With the arrival of June, I think we can say that outdoor Summer concert season has officially begun. The Festival Classica is an annual classical music and arts festival that takes place in the city of Saint-Lambert that has been taking place for the last few years. My favourite part of the festival is the Classica Rocks show, which generally takes place on the Saturday night of the festival. Sponsored by local radio station CHOM 97.7 FM, the show features a choir and full orchestra doing classical versions of classic rock songs. This year, it was the musical catalogue of Led Zepplin that was getting the classical treatment. Usually, I would show up really 
early to get a good spot in order to take my photographs, but the folks in Saint-Lambert like to sit during their concerts so despite showing up only a half-hour before the show, and being about 30 rows of people from the stage, I knew that I'd still be able to get some good shots by using a telephoto lens. There's only so much that you can photograph of an orchestra. There's no lead singer bouncing around the stage, and most of the musicians are seated. Mind you, after having said that, there are still almost twenty photographs in this update so I obviously found something to point my camera at. I tried to focus on the movements of the conductor. Trying to 
make sure that his arms were raised or were pointing in some direction in order to show that he was more than just some guy standing with his back to me. There was one musician who stood out and that was the guitarist. He stood a few times for a couple of solos, so I wanted to get some good shots oh him playing his instrument. I also wanted to get some good shots of the drummer. It's always a challenge to try and get a shot of a drummer with his sticks in the air in such conditions were there isn't much light and shutter speed is at a premium. Speaking of lights, I wanted to play around with some of the lighting setups that were used. Again, using different apertures and shutter speeds to play with the light, or get some star effects of the spotlights themselves. There was one photograph where the spotlight was coming down on the conductor and I couldn't decide if I should crop it as a vertical shot, focusing solely on the conductor, or using the wider shot where lots of the orchestra was visible as well. So, since it's my blog they're both here as well. All of that experimenting comes with a cost though. In this case several hours of going through all of 
the photographs that I took during the show. Luckily, I have a very good relationship with my very comfortable couch that helps the hours go by much easier. It also helps that I really like going through my photographs because looking at a folder full of photographs that need to be looked at could be a little daunting. The first photograph was taken at f/8, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 95mm. The second photograph was taken at f/8, 1/80sec, ISO 1600 at 95mm. The third photograph was taken at f/8, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 110mm and so was the fourth once since it is just a different crop of the third one. Here are a few more photographs that I took over the course of the show.
early to get a good spot in order to take my photographs, but the folks in Saint-Lambert like to sit during their concerts so despite showing up only a half-hour before the show, and being about 30 rows of people from the stage, I knew that I'd still be able to get some good shots by using a telephoto lens. There's only so much that you can photograph of an orchestra. There's no lead singer bouncing around the stage, and most of the musicians are seated. Mind you, after having said that, there are still almost twenty photographs in this update so I obviously found something to point my camera at. I tried to focus on the movements of the conductor. Trying to 
make sure that his arms were raised or were pointing in some direction in order to show that he was more than just some guy standing with his back to me. There was one musician who stood out and that was the guitarist. He stood a few times for a couple of solos, so I wanted to get some good shots oh him playing his instrument. I also wanted to get some good shots of the drummer. It's always a challenge to try and get a shot of a drummer with his sticks in the air in such conditions were there isn't much light and shutter speed is at a premium. Speaking of lights, I wanted to play around with some of the lighting setups that were used. Again, using different apertures and shutter speeds to play with the light, or get some star effects of the spotlights themselves. There was one photograph where the spotlight was coming down on the conductor and I couldn't decide if I should crop it as a vertical shot, focusing solely on the conductor, or using the wider shot where lots of the orchestra was visible as well. So, since it's my blog they're both here as well. All of that experimenting comes with a cost though. In this case several hours of going through all of 
the photographs that I took during the show. Luckily, I have a very good relationship with my very comfortable couch that helps the hours go by much easier. It also helps that I really like going through my photographs because looking at a folder full of photographs that need to be looked at could be a little daunting. The first photograph was taken at f/8, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 95mm. The second photograph was taken at f/8, 1/80sec, ISO 1600 at 95mm. The third photograph was taken at f/8, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 110mm and so was the fourth once since it is just a different crop of the third one. Here are a few more photographs that I took over the course of the show.
f/8, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 155mm
f/8, 1/80sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm
f/8, 1/50sec, ISO 1600 at 85mm
f/8, 1/80sec, ISO 1600 at 88mm
f/6.3, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 155mm
f/11, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 85mm
f/4, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 142mm
f/3.5, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm
f3.5, 1/160/sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm
f/3.5, 1/80sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm
f/3.5, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm
f/3.5, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm
f/3.5, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 160mm
f/3.5, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 120mm
f/5, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm
f/5, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm
While I have a general dislike of cellphones, I do appreciate seeing one at a concert because it means I get to take a photograph like the one above. It was good to see some of the younger members of the crowd get up and dance during the show. Most of these Saint-Lambert shows are spent with the artists asking a bunch of people sitting on their lawn chairs to get a little more involved in the action. It was a fun evening with lots of good songs. Can't wait to find out which group will get the Classica treatment next year.
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