Bill Smith's Photography

Spring has been slow to launch this year, these photos were shot two weeks ago and you can still see a pile of melting snow/slush. Thankfully it is a lot warmer today. I love shooting in the financial district, a number of older downtown office towers are being renovated by their owners which adds to the texture in the photographs. I'm making an effort to shoot more medium format and I reaching for my twin lens reflex cameras exclusively, namely my Rolleicords and Rolleiflex. There's something about shooting from a slightly different perspective and a near silent shutter along with the outstanding optics. I guess that's why I haven't picked up my Hasselblad system since 2016. It's time to review what I have and make some changes, the 500 C/M system not getting used and I would love another Rolleiflex, a 2.8 Planar or Xenotar to compliment my current 3.5 E Planar. For now, I have to start researching what the current market value is for my Hassie gear and what...

Back in mid October I went up to Elora with friends for the Fall Toronto Film Shooters meet up. We decided to head outside the GTA slightly for some fresh territory for some. I always like an excuse to head up to Elora for the day. For some shooting even if the weather was threatening rain. I also had a chance to try out a new camera. I was gifted a black Canon AE-1 Program courtesy my friend Joe Folino, a Toronto area film photographer who runs groups on Flickr, Meet Up and Facebook. The camera was in great shaped but needed some serious lubrication as it was squealing like a pig, once that was sorted out, it was  joy to use Camera: Canon AE-1 Program, FD lenses. Film: Kodak Portra 400

I got the timing right this year at Mono Cliffs for fall colours, ok, if I waited a few more days it would have been perfect. This has to be one of my favourite hikes in Southern Ontario, I never tire photographing the park and the surrounding landscape. Parts of the park itself used to be farmland over 100 years ago and you can see the remnants of stone fences on the main upper trail. Camera: Nikon F3HP, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.8 lens. Ais 28 f2.8 lens. Film: Kodak Portra 400

I had a chance to wander around Harbourfront Thanksgiving Weekend before the temperatures dropped. I pulled my Nikon FM2n out for a workout and rolled with a two lens set up, a 50mm and 28mm lens. Partly to keep the weight down as I was carrying a bottle of wine for a dinner party I was attending later on in my camera bag and to keep the decision making simple. Bergger BRF 400 is a great black and white film and I hope B&H is restocking it soon because I need to buy another 10-pack of this film. Camera: Nikon FM2n, Nikkor Ais 50 f1.8 and 28 f2.8 lenses. Film: Bergger BRF 400, D76 1+1. s

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.