Flower For Mom

I think we may have to start a petition to have Mother's Day moved a little later in the year.  Another long winter has resulted in zero new flowers growing in the yard.  Except for those pesky yellow Dandelions.  My Lovely Assistant has already gotten a giant bouquet of those from the Heir Apparent and Crown Prince.  Luckily, I have a nice collection of Day Lilies floating around in the archives for just such an occasion.  My Mom gifted these roots from her own personal garden when we moved in to the Head Office, so I always call this batch Mom's Flowers.  They are always fun to photograph as I love all of the shapes and colours.  This one was photographed at f/6.3, 1/400sec, ISO 100 at 70mm with a bright sun bearing down on them.  Can't wait to see the new batch of Mom's flowers when they grow later this year.  Happy Mother's Day to all of the mother's out there, and of course, to my Mom has well.

April Showers & May Flowers

Taking a little break from the spotlights and roaring crowds back to something a little more calm.  We certainly had more than our fair share of April showers last month, but they have so far failed to yield any real flowers just yet.  Thankfully I have what seems like an unlimited supply of flower photographs lurking around in the archives.  That's where I found this little guy just relaxing amongst the thousands and files and just waiting to see the light of day.  So, it's not really a May flower.  At this point, I should probably admit that those drops aren't really April showers either.  I sprayed the flower down with a mist bottle.  Before I reveal any other secrets, I should let you know that the photograph was taken at f/16, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 70mm while also bouncing some flash off of the deck ceiling.  The real flowers of May should be sprouting soon, in the meantime, hopefully this one adds a little bit of colour to your day.

Sam Roberts Band At L'Olympia

We're a little bit backed up on getting my concert photographs up here on The Old Blog.  I suppose we will catch up at some point, but this would be a good time to remind you that my concert photographs can be seen in a much more timely manner by visiting V13 Media, which you can do by following the link.  If you'd like an even more direct route to my photographs, you can visit my personal page over there but using the following link.  An argument could be made that Axl Rose was singing about Montréal all those years ago.  The grass is green and the girls are pretty.  Some might describe it as paradise, but this past Saturday night, Montréal became a different kind of city.  A Chemical City.  Sam Roberts, the city’s favourite musical son, and his band were back in town. Like a good guest, they came bearing the gift of a great show to treat the sold-out crowd that had come out to see him.  The event was the 20^th Anniversary of the release of Chemical City.  Sam Roberts’ second album has aged liked a fine wine.  To celebrate, The Sam Roberts Band has been on a special five city Canadian tour.  Montreal was the final stop on this quick cross-Canada trek.  Why?  Because there really is no place like home.  Though the album was recorded in Australia, and Roberts has resided in many other cities, he has always called Montréal home.  A point he made to the crowd, which roared in approval.  After all of the seats in L’Olympia were finally filled, the lights went down.  Every second of the unmistakable intro to “The Gate” saw the anticipation build.  Up to the moment where the guitars come crashing in.   Those seats quickly emptied again as the crowd leapt to their feet in a cathartic release of excitement.“Bridge To Nowhere” and “With A Bullet” quickly followed before Sam Roberts took a moment to address the elephant in the room.  Yes, there was in fact another big event happening that night.  But, we were encouraged not to talk about it.  Telephones were to be left in our pockets to keep from looking at them out of wonder about what was happening a few blocks down the street.  “Especially you!” he said while laughing and pointing out one concert goer who was wearing the familiar bleu, blanc, rouge.  One final glimpse showed that the Lightning were leading 2-1.  The first part of the set came to an end with Sam Roberts seated by the keyboards, bathed in a triangle of blue light for “A Stone Would Cry Out”.  The soft tones of the song did feel like an ending, but the show wasn’t over.  A brief intermission followed.  Just long enough to see that the Canadiens had tied the score at 2-2.  Following the already established rules, my phone quickly returned to my pocket as the band returned to the stage.  The second half of the set was filled with the already established Sam Roberts Band hits.  “Them Kids”, “We’re All In This Together” and “Don’t Walk Away Eileen” all kept the party going. Nobody wanted the show to come to an end.  As “Brother Down” brought the night to an end one didn’t need to look far to find out where all of the good people had gone.  They had come down to the Chemical City.  The grass was green, the girls were pretty and the Habs ended up winning in Overtime.  A more perfect night couldn’t have been had.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of The Sam Roberts Band while they performed on the L'Olympia stage.

If you would like to find out more about The Sam Roberts Band and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  A big thank you goes out to Jenn Sookdeo of SOOKS Productions & Entertainment Services as well as Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  The Sam Roberts Band have been putting on great shows for years now, and there isn't any chance of that changing anytime soon.  Don't you dare miss it when they play in a town near you.

Helloween At L'Olympia

We're a little bit backed up on getting my concert photographs up here on The Old Blog.  I suppose we will catch up at some point, but this would be a good time to remind you that my concert photographs can be seen in a much more timely manner by visiting V13 Media, which you can do by following the link.  If you'd like an even more direct route to my photographs, you can visit my personal page over there but using the following link.  To the best of my knowledge, Montréal’s Théâtre L’Olympia had never held an agricultural fair.  This past Saturday night, its well worn floor was transformed into a giant pumpkin patch.  Inside were nearly 3000 Linus Val Pelt’s.  All of them just waiting to catch a glimpse of The Great Pumpkin.  Unlike our fictional friend, their time waiting in the patch would soon be rewarded.  Helloween was in town and only moments away from arising.  L’Olympia sold out in near record time after this show was announced, appropriately enough, last Halloween.  Their North American 40^th Anniversary tour continued the good reunion vibes that have followed the band since the return of Michael Kiske and Kai Hansen to the band.  Helloween have been riding a wave of renewed popularity, evidenced by how many of the shows on this tour have sold out.  While waiting in "The Pit" for the stage to be changed, I quickly eyed the crowd and noticed a particularly happy group of headbangers.  They had had driven all the way from Gaspé to catch the show.  A nearly 1000km trip, just to see their favourite band.  You have to appreciate that kind of devotion.  Moment later, the sold-out crowd of Linus’ finally found their Great Pumpkin.  They erupted in unison as Helloween hit the stage.  Andi Deris and Michael Keiske made their way to the front of the extended stage together as they took turns belting out the lyrics to ‘March Of Time’.  Equally impressive was Kai Hansen.  Not only was all over the stage, but he gave Atte Palokangas a run for who had the biggest smile.  After a video visit from The Keeper, Helloween blasted into overdrive with an epic version of ‘The King For 1000 Years’.  Helloween's Keeper Of The Seven Keys albums rank on several all-time greatest lists, and both albums were featured heavily in the setlist.  Their more recent albums shouldn't be ignored either.  Their most recent album, Giants And Monsters, was released in  August of last year.  The first song they played from it, 'This Is Tokyo', was met with as resounding roar from the crowd.  If there were any doubters, and there weren’t, the performance showed that Helloween was not here to rest on any laurels.  They were here to demonstrate that they were still a force to be reckoned with.  Afterwards, we photographers exited the pit.  Helloween continued their awesome performance with another 19 songs from their unrivaled discography.  The Gaspé road warriors were having the time of their lives and everything was well in the pumpkin patch.  Linus had finally seen the Great Pumpkin, and it was glorious.  All of the pĥotographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of Helloween while they performed up on the L'Olympia stage.

 

If you would like to find out more about Helloween 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 Beast In Black, who performed earlier that evening, you can do so by following the link.  As always, a big thank you goes out to Helloween's publicist, Ute Kromrey of Bottom Row Music Industry, Extensive Enterprise and Christopher Gonda of V13 Media for getting me a pass to photograph the show.  As always, it is very much appreciated.  Helloween’s 40^th Anniversary tour continues until the end of the month.  Don't you dare miss if when they perform in a town near you.