Bill Smith's Photography

  The April photo walk was on a day calling for rain, yet at the same time, temperatures were quite mild, we wound up having lunch on the patio of The Rebel House, and the skies only started to open up when we settled our bills. The route had not been done before I wanted to traverse Casa Loma neighbourhood and work our way down to the end point on Yonge Street near the Rosedale Subway Station.  I wound up choosing one of my Nikon F's, a black Photomic FTN, kinda like taking out a Porsche 356 C Carrera for a spin. Usually if I want grab and old Nikon body for a spin, I usually grab one of my F2's  I'm happy with the results and I should shoot with my eye level prism F's more often, I am trusting the meter less on my Photomic variants.  Filmwise, I went with a classic, Kodak Tri-X, however, I rolled with 510 Pyro, hind sight I should have rolled with Ilfotec HC for snappier negatives. So it goes. I plan to re-do the walk on a later date with another group. We'll see....

 I don't walk through High Park all that often, mostly because I'm either midtown or in the Beaches/East End when I'm in Toronto. It's a lovely spot for urban hiking and those living near High Park have a treasure on their doorstep. I would spray yourself with insect repelant near Grenadier Pond during mosquito season, and avoid the park entirely during Cherry Blossom season but those are my only caveats.   Shooting on Color Plus 200 gave me a nice retro feel, especially shooting with a Nikon F from the very early 1970s. Pity the price spiked during the now times, that's purely on Alaris, and don't get me started on their business decisions.  Camera: Nikon F Photomic FTN, Nikkor S 50 F1.4 lens.  Film: Kodak Color Plus 200.