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When your kids grow up.

2026, Inspiration, Life's Little Moments, Portrait, Print, Ricoh GR IV

When your kids grow up

 

The house is quieter.

Bigger and emptier.

A little darker too.

 

Walls that contained joy, bickering, tears

Sit idly.

Saturated with silence.

 

And the stuffed animals are alone.

No longer reporting for duty.

Unhugged.

 

When your kids grow up

 

You miss all the work.

The bedtime stories and songs.

Even the fatigue.

 

And you’d give anything.

To hear those giggles and cries again

In real time.

 

You long for the days

When this place, and you

Were the centre of their world.

—Peter.

Carmine at St. Andrew’s Church.

2026, Beyond 200 feet of My House™, Favourite, Fujifilm GF 45mm f/2.8 R WR, Fujifilm GFX 100SII, Inspiration, Portrait, Print, Street

I met Carmine today, but only because of what happened a week ago.

Let me explain.

I had stood in front of this church last weekend debating whether I should enter, but decided against it for fear of intruding and being chased away. When I returned home I looked up St. Andrew’s online and saw how lovely it was inside, so of course regretted my decision.

Today I found myself there again, and this time I noticed a sign by the front steps advertising a free concert. Well that gave me all the reason I needed to enter. I was happy I did.  When I stepped inside, I saw this tranquil scene of a man playing acoustic guitar, alone, at the front of the church.  He was preparing for his concert.  The sound was simply beautiful.  Without really thinking, I walked down the main aisle toward him, closing the distance between us.  I got within a few steps before he stopped playing; he looked up, quizzically, at which point I awkwardly said “Hi, would it be okay for me to take your portrait?”. He said yes, and the result is here.

Thanks Carmine.

—Peter.

 

TEST: Thypoch Eureka 50mm f/2 and Fujifilm GF 45mm f/2.8 @ f/2.8.

2026, Favourite, Fujifilm GF 45mm f/2.8 R WR, Fujifilm GFX 100SII, Inspiration, Print, Q&A, Teaching point, Thypoch Eureka 50mm f/2, Within 200 feet of My House™

We’re testing for central sharpness, with both lenses at f/2.8, on a Fujifilm GFX100SII.

For the GF 45mm, this represents wide open performance.  The Thypoch 50mm is slightly stopped down, which gives it an advantage.

Looking at the images, the GF 45mm wins.  However, the result is much closer than I expected, even though I already knew the Thypoch performance is impressive.

With the Fuji lens, you also get autofocus, weather sealing, and less vignetting.  With the Thypoch, you get a maximum f/2 aperture (not shown here), and a much, much smaller and lighter lens.

For me, both lenses are keepers.

—Peter.

TEST: Thypoch Eureka 50mm + Fujifilm GFX100SII Vignetting @ f/2, f/4 and f/8.

2026, Favourite, Fujifilm GFX 100SII, Print, Q&A, Teaching point, Thypoch Eureka 50mm f/2, Within 200 feet of My House™

This sequence was shot with the Thypoch Eureka 50mm f/2 lens on the Fujifilm GFX100SII, using the camera’s native (4:3) aspect ratio (i.e., whole sensor, uncropped).

Although the vignetting improves as we close down, the dark corners do not fully disappear.

I don’t find it to be too troublesome for most photos, as a slight crop (or even correcting the horizon), excludes much of the troublesome bits from the final image.  The rest of the vignetting can be largely corrected during post processing.

In dimly lit scenes, I find the that the vignetting/dark corners enhance the final image.

Considering how small the 50mm Eureka is, it is incredible how well it covers the GFX100SII medium format sensor.  I’m also impressed that its sharpness is maintained throughout the frame and there is only the slightest dip in the edges.

—Peter.

When Harry Met Beth.

2025, Beyond 200 feet of My House™, Favourite, Fujifilm GFX 100SII, Inspiration, Mitakon 65mm f/1.4, Print

I was trying to achieve a vintage look with this photo, and I believe I was at least partially successful as a result of 3 things:

(1) The way the image was processed (muted colours, less contrast),

(2) The moment caught, in which there are no pedestrians or passing vehicles (pretty rare in a metropolis like Toronto), and

(3) The fact that this stretch of Eglinton hasn’t – yet – been overtaken by towering buildings (the storefronts have more human-friendly proportions that don’t overshadow life on the street and that speak to a by-gone era.

—Peter.