When it comes to podcasts, Classic Camera Revival may not be the biggest out there, but like any Internet project, you’re sort of shouting into the void and hoping that someone might hear you. And in the case of CCR, people heard and we have a group of listeners. And a group of fans that reach from beyond Canada. Not bad. So in light of our first meet, we promised that we would host the second meetup in 2018. So, using details from my own trips into the historic downtown of Cambridge, formerly known as Galt, and from the daily walks by Tom Fournier, aRead More →

I’m sure sitting on my parent’s shelf is the book that inspired this title, The Church Mice Spread Their Wings, but in this case, I’m not talking about a book, but the Toronto Film Shooters Meetup. Usually, when these events are run they stick closely to the Greater Toronto Area. I made a choice, on the suggestion of James Lee to change up a couple things with the Summer 2018 meetup, and by a couple things, I mean all the things. Location, Time, even starting and ending points. I went full radical, must have been the influence of reading up on the Upper Canada Rebellion.Read More →

If there’s one thing that certainly does not lack at Photostock it’s the sheer amount of beautiful things to photograph all through Emmet County where Photostock is based. There is one thing I love to do at any Photostock event is driving the M119 or the Tunnel of Trees. Sadly Saturday dawned with rain, but that didn’t matter as the morning saw the Portfolio Review (Which I should have brought my finished War of 1812 project book for) and the Print exchange. But after a lovely lunch down in Harbor Springs with Heather the rain stopped and the skies started to clear so I grabbedRead More →

Other than the location, one of the best parts of Photostock is the people! This being my fifth event and having missed last year’s event for an awesome reason (having just gotten married), it was good to get back and see old friends to reconnect and to meet new friends in the process. While I did spend more time away from the Birchwood than I did at the hotel itself. The weather on Saturday morning kept me in (both to take in people’s amazing portfolios and the Print Exchange) I managed to capture many of the faces at the event. Photostock is first and foremostRead More →

The last few times I’ve mentioned Mackinac Island it has been in regards to the island’s roll in the Anglo-American War of 1812, from its initial capture at the opening of the conflict, the fort’s rich history dating back to the American Revolution, and the failed attempt at its recapture by American forces in the summer of 1814. My second trip was less about the history and more about capturing the island’s beauty and showing off one of my favourite locations to my beautiful wife. Our journey started of course on the mainland, grabbing the 9-o’clock ferry across to the island which happened to beRead More →

It’s been just under a year since the gang visited the Riverdale/Leslieville areas of Toronto. And again I found myself as a participant in the walk rather than the organiser. For that, I left it up to Bill Smith who knows the area like the back of his hand, though this time around we took a much different route. There’s something about getting started early as we gathered at the Rooster Coffee House for our start, after an Atomic Rooster Brew and some discussion. And of course, snapping photos with our cups of coffee and our cameras we started off. The day had promised toRead More →

My first experience with a Doors Open event took place in 2007 in Hamilton, wow, I’ve been doing these for over ten years now. I learned of it through the Urban Exploration community. And really there’s no surprise there, explorers do love getting a view of places we normally can’t. And frankly, there’s no better way to do that than legal tours. And while these days I don’t go with a big group, I still enjoy getting out to the Toronto or Hamilton event. Sometimes even both if I can work it. There was even a year I went to Guelph’s and I helped runRead More →

For anyone who has been a long time reader of this blog, you’ll know that Montreal, Quebec holds a special place in my photographic story. So with my first wedding anniversary, last month and a great deal on hotel and the train my wife and I celebrated our anniversary in the city. Of course, this trip wasn’t solely for photography, I mean I had refreshingly packed light, sort of. You cannot really call the Nikon F5 light-weight, but I wanted to bring my best 35mm kit with me and have a level of automation. So with the F90 on loan, the F5 got to goRead More →

When it comes to the Winter meetups, the weather is always a crapshoot. But unlike last year, we were blessed with beautiful blue skies, bright sun, and temperatures above zero. I think that helped bring out a dozen shooters to invade the historic downtown of Unionville, Ontario. I had first discovered Unionville thanks to one of my co-workers who mentioned that he and this girlfriend enjoyed the historic downtown. So last summer I hit it up on what turned into a hot summer’s day and I saw why. And the group that showed up completely agreed. The small size of the downtown, about a five-minuteRead More →

A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to. Not to say I’m a wizard or anything, but in the midst of work, paint preparation, and general pandemonium right now I genuinely forgot that there is an FP4Party still going on. Serves me right but a single roll of the stuff sitting on my film to be shot shelf taunted me on the third-to-the-end day of shoot week. Thankfully my original plans for the weekend fell through and I found myself with a free Saturday morning to get out and shoot! Not to mention I had access toRead More →