Bill Smith's Photography

 Jo-Anne and I went for an afternoon walk around her neighbourhood, for a change we went westward towards Avenue Road and north of Eglington Ave. I took my regular F4 (as opposed to the F4S with the extended battery pack) for a good workout. I wound up using my Ai Converted Nikkor SC 50 f1.4 lens and oh boy, this lens is sharp as a tack and perfect for a grey day.  Toronto is still dealing with the record snow fall from a few weeks ago and looks a lot like the winter of my childhood in Montreal. I'm amazed at the big piles of snow on side streets, and they aren't going anywhere until the spring melt.  Camera: Nikon F4, Nikkor S.C. (Ai converted) 50 f1.4 lens.  Film: Japan Camera Hunter Streetpan 400, D76 1+1. 

 After shooting around Guildwood, I shot around the eastern edge of the Beaches before heading home, I wanted to grab some coffee from Remarkable Bean. While I love Bud's Coffee for java to go, Remarkable Bean is also a roastery, and so far, I love the Henri Dark Roast, should try their medium roasts at some point.  The particular Nikkormat FT2 I was shooting with needs a CLA, maybe not a full one, the shutter speeds seam fine but the film advance/transport needs some love. I am also shooting with motion picture stock be it Eastman Double X, ORWO UN 54 or Ferrania P30. I'm sitting on a pile of all three films so there. Now to pack up the Nikkormat..... Camera: Nikkormat FT2, Nikkor SC 50 f1.4 lens.  Film: Eastman Double X, ID-11 1+1  \\

 A few weeks ago I meet up with fellow Classic Camera Revival hosts Alex Luykx, John Meadows and James Lee at the Guildwood Estates on brisk but very sunny Sunday morning on the first weekend of Spring.  I've never been to Guildwood Estates, it's located towards the east end of Scarborough south of Kingston. There used to be hotel at one time but that got torn down with the main building remaining being an event facility that was booked solid with weddings in the before times. But that's not why we went. The Guildwood Estates is also home to archtectural details from buildings long gone in downtown Toronto. In the 1950s the city went on a tear pulling down old office buildings in the financial district and slowly replace them with new sky scrapers from the international or modernist school. Nothing wrong with modernism but a lot of old character.  Guildwood Estates is the echo memory of these old buildings what were part of Toronto's landscape prior to 1950 and a metaph...