With a commanding view of both Lake Ontario and the Niagara River, the old colonial fort has a long and complicated history connecting it to three different nations that formed the basis of the modern countries that exist today. Not to mention it serves as the oldest collection of stone buildings west of Montreal and the oldest fortification I have had the honour of visiting and documenting. I’m of course talking about Fort Niagara. The French Castle is the oldest and central structure of Fort Niagara and dates back to 1729. Pacemaker Crown Graphic – Schneider-Kreuznack Angulon 1:6,8/90 – Kodak Tri-X Pan @ ASA-320 KodakRead More →

Sometimes a change of location is good, and as you all know, I love the northern section of Ontario. So throughout the summer, Tim, Chris, Tom, Mat, Dan, and I started formulating an idea for a retreat up into northern Ontario for a weekend film retreat, eventually settling on the last weekend in September. We all being fans of or connected to the Film Photography Project. The numbers changed throughout the summer, settling on Tim, Dan, Chris, Tom, Myself, and Tim’s Friend Eric. Six guys, a lot of beer, and even more cameras, everything from an 8×10 beast to 35mm (no 110, sorry). It Rained.Read More →

The Battle of Stoney Creek is recognized by many as one of the engagements that saved Upper Canada. And they would be right, by the end of May 1813 the British Army having been defeated at the Battle of Fort George retreated from the Niagara frontier and established a new defensive post at Burlington Heights, fortifying a small farm that commanded a view of Burlington Bay. A network of Blockhouses and earthworks to hopefully hold any further American aggression before they could reach further into Upper Canada. The American Commander, General Henry Dearborn was a cautious commander. Rather than follow the recommendations of his moreRead More →

What do chocolate and the war of 1812 have in common; just one thing, a name, Laura Secord. Many people today hear the name Laura Secord and think of the Canadian confectionary company, but there was a hero behind that name. But unlike other heroes from the war whose names were praised right after their great victories, Laura lived in relative obscurity for decades after the war had ended. Born Laura Ingersoll on the 13th of September 1775 in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, she was the eldest of four born to Thomas Ingersoll and Elizabeth Dewey. When she was eight her mother passed away, her fatherRead More →

If there is a single fort in Ontario that I would choose to hide out in during a Zombie uprising, that fort is located in Prescott, Ontario. Fort Wellington, named for Sir Arthur Wellesly, following his victory at Talavera on 27 June 1809. Unlike many forts in Ontario, Wellington never saw a direct attack during its entire history; the garrison proved an excellent defensive post along the venerable supply line of the St. Lawerence River. The village of Prescott, established in 1810 as a stopping point for the main road from Montreal heading west to the main urban centres of Kingston and York (Toronto). AndRead More →

Ontario is beautiful, there’s no changing that, but sometimes you leave and go someplace else and only find that the same beauty you so like in the north can be found elsewhere, that’s exactly how I felt when I drove through Northern Michigan. I feel the state gets a bad rap because of places like Detroit and Flint (New Jersey is the same way), but there is incredable beauty to be found in the northern part of the state. You will be treated to miles of wooded areas, quant villages, friendly people, and sunsets…well sunsets. The beach and port at Cross Village. A quick stop,Read More →

Agh, I’ve been remiss in posting more from the Photostock Event back in June of this year, and for that, I apologize, but things went straight down the tubes after Photostock, and I’ve been running at a million kilometres per hour since, and still haven’t stopped. But anyways, I’ll get some more Photostock up here this week. Anyways onto the actual content. The M119 is a unique road; it’s classified as a state highway but is far from it; a national historic scenic route runs from just outside the village of Harbor Springs to Cross Village, at Photostock I took the opportunity to drive theRead More →

The first of many posts about the amazing mid-summer meetup I attended in northern Michigan. The event is called Photostock and hosted/organized by world renowned photographer Bill Schwab, who despite his world renownedness is a really cool down to earth humble guy who just wants to get other photographers inspired. And inspire me it did, to get back into the chemicals and restart developing my own black and white film, and to print…printing will come later, but I did find a place nearby that has rentable darkrooms so I will be printing again soon! But anyways, first, more Photostock. The event is held in theRead More →

So what do tractors and a never completed nuclear power station have in common? Well nothing really…except in the case of a small station somewhere in the volunteer state, better known as Tennessee. The power station was one of many that were planned by the TVA through the 1970s to bring clean, efficiant power to the southern United States. Of course as a student of history there were several accidents in the 1980s that really turned the world view on nuclear power in a negitive light. Chernobyl in the former USSR and the Three Mile Island incident in the United States. Then there was theRead More →

This one is for my friends at Kodak! Despite Ektachrome being cancelled in 120 and 35mm formats, I happened to find a decent sized stash in the back of my stores, mostly E100VS. Over the Easter weekend I had a chance to go south to Tennessee, and one of my stops was the towns of Bristol. Why towns? Simple there are two Bristols, one in Virginia and one in Tennessee, and they share a common downtown along State Street, as the name implies is the State line. When I stopped in on the town on my way down I was quickly rained out, but MondayRead More →