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I guess you could say that this post comes out from a short I released on YouTube last month about why photo walks are important and that you should go on photo walks. When the average person hears the term ‘photo walk’ they tend to think of a group usually medium or large. And I’ll admit, large groups of strangers can be a bit iffy. But a photo walk doesn’t have to be in a group, you don’t even have to have another person with you. My good friend and fellow photographer, Michael Hurley, goes on solo photo walks all the time. In fact, he’sRead More →

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It feels weird writing it as color instead of colour but as it is the proper name of the camera I will have to struggle through. The Polaroid Colorpack II is one of several rigid body pack film cameras to come out of Polaroid through the late 1960s and into mid 1970s, there has been several different models to carry the Colorpack name and all seem to share similar specifications. It’s been a while since I used this camera, and I think I ended up donating it to another photographer as this was one of the first pack film cameras that I ever got. ItRead More →

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There’s no denying it; this lens is a monster. I have some big and heavy lenses in my tool kit, and while this one is undoubtedly smaller than my 70-200/2.8G, it is the largest and heaviest of my manual focus kit. It is also often overlooked compared to later versions of the lens, which means that it’s an excellent, affordable lens, no matter what other people say about the number of aperture blades. The lens itself comes from a long lineage, released in 1977. Designed initially by Saburo Murakami and released in 1964, the Auto Nikkor-P 300mm 1:4.5 used a five-element design but struggled withRead More →

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It’s always good to get out from the familiar especially with a photo walk group. While the Toronto Film Shooters has always been centered around Toronto, Ontario and a majority of the events take place in different parts of the city. The group has on several occasionally spread their wings and headed outside the normal area and into different parts of the province. We’ve had events in Guelph, Unionville, Elora, and even Niagara-On-The-Lake. So at the end of September I decided to host a bonus event in Dundas, Ontario. A small historical town, today a part of Hamilton, Ontario on a Sunday afternoon. While BillRead More →

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While I’ve always known that Fujifilm produces chemistry for film development, I had always assumed it was primarily aimed at colour processing. Since they still manufacture (possibly) mini-lab processing systems for labs to develop C-41. But black & white chemistry? Then I received an email. A reader graciously offered to mail me some developers that were difficult to obtain in North America. I initially thought of Europe, but then a lovely package arrived from Japan and inside were two pouches of Fujifilm Microfine and two pouches of Fujifilm SPD. Well, I was touched, but Microfine was a name I had seen before on the massiveRead More →

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In: Between Darkness & Light
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All along the watchtower Princes kept the view While all the women came and went Barefoot servants, too Well, uh, outside in the cold distance A wildcat did growl Two riders were approaching And the wind began to howl, hey – All Along the Watchtower Once known as the Altraz of Ontario, Millbrook Correctional had an unsavoury reputation among prisoners, citizens, and guards. Millbrook was for the worst of the worst and for those other prisons didn’t want. Set up well outside any urban centre, this is a rare example of a mid-century jail with strange ideas on prison reform. I only made it insideRead More →

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Back in May the fine folks at Harman Technologies, the parent company of Ilford Photo and Harman Photo announced their newest film stock, Kentmere 200. The Kentmere line of film is designed to be a more budget friendly film stock, lower silver content than the main line of film stocks. Now I did not like this film when I first ran them through reviews, I did like Kentmere 100 more than Kentmere 400. But now I like both, so I was notably excited when Kentmere 200 was released. This puts the Kentmere line in the same range of the other budget friendly films, Fomapan. NowRead More →

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When it comes to point-and-shoot cameras, they still remain very much in vogue with a certain cross-section of film photographers. While I don’t often reach for these cameras, it is always fun to try out something outside of my usual selection of cameras. This is my third Pentax Point-And-Shoot; I’ve used the first point-and-shoot, the PC35AF, and one of the Espios, a more high-end offering. The Zoom 280-P is a clunky, early ’90s brick of a camera with a bit of ergonomics. And you know, despite being a P&S, the Zoom 280-P is a decent little camera that does the job of taking photos, butRead More →

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I miss Efke films; these were a blast from the past, a film stock that survived sixty years through three manufacturers. While the production line shut down in 2012, I had several years of using these classic films under the Adox and Efke brands. And even after the discontinuation, I secured a brick of the film through eBay, which I enjoyed for another couple of years. Back in July, I got a single roll of film from James Lee after the CCR 10th Anniversary event. So I decided to save it for a special day, so I took it out on World Photography Day, 19Read More →

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I often mix up Tower Automotive with National Rubber, two former industrial locations in the Junction neighbourhood of Toronto. Today, the Junction is home to galleries, craft breweries, condo lofts, and other gentrified options, and it once was Toronto’s hotbed for industry. Founded along a significant trade path for indigenous peoples and growing into a railway junction starting in 1884, what we know as the Junction was a town in its own right until amalgamation into the City of Toronto in 1909. The Tower building became part of the skyline. While it stands out as a beautiful example of early 20th-century architecture, it is farRead More →