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I can probably trace my curiosity to peer behind the board up windows to Waldie’s Blacksmith shop. For much of my life, the building sat empty and abandoned. Sitting next to St. Paul’s United Church. But I also didn’t know the rich history behind the building that had captured that curiosity. James A. Waldie came to Canada taking over a business in Acton first before establishing his shop in Milton in 1865. The shop’s operations peaked in the 1890s when it operated around the clock employing five blacksmiths, two woodworkers, a painter, and a trimmer. After the death of James Senior in 1900, his sonRead More →

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Can lightning strike twice? Fujifilm thinks it can! In 2018 Fuji ceased production of Fuji Acros 100, just before I released a review on the film that turned into a bit of a eulogy. But then in 2019 Fuji announced that they would reintroduce Acros as a new version, Neopan Acros 100 II. Of course, there were already plenty of conspiracies over the source of Acros 100 which translated over to Acros II, ranging from giant master rolls kept in some deep freezer hidden somewhere in the world. And when the first details on Acros II hit the Internet and a box reading “made inRead More →

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Before there was film, there were plates. But the wet plate was not exactly the easiest method of taking pictures, so the dry plate was introduced. It was the first method of photography where the medium could be shot and then processed later. In fact, the dry plate was what propelled George Eastman into the public eye. And while dry plates haven’t been seen in decades, several folks have taken it upon themselves to produce a new form of dry plate and today we have one of those people, Jason Lane. On today’s episode, we have none other than Jason Lane and enter a territoryRead More →

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When I was little there wasn’t anything like Junior Kindergarten, in fact, it didn’t exist. Instead, we called it Nursery School, and honestly, it’s the same thing. The Nursery school I attended along with many of the kids that would go on to become my first circle of friends took place here at St. Paul’s United Church in downtown Milton. As a cooperative, parents would assist the teachers as volunteers, and for a fee, the kids could attend. Now the memories I have of nursery school are a little muddled, mostly from details that my parents have told me about. That I much preferred theRead More →

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If you’ve ever seen the TV show Madmen, you’ll probably have your 21st Century, post MeToo era sensibilities challenged with the sheer amount of sexism that was and is still rampant today. Now if you’re a little confused, let me introduce you to the Nikon EM. Designed to fill in the entry-level gap in the Nikon SLR line, the EM was primarily marketed towards women. The reason is that as a camera, it is basic, set for semi-automatic aperture priority, and that is the only mode available. It also is small, compact, and lightweight. But don’t let that stop you, the EM is an excellentRead More →

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As everyone knows things right now are weird. And while we can’t get out and shoot as a community it doesn’t mean we can’t get out and shoot. There’s a certain calming factor knowing that other photographers who are able can get out and participate in World Wide Pinhole Photography Day back on the 26th of April. Pinhole and I haven’t always gotten along but I enjoyed it enough last year and had a lovely experience with a custom made pinhole camera. It was enough to get me pumped for the 2020 version of WPPD. This year I decided to stick to 35mm and NikonRead More →

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I’m not a farmer, in any sense of the word. I’ve never driven a tractor, milked a cow, tended a field. Yet for much of my life, I lived in a rural community. But Milton does stick to its small-town roots and one of the biggest ways that show is the fall fair. The Fall Fair is a local icon, the animals, the arts, crafts, and baked goods. The midway, salespeople, but the biggest part of it for me is the Demolition Derby. This might come as a surprise but I love a good demolition derby. There’s just something about having car on car destruction.Read More →

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There are new developers, there are old developers, and then there is Rodinal. First released in 1891 by Agfa, Rodinal is the brainchild of the Doctor, not that Doctor, but Dr Momme Anderesen who disliked the reliance on hydroquinone in the traditional film developers of the day. Instead, he began work on using Aromatic Amines in 1880 before settling on p-aminophenol. The result is the developer we call today Rodinal. And for much of its life was a closely guarded secret by Agfa, at least until the patent expired. And while today Agfa exists, Rodinal has taken on many different forms, but the same formula.Read More →

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Sometimes a camera breaks and we can’t get it fixed, but we don’t want to get rid of it either, so they just sit on our shelves looking pretty or in pieces. The gang also talks about getting your camera repaired. Rest In Pieces Those cameras that just sit on the shelf because we either can’t get them repaired, they’re too far gone, and we just can’t get rid of them. David White Co. Stereo Realist For John, now in glorious 3D, the Stereo Realist represented a unique piece of photographic history. The idea of 3D photography wasn’t new when the Stereo Realist saw initialRead More →

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If there’s one thing that dominates the downtown of Milton is the churches, there are three historic churches and one new one that occupies the main street. This one is mine; I can say that because Knox Presbyterian Church is where I was raised other than at my childhood home. And today I still attend and help lead the congregation. The history of Prebyertians in Milton stretches back to the early days of the town’s first expansion in 1840. The first Presbyterian church in Milton, St. Andrew’s, saw the establishment in 1846 as a branch of the Church of Scotland. I say that only becauseRead More →