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Like Robert Baldwin, Louis Hypolite-La Fontaine is a figure in Canadian History that I have never learned about or even knew existed until I started researching this project. And even then, he nearly ended up playing a secondary role in my narrative. I quickly realised that if I had done that it would have done a great disservice to his role in Canadian History and his foundational efforts from the run-up to the Lower Canada Rebellions and into the establishment of Responsible Government and the unified reform movement in the Province of Canada. Born the 4th of October, 1807 the fourth son of a BouchervilleRead More →

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And now for something completely different. Out of all the cameras I’ve reviewed, I can say that this is the first time I’ve reviewed a custom hand-built camera. I mean this camera doesn’t even have a name, so I have for the sake of my record keeping, named it the Francuz Cherry 66. As it is for sale and built by eBay user Francuz01, Cherry for being made from cherry wood and 66 for the fact it shoots 6×6 exposures. Now pinhole and I have a strange relationship, I initially had no desire or time or it and when I did shoot it I dislikedRead More →

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If you took a close look at Robert Baldwin as a man, it might surprise you to think of the amount of change for the good he brought to Canada in our Pre-Confederation history. And while I have encountered many exciting figures throughout this project, I took time to look at each one as a human. Each one presented not as a hero, but as a human complete with their flaws. None stood out to me more than Baldwin. Baldwin had the chance to have all the power he wanted, yet he did not wish to power for his gain but to put government powerRead More →

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Originally designed for aerial surveillance in Eastern Europe, the Derev line of films is new to the North American market thanks to the Film Photography Project. I had the honour of beta testing the film for the FPP and found that Derev Pan 100 is an excellent film for outdoor shooting on bright sunny days. Sharp with a decent touch of grain and an amazing tonality you can clearly see why this film was selected for surveillance. And while on my initial test I only worked with HC-110, I looked forward to trying the film out in various developers! Film Specs Type: Panchromatic B&W FilmRead More →

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When it comes to cameras there are many that hold a place in photographic history and in the case of Twin Lens Cameras, there are many that stand out as a fixed point in development history. And in the case of the twin-lens reflex camera market than Franke & Heidecke. Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke established the company in 1920 as an optical instrument manufacture, but they moved quickly into cameras and began to develop what would become the industry standard for TLR cameras. Now the TLR is not a new concept the first one being produced in 1880, but the two Germans were aboutRead More →

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From 1846 to 1848, the Reform Association had to take a pause; an external threat seemed to dampen the cause of reform. Robert Baldwin and Louis La Fontaine continued to work hard in the Assembly, taking every chance they could to speak on the purpose of reform. With Metcalfe still in England with his illness worsening, the Reformers had a free hand to continue the work, and it seemed even Draper’s Conservatives were willing to work with them. In Metcalfe’s place, a military governor came in much as Sir Isaac Brock had during the War of 1812 primarily to handle military means and act asRead More →

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At the beginning of August, I had the chance to attend my first 1812 Grand Tactical, far from my first Grand Tactical having to attend a couple but for the Napoleonic Wars. But what made this one different is that I was back as a photographer which is how I first started in the hobby back in 2008. But now, ten years later, I had far more experience both as a photographer and as a reenactor. In honour of that, I’ll be presenting this post in a somewhat of a different way, as a newspaper report of a frictional engagement that was used as aRead More →

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Despite the setbacks of the rebellion, the reform movement was ready to move on. The radicals were out of reach, imprisoned, dead, or in exile (with the penalty of death if they should return), the moderates were now returning to the political arena many who had never run for public office before. And while Durham’s report had spoken favourable of Responsible Government and many reformers like Robert Baldwin, Louis La Fontaine, and Francis Hincks had spoken in detail to Durham. The trouble remained that even moderate reformers were still viewed through the lens of rebellion by the Colonial Office. And they aimed to use theRead More →

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Among film photography circles there are several cameras that rate as a cult camera, others as rare and a select few that rate as both Rare and Cult, the Contax 645 AF is in that category. I had never even known a person who also owned one, so when I was offered to use one for review, I jumped at the chance. The Contax 645 is a fantastic camera, but sadly it suffered the fate of being far too late in the game and would have done far better if Kyocera had released a digital back for the camera and got into the MF digitalRead More →

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The Welland Canal had brought expansion and growth to the Niagara Region, along the canal work camps flourished into settlements, villages, and towns. But the canal remained under private control, and to maintain the wooden infrastructure they needed income from ship traffic and the fees paid to transit the canal. The trouble with the wooden structures is that they were getting old and starting to fall apart and by the start of the troubles of 1837 many of the locks could no longer function. And with the canal at standstill ships could not transit therefore no money would come to the canal, so the locksRead More →