Bill Smith's Photography

 South of Huntsville I took the scenic route via Highway 35 to one partly avoid the hellscape that's the 400/11 when you get close to Barrie and points south and two, go exploring with Jo-Anne who hasn't been down this way before. Another reason why we chose this route was I wanted to stop by my cousins' cottage south of Beaverton on Lake Simcoe so Jo-Anne can meet them.  It was beautiful drive down and we had lunch at the Trading Bay Dining Company in Dorset, despite being mid October it was a nice day for patio dining. In the end it was a good day for driving and exploring but the closer we got to Southern Ontario the rain started and by the time we got back to Toronto it was a wall of water making navigating a treat to Jo-Anne's place. I prefer to remember the nicer parts up in Dorset and Minden. Camera: Olympus OM-1n, Zuiko lenses.  Film: Kodak Ultramax 400. 

 I last passed through Dorset Ontario back in 2019, it's the last stop on the way to and the first stop on the way home from Billie Bear Resort. What I love about this cottage country hamlet is, it feels lke a genuine cottage country hamlet. Communities closer to Highway 11 and west of it have gone higher end due to the amount of money sloshing around.  Dorset lies on the border of Muskoka and the Algonquin Highlands/Haliburton County and is the local hub in the the region with Robinson's General Store which has recently changed hands and the owners aren't messing with a good thing. I'm also thankful to get some great photos of the Bigwin but I always shooting that old lake steamer.  Canera: Nikon F4, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.8 lens, Ais 28 F2.8 lens.   Film: Kodak Color Plus 200

Dorset is one of my favourite villages in cottage country on the eastern edge of the Muskoka Region. I love visiting it on a Thursday in fall becasue there are so few people about if the weather is kinda gloomy. The big attraction aside from the Bigwin (I never get tired shooting that boat) is Robinson's General Store. The only challenge is it's a tough building to photograph so in the end I document parts of it. Both my aunts worked at the Bigwin resort in their teens as a Summer job in the late 1940s and I have a cousin who has a cottage somewhere in the neighbourhood so there's a family connection to the area of sorts. If you do wind up passing through, the weekends in the Summer are busy. Camera: Nikon FE2, Nikkor Ai 50 f2 lens. Film: Kodak Portra 400.