Better Than The Alternative

I mentioned a little while ago that time seems to keep going by faster and faster every year.  That applies to Your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer as well.  We'll be hitting one of those milestone birthdays in relatively short time, and despite the fact that my mind sometimes still thinks it is 1993, the reality is that not only are we in 2024, but 2025 is just around the corner.  Which brings us to this photograph.  My little cone flower has obviously seen better days, but it's still hanging in around our flowerbed in the front yard.  The colours have changed and the petals are barely there, but it still caught my eye and so I snapped away.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  So, for those of you who may be feeling the pain of the passing sands of time and getting older, I leave you with the words of my Grandfather, "it's better than the alternative."

Standing At Attention

There is a wide variety of urban wildlife that likes to hang around the area next to our deck.  That is because, I believe, they are aware that The Crown Prince is a very messy eater and that as soon as we leave the area, they are ready to head in for a tasty snack.  We've already been to witness birds and squirrels climbing the steps up to our deck table to grab some leftovers.  This little guy was trying to get a beak up on the competition by stretching out as far as he could to see where the bigger pieces had fallen.  He would stand at attention from his lookout on the fence, just waiting for his moment to strike.  The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/500sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  Any aspiring bird watchers out there?  Just invite The Crown Prince over for lunch.  He'll leave enough crumbs around to attract all the birds you could ever hope to see.

Daisy Day

The more years that go by, the faster yet they seem to pass.  August 22nd has made it's way back once more, so we will take a few of those fleeting minutes to remember Grammie, my Grandmother, who left us 13 years ago.  As long time visitors to The Old Blog know, I always like to post a photograph of a daisy for her on this day.  I had a special guest star for our daisy photograph this year.  While on vacation back in June, this lovely butterfly kept teasing me as it would fly around me but never land anywhere.  As luck would have it, she finally decided to land, and stretch out her wings no less, right on a daisy.  Just one of those moments where I quickly look to the sky and thank Grammie for guiding that butterfly to the perfect landing spot.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  Hope you like this one Grammie.

Super Cloudy Moon

Maybe I just wasn't paying attention when I was younger, but we seem to have these 'Super Moon' events a lot more often than we used to.  I think the first time I really started paying attention the term would have been back in 2016 and it seems like there have been a couple every year since then.  The level of excitement has kind of fallen a bit since back then, but it's still fun to see that big ball in the sky seem closer and brighter outside the window.  With that in mind, my attention was grabbed by that grey ball in the sky as it raised up in to the sky Sunday night.  I was also happy to see that there was going to be some nice clouds in the sky.  The moon on it's own is still pretty interesting, but there just seems to be a little something sinister added to the look with the clouds passing by and obstructing the view.  Hiding from view what that sneaky man in the moon might be up to.  The photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 1600 at 20mm.  That man in the moon is up there somewhere.  Let me know if you see him.

Lamb Of God At Centre Bell

We've reached the end of our coverage of the Ashes of Leviathan tour that made a stop in Montreal back on August 1st.  Our co-headliner, and the final band to perform that night, was Lamb Of God.  Another key member of the American Heavy Metal movement, Lamb of God brought the house down by somehow managing to continue the streak of each band building on the performance of the ones who had previously performed.  Considering that such acts as Malevolence, Kerry King and Mastodon preceded them on the Centre Bell stage, you know that keeping up that level of power was no easy task.  Lamb Of God is another frequent visitor to Montreal and a Heavy MTL veteran, having made several appearances at the festival.  It is hard to think of a more intense singer on stage than Randy Blythe as he prowls the stage left and right, looking like an animal just waiting to strike us down with his words.  Like Mastodon before them, Lamb Of God are also celebrating the anniversary of one of their albums.  Ashes of the Wake was released in 2004 and immediately forced people to take notice of the band.  The album was inspired by events that took place during the Iraq War and is considered to be one of the greatest heavy metal albums of time and helped cement the band as a force that to this day still can’t be stopped.  Much like with Mastodon's set list, songs from the other albums were put to the side for this show was the anniversary of Ashes of the Wake was what the tour was built around.  Lamb Of God's most recent album, Omens, was released in 2022.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 with varying focal lengths and ISO.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of Lamb Of God while performing during the Ashes of Leviathan tour here in Montreal.

If you'd like to find out more about Lamb Of God and their music, you can do so by following the link to their webpage.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of Malevolence, Kerry King and Mastodon, who also performed that night, you can do so by following the respective links.  Much thanks to Monica Seide-Evenson of SpeakEasy PR and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  It is always appreciated.  A Lamb Of God concert is an unforgettable experience.  The light show, may be an added garnish, but the music is top notch and played at such an superior level that it almost blows your mind.  Lamb Of God continue to tour with the Ashes of Leviathan tour until the end of the month so be sure not to miss them.

Mastodon At Centre Bell

Continuing with our visit to the Centre Bell for the Ashes of Leviathan tour that was in town on August first, it is now time to get to one of our headliners, Mastodon.  They are on the road during this tour to celebrate the 20^th anniversary of their album Leviathan.  Their second release back in 2004, it is a concept album loosely based on the classic Herman Melville novel, Moby Dick.  True to form, before the band hits the stage we get clips from the classic 1958 film adaptation of the tale, but the real magic happens when the music starts.  One of the leading bands from the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, Mastodon have been wowing crowds with their incredible songs since the turn of the century.  Musically, there aren’t many bands that can hold a candle to them and the Montreal crowd were held in thrall during the entire set by the majestic songs and impressive light show.  Though we were celebrating the anniversary of Leviathan, Mastodon have seven other albums., though they were mostly ignored on this night as the anniversary of Leviathan was the focus of their performance.  After their set, drummer Brann Dailor took center stage to tell us of that time, 20 years ago, when Leviathan was first released and was being placed in the top selling racks of store like Best Buy.  "Back when Best Buy was cool", as he said, and as an old CD buying, I remember how cool is used to be to visit that store as well.  Mastodon's most most recent album, Hushed And Grim, was released back in 2021.  However, after announcing to the crowd that some new music would be arriving soon, I think it is safe to say that we are all looking forward to album number 8.  The photographs of Mastodon were all taken at f/3.2 with varying ISO's and focal lengths.  Here are more photographs from Mastodon's performance during the Ashes of Leviathan tour here in Montreal.

If you would like to find out more about Mastodon and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  If you would like to see the photographs that I took of Malevolence, Kerry King and Lamb Of God, who also performed that night, you can do so by following the respective links.  Much thanks to Monica Seide-Evenson of SpeakEasy PR, Rick Gershon of Warner Music and Dave Stelling & Marjorie Lacroix of Warner Music Canada and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show, it is very much appreciated. Mastodon is near the top of the metal food chart and their show is a must see.  They'll be continuing the Ashes of Leviathan tour until the end of the month, be sure not to miss out on this one.