Bill Smith's Photography

It's been ages since I shot around the Don Valley Brick Works so the Toronto Photowalks Pre Anniversary Dinner walk was a great excuse to get there. I had fun, however I couldn't stay for dinner because I had another event I had to be at. Camera: Nikon F3HP, Nikkor Ai 50 f2 lens. Ais 28 f2.8 Lens. Film: Kodak Tri-X 400, Pushed to 1600 ISO, HC110 B.

I spent the first week of August house sitting in the Beaches at my brother's place looking after a black lab, turtle, and gold fish. I also got a chance to wander through one of my favourite Toronto neighbourhoods. At the east end is an architectural gem the R.C. Harris Water Treatment Plant which also was non speaking character in the Michael Ondaatje novel In the Skin of a Lion. The best time to shoot this complex is on a bright sunny morning. I can see the buildings used for exterior shots for exterior shots from period pieces to science fiction if it hasn't already. There's much more to come. Unfortunately I lost a roll during processing, it was an expired medium format Kodak Plus X. The emulsion was fine but the film itself, the polyester base had issues I just could not rescue. Pity. Stay tuned there's much more to come. Camera: Series E  Rolleiflex Twin Lens Reflex Camera with the 75mm f3.5 Zeiss Planar Lens Film: Kodak Tri-X400, Hc110 B.

More black and white fun on a sunny Saturday morning downtown Toronto. Camera: Series E Rolleiflex 3.5 Planar Twin Lens Reflex Camera. Film: Kodak Tri-X 400, HC110 B.

Winter is coming to an end soon. Camera: Mamiya C220f, Sekor 65 f3.5 lens, Sekor 135 f4.5 lens. Film: Kodak Tri-X400, HC110 B. Bottom three images, Ilford FP4, Xtol 1+1.

I confess I am a gearhead when it comes to cameras, one system I vow to shoot more with is the Mamyia C220f, a medium format twin lens reflex camera. Unlike Rolleiflexes which has fixed lenses, the C220f and the C330 series have interchangeable lenses with leaf shutters. Last week I was hanging out with my friend Lindsay and had an opportunity to grab a fresh portrait, I like this way better than the professional head shot I did for her back in the fall. Comes down the right focal length, 105mm is more flattering than 80mm in medium format. I also prefer black and white for portraits. The Mamyia C220f I think is going to come with me to Algonquin Park this year. The big question is which lenses come along for the ride, this is not a light system.

Finally gone through the last of my post ice storm shots from over the Christmas holidays. I'm amazed at what I got out of this roll. Camera: Olympus OM-1md, various Zuiko lenses. Film: Kodak Tri-X400, Xtol 1+1.

The one byproduct of the great ice storm of 2013 is stunning winter photography. I enjoyed shooting between Christmas and New Years because while cold, a layer of snow over the ice covered the landscape up in Caledon Ontario. I go skiing at a private ski club in this neighbourhood and I take pictures on the drive up and on the way home, I never get tired of shooting the landscape up here and it's so close to the GTA.  What struck me was how white the landscape was, even more so then after a regular snowstorm. Hearing stories from the locals made me very thankful I was only without power for a day, west of Highway 10 the power was out for a week around Belfountain, Brimstone and Forks of the Credit Road. What left me in awe were the trees bent over from the weight of the ice which you see along Mississauga Rd. in the bottom photo. Camera: Olympus OM-1MD, Zuiko MC 50 f1.8 lens, Film: Kodak Tri-X 400, Xtol 1+1.

Four days before Christmas, Central Canada got sucker punched with a weekend long ice storm, electrical grid suffered some serious damage in parts of Greater Toronto and other regions of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. I was fortunate that my neighbourhood was only without power for 12 hours, other people were in the dark and cold for over a week. One side effect of this weather disaster is the beautiful images with the ice encrusted branches. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, I kept looking up, not so much for potential subject matter to document but to make sure a branch is not going to land on my head.  I cringe when I hear people complain about the snow, I'll take a snow storm over freezing rain every time. Camera: Olympus OM-1MD, Zuiko 75-150 Zoom lens, 50 f1.8 MC lens, Film: Kodak Tri-X400, Xtol 1+1, Location: My driveway in Oakville

More from the Boxing Day photo walk downtown, I forgot how much I liked urban photography. I want to wish all my regulars and new visitors a very Happy New Year and I hope 2014 brings great promise to everyone. A little off topic, I'm in marketing communications when I don't have a camera in my hand on in the darkroom and have been doing some professional development over the past few months to fill in the gaps with my social media knowledge so I can say I'm a digital strategist and not just playing one on TV.  My studies in University of Toronto's  Digital Strategy and Communications Management certificate program re-invigorated my blog.  Secondly I took a peak under the blog's hood and found out I was averaging over a 1200 views a month on average, that statistic blew my mind, thank you. My classmates from the first course blogged on a variety of topics and please check them out. Camera: Nikon FM, Nikkor H 28 f3.5 or Ai 50 f2 lens Film: Kodak Tri-X 400, Xt...