Bill Smith's Photography

Merry Christmas everyone! I shot these last weekend on my first ski day. I think I got the hang of Tri-x, Xtol and snow figured out. Since I use a 1+1 dillution which produces box speed, I experimented with delibrate over exposure as far down as 250 ISO for the outdoor shots. I think the results are pretty good, now if only it stayed cold this past week. We had rain on Thursday and a downpour and +11c forecasted on Saturday which is not cool for skiers one bit. Why are we getting west (wet) coast weather?

Remember Summer? That patch of warm weather where you can run around in next to nothing, well it's not around for the next few months, time to get the skis out. This is left over from August 31, 2008, I went on a hike early in the morning up at Forks of the Credit Povincial Park. I was shooting with my Nikon F3hp and Kodachrome 64. I have been quiet of late and some really nice photography has been backing up but I have a really good excuse, I finished my last course in Ryerson University's Public Relations Certificate program and I am almost over a cold. I already feel like I am in a different head space, much lighter.

There is something magical with a Nikon F Photomic Tn and a roll of Tri-x, I got mine back from an overhaul a month and a half ago and took it out for a shoot before a meeting in town. I shot only with the Nikkor S 50 f1.4 and a H 28 f3.5 lens that day. I have a huge respect for the pre ai H 28 3.5 lens, after printing the below images in the darkroom, I could not believe how sharp they are.

Fall photography at it's best. I used both my Olympus OM-1md (colour film) and my latest toy OM-2n(Kodak Plus X). I shot all this with my recent trip to Mono Cliffs Provincial Park. What I love the most about this part of the world is the fact it's quiet, no day tourists. Why because Mono Cliffs is a little too far from Toronto which is fine by me as I crave the solitude from time to time. Kind of hard to do when Forks of the Credit is busier than Sherway Gardens at Christmas time after 10:30 am. I have to go back at some point before the snows come.

I'm back and I have spent some time in the darkroom. I have been busy winding up my project contract, working on my PR project course, and I replaced the rear seals on my Nikon FM, FE and my Olympus OM-2n. It's not that hard, just time consuming and requires some patience.

In a moment of weakness I scored an Olympus OM2-n off ebay for about $45 Canadian taxes and shipping in off ebay. Considering they usually sell for about $150 at camera show circuit and Used camera counters, I made off like a bandit. I ran a test roll of Kodak Tri-x (results below) to test the meter and shutter speeds, they were fine. I did however have to replace the rear seals and decided to do it myself, so I ordered a seal kit from Jon Goodman and took three hours out to do the procedure. While painstaking, the icky part of the seal replacement is cleaning the old goo out. I also bought a Zuiko 50 f1.8 lens off KEH for the camera and I plan to use the combo this weekend. I took the below shots near Bedford Rd. in Yorkville a few weeks ago, I protected against light leak with the bottom half of an ever-ready case.

I got my new to me Nikon FE fixed recently, I got it for a great price and it's a great camera, I have yet to take a bad photo. With the series of photos below which were taken back on Monday Sept 29 and I had a Nikkor Ai 28 f2.8 on the camera the whole time. I was downtown to do some research at Ryerson U for my last course the PR project, the post below details what it's about. I never get tired shooting in the city and the 28mm lens is a good choice for street shooting.

I am doing something potentially brilliant, or I fall flat on my face. I am finishing up my public relations certificate this fall and I have to do a "project" for the PR project course, in this case a 20 page article on a topic of my choosing relating to what I have learned. I chose the topic relating both my professional passion which is PR and communciations and my hobby/artistic outlet of photography. So, my topic for this course will be the roll of photography in the realm of public relations and communications. I don't think it gets quite the care and respect it deserves, we put our energies into the key messages and the visuals become window dressing. Reality is, a well chosen set of photographs will re-enforce key messaging in the article, on the website or in social media. A poorly chosen photography could at best draw attention away from key messaging and at worst potentially offending a public you are trying to reach. I also want to cover off ethical issues reg...

Sorry for the silence, but I have been quite busy with work and I am enjoying my project a lot. So I picked up a couple of toys, which you do when positive cashflow presents itself, in this case a Minolta SRT-202. I already had a set of MC Rokkor lenses with the XE-7 and I kept to my rule as long as the new aquisition fell into present camera systems I own, it's ok. I love the retro brick that is the SRT 202. The meter is spot on, the results are below in black and white (Kodak Tri-X) and colour (Fuji Superia 400) and I am impressed. Oh yeah, the 202 was a steal too at $50 at Halton Camera Exchange.

Did two things try out a new lens for my Minolta XE-7, a MD Rokkor 45 f2 Pancake design which is nice and sharp. The other thing is play around with Superia 400 @200 ISO. Oh boy rating C-41 film half the box speed is an eye opener. The day shots look just as great as the night work I did a few weeks ago. I think the film companies rate colour negative film at the maximum speed it can go while still looking presentable. Doing what I do, I get finer grain, more saturated colour and sharper images. I shot this roll around Oakville last night.

I had an "aha" moment over the past few days in an urban night photography workshop I helped out with, John Callow was the facilitator and it was done through Elevator Labs. I figured out colour imaging, first box speeds on colour c-41 negative film is wildly optimistic, rate it in half, two long exposures rule at night. Well I know the second part to be true from prior night adventures. I also learned to meter properly and understand the weaknesses and strenghs of both the film and digital media. I gave my Olympus OM-1 a good workout and used Fuji Pro 160s as my film of choice. I had no idea what I was going to get and I was blown away at the results. I am still trying to wrap my brain around the 3-d feel of the one hour photo prints.

I love shooting slide, I don't do it enough and everyone thinks I shoot exclusively black and white. Again, it was all taken with a Nikkormat Ftn with Fuji Velvia.

I warned you I had some colour photos from my Forks of the Credit Hike from a Month ago. The Velvia 100 roll came back and oh boy, the green just snaps. I shot these with my trusty Nikkormat Ftn which works well with slide film.