Halloween Finger Cookies

My Lovely Assistant was busy creating a tasty Halloween treat for the trick-or-treaters.  Luckily for me, there are no trick-or-treaters who pass by here for Halloween which means most of them will be mine!  These are Halloween Witches Finger Cookies.  They are homemade cookies, formed in the shape of a finger, with a jellybean added at the end where the fingernail would be. Such an awesome Halloween snack that 'Bones' demanded to be added to the photograph as well.  As is the usual case, I needed to snap a few photographs of her handy work and I managed to take longer grabbing one photograph than she spent making the cookies.  The photograph was taken at f/9, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  My jacket ended up doubling as a backdrop and I bounced some flash off of the ceiling to make sure everything was nice and bright.  There's probably a few more things to say, but there are cookies to eat and time is a wasting!  Happy Halloween!

Dorothy At The Metropolis

It was another triple-header show at le Métropolis in Montreal.  We'll get to the other two acts in due time, but the show opened with a performance by Dorothy, a fairly new group out of Los Angeles and fronted by Dorothy Martin.  Obligatory jokes were made about the fact that it was odd to see Dorothy in concert without Toto, which is of course funny because both are bands as well as being characters in The Wizard of Oz.  I hope the audience at home appreciated my attempt at humour, but even if you didn't, it went over well live with my friends.  Jokes aside, I was once again happy to be able to bring my camera to the show.  It adds to the fun for me, and of course allows me take a couple keepsakes of the night home with me and to share with those of you out there who visit.  I didn't know much about Dorothy before the show, so I was looking forward to discovering a new band. They put on a very good show, in particular the guitarist who was a bundle of energy as he bounced and played around the stage.  Not being the most knowledgeable person when it comes to fashion, I found the hat that Dorothy wore to be interesting, but then again, I'm the guy who has been wearing the same baseball cap that is falling apart at the seams for almost 15 years now.  I'd also like to know what the reasoning is behind the opening acts always having such poor lighting.  I understand that most of the lights need to be placed in such a way that the headliners stage set-up gets priority, but as someone shooting photographs from the crowd, I'd sure appreciate an added spotlight of two.  Sure, my shooting photographs from the crowd is far from being a priority, infact it's probably even looked down upon, but a guy can dream, right?  The first photograph was taken at f/2.5, 1/50sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.2, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm.  Here are a few more photographs.

f/2.8, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

f/4, 1/40sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

f/4, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

f/4, 1/25sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

f/2.5, 1/40sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

Using such a high ISO and still not getting any fast shutter speeds had me worried, but I was still able to squeeze out a couple of decent shots.  They're grainier that I would like and not tack sharp, but I'm happy with them.  At the end of the day, that's what matters most.

More From Mt. Sutton

That last photograph proved to be rather popular with some of you out there in Internetland, so I figured that it would be a good time to get a few of these out here before the snow finally arrives.  That, or they would probably end up getting lost in my archives until next year.  The snow has already arrived at Sutton, or so my family of spies in the area tell me, so these colours have probably already disappeared.  I took these after taking a ride up the chair-lift with My Lovely Assistant, a ride that was going well until I was told to make sure I didn't get knocked over by the chair while getting off, a thought that remained in my head and terrorized me for the final few feet of our ride.  The landing wasn't smooth, but any landing you can walk away from should be considered a good one.  The first photograph was taken at f/11, 1/50sec, ISO 400 at 70mm.  Here are a few more photographs.

f/11, 1/125sec, ISO 400 at 34mm

f/8, 1/250sec, ISO 400 at 57mm

That final photograph was taken at the same time as the photograph from Tuesday, I just included the sign of the mountain in this one.  Like My Lovely Assistant said, a little free advertising.  Always nice to see some Fall colours on display.

Autumn Jigsaw

A few weeks back, My Lovely Assistant and I visited the town of Sutton and rode the ski-lift to the top of the mountain in order to take advantage of the Fall colours.  The ride up and walk down the mountain provided some nice views, but the nicest colours I found were viewed from the comfort of my car in the parking lot.  I drove a little closer to the hill, got out of the car and took a few photographs.  This photograph was taken at f/8, 1/250sec, ISO 400 at 70mm.  Sadly, it was a cloudy day, but there was still enough light to see all of the colours.  A little sunlight would have done wonders, but since I don't have a direct line to Mother Nature, I dealt with what I was given.  Even without the sunshine, this photograph would probably make one heck of a jigsaw puzzle to solve.

Lighting Up The Sky

f/16, 30sec, ISO 100 at 68mm

During the month of July, much of my time is spent with my camera pointed to the sky and photographing the annual fireworks competition.  However, I also take lots of photographs before the actual fireworks begin as I make sure that my camera is properly focused.  In certain situations, I also tried to time my photographs with the very beginning of the fireworks, which is the case with this one.  I wanted my photograph to have the lights from the rides at the La Ronde amusement park to be on. They turn the lights of the rides off when the show begins.  I think of it as being a personal challenge to try and get both together.  This was a win/lose situation in that while I did get the light at the top of the giant pole at the right of the screen, the other rides, most notably the Ferris wheel, ended up getting hidden by the explosions.  I still liked the image though, especially the long blue streak created by a police car that was crossing the bridge, so I cropped it a little wider than usual and then lost it in my hard drive as I didn't want to post another fireworks photographs after having done a full month of them.

A New Season Begins

I suppose that these photographs could serve as a lesson in how to milk an outing for several updates.  These photographs were taken almost a year ago, and photographs taken at this particular game have been used in four separate updates. I had planned on putting these out last week with the beginning of a new NHL season, but things got a little backed up with all of the concert photographs.  Imagine that, things getting backed up here on the old blog.  If you still find that hard to believe, I'd like to someday introduce you to all of the photographs from 2014 still waiting for their moment in the glow of a computer screen.  As you should be used to reading at this point, these photographs are of my friend Emmanuel's daughter, Florence tending goal.  I had spent the entire game pretty much focused only on her as the goaltender is always involved in the action and you can be sure that the puck will be in that general area.  I've always liked my hockey photographs to have a puck in them when possible.  There were lots of pucks flying around that afternoon, and though her team didn't get the win, there was lots of action and many brilliant saves were made.  The first photograph was taken at f/4.5, 1/500sec, ISO 1000 at 105mm and the second photograph was taken at f/5, 1/160sec, ISO 1000 at 100mm.  Here are, I assure you, the final photographs that I took during the game. 

 f/5, 1/400sec ISO 1000 at 90mm

f/5, 1/500sec, ISO 1000 at 70mm

f/5, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

I promise, no more photographs from this particular game.  However, if an invitation happens to be given, I'd be more than happy to shoot some new ones at some point this season.  I guess we'll wait and see.

Airbourne At Théâtre Corona

And so, one week later, we finally reach then end of a rather active Saturday that I spent with my camera last weekend.  For those of you who have not been keeping track, the day began with a rainy trip to a park in Longueuil to watch The Lost Fingers play a free show.  We also grabbed a few photographs of the Ideealist Dance troupe who were on hand and helping to keep the wet crowd entertained.  Later that night, it was off to the Théâtre Corona where British Columbia rockers The Wild opened the night to get the crowd ready for the headliners, Airbourne.  They were in town two years ago at the same venue and I was able to get some photographs of them at that time, so I was happy to be able to repeat that this year.  I ran into a few obstacles along the way.  I ended up standing in the same spot as usual, but I ended up having someone to my right who enjoyed waving his hands around for much of the show, and with the way that the stage ended up being arranged, I had a mic stand that ended up being in my way as well.  Add to that the unwanted head of a security guard and I had a few photographic frustrations over the course of the show.  Thought that didn't take anything away from the show itself.  Airbourne are 110% action up on the stage.  The lead singer, Joel O'Keefe ended up all over the venue.  Singing from the stage, as well as unleashing shredding solos while being paraded through the crowd on the shoulders of a security guard.  He played while standing on the bar/merchandise stand, continuing the solo from the second floor balcony and even climbing a metal railing at the side of the stage.  All while letting us know how good it felt to be moving around since a fall while doing a similar stunt a few weeks back had left him with ligament damage to a knee and bruised ribs.  All part of the show for these Australian rockers who were in town to promote their latest album, Breakin' Outta Hell.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.2, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/2.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm and the third photograph was taken at f/2.2, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm.  Here are a few more photographs that  I took during the show.

f/2.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.2, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.2, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.2, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.5, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.5, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.5, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.5 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.5, 1/40sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.8, 1/30sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

The old 50mm must have been smoking at the end of the night.  I still managed to get what I believe to be some pretty cool shots of the band, as well as a few of my own favourites, such as grabbing a shot of the action through somebodies cellphone and the always elusive beer arc as the singer swings a can over his head from the stage.  It was another great show, and a fun way to bring an end to a very eventful day.

The Wild At Théâtre Corona

We continue to work our way through the action of last Saturday.  This time my camera and I found ourselves at the Théâtre Corona for a concert.  The opening band on the bill was a group from British Columbia known as The Wild.  This was my first time hearing them and they were fast and loud.  Just right for a rock band.  I was once again allowed to bring my camera into the building, though once again limited to my 50mm lens.  We got there early enough so I could once again get a spot near the stage, close enough to see the band, and against a side wall so that I would not have to worry about any floating bodies.  The lights were kind of low, so a high ISO was needed, though I tried to make sure I did not go any higher than 1600 in order to limit the amount of grain in my photographs.  There is still some there, but there seems to be less than I am used to seeing.  The band would often group together at the front of the stage, which allowed me to grab some nice shots of the singer, guitarist and bassist in action together.  I managed to crop out a couple of single shots as well, which are always nice to get under such conditions. The first photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took during the show.

f/2.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.5, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.5, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.5, 1/30sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.5, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/2.5, 1/200sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.5, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

Though they only played for about half an hour, The Wild quickly won over the crowd with their playing, and even tossed out a 'Go Habs Go!' to further win favour with the local crowd.  They put on a good show and got the crowd ready to rock for the headliner, which should be coming up in our next update.

The Lost Fingers In Longueuil

The rain was coming down in buckets Saturday morning, but it stopped long enough for My Lovely Assistant to convince me to get into the car for a short trip to the Parc Michel-Chartrand where the city of Longueuil was having their 36 Hours of Colour festival.  Sadly, a few minutes into the ride the rain returned, and it didn't stop.  We still continued on our trek as The Lost Fingers are a group that both of us enjoy.  They were also enjoyed by about 20 other people as the rain did a great job of keeping everybody away.  I don't know if this counts as a trend, but this is the second time that I've attended, and photographed, a Lost Fingers concert in rather bad weather conditions.  There was the downpour of this past Saturday afternoon, and the previously freezing cold temperatures of a New Year's Eve show they gave at the Old Port of Montreal on the last day of 2013.  Thinking there would be a larger crowd, I only brought a telephoto lens with me as I thought I'd be shooting from farther back.  Had I wanted to, I could have gone to the front of the stage, though I think the people behind me would have been upset about my umbrella blocking their view.  As it was, I stood among the other concert goers, umbrella in one hand a camera in the other.  The first photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/160sec, ISO 320 at 70mm and the second photograph was taken at f/4.5, 1/320sec, ISO 320 at 123mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took during their show.

f/7.1, 1/125sec, ISO 320 at 130mm

f/6.3, 1/160sec, ISO 320 at 115mm

f/6.3, 1/125sec, ISO 320 at 200mm

f/7.1, 1/60sec, ISO 320 at 102mm

f/7.1, 1/100sec, ISO 320 at 125mm

f/5, 1/250sec, ISO 320 at 135mm

f/7.1, 1/125sec, ISO 320 at 130mm

f/5, 1/320sec, ISO 320 at 90mm

f/5, 1/200sec, ISO 320 at 130mm

f/7.1, 1/100sec, ISO 320 at 130mm

f/7.1, 1/125sec, ISO 320 at 130mm

 

 f/5, 1/200sec, ISO 320 at 200mm

f/5, 1/200sec, ISO 320 at 90mm

Despite the rain, a good time was had by all who attended.  The band played all of their hits and were having a good time up on the stage.  They were all smiles and laughs, making the best of a less than perfect situation.  Hopefully we'll see them again soon under better meteorological conditions, but if not, I'm sure they'll have everyone dancing in the rain once again.