Bill Smith's Photography

Waiting to go back to Billie Bear will be an eternity, but that's ok, it just makes each visit more special. Camera: Asahi Pentax KX, SMC Pentax lenses. Film: Lomo 400 C-41 and Kodak Portra 400

After lunch we left Elora for an hour's drive south through Cambridge down to Glen Morris to visit the German Woollen Mill Ruins on the shores of the Grand River. Rumour has it the ruins are haunted, I didn't see any ghosts while I was there, only a couple and their wedding photographer showing up to do an engagement shoot. The mill has a bit of an interesting history, started out processing, became an inn and later a private residence. It sits between the river and the Paris to Cambridge Rail Trail. Ben, Svetlana and I walked in from the south by about 2 km, being a rail trail it was an easy walk. Camera: Asahi Pentax KX, SMC Pentax K 28 f3.5 lens, SMC Pentax M 50 f1.7 lens. Film: Rollei RPX 400, HC110 B.

Elora won't be the same in a few short years, best to enjoy it while we got it before the change happens. Camera: Asahi Pentax KX, SMC Pentax M 50 f1.7 lens. Film: Rollei RPX 400 processed in HC110 B.

I went on a day trip up to Elora last weekend with friends, it was a nice escape for a little while. Elora is going to change over the next few years when "The Mill" reopens as a boutique hotel and the old furniture factory ruins become a new hotel, conference centre and wedding chapel. They already began construction on the south side of the Grand River. The end result will change the town but hopefully not wrecking its character. Camera: Asahi Pentax KX, SMC Pentax M 50 f1.7 lens. Film: Rollei RPX 400, HC110 B.

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...

I never get tired of photographing Dorset Ontario to the point of being almost obsessive about it. The Lake of Bays is my favourite side of Muskoka and I have a family connection with relatives working at the Bigwin Resort back in the 1940s as summer jobs for university. If you ask me where paradise is, I'm going to point to the Lake of Bays part of Muskoka and points north towards the other side of Bella Lake between Huntsville and Algonquin Park. Love beaches and all but give me the woods and lakes any day of the week. Black and White shots: Camera: Asahi Pentax MX, SMC Pentax M 50 f1.7 lens. Film: Rollei RPX 400, HC110 B. Colour Shots: Camera: Asahi Pentax KX, SMC Pentax M 50 f1.4 lens, Film: Kodak Ultramax 400.