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There’s something to be said about a solid camera in your hands. It gives you a sense of being in the zone, a healthy weight, the feel of the mirror slamming up to expose the frame. Meet the Spotmatic, and this is one beast of an SLR. It’s clunky; it’s heavy, and yet feels so right to shoot. The Pentax Spotmatic was one of the first SLRs on the market to feature full open aperture TTL metering. And then there are the lenses, which focus smoothly and are super sharp. Disclaimer: This is an old review, and is scheduled for an update and may lookRead More →

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One of the more controversial actions of the War of 1812 is the destruction of Washington DC. It is something that Canadians hold over the heads of our American neighbours, something we have no right to do. The fact was that the Americans in the area were used to British raids and destruction of property. The commander-in-chief of the North American Station had in 1813 proclaimed his subordinates that any American property was forfeit. But now amassed British army had a clear path to the capital, and in the aftermath of the Battle of Bladensburg the American government was hurriedly packing up shop and headingRead More →

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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 →

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I’m going to come out and say it right off the bat. I’m used to handling big and bulky SLRs. Yet as I feel smaller cameras like the Nikon FE, Nikon FA, and Pentax ME Super, I realised that there needed to be a single instigator of this shift in SLR size. That camera is the Olympus OM-1, released just under two decades from the first ‘system’ SLR, the Nikon F. But the OM-1 switched the game, changed the narrative on the system camera. It showed you didn’t need a bulky camera to get results. And those who use the OM-1 or any of theRead More →

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One of the most iconic and controversial campaigns of the Anglo-American War of 1812 are the British operations in the Chesapeake Bay region of the United States during the late summer and fall of 1814. This action was a true invasion; it was an attempt to force the US to sue for peace but on British terms, but it was more than that, it was revenge. It was the action that took the war to President Madison doorstep. Just as the war in North America started because of the war in Europe, so to the invasion of the American east coast was linked to theRead More →

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So what makes a Hasselblad a Hasselblad! The whole crew sits down to talk about the magic that is the Hasselblad 500 series of cameras as three of the gang have them, but all four have shot with it. Don’t worry we’re not going fanatical over the camera but rather take a critical look at this iconic camera. Over the course of the show, we’ll be discussing mostly the 500 series of cameras, today known as the V-System as it was known after the introduction of the digital H-System in 2002. Alex’s Hasselblad 500c. The Dirt Make: Hasselblad Model: 500c and 500c/m Type: Single LensRead More →

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To the American people, Fort McHenry is the most important symbol of continued American freedom in the face of the British Empire, due to one single action during the greater War of 1812. Situated on a spit of land and stands to this day watching over Baltimore’s harbour. The original fort, however, was not called McHenry, but rather Fort Whetstone. Constructed on Whetstone Point, the five-point star earthworks fort was placed in an ideal spot to defend the city without its guns endangering the city itself. Whetstone was constructed by the Continental Army to defend Baltimore against potential British attacks which never materialised. As theRead More →

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While I have reviewed many cameras over the course of the two years running this project, and there have been many satisfying cameras. The one sub-type of cameras I haven’t explored in much detail is the SLRs from the 1990s. That is the plastic consumer SLRs that dominated the market before the advent of digital SLRs. The only other one I’ve checked out was the Nikon F90, which is a fantastic camera! And after listening to Episode 152 of the Film Photography Podcast I decided to check another one out and landed on a sweet deal on the Maxxum 700si! Camera Specifications Manufacturer: Minolta Model:Read More →

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Robert Barrie is one of the more unique people related to the War of 1812 that I have researched and written on. While he managed to earn a disreputable reputation among the American population among the British and Canadians whom he interacted with he was well liked and respected. Barrie was born on the 5th of May 1774 in Florida, which at the time was still under British Rule, the son of Doctor Robert Barrie and Dolly Gardner. Despite his birth in North America he was raised in England. After his father passed away when he was still an infant his mother would move backRead More →

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Commodore Charles Moris, commander of the American forces during the British invasion of what is today Maine, a man who devoted his life to a single organization, the United States Navy. Born on 26 July 1784 in Woodstock, Maine, and at the age of 15 was commissioned with the rank of Midshipman in the fledgling US Navy. His early service took him to the Mediterranian during the two wars against the Barbary Pirates and then the Quasi-War with France. During this time he saw a promotion to Lieutenant. When he returned to the United States, he was promoted to Commander and assigned as the secondRead More →