Well, I don’t know about you but 2020 turned into a little bit of a dumpster fire and while the wild ride there is now hope at the end of the tunnel. We just have to stay the course for a little while longer. But there are only a handful of things that we can actually control. Despite the rocky year that was, I did get a lot of photography done and plenty of projects completed and wrapped up which means I have a clean slate for 2021! And what is now becoming a yearly post this is what I have planned for the new year on the blog!
Project Update 2020
I may as well start with what I managed to accomplish during this year of plague and that has to do with my personal projects! I managed to not only close off my Acts of Confederation project but also got the book done and published. It was a long road to get done and found myself overwhelmed at points and dove deep into the dark murky depths of Canadian History but I’m happy with the results. Acts of Confederation was by far the most complex history project I’ve ever written, so I think for now I’ll be looking at smaller bits of Canadian history that are far less complex, at least for the next couple of years. I also managed to successfully finish and get to print two smaller or short-run projects, the first being Hometown a selection of twenty-four large format images of places around Milton, Ontario (My Hometown) which I published throughout the spring and into the summer and published into a photographic ‘zine. The second project just wrapped up last week on the Welland Canal, I had a lot of fun working on this project as it was a ‘small history’ project with a dedicated focus and a small geographical area and I’m impressed at how quickly I turned around and had the online content done and the book out to publishers back in November.
Classic Camera Revival
The podcast continues, while we only had a handful of in-person recording sessions last season we’re starting season six with more! The goal is to have a special one-episode recording session in March to celebrate our 100th episode! Yes, it’s taken only six seasons to reach this major milestone. And we have some excellent episodes planned through January, February, and March! Hopefully, we’ll also be able to hold a special 100th Episode Photowalk in September conditions permitting. We’re going to keep with the two episodes a month model for the podcast with releases two Friday’s a month.
Reviews
Oh yes, the reviews are continuing and I have already been working hard in getting a lot of reviews done over the last few months of this year. In fact, I have many of the developer reviews done and in the can. I’ve also got the first couple of months worth of camera, film, and lens reviews ready and waiting. If you’re tired of all the Minolta and Nikon lenses that dominated this year, don’t worry we’re kicking off the first four months with some Zuiko lenses for the Olympus OM-System! I also have several new-to-me films, developers, and cameras in the plans for the new year! Reviews will continue to be released every Monday! Not to mention I will continue my drive to update previous reviews to the current model that I’ve been following, these I hope to re-release on Tuesdays, about two a month hopefully.
Return of the 52-Roll Project
Oh yes, the format that started my enjoyment of photo projects is back! 2021 will mark not only the return of the 52-roll format but the 35mm format for the project. I’ll be shooting 52 rolls of film, one a week, for the whole year in 2021. While I initially conceived the project to use the Olympus OM-System, specifically the OM-2n. I decided to switch over to my Nikon FM, the reason is that I want the amazing exposure system of the OM-2n available on a regular basis for ongoing film reviews. Plus I have a Nikon FE to get that Nikon 60/40 metering for those reviews. This left me with the Nikon FM, a robust all mechanical camera that I know will just keep working. For the film stock, I’ll be using all three Fomapan film flavours. Each film will be featured in four-month blocks. January, February, November, and December will feature Fomapan 400. March, April, September, and October will feature Fomapan 200, and the Summer months being May, June, July, and August Fomapan 100. I can use any Nikon lens and any developer I choose. The 52:Foma project will be posted every Wednesday!
Toronto Film Shooters Meetup
Since the TFSM is closely tied with both this blog and my little corner of the Internet I figured I should give an update for the group as well. With all the nastiness last year we had to seriously curtail our in-person meetups to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. And while I had a fear that this little community I helped build would fall apart the group kept going and strong. As of right now, I’m looking to get something set up for March. Using a new model that sees several smaller gatherings taking place in parallel in different areas lead by different people. That said, it probably won’t see the same number in a single group as we had in February, but rather a new model to ensure everyone’s safety. The idea being explored is to have a single day picked but four separate groups set up in different parts of the city each with a leader who has plotted a route. Meetup spots will be out in public a park or green space with a source of coffee close or just bring your own. As for meeting in a pub after that may not happen, but distance and masks when in the group will be a must or in accordance with public health directives.
Minolta Maxxum 9 – Minolta Maxxum AF 100mm 1:2.8 MACRO – Lomography Metropolis @ ASA-100 – Processing By: Burlington Camera
And my final update has to do with my new attention to YouTube. Back in October, I released the first new video in a long time to my sadly neglected channel. I also took the chance to clean up a pile of old ‘slice of life’ videos and random stuff I never released I still had posted there. I released a second video in November and even managed to put out two videos in December. I hope to keep up that goal by releasing two videos a month. I’ve got a good schedule and content planned out with different styles. From on the road adventures, vlogs, reviews, how-tos, and some challenge videos lined up for the new year. Videos will upload on Tuesdays on the week’s where there is no new CCR episode.
And that covers it for the year! While 2020 might not have been the best year and there was a lot that I wanted to do but couldn’t. But hey, things are looking better for 2021 especially once we get into the late spring to early fall. All we can do is hold the course, wear your masks, wash your hands, keep your distance. And while still doing that you can get out there and get some awesome film photos!