I had forgotten how much fun and work it is to photograph a wedding. The last time I worked a wedding was in 2019, and that one was pretty low-key compared to Crystal & Joe’s. But despite all of the work, it is always worth it, especially when you turn over the final images to the newlyweds. The day started early, waking up at 4:30, showering, breakfast, and then onto the road. Despite being in Brussels, Ontario, the route and area are familiar. And one excellent part, everything was contained in a single location. And it was worth the early morning to catch some ofRead More →

When it comes to instant film, there isn’t much that draws me to the medium. Other than the fact that it’s an instant film, it’s amazing that after Polaroid pulled the plug, someone was able to backwards engineer and recreate it. And I’ve been with them since the beginning from those early steps and some pretty terrible prototypes. And while Impossible Project turned to Polaroid Originals to reclaim the Polaroid name, the spirit of this has remained and started to produce normal repeatable products. Sure they may have lost their spirit of adventure, having a colour instant integral film in the 21st Century is somethingRead More →

This was truly Minolta’s last hurrah; the age of the film SLR was starting to come to a close. Rather than let it go out with a whimper, Minolta took things by the reigns and rode out into the sunset with a sixth and final generation of film cameras before merging with Konica and leaving 35mm behind. Meet the Maxxum 70, elsewhere known as the Dynax 60 or α-70. While much of the final era of cameras from Minolta were continuations of their original three market segments, the Maxxum 9 (Professionals), Maxxum 7 (Advanced Amatures), and Maxxum 5 (Consumers). But this final subset of camerasRead More →

If there’s something I’ve learned over the past six months is that the quote “The best camera you have is the one you have with you” is true, and the camera that almost everyone has is their mobile phone. The challenge for July from my friends over at Embrace the Grain podcast was 127 film, but I don’t shoot 127 film. Well, I have, but these days I don’t have any 127 cameras, and the film can be prohibitively expensive. They did cook up a plan B, using your mobile phone. But not just your phone’s stock camera, but one of the many film simulatorRead More →

Once you have it down, one of the most satisfying parts of home development is taking it to the next level is building your B&W developer. And the first developer for many photographers that they brewed up themselves, including me, is Caffenol. As the name implies, it’s a developer with a coffee base. Specifically, the caffeic acid that is found in instant coffee. While it’s easy to buy all the raw material in your average grocery store to build your caffenol, there is something nice about having a ready-made pack. And it should come as no surprise that the fine folks at the Film PhotographyRead More →

It has been long since I smelt the acrid odour of black powder and smoke drifting over the battlefield. But a couple of weekends back I got to attend my first Napoleonic reenactment since the Grand Tactical in 2019. And while the event hosted at Fort George in Niagara-On-The-Lake wasn’t a dedicated 1812 event, there were plenty of units that normally attend 1812 events. But the, Fort George was standing in for a frontier fort on the Spanish peninsula built by the French. While the lines were certainly smaller than what I’m used to at such events, with broad support not only from the pocketRead More →

If there is one type of lens that many photographers look for in a good street photography camera or any compact camera body is a good pancake lens. And while Nikon is not known for producing many ‘pancake’ style lenses, they did have a couple of winners. One of these lenses is the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8, a real winner. In contrast, there have been many versions of this lens, including a long-nose version, the 50mm f/1.8 is a solid performer for the smaller form-factor camera bodies (think FM, FE) and while it may look like a Series E, it is all Nikkor. Lens Specifications Make:Read More →

I love black & white in all forms, film, digital, and even instant. And up until only recently, the only way to get B&W instant film was through Polaroid (formerly Impossible & Polaroid Originals). From the start, the B&W stocks from this new generation of the instant integral film have been the strongest performers. But it only got better as the formulation was improved. Today the new BW600 is perhaps the instant film I reach for the most, although not too much due to the cost of the stock. It gives pleasing images and is always a fun go-around and works in almost all generationsRead More →

There is a legendary film that many professional photographers whisper about in hushed tones of reverence. Part of a lineup of professional films held near and dear to many photographers’ hearts. Especially regarding its sharpness and fine grain, that film is APX 25. I have shot this film many times; it’s one that I always will seek out when hunting through boxes of expired films or in the fridges at camera stores or when offered up by former professional photographers. Despite being a slow film, it is fun to use in almost any situation, and though it has been gone for twenty-two years now, itRead More →

If you’re a long time listener of the Film Photography Podcast, this camera would be one of the more familiar ones, especially the iconic sound bite by Dan Domme, “Agfa Clack.” The camera earns its name by the clack sound the shutter makes, compared to the Agfa Click, also named for its shutter sound. Despite having many amazing cameras that perform perfectly, I have a soft spot for box cameras, so I started looking for an Agfa Clack after getting the Click-II. I should also note that the Clack is known as the Agfa Weekender in US Markets. Camera Specifications Make: Agfa Model: Clack Alternatively:Read More →