photographers we have a tendency to collect not only cameras, lenses, and accessories but also film. And recently I was looking at the massive collection of film sitting in my storage area and thinking that I should shoot this all now before it all gets so expired it is no longer useful to anyone. In this post I’ll be sharing my selection of black & white films that I had laying around in my collection although one C-41 roll did get included but because I decided to develop it in a traditional B&W developer it got stuck into this post. The firstRead More →

If you’re looking for a photographer doing exciting things in the fashion field, especially with experimentation and Kodak Tri-X rolls, look no further than Ted Smith. Ted takes some time to sit down with James Lee for an interview. Together, they discuss his creative work with film, conceptual photoshoots, the creative process, his love of working with people, and portrait photography! You can find more of Ted’s work online: Web: www.tedsmithphotography.co.uk Instagram: www.instagram.com/tedsmith_photography Facebook: www.facebook.com/tedsmithphotography Looking for a good spot to get your gear and material fix check out Burlington Camera (Burlington, ON), Downtown Camera (Toronto, ON), Film Plus (Toronto, ON), Belle Arte Camera (Hamilton,Read More →

If you have ever listened to me talk about my photographic journey you will have learned about how much my first trip to Montreal changed my photography. I can always tell my work from before to after my trip in my style, composition, love of black & white and of course square format. So when I brought my family back to the city earlier this month I wanted to make sure I not only explored the city with my digital camera but also with a pair of square format cameras. The first being the same camera I brought on that first trip, my Rolleiflex 2.8FRead More →