Kids At Play

I've found myself in some interesting situations over the years thanks to my camera.  The latest adventure found me in a school gymnasium.  No, I wasn't there to jump the pommel horse or to do any laps, thank goodness, but rather to photograph some young actors.  One of my co-workers at The Day Job has a daughter who runs an after-school theater group as part of a school project.  They were putting on their end of session spectacular and invited your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer  to capture the show.  I like nothing more than doing such things, and the thought of young kids participating in artistic activities is something I support, so I was more than happy to haul my gear down to the show and help.  Their production was a retelling of three fairy tales, Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding Hood and Cinderella.  I arrived early so I was able to photograph both the final rehearsal and the main performance.  I was happy to be there for the rehearsal because it allowed me to take some photographs from the front of the stage without blocking any viewers.  It also allowed me to see the show a first time so that I would know of any surprise events that would take place and I'd take a mental note to make sure that I wouldn't miss them the second time.  Such was the case with a certain glass of water that will be seen in the photographs that will be appearing further down the page.  The director was a little nervous as show time approached, though not as nervous as he Mom, but in the end everything went off without a hitch and the young actors were treated to a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 75mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 59mm and the third photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 140mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took during their performance.

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 75mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 102mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 40mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 63mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 45mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 100mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 145mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 85mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 32mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 88mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 42mm

Yes, much like my young friend, I give the performance two thumbs-up as well.  It was a fun way to spend the evening, and I'm glad that my photographs will help them complete their theatre project.  A winning situation for everyone.

Garden Poppy

It's two-for-one special day here on the old blog.  On occasion, I find myself playing with some of my photographs and by cropping at different locations, I end up with two versions that I like.  Such was the case with this poppy that was growing in my Mom's garden.  The flower itself was pretty banged up as it had been already in bloom for a while.  However, the stamen at the center of the flower was still in good shape.  I decided I'd snap off a photograph of the flower and see how things would turn out.  I grabbed my macro lens, focused on the center of the flower and snapped away.  Once at home, I began to crop in nice and tight on the stamens because I felt it was the most important part of the photograph.  However, as I continued to play around, I also created another version where the center was still the focus of the photograph, but showed a little bit more of the petals.  I liked some of the age marks on the petals, I felt like it gives the flower a little bit of character.  The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/100sec, ISO 400 at 60mm and then both cropped to 8"x12".  Both photographs have something that I really like and hopefully they have a little something that grabs your eye as well.

Dessert For Dad

We had a little family lunch to celebrate Father's Day and My Lovely Assistant once again got a little creative in the kitchen.  It was rather hot and steamy this year, so she created this light Strawberry and Lemon Square dessert.  They disappeared rather quickly, but there were still a few left for me to play with when we got home.  I grabbed a couple, put them on a plate and added a few extra strawberries.  I used another smaller strawberry to prop up the first square so that the top would be visible.  I then put the plate on the table, bounced a little flash off the ceiling to get everything well lit, and voila!  Strawberry Lemon Squares.  The photograph was take at f/8, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 24mm and though I usually go out of my way to fill up as much free space as possible in my photograph, I kind of liked leaving the plate half empty.  After all, with the warm temperatures, one needs to leave some space free for ice cream.

Peace And Quiet

With Father's Day being just around the corner, I am reminded of what was probably my Dad's most requested item over the years, a little peace and quiet.  With those words in mind, I couldn't think of anything more peaceful and quiet than this photograph I took while on vacation in Percé a few years back.  While there, My Lovely Assistant and I ended up walking up Mont Sainte-Anne, and one of the rewards was this nice view of  the trees growing at the edge of the cliff next to the Baie de Percé and a slightly cloudy sky.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Here's to hoping that all you fathers find all the peace and quiet you're looking for.

Pontiac Grand Prix

Those of you who follow Formula One Racing know that the race this past Sunday took place in my backyard.  As a result, I usually try and get a car related update here on the old blog.  However, after all of the updates of last week, I was feeling a little burned out of the place and pretty much stayed away.  I still had some photographs prepared, so better late than never, here they are.  In keeping with the theme of the weekend, these photographs are the interior and exterior of a 1965 Pontiac Grand Prix.  The coupe version of the Grand Prix was in production from 1962 to 2002, and the 1965 versions featured a few changes.  Among them was including a nice walnut trim to the center console, on display here in the first photograph, which was taken at f/7.1, 1/60sec, ISO 400 at 42mm.  With the second photograph, taken at f/7.1, 1/400sec, ISO 400 at 68mm, I liked how you can see some of the dust that has fallen on the car, except just under the lettering.  I know that the owners do a big clean-up for these classic car events and the specks of dust were just a little something that grabbed my interest.

The Broadway Trio At Festival Classica

After having so much fun the night before, I figured maybe I had the time to take in a fourth concert on Sunday as well.  The Festival Classica was still going on in Saint-Lambert and after taking a look at their schedule of outdoor shows, I noticed one that caught my eye. It was a trio of singers, Gino Quilico, Raphaëlle Paquette and Jean-Michel Richer, performing classic songs from famous Broadway plays.  Though not really a big fan of plays myself, I thought it probably is something I should look into since I love both music and films.  It's hard not to have gone through life without hearing some of the songs from classic pieces like Les Miserables, The Sound of Music, West Side Story and The Phantom of the Opera.  Upon reading the brief synopsis of the show and finding out it was starting in about half an hour, I grabbed my camera and was out the door.  I managed to grab a nice spot to the left of the stage near one of the cement blocks that held up the inflatable roof over the stage.  I thought about only taking photographs of a few songs, but the three of them weren't on stage together until near the very end of the show and I was having so much fun shooting photographs and listening to the songs.  I took so many photographs that I ended up having to break the show up in to four different updates.  This one, featuring photographs of the three performers together on the stage, and then three other updates which feature them individually.  As a result, we have not only our fourth consecutive day of updates here on the old blog, but four updates in one day as well.  Phew, I think I can feel my keyboard melting under my fingers.  I was planning on posting the updates on different days, but as My Lovely Assistant told me, doing so would mean that the last of the photographs would only be posted on Saturday, nearly a week after the concert had taken place.  Now, I don't really have to deal with any deadlines since this blog is a creation of Your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer just to display his work, but even I found that posting photographs of a show one week after it happened is probably a bit extreme.  So buckle up, there are lots of photographs waiting to be seen.  The first photograph of this update was taken at f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 110mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 160mm.  The third photograph was taken at f/4, 1/640sec ISO 400 at 125mm and the fourth photograph was taken at f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 150mm.  Here are a couple more photographs of the trio performing together.

f/4, 1/640sec ISO 400 at 142mm

f/4, 1/250sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

Keep scrolling down the page for the solo updates as there are lots more photographs waiting to be seen.  Or, I could make things easier by providing the following links.  You can see the photographs of Jean-Michel Richer right here.  The photographs of Raphaëlle Paquette can be found by following this link, and you can find the photographs of Gino Quilico by following this link.  Though you're probably reading this update first it's actually the fourth that I'm writing as I wanted this one to show up first on the page so that people would understand the following three.  The performance was spectacular with my favourite moment being the duet between Gino Quilico and Raphaëlle Paquette singing Phantom of the Opera from the play of the same name.  And with that, I need a break.  See you all soon.

Gino Quilico At Festival Classica

This is the first of the solo updates from what I like to call my Broadway Trio series.  This update deals with the performance of Gino Quilico, probably the biggest names in operatic singing in Quebec and Canada.  He was performing in Saint-Lambert at the Festival Classica with Raphaëlle Paquette and Jean-Michel Richer.  Together, they performed songs from several famous Broadway plays.  Mr. Quilico himself is no stranger, having begun his singing career in the 1980s and has been heard in many of the most famous opera houses in North America and the world.  He has performed before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, performed a private concert for Prince Charles and Princes Diana, is an honoured member of the Order of Canada, has won a Grammy Award, has almost 30 recorded albums and has performed at such famous festivals such as those in Saltzburg, Edinburgh and Provence.  All that, and he had the crowd eating out of his hand on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  Not hard to believe with such a pedigree.  It's still hard to believe that I got to see such a performer for free, and that there weren't more people on hand to see a free performance from one the greatest opera singers in the Country.  The first two photographs were taken at f/4, 1/1250sec, ISO 800 at 150mm and here are a few more of Mr. Quilico performing.

f/4, 1/1250sec, ISO 800 at 140mm

f/4, 1/1600sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/4, 1/1000sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/4, 1/1250sec, ISO 800 at 168mm

f/4, 1/1250sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

There are a couple more updates still to go.  Keep reading for some photographs that I took of his co-stars, Raphaëlle Paquette and Jean-Michel Richer and the entire group.

Raphaëlle Paquette At Festival Clasica

Update number three of the Broadway Trio series looks at Raphaëlle Paquette.  She is a Soprano as well as being a multi-talented performer trained in classical singing, piano and ballet.  She has performed all over the province, including a six year stint as Cristal from the operatic version of Luc Plamondon's Starmania at the Opera de Montreal, Opera de Quebec and on tours of Europe and Asia.  She found herself in Saint-Lambert as part of a show with Gino Quilico and Jean-Michel Richer singing songs from several famous Broadway plays.  The first photograph was taken at f4, 1/1600sec, ISO 800 at 150mm.  Here are several more photographs from her perfromance, both solo and with her co-stars.

f/4, 1/1600sec, ISO 800 at 142mm

f/4, 1/1600sec, ISO 800 at 125mm

f/4, 1/1600sec, ISO 800 at 125m

f/4, 1/1600sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/4, 1/1000sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 168mm

f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

If you've made it this far, you're almost done.  One more update to go. Keep reading for some photographs that I took of her co-stars, Gino Quilico and Jean-Michel Richer and the entire group.   Keep reading.

Jean-Michel Richer At Festival Classica

This is the fourth update of the Broadway Trio set and the photographs are focused on Jean-Michel Richer.  Jean-Michel is a Tenor who has sung with the Opera de Montreal and performed in several countries.  He has performed songs from Don Giovanni, Montezuma and La Boheme among others.  On Sunday, he performed a series of Broadway songs both solo and also with his partners on the afternoon, Gino Quilico and Raphaëlle Paquette, as part of a concert highlighting songs from several famous Broadway plays.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/1250sec, ISO 800 at 168mm.  Here are several more of Jean-Michel performing.

f/4, 1/1250sec, ISO 800 at 150mm

f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/4, 1/1600sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/4, 1/1600sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/4, 1/400sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

f/4, 1/400sec, ISO 800 at 130mm

f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 800 at 168mm

f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 155mm

f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 800 at 200mm

This was the fourth update of the day, or somewhere between one and four depending on if you were reading them as they were being put up.  If you've been reading from the beginning, thanks for sticking around.  Keep reading for some photographs that I took of his co-stars, Raphaëlle Paquette and Gino Quilico and the entire group.