Bill Smith's Photography

When I'm not up north, Mono Cliffs Provincial Park is the next best thing. Camera: Nikon F3HP, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.8 lens, Ais 28 f2.8 lens. Film: Kodak Portra 400

I got the timing right this year at Mono Cliffs for fall colours, ok, if I waited a few more days it would have been perfect. This has to be one of my favourite hikes in Southern Ontario, I never tire photographing the park and the surrounding landscape. Parts of the park itself used to be farmland over 100 years ago and you can see the remnants of stone fences on the main upper trail. Camera: Nikon F3HP, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.8 lens. Ais 28 f2.8 lens. Film: Kodak Portra 400

I had a chance to wander around Harbourfront Thanksgiving Weekend before the temperatures dropped. I pulled my Nikon FM2n out for a workout and rolled with a two lens set up, a 50mm and 28mm lens. Partly to keep the weight down as I was carrying a bottle of wine for a dinner party I was attending later on in my camera bag and to keep the decision making simple. Bergger BRF 400 is a great black and white film and I hope B&H is restocking it soon because I need to buy another 10-pack of this film. Camera: Nikon FM2n, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.8 and 28 f2.8 lenses. Film: Bergger BRF 400, D76 1+1. s

Sadly all vacations both weeks long or a long weekend come to an end. The drive home along Highway 35 was beautiful even if the lighting was a bit of a challenge with low cloud and misty skies. That said there was no wind that day and I got some great shots with reflections, I'll take what I can get. Asahi Pentax MX, SMC Pentax M 50 f1.7 lens. Rollei RPX 400 processed in HC110 and Kodak Portra 400

Sometimes you don't have to wander far from where you are staying to get some great shots..... Camera: Asahi Pentax KX, SMC Pentax M 50 f1.4 lens. Film:  Kodak Portra 400 for colour film. Asahi Pentax MX, SMC Pentax M 50 f1.7 lens. Film: Rollei RPX 400, HC110 B. for black and white.

We had the best of intentions of going exploring, months ago doing some research I came across Limberlost Nature Preserve which is like a 10-15 minute drive away from us at Bella Lake. While the trip has historically has been built around Algonquin Park, these days Highway 60 has started to resemble the Toronto Eaton Centre Mall in downtown Toronto at Christmas time and we wanted to avoid the chaos. That was the plan,  hike Limberlost Nature Preserve, well that's where that phrase "Famous last words" comes into play. First off the weather forecast went from a nice weekend to a miserable one. I kept tabs on the Weather Network site with an eagle eye for a week before the trip. It was a miserable forecast for Greater Toronto/Southern Ontario, rain from Thursday to Monday. Cottage country was going to be dry until Saturday. It was dry from the Kawarthas northward. Combine the threat of rain with the fact it felt like "Summer Camp" for middle aged adults, we didn...