Bill Smith's Photography

I made an effort this year to shoot more colour photography which you have seen on recent posts over the past couple of months, my first love is black and white. In terms of workflow, I drop my colour film off at a lab and I have recently switched to Downtown Camara in Toronto as they have a busy c-41 service and their processing chemistry is fresh and that's important. All the black and white film I process is done at home in the basement and the process is in fact pretty easy. You need a daylight tank and I'm partial to Patterson because their reals are easy to load in complete darkness and in my case I use a dark changing bag. As far as the developing process goes it's three steps.  developer which pulls the image out of the silver emulsion on the film, the stop bath which lasts for 40 seconds of course stops the developing process and the fix bath pulls out the remaining silver particles and stabilizes the negative and that lasts from five to 10 minutes depending o...

I have come to the conclusion that you can become addicted to certain geographic locations, it explains why I want to come back to this part of the world next year. Algonquin Park and surrounding countryside  is the polar opposite of my other favourite place and photographic muse: New York City ,  I don't know if I will get down there in 2014. All the more reason to return here. What I might do is hide out in Dorset on the Lake of Bays for a day or two on the way back to the GTA. You don't have to go halfway around the world to get away from it all. Camera: Nikon F3HP, various Nikkor lenses, Film: Kodak Ektar 100

Algonquin Park is huge, riding shotgun in a friend's SUV in a convoy along Highway 60,  I realized that very quickly when it was about my guess at least a 45 min drive across to Whitney for a late lunch. If you do wind up in that part of the world, check out  The Mad Musher , they have a great menu and I'm partial to their sirloin steak sandwich. The other realization hit quickly too, Highway 60 was really busy with tourists and day trippers up for the fall colours even though the weekend forecast called for rain. There were spots we had to take a pass on because it was too busy. We came on the Spruce Marsh, not the spectacular spot we had originally planned but there's still lots of beauty here. The trail looped around it so we not only got more than our share of shots of dead spruce stands but also the Canadian Shield sticking out of the ground. Even though we had a guide with Wesley Liikane   who has deep knowledge of the park, we stayed on the trail. Algonqu...

Just off Highway 60 on the Oxtongue Rapids Park Road into the woods is a lookout onto the Oxtongue River. I understand what the Group of Seven painters saw when they first encountered the Canadian Shield early last century. Cameras: Nikon F3HP and FM2 with various Nikkor lenses. Film: Ilford HP5 400 for black and white and Kodak Ektar 100 for colour. 

I get tons of compliments on my flowing water shots either on Facebook, various photography discussion forums and Flickr over the years, capturing the right image depends on some decent equipment and some artistic judgement. To get the silky water texture you see here you need either a nice film camera with 100 ISO film (colour) or 50 ISO if you are shooting black and white. Now if you have a DSLR most cameras will have a base ISO of 100. You will also need a decent quality tripod, either a Manfrotto, Giottos or Vanguard and they start around $300 with a  decent head.  The cheapie ghetto specials from Blacks, Costco or Future Shop are not going to cut it, the camera has to be super still. Finally you will need Neutral density filters, they can either be the screw in variety you can install on the front of your lens or the more expensive sheets that fit into a holder. The whole idea is you want to control the amount to light hitting either the film or sensor plane at the sam...

Somewhere between Huntsville and Algonquin Park on Bella Lake is a small piece of paradise. My long weekend road trip took me to Billie Bear Lodge , a family owned cottage resort that acted as our base for photographic expeditions.  What I love about this place was the fact it is off the beaten path, in this case Highway 60.  The first thing I did when I got out my car in the parking lot, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and just listened. I was up there during low season, it was quiet, as in you don't hear civilization quiet and that is an addictive quality when coupled with your surroundings. My friends showed up shortly after I arrived and we took over the lodge at the resort and made dinner Friday night. I have a soft spot for places like Billie Bear Resort, the accommodations are rustic but that's what I like about it. Camera: Nikon F3HP, various Nikkor lenses Film: Fuji Pro 400H 

I follow a site called the Art of Photography and they have a great series of video podcasts, well produced and geared to wide photography enthusiast audience. I'm sharing two of them today to give an idea what is in my camera bag.  This is a podcast on 35mm film photography and a great showcase on the Nikon F3HP , one of my favourite cameras and I consider it my go to for critical work. What I found interesting is the F3 was in production for around 18 to 20 years almost from 1980 to 2002 depending what source you want to refer to. The other interesting fact is the camera was designed by Italdesign chief Giorgetto Giugiaro who also designed for Ferrari, Maserati and Volkswagen in the 1960s and '70s.  A second podcast, this time on twin lens reflex cameras. For the record I own three:  a Rolleiflex Series 3.5 Zeiss Planar , Rolleicord IV as well as Mamiya C220 and all of them take amazing photographs. TLRs are compact and relatively lightweight cameras...

I like taking the scenic route. A few weeks ago I was up Algonquin Park way with friends for a long weekend of photography from the Friday to Sunday, honestly it wasn't long enough.  While the others took Highway 400 through Barrie, I took the 404, cut through Uxbridge and then hopped on the Trans Canada Highway North (#12) passing through Brock Township in the northern part of Durham Region. The Smith family emigrated from Forres Scotland arriving  in what is now Durham Region the early 1830s.  My branch of the clan settled in Cannington Ontario becoming merchants owning the town's feed store. My great granddad William George Smith and family left for Toronto in the early 1900s due to changing economic realities and agricultural practices. They are buried in a family plot in the Presbyterian cemetery Concession Road 11. A great uncle of mine Dr. Masson Smith (granddad's brother) was the town physician in Beaverton roughly 20 minutes drive further north along the Tr...

A few weeks ago I fell off the grid took the scenic route up to a lodge near Algonquin Park to meet up with friends for the weekend and take lots of pictures. I like driving through Durham Region as I have a strong family connection to the area. I took a route through Uxbridge because I wanted to photograph the York-Durham Heritage Railway's northern terminus and I have a weak spot for old trains. Been there last year but suffered light leaks in the camera gear I was using at the time, didn't suffer that problem this time around. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take pictures of their Alco Road Switcher   which was in operation in the yard, I have walked around on their day off but I kept my distance from the operating locomotive for safety reasons, there's always next time when I'm in the area to get a decent photo. I drove through Uxbridge to get to Highway 12 or the Trans Canada Highway so I can get to Cannington for lunch. More about that next tim...

Hi everyone, I figure this is an opportune moment to re-introduce myself for those recently discovered my blog. My name is Bill and I’m a photography geek, this medium is a personal passion of mine and thankfully I don’t earn a living at it.  Checking out previous posts, you’ll notice I still shoot with film and use mostly manual focus 35mm and medium format cameras stretching from the mid 1950s to the 1990s. As a byproduct, I collect cameras from this time period, in particular Nikon, Leica and Rolleiflex, not a cheap hobby but a lot cheaper than collecting and restoring vintage Porsches.  People ask why, film it’s simple I like the workflow besides I spend enough time in front of the computer with work as a marketing communications consultant. That being said there are few digital camera systems I have my eye on but I’m not in a rush to invest just yet.  I process my own black and white film. I’m partial to Ilford’s HP5 400 and Delta 100 ISO films a...

Mono Cliffs is one of those secret magical spots I to go hiking and a few weeks ago I led a photo walk with 15 members of the Oakville Camera Club . The big challenge when organizing field trips for the club is keeping things fresh and the park delivered in a big way and we were fortunate to get a sunny day after the fog burned off. For those wondering where Mono Cliffs Provincial Park is, budget about an hour and 20 minutes driving time northwest of Toronto by taking highway 410 then drive along highway 10 through Orangeville and then turn right along Mono Centre Road #8, go east and keep an eye out for the signs for the park. It's not a difficult hike but I would recommend wearing hiking boots. As I mentioned earlier, the best part of Mono Cliffs is closing your eyes and just listening, after a minute you realize you can't hear civilization. Camera gear used Square format: Mamiya C220f with the 80 f2.8 Sekor lens . 35mm format: Canon F-1n with eithe...

If you want to find something interesting you have to take the road less travelled. I discovered this stretch about six years ago and photographed it on several occasions. It has an otherworldly quality you wouldn't think exists in Southern Ontario. The other thing about the road less travelled, you'll find more interesting subjects to photograph. Shot on an iPhone 4 with no post processing.

What a month this has been, as rule I try to unplug and go for a good long walk in the woods and when things get very busy, I head up to Mono Cliffs Provincial Park northeast of Orangeville. What I like about Mono and the Hockley Valley, it's still a reasonable drive from Greater Toronto yet you don't hear civilization. In fact cellphone reception is a little spotty in low lying sections, my iPhone gets switched into airplane mode. I need the silence. There are two ways up here,  a quick way up Highway 10 and the scenic route. You will see images from the scenic route in a later post. For now you got black and white images to tide you over. Tomorrow I'm back up there leading a photo walk with some members of the Oakville Camera Club  . I usually shoot alone, we'll see what I'll get. Camera: Nikon FM2, Nikkor Ai 28 f2.8 or 50 f1.8 lens, Film: Ilford HP5 400, HC110 Dillution B.