One of my favourite cities in Ontario to photograph is Ottawa, Ontario, also the Capital City of Canada. While not as grandiose in planning as Washington DC, this city has plenty of offer the photographer. A recent week’s holiday there with my wife gave me a chance to exersize several cameras from my toolkit and having plenty of my pro gear having shot a weekend before hand I was loaded for bear both in gear and film stock. Nikon F5 – AF Nikkor 35mm 1:2D – Eastman 5363 @ ASA-25 Kodak HC-110 Dil. F 5:00 @ 20C Nikon F5 – AF DC-Nikkor 105mm 1:2D –Read More →

This previous year I took two chances to visit the lovely historical village of Elora, Ontario in Wellington County. The first trip with my lovely wife in the summer, and a second time on a very dreary Fall day with the Toronto Film Shooters Group. Both trips in addition to shooting plenty of black & white film I shot a roll of colour film each. And in my own typical fashion, that film sat on a self. Now, in my own defense I thought I was going to shoot a lot more slide film this summer than I actually did, so when I realized IRead More →

Many people have asked me how I first got into the reenacting hobby; my answer is a strange one for some. I got into the hobby through photography. It was back in 2008 when the Fort York Guard requested that I come along to the annual Siege of Fort Erie event to grab some photos. I walked away with some great shots, and my presence soon migrated to the 7th Battalion, 60th Regiment of Foot, a brand new reenacting unit at that point. I watched as these dedicated individuals portrayed what the British military was like during the Anglo-American War of 1812 and learned aRead More →

When it comes to Doors Open events, there’s no bigger one in Ontario that Toronto’s. With 2017 being the 150th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Toronto made it a goal to have 150 buildings on their doors open event. And what a selection there was, with lots of old favourites and plenty of new ones especially to me. I’ve visited Doors Open Toronto on many occasions, but always seem to hit up the same locations over and over again. So this year I made a point to visit many of the places I’ve never visited, or haven’t been happy with my photographs in the past. IRead More →

This was certainly a first for me. I’ve been doing photography for many years, and while my favourite subjects are things I can’t move around, I enjoy the few portrait and wedding gigs I come across. But when it came to shooting maternity, it was all new territory. And it can be a pretty creepy one, also. You look at places like Pinterest, and you can get carried away by semi-nude women showing off their pregnant bodies. Now, before you lay on the hate, I’m not saying that’s bad or wrong. I don’t like that shooting style, and when my subjects are my soon-to-be brotherRead More →

Paparazzi, Paparazzi…the taunts seemed almost to be sung as I grabbed a shot of two women walking across the street. They don’t bother me, besides I’m far from a paparazzi photographer, these two women are not famous nor am I going to be selling these photos. Besides I can barely hear the voices over the History Extra Podcast about Richard I and the Third Crusade. Having just come from a beautiful photowalk in the High Park Area I had some time to kill before meeting up with my buddy James at Trinity-Bellwood Park to head up to the Dakota Tavern to catch the Silver HeartsRead More →

The Nikon F5, at first glance you might mistake it for a digital SLR. I certainly have been asked ‘what sensor is in that camera’ and depending on my mood and my general view of the person asking I might reply with something a little more sarcastic, other times a simple response is “oh a 36x24mm or full-frame as it’s called in digital photography.” The F5 was my second grail camera after switching over to a Nikon system from Minolta, in fact, I picked up the battery grip for the F80 to make it look like an F5 because at the time the F5 wasRead More →

Note, this article was originally written in 2014, I have since updated it seeing as the Toronto Film Shooters has expanded well beyond my expectations. So you want to run a photo walk? Excellent! Running and even just attending such events are really good for you as a photographer. Because often we spend so much time sitting in front of a computer or locked in a dark room, so some social interaction is a good thing! Plus you never know you might learn something. I’ve attended plenty of photo walks and have been for the past year and a bit running my own Toronto FilmRead More →

The key to photostock was not the location, or the trips, the food, the road…but rather…the people. No one looked down on anyone, everyone helped out eachother, talk, shoot the breeze, drink. It just felt comfortable, especally for me, a first time participant in the event, I knew…one other person who was going, Mat. But in hte end it didn’t really matter I was welcomed be open arms. The People of Photostock 2012 If you want to see all the Photostock Images, head on over to Flickr!. How many days until Photostock again?Read More →

When the United States of America declared war on the British Empire, they knew they could not go toe to toe with the might of the British Navy. Instead, they invaded the closest British held territory, Upper, and Lower Canada. Not all the citizens in the British-controlled colony were on the side of the Empire, many in fact supported the American invasion and wanted to see the British influences in North America removed. Some left Upper Canada for the USA, and some others chose to help the Americans on the Canadian side of the border. Most citizens of Upper Canada supported the British Forces, manyRead More →