Daisy Day

The calendar has once again brought us to another August 22rd, Daisy Day here at The Old Blog.  We take a little moment and remember Grammie, my Grandmother who passed away on this date 15 years ago.  The traditional method of remembrance has been to post the photograph of a daisy, a flower that holds many memories of our time together for me.  Being a staunch traditionalist at heart, we continue it again this year.  Our Daisy this year comes from the front yard of the Head Office. It was chosen by a committee of three.  Myself, the Heir Apparent and The Crown Prince.  Though to be fair, he was more interested in playing hockey than searching for the right Daisy.  I always tell The Heir Apparent to look for little details, as Grammie was a fan of them.  She spotted that little yellow speck of pollen and felt it was just the right detail we needed.  I do believe that Grammie would approve.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 70mm with some bounced flash to bring those little details out.  Hope you like this one Grammie.

Pelch At Parc Empire

The annual summer concert series put together by the Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est Culture was terrific.  Yes, I usually get these posted while the series is still going, but I ended up getting swamped by Les Francos de Montréal, Festival International de Jazz de Montréal and various other concerts along the way.  Despite those big event garnering my attention, I still try to get to these local shows as much as I can.  I got my start shooting concerts by photographing these free outdoor shows.  I try to keep doing it as way to kind of say 'thanks'.  Though there aren't any real restrictions, the Ville de Longueuil staff have been very kind in allowing me access to the events to take these photographs.  They also allow me to share some moments with The Heir Apparent and Crown Prince.  They attend the shows with me, and often find themselves taking photographs with me at the front of the stage.  Thanks to all of the artist to smile for their cameras.  Those little moments are always among my favourite of the year.  Getting back to why we are here, Mother Nature sadly saw the first two concerts we planned attending get washed out by the rain.  We returned to Parc Empire in Greenfield Park for our second show of the summer.  This one given by Pelch.  I got to shoot Pelch last fall as an opening act and was really impressed.  So, I was really looking forward to this show.  He had much more time on this night than the last time I saw him performed.  He used that extra time marvellously.  Using that time to sing a wide selection of his own hits, and some covers as well.  The concert also had a family feel to it as he invited his cousin up to the stage at one point to sing  song.  Pelch also did his usual trick of making up a song right there live on stage.  Using topical suggestions given from the audience, Pelch treated the crowd to a unique song of their own makings.  Pelch has released several EP's and singles over the year, including his most recent, "Hometown".  Will a full length albums soon be added to the collection?  We'll have to wait and see.  Sadly, as the sun got lower in the sky, the evening came to an end.  It was a terrific night from start to finish.    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 Pelch while he performed on the Parc Empire stage.

If you would like to find out more about Pelch and his music, you can do so by following the link to her webpage.  As usual, a big thank you goes out to the Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est Culture for all of their work putting this summer concert series together and for allowing me to photograph the shows.  It is very much appreciated.   Pelch has several shows coming up all over Québec this Fall.  Don't you dare miss it when he plays in a town near you.