The Sheepdogs At MTelus

The headlining act of my first concert shoot of the year was Saskatchewan's own, The Sheepdogs.  I heard a few months back that they would be performing at MTelus and after the success of requesting a photo pass to shoot The Beaches back in November, I thought I'd see if I could successfully grab another.  I got my confirmation from their band manager (thank you very much Rebecca) Friday afternoon and was in the pit when they took the stage a little after 9:30PM.  The Sheepdogs shot to fame thanks to winning a contest to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine back in 2011 and a Juno for Best Rock Album in 2012 for their album Learn & Burn, while also winning one for New Group of the Year at the same time.  They have gained a large fan base playing what they call "pure, simple, good-time music" and have released four albums of what I guess could be called Countrified Classic Rock.  Their latest, Changing Colours, was released last February.  Seeing as how I'm used to shooting these shows from the crowd, moving around is never really an option.  In the pit, though space is limited, I am free to roam a little bit while making sure not to get in the way of the other photographers.  To try and get used to this, I told myself I was going to shoot each of the three songs we were allowed to photograph from different spots in the pit.  I began at the far right of the stage and was at the opposite end by the third. Baby steps, but you need to crawl before you can run.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 34mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 40mm.  Here are some more photographs that I took at the show.

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 30mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 34mm

 

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 3200 at 32mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 35mm

f/4.5, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 30mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

The camera problems, which were discuss in the Damn Truth post, and the harsh lighting were a little problematic, but I fought through and think I ended up with some pretty cool shots of the show.  Thank you once again to Rebecca and Evenko for the pass.  Now, off to plan how to acquire photo pass #3.

The Damn Truth At MTelus

I usually don't get my first concert photographs of the year until the outdoor season begins in May.  The schedule got bumped up a few months as I managed to get myself a photo pass to shoot a night of music at the MTelus (formerly known as the Metropolis) in Montreal.  The opening band of the night was Montreal's own latest musical success story, The Damn Truth.  They've been building their profile over the last few years and have been producing some awesome live shows.  This was the first chance I had to see them live and the energy was off the wall.  They played songs from their two studio releases, but I only had pit access for the first three songs of the set.  During this time, I tried to snap away as much as possible, but was hindered by my camera which kept shutting down with an Error 99 message.  It made things a little more difficult, not to mention the terrible timing, but I think I still managed to grab some pretty cool shots of the band. I guess it might be time to upgrade and ease my trusty 30D into lighter work schedule.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 43mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 3200 at 32mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took while still in the pit.  

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 35mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 40mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 32mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/4.5, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 60mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

It was my first time in a photo pit and it was everything I had hoped it would be.  Three songs goes by real fast so there wasn't much time to take in the situation, but there was also one more group to be heard.  Thanks to The Damn Truth for the great show, and of course the fine folks at Evenko for the photo pass.

Icy City

You could say that I've been making the most of my week off.  The weather has been snowy and cold, just the way I like it.  I've spent a good portion of my days outside photographing the elements.  Three of my photographs from earlier in the week ended up being broadcast on CTV Montreal.  One of those also appeared in the online edition of La Presse.  To top off the week, we have another CTV Montreal appearance.  It was a snowy, overcast morning and I thought I might be able to capture it.  I drove around for a bit before stopping in a park near the old port.  Across the street is a bike path which has a great view of the river and the downtown skyscrapers.  The ice on the river was cracked, looking like a jigsaw puzzle, and though I don't think it shows in the small resolution used on this blog, in my full-sized photo you can see the snow falling from the sky.  After getting home and thawing out, I sent the photograph off to Lori Graham at CTV Montreal.  It aired after that funny snowman story that you can see in the video.  Those with quick eyes might also see the photograph on the little screen in the top right of the video at the beginning.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/60sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  As usual, thanks once again to Lori Graham and the crew at CTV Montreal for the kind words and for airing another of my photographs.  It's always fun to see.

In La Presse+

I'm not really a morning person, but if I have to wake up, there is no better way to do so than by seeing one of my photographs in one of the most read daily news publications in Québec.  You've seen the videos of my frosty morning photographs that appeared on CTV Montreal on Monday.  My little fifteen seconds of fame got extended a little bit as one of those photographs also appeared in the La Presse+ online newspaper today.  I submitted my favourite of the three to their weather related photography service, et voila!  I'm not really big on double postings of the same photograph, but the link only provides a small screenshot of what most people can see on their mobile devices.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/320sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  It always feels good to see my photographs in places other than the old blog.

Frosty Morning #1

This morning I was supposed to head out and do a couple of errands, but after taking a glance towards the river, I knew that my plans were about to change.  Though it wasn't very cold, by my standards, there was a fine layer of frost that I could see over the trees of Ile Sainte-Hélène.  I rushed back inside, grabbed my camera and made my way for the islands.  I drove down to the Biosphere where I knew there was a little bridge that connects to Ile Notre-Dame which would give me a view of the Biosphere, but also many of a the frosted trees that lined the coast.  From there, the photographs were sent off to CTV News where Lori Graham aired them as part of the Weatherpix segments.  This is the first of three updates, just follow along on the main page to see the others.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/320sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  This was probably my favourite of the three as I found a space between the trees where the skyscrapers of Montreal peaked through.  Thanks to Lori Graham for airing the photographs and also sharing them on Twitter, as well as the fine folks as CTV News Montreal.

Frosty Morning #2

Here is the second of my frosty morning photographs.  I almost missed this one being aired.  After the first photograph was aired at the beginning of the broadcast, I left the room to do other things.  It was only later, just after the newscast had ended, that I called my Dad and he let me know that a second photograph had also been used near the end of the telecast.  Thanks for watching, Dad.  This photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/250sec, ISO 100 at 50mm.  One of my favourite subjects, it never lets me down.  Thanks again to Lori Graham, who also shared these photographs on her Twitter account and for her nice comments on the air.  Thanks also to the fine folks at CTV News Montreal.  One more update to go.

Frosty Morning #3

Those of you following live, this is maybe the first update you'll be seeing, but as they will be posted chronologically on the old blog, this will end up being update #3, hence the title.  After two of my photographs ended up being aired during the noon broadcast, I got an email informing me that all three would be shown again at 5:00PM.  Sure enough, here they are.  Since the other photographs got solo viewings, I figured I'd show photographer #3 with this update.    The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/800sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  I've had photographs show up on the news before, but this was my first hat trick, as all three ended up making the air.  Thanks once again, to Lori Graham, who also shared the photographs on her Twitter account, and the fine folks at CTV Montreal.

Rebelles 3 - Félines 1

My favourite goaltender, Florence Bouchard-Maynard, and her hockey team, Les Félines de Saint-Laurent, were playing a tournament in Longueuil this weekend, and despite the horrendous winning percentage I bring to the team, I was still invited down to the rink to take some photographs of the game.  Sadly, my bad karma came back to haunt that decision as they ended up losing the game 3 - 1 to the Rebelles de Laval in what was a spirited contest.  I try to take some solace in the fact that Florence and her teammates really like the photographs because I still end up feeling pretty bad when I walk out of the arena after a loss.  I shot the first and third periods from the stands as the area around the rink had been marked as reserved for volunteers and coaches.  I managed to get myself down there by talking with some of the arena staff for the second.  I didn't stay though as there were offices around the ground floor, the stands are well above the ice surface in this arena, and the lights from the offices were reflecting off the glass and into my photograph.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/2000sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.8 1/1000sec, ISO 1600 at 90mm.  Here are a several more photographs that I took during the action.

f/2.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 1600 at 88mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 100mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 120mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 142mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 120mm

f/2.8, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 140mm

f/2.8, 1/1250sec, ISO 3200 at 123mm

f/2.8, 1/1250sec, ISO 3200 at 135mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 3200 at 145mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/1250sec, ISO 3200 at 115mm

All hope is not lost.  There was still a chance of advancing further in the tournament, so with a little bit of luck, you just might see some more hockey photographs here soon.  If I get invited back.

Gone Fishin'

While out on a little photo walk looking for a nice sunset, my plan ended up getting changed when some clouds ended up swallowing that bright ball in the sky and ruining things.  Luckily, there was still a little bit of red that remained and a few steps away I came upon a group of fishers who were looking for fish under the frozen St. Lawrence.  It wasn't quite the photograph that I was looking for, but atleast I didn't come home bredouille.  The photograph was taken at f/5, 1/320sec, ISO 400 at 85mm.  I'll be out to try and get the big catch some time soon.

Booms & Bumps

Sometimes you have to go to the back-up plan.  It was the final Natrel Fire On Ice fireworks and since it was kind of cloudy, I thought I'd just go back to the waterfront, but the parking lot I usually go to was closed.  Not a problem, I figured I'd park a little higher up on the island but the meter refused to take my card.  That meant it was down to parking lot #3, and that one wasn't really ideal for waterfront access.  So, it was up to the walking/bicycle path of the Jacques Cartier Bridge that I went.  The deck of the bridge offers a nice view of the fireworks and the city.  On the downside, because most of the path is closed for the season, the best shooting spot is right next to an expansion joint.  That means that that every time a fast moving car or heavy truck goes by, I would feel the bump where I was standing.  If you look closely at the fireworks streaks, you can see bumps in the streaking light.  Every one of those bumps was a passing motor vehicle.  Luckily, the shaking camera didn't blur out the buildings or the entire outing would have been a waste.  The first photograph was taken at f/16, 13sec, ISO 100 at 40mm.  Here are a few more.

f/16, 8sec, ISO 100 at 48mm

f/16, 10sec, ISO 100 at 48mm

f/16, 8sec, ISO 100 at 48mm

f/16, 6sec, ISO 100 at 48mm

f/16, 13sec, ISO 100 at 48mm

With the exception of the first photograph which was cropped to 12" x 4", the others were all cropped to 12" x 6".  The bumps were a little frustrating, but shooting from the bridge does offer a unique view.  I guess we take the good with the bad.

Blowing In The Wind

What I like best about photography is that anything can be a subject  Even something as ordinary as a Christmas decoration blowing in the wind.  We were celebrating the new year with My Lovely Assistant's Family up North and there was a Christmas tree planted next to a skating rink they had made on the lake.  While everyone was skating, my attention was suddenly taken by the wind whipping through this garland which was wrapped around the tree.  The sun was catching the red and green colours and was just screaming at me to photograph it.  The photograph was taken at f/4, 1/400sec, ISO 100 at 105mm.  Something as simple as a garland blowing in the wind, that's what I like about photography.

Starting Fresh In 2019

The 2018 Watermarks have been deleted and the folders full of photographs marked 2018 have been archived.  We're starting a new year at the old Blog with this photograph of the Biosphere, one of my many favourite subjects.  It was taken just after the big fireworks celebration that marked an end to the 175th anniversary celebration for Montreal.  It was lit bright white for the occasion and I loved how the light reflected off of the structure into the cold air, surrounding it in an illuminated mist.  It looks fresh and new, just like the new year that has begun.  The photograph was taken at f/10, 78sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Happy New Year to all of you from My Lovely Assistant and I.  Hopefully you'll all enjoy seeing the things that I enjoy photographing for another year.