Do you remember about a month ago when I promised everyone Part 2 of my story photographing the show Romeo vs Juliette? Yes, I promised that Part 2 would be in a few days, and in theory, it has been a' few days'. I'll be honest, this took a bit longer to write than I had planned, but since being a photographer is not my 'day job', sometimes real life gets in the way. So here we are. When we last spoke I was talking about the near heart-attack I had when trying to download my photos to my computer. That seems like a pretty good place for us to begin. I kind of had the bad feeling that something was wrong when I was trying to thumb through the photos on the camera and there would be a long delay. I just took it to mean that the camera was reacting a little more slow than usual due
to the high number of photos that were on it. This was the point where I was getting some cold chills, but I wasn't into a full blown panic just yet as the photos were there and I could see them. I got home and plugged the camera into my computer and that's when the call to 911 was almost made. The first photograph tried to download and I was met with a message that read 'Error - Cannot Read File'. I then had the option to 'Try Again' or to 'Skip File'. Obviously, I pressed 'Try Again'. Again, and again, and again. After that failed, and with the sweat coming down my back starting to get real cold, I chose the 'Skip File' function with my fingers crossed. The exact same thing happened. I began to have visions of 1800 photographs that would never see the light of day and an entire choir that was going to
be disappointed when I had to tell them that I had zero shots of their show. This is when my lovely assistant, who I have said several times is the brains behind this operation, told me to go take a shower because I smelled really bad. Did I mention that she's also very honest? She told me to take a shower and to calm down so that I would be able to think a little more straight. Damn, if she didn't know what she was talking about. Fresh out of the shower it struck me that I could also access the photos by using the computer's directory to plug into the camera's memory card instead of the method I usually used by letting the photos download directly using the wire than came with the camera.
Hallelujah! We have pictures! I cannot put into words the relief I felt at that moment. It took about an hour 
to download all of the pictures, meaning we were closing in on 2:00AM at this point and I was due to be at the day job for 8:00AM. Gone was the dread as it was quickly replaced by the sheer joy of seeing my photographs were safe and sound. It was a great experience and one that I enjoyed so much that I actually went back a few days later. During the first night I was there, some of the actors had asked me to take some pictures of them in costume. Things were pretty rushed that night and with the knowledge in my head that there might be troubles ahead, I didn't stick around very long afterwards, though there wouldn't have been any time that night either as they had a production meeting. I returned the next week and took a whole bunch of pictures of anyone who wanted a memento of themselves in costume. It 
was a great time as I was literally speed shooting the entire night as actors would come backstage after their scenes had ended and be photographed quickly before going back out to the stage. Several more were taken during the intermission as I had a line of actors waiting to be shot, not only in character but also as small groups. It was a great rush as person after person stepped into my makeshift 'studio' and we snapped away. I also found the time during the intermission to take a group photo, something else that had been 'forgotten' the first night I was there due to the lingering thoughts about my camera. As with last time, all of the shots during the show were taken at f/2.8, ISO 1600 due to the lowlight. I absolutely love the 4th picture you see on this page as even with the low light, I was still able to get the shot 
with her hair frozen in the air as she turned. That shot was taken at 1/320sec. The other shots of the show, in order of appearance were shot at 1/400sec., 1/160sec and 1/125sec. I had shot the show in AV mode so the camera took care of the shutter speeds for me. The group shot at the beginning and the smaller group photo were both taken at f/6.3, 1/250sec, ISO 100. Obviously, I used a flash. I also had another thinking on your feet moment. As previously mentioned, many of the actors wanted full body shots in their costumes, so I was quick to accept the job. Only there was one problem. Not having studio lighting, I have to rely on my Canon 580 EX which doesn't really provide good lighting when trying to shoot vertically. To solve this problem I shot really wide at 24mm so that I could later crop the photos horizontally once I was home. And just like that, my two weeks of fun came to an end. This is the second time I got to shoot for the Choeur Vives Voix and I can't thank them enough for having the confidence in me to shoot their yearly production and for so warmly allowing me into their lives. You'll probably be seeing a few other photos from this show over the course of the year because there were so many that I loved, and I hope to be able to work with them next year as well.
to the high number of photos that were on it. This was the point where I was getting some cold chills, but I wasn't into a full blown panic just yet as the photos were there and I could see them. I got home and plugged the camera into my computer and that's when the call to 911 was almost made. The first photograph tried to download and I was met with a message that read 'Error - Cannot Read File'. I then had the option to 'Try Again' or to 'Skip File'. Obviously, I pressed 'Try Again'. Again, and again, and again. After that failed, and with the sweat coming down my back starting to get real cold, I chose the 'Skip File' function with my fingers crossed. The exact same thing happened. I began to have visions of 1800 photographs that would never see the light of day and an entire choir that was going to 
be disappointed when I had to tell them that I had zero shots of their show. This is when my lovely assistant, who I have said several times is the brains behind this operation, told me to go take a shower because I smelled really bad. Did I mention that she's also very honest? She told me to take a shower and to calm down so that I would be able to think a little more straight. Damn, if she didn't know what she was talking about. Fresh out of the shower it struck me that I could also access the photos by using the computer's directory to plug into the camera's memory card instead of the method I usually used by letting the photos download directly using the wire than came with the camera. Hallelujah! We have pictures! I cannot put into words the relief I felt at that moment. It took about an hour 
to download all of the pictures, meaning we were closing in on 2:00AM at this point and I was due to be at the day job for 8:00AM. Gone was the dread as it was quickly replaced by the sheer joy of seeing my photographs were safe and sound. It was a great experience and one that I enjoyed so much that I actually went back a few days later. During the first night I was there, some of the actors had asked me to take some pictures of them in costume. Things were pretty rushed that night and with the knowledge in my head that there might be troubles ahead, I didn't stick around very long afterwards, though there wouldn't have been any time that night either as they had a production meeting. I returned the next week and took a whole bunch of pictures of anyone who wanted a memento of themselves in costume. It 
was a great time as I was literally speed shooting the entire night as actors would come backstage after their scenes had ended and be photographed quickly before going back out to the stage. Several more were taken during the intermission as I had a line of actors waiting to be shot, not only in character but also as small groups. It was a great rush as person after person stepped into my makeshift 'studio' and we snapped away. I also found the time during the intermission to take a group photo, something else that had been 'forgotten' the first night I was there due to the lingering thoughts about my camera. As with last time, all of the shots during the show were taken at f/2.8, ISO 1600 due to the lowlight. I absolutely love the 4th picture you see on this page as even with the low light, I was still able to get the shot 
with her hair frozen in the air as she turned. That shot was taken at 1/320sec. The other shots of the show, in order of appearance were shot at 1/400sec., 1/160sec and 1/125sec. I had shot the show in AV mode so the camera took care of the shutter speeds for me. The group shot at the beginning and the smaller group photo were both taken at f/6.3, 1/250sec, ISO 100. Obviously, I used a flash. I also had another thinking on your feet moment. As previously mentioned, many of the actors wanted full body shots in their costumes, so I was quick to accept the job. Only there was one problem. Not having studio lighting, I have to rely on my Canon 580 EX which doesn't really provide good lighting when trying to shoot vertically. To solve this problem I shot really wide at 24mm so that I could later crop the photos horizontally once I was home. And just like that, my two weeks of fun came to an end. This is the second time I got to shoot for the Choeur Vives Voix and I can't thank them enough for having the confidence in me to shoot their yearly production and for so warmly allowing me into their lives. You'll probably be seeing a few other photos from this show over the course of the year because there were so many that I loved, and I hope to be able to work with them next year as well.
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