Alright, 2020, so I have to say that this blog, at least in its current iteration dates back ten years now, that’s right, ten. I had kept a blog here before then, however that go lost when a server hard drive failed. And while since then this blog and site have been hosted on at least two other servers and one move, I’m actually pleased I have been doing this blog thing for ten years now. Let’s just call it ten because it’s my blog and I can do as I please. But of course, I couldn’t have gotten to this point without you, my lovely readers. So if you’re a long-time reader or a new one thank you. Of course, a lot has changed since 2010. I have more regular posts, series, and things to write and share about. I’ve seen a resurgence of film, and now proudly help lead that charge into the bright future. Of course, I don’t do this alone, I have fellow members of the local Toronto community, and the wider Film Podcast Union and Camera Blogger Alliance to also thank for everything and even some improvements to my own writing here.
Before I continue I want to draw attention to something I’ve started to see creep into the film photographer communities that I’m a member of and even began to see creep into the comments section here on my blog. And that is negativity, more and more I’m seeing more snide comments and some that are downright hateful. Which is strange because I’ve always seen nothing but goodwill and general positivity in the film photography community. Yes, I’ve also seen negativity in the photography community in general but film photographers, not until recently. And well I’m tired of it. From now on, any negative comment without some form of a constructive comment on how to improve will be removed or never approved in the first place. Also, I’ll remove any comments made in the same way on all my social platforms.
Reviews
Yes, don’t worry I’m not stopping reviewing films and cameras and plan on continuing through 2020. However, I’ll be stepping up the reviews and posting four reviews a month on Mondays. In addition to a camera and a film review. I’m going to be reviewing a lens and a developer. Thankfully for the developer reviews, I won’t have to go out and do some dedicated shooting which will help save time. I have used a lot of developers and have plenty of stock imagery already online to help with content. To kick it off next month I’ll be covering the Canon New F-1, Cinestill 800T, the Minolta Maxxum AF 50mm 1:1.7, and Kodak D-76! That also means Tuesdays (and maybe Thursdays) I’ll be refreshing some of my old reviews along the way. Also, I have to say a big thanks to such fellow bloggers and sites as Emuslive, Kosmo Foto, Mike Eckmann Dot Com, Casual Photophile, Canny Cameras, Japan Camera Hunter, and many more for helping me with filling in camera history, and other details that are missed elsewhere on the Internet.
Classic Camera Revival
I’m actually surprised how long we’ve managed to keep Classic Camera Revival going as it enters its sixth season and fifth year. This year we’ve switched to two episodes a month with some different topics and styles of episodes to help keep things fresh. We’ve also brought in more guest hosts and do plan on continuing that. For our fifth year celebration, there will be a CCR Meetup running (hopefully) in the spring with an appropriate theme to the podcast. But it’s all still in the works for now.
Project:1867 – Acts of Confederation
If you’re looking for the final book, you’re going to have to wait, I did want to have it ready for Christmas this year but the trouble is that as I wrote the blog posts I got stuck down a rabbit hole of questions and rewrite certain key points within the narrative I’ve been building. And I do want both the blogs and the book to be able to tell the best possible story of our rich Canadian history. That said, the rewrites will be completed as soon as the blog posts are all typed up. And I’m even close on that having only three posts left to type and I intend to use my time off around Christmas and dedicate an hour a day to just finish those final three posts off. That will wrap this project up by the end of February and have the book out by late March or early April.
That’s about it for 2020, more of the same, a little more regularity in my posting schedule, also an expansion of my content here. I also hope to be able to produce a couple more ‘zines this year, shoot a bit for a couple of short-run projects for 2021. If time and situation allow. There will still be plenty of posts about trips and photo walks. But until then, I hope all of you, dear readers have a great holiday season however you celebrate (or don’t celebrate), and I look forward to a bigger and better new year.