We’re back in Burlington, Ontario! After a rather long March and a rather busy April, it was a matter of getting out when we could, and that was the first weekend of the month. Not wanting to go far, the family packed up and drove the forty-five minutes to the lovely city of Burlington to enjoy an early morning walk through the former village of Wellington Centre, one of the two core urban centres that formed the modern city today. What we call Lake Ontario today, Hamilton Harbour, and the once dense forests and fertile soil of the Niagara Escarpment have attracted human civilisation andRead More →

Everyone needs a space where they can escape to, get out of the grind that is work. For me that spot is close to where I work, and some parts are technically still on the Sheridan Campus. I’m talking of the McCraney Valley. This little trail takes the name of one of the early families that settled in the Trafalgar Township in the area that would become part of the modern town of Oakville, Ontario. While mostly I only frequent a small part of the trail, today I’m going to go along the entire length of the trail from where it starts at Upper MiddleRead More →

I first found the beautiful downtown of Dundas in 2010 when I did an epic two-day multi-site tour at Doors Open Hamilton. Although I would not return for several more years, I only recently started returning to this stunning downtown as it offered up a different backdrop to my photography but a familiar theme, that stunning mid-19th-century small-town feel. Dundas has this in spades, all in a small, compact, and easily walkable community. Archaeological records show that 10,000 years ago, long before European contact, the first humans settled in the rich valley in the shadow of the Niagara Escarpment. The woods, streams, and fertile soilRead More →

If you’re going to start the year off with a bang, you should go all in! Despite this year starting almost the same way as last year, I decided not to let that stop me. Visiting Niagara-On-The-Lake was initially planned for December 2023. Rain stopped that, so we moved it to January to start the new year. Niagara-On-The-Lake is much larger today, but I spend most of my time in the historic old town where we’re visiting today! The charming historic old town of Niagara-On-The-Lake owes its current existence to two key points in local history: the American occupation and destruction of 1813 and aRead More →

This is only the second time I’ve reached a significant milestone in my ongoing reviews, the magic number of one hundred. And to be clear, I’ve done one hundred film reviews, not reviewed one hundred separate film stocks. And that’s because I’ve reviewed some rebadged films; sometimes, I knew it was a rebadge and then made a point not to go after that film stock again, notability ORWO films. I reviewed the four motion picture-specific films from ORWO as their Lomography rebadge. But in the case of Fomapan 100, I reviewed that first as KosmoFoto Mono 100 and then again as Fomapan 100. Agfa AviFotoRead More →

If you’re thinking, wait a minute, haven’t you reviewed Ektachrome? Then the answer is yes; I’ve reviewed the re-release of Ektachrome 100. But this is something a little different, while Eastman Ektachrome Color Reversal Film 5294 was discontinued and re-introduced as a motion picture reversal stock. Reviewing Atlanta Film Co’s Euphoric 100 is probably the strangest film I’ve reviewed because I’m not reviewing it as a reversal film. Instead, I’m reviewing it as a cross-processed film using the Eastman Color Negative Rev. 2 process through a proper motion picture film lab. This is inspired (as the name of the film is) by the TV SeriesRead More →

I love trying out new film developers or new-to-me developers. So a while back I wrote an article on seven film developers that are worth trying. Since then, I’ve tried several more unique developers and have another five options to try something different in your home development experience. And this time, I’ve also included a colour developer. 1 – Kodak D-19 Originally designed for X-Ray Film, Technical Film, and IR Films, Kodak D-19 is a high-contrast developer. But that should not stop you from giving it a try. Because while it is a specialised developer, it works surprisingly well with regular panchromatic films. It alsoRead More →

This is not my first time working with SPUR HRX, but it’s always been a developer that I’ve wanted to go back to revisit with a few more different film options. I first learned about HRX through a former co-host of Classic Camera Revival, and the developer certainly piqued my interest. SPUR HRX is the latest and far more stable update to HRX-3 (I know it doesn’t seem logical to go from HRX-3 to HRX) and stands for High-Resolution X from Speed Photography, Ultra Resolution. HRX offers up an ultra-high resolution, fine grain, and excellent tonality. If that sounds familiar, it should because it soundedRead More →

I seem to be developing a soft spot for cheap and cheerful SLRs from the 1990s and early 2000s. These may not be the best or most robust cameras out there, but they aren’t hard on the pocketbook, make use of existing lens systems and deliver decent images without too much fuss. Plus, they make great loaner kits for those who want to try film photography but don’t want to invest in something or worry about all the details, such as manual focus or exposure. Well, meet the EOS 3000; you could almost say that this was the entry-level SLR that perfected Canon’s entry-level SLRsRead More →

One of the more exciting aspects of home development is the ability to produce black & white slides. While these days this is more of a novelty, it is something that adds a punch to your black & white negative films. But it’s something that isn’t well known. Sure we had Dr.5 until recently, Foma has a reversal kit (which I hope to find and review), and even Kodak produced a TMax reversal kit. But Kodak no longer makes it there, and Dr.5 is shutting down due to increased costs, but not before letting the world know about their process. And it’s right in Adox’sRead More →