Spring Breakfast

Early Spring weather is kind of grey and messy, so I've been spending the last few days digging through the archives, looking to see if I can get some of the forgotten photographs of my past out there.  These come from a Spring visit to my parents.  My Mom always has lots of winged friends in the yard thanks to her variety of bird feeders.  She had a few visitors on this day, but most of the photographs I took weren't usable as I made the rookie mistake of trying to shoot the photographs through the glass of the patio door rather than being outside.  I did manage to find a few usable shots, so here they are.  The first photograph was taken at f/10, 1/250sec, ISO 400 at 300mm.  Here is one more photograph of my hungry little friend.

f/8, 1/800sec, ISO 400 at 300mm

It was still early Spring when I took these photographs so the little guy didn't have all of his colour yet, but he still didn't mind to pose for the camera.  A lesson was learned on that day, and I have never tried to photograph birds behind glass since.

Spring Preview

Even though it is officially Spring, we're still a few weeks away from having any real natural colours to look at.  Never fear, Your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer is here. I've found some deck photographs from the archives to awaken your eyes from the grey and white of Winter.  These flowers were on our deck in warmer times and after a little rain shower, I headed out to take a few photographs of them.  There was a nice little raindrop right on Stigma of the flower so I grabbed a Macro lens and spent a few minutes snapping away.  The first photograph was taken at f/8, 1/80sec, ISO 400 at 60mm.  Here are a few more that I took.

f/7.1, 1/100sec, ISO 60mm

 f/9, 1/100sec, ISO 400 at 60mm

I took a simple flower, moved it around a little bit and made three different photographs.  I highlighted the colour streaks and drop of rain in the first, pulled back a little bit for a bit of green framing in the second and created a dark hole from which the Stigmas seem to be escaping in the third.  Just a little fun with photography.

Nothing But Blue Sky

Sometimes the story that goes along with the photograph is better than the actual photo.  I don't know if this is the case, but I find the story to be a little amusing.  While visiting my parents over the weekend, My Lovely Assistant and I made a side trip over to my favourite covered bridge.  The sun was going down and I was hoping to get a nice photograph.  While I walked over to the bridge, My Lovely Assistant decided to rest up in the car.  Everything was going well.  The sun was almost at the horizon, there was some nice colour in the sky, and then I took a step.  Suddenly my right leg sunk in the snow and I found myself buried up to my waist in a much deeper snow bank than I had anticipated.  A car was about to pass by, but I didn't feel like explaining my embarrassing situation, so I just raised my camera to my face and made like I was taking a photograph and that everything was normal.  The car went by, the camera went back down and the scramble to dig myself out of my snowy situation began.  I managed to get one leg free, but the other was proving to be a bit more difficult as my shoe was also coming off and would fill with snow.  I'd free one leg, only for the other to sink a little further down.  I looked over to the car a few times, but I believe My Lovely Assistant was in the middle of a little cat nap.  By the time that I dug myself free, the sun was pretty much gone, but the sky was still a nice blue so I quickly snapped off a few photographs before what was left of the sun disappeared.  The first photograph was taken at f/9, 1/60sec, ISO 100 at 24mm and the second photograph was taken at f/9, 1/40sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  In a perfect world, I probably would have used a tripod and longer shutter speed for a blue hour photograph, but in a perfect world I also wouldn't have been up to my butt in snow while my sunset was disappearing.  Still, it's a funny story, or so thinks the storyteller.

Weezer At Centre Bell

To be totally honest, I still can't believe that I used the words 'Centre Bell' in the title for a concert post on this blog.  If I were to take a step into the Wayback Machine, I can remember sitting in my car in the parking lot of the Champlain Mall in Brossard, unwrapping a new cassette.  It was a plain blue cover with four guys standing around.  It was the summer of 1994, and the debut album by Weezer, known as the Blue Album was seconds away from being plunked into the cassette deck of my car.  Those are words that the current and future generations will probably never write.  If you were to tell that 19-year-old kid that 30 some years later he'd be in Montreal's biggest concert venue with a pass to photograph that band, it would probably blow his mind.  Standing on the floor of the Centre Bell and looking out at the crowd from the photographer pit, my mind was on the verge of being a little bit blown as well.  I took a moment to look around at all of the different places I've sat and watched the fine photographers moving around the pit, thinking to myself, how cool would it be to be down there one day.  I can now safely say that it was every bit as cool as I thought it would be.  Weezer were here touring their most recent double release of The Black Album and their collection of cover songs, The Teal Album.  We were told beforehand that we'd be able to photograph songs three, four and five.  About 12 minutes that I'd been waiting a long time to do, and that would pass by so very quickly.  One of the things that I need to work on in these situations is moving around the pit for different angles.  This was hindered a little bit as just before the show the group was asked to split into two.  One group would be stage left, the other stage right.  There would be no going from side to side as a video crew was in the middle of the pit recording the show. From there, I just began snapping away, all the while trying to suppress a goofy smile from taking over my face as I kept telling myself in my head that I was actually in the Centre Bell as a photograph, taking photographs of a group that I have listened to since I was a teenager.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 34mm and the third photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 42mm.  If you've managed to stick around after that long winded trip down memory lane, here are some more photographs that I took while in the pit.

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 42mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 40mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 40mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 58mm

A very big thank-you to Weezer and their management team for getting me a photo pass to shoot the show.  I would have liked to get some more shots of the other members of the band, but with half of the pit off limit, I couldn't get any decent shots of the other side of the stage, and from where I was, the drummer was always hidden behind his kit whenever I took a peek.  Thanks also the the nice staff at Evenko, Centre Bell security and also the group of photographers who allowed this outsider to share the pit with them and kept me entertained between sets with all kinds of good conversation.  This was an unforgettable moment, and hopefully there will be some more of them in the future.

The Pixies At Centre Bell

I should probably begin this update by sending out an apology to my old schoolmate Riaz.  Sorry I didn't take your advice to listen to The Pixies back in High School.  That aside, I never would have thought that almost 30 years after that conversation, I would be photographing them at the Centre Bell on a soggy March evening.  The Pixies are close be being Ground Zero for the alt-rock explosion that took over the airwaves in the late-80's/early 90's.  Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain himself had said that he was pretty much just trying to copy the band.  While it was a thrill photograph the band, from a photography stand point there wasn't much to shoot at.  The band didn't move around very much and while there was some nice light for the first of our three songs, the band was pretty much in shadows for the rest.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 3200.  Here are a few more photographs that I took during my three song period.

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 34mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 64mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 58mm

f/2.8, 1/2500sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

f/16, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 34mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

Quite the experience, which we'll get more into with the next update...or the one just before this depending on when you're reading.  In the meantime, if you're not aware of The Pixies, head over to their website now to find out why you should be.

Sailing Away

While I may be a noted lover of Winter, I am also well aware that there is probably a large portion of my audience out there that doesn't share my point of view.  With that in mind, on this snowy day I took a trip into the archives.  I found this photograph from a hot and humid July day that may help those of you who don't appreciate a little snow.  Hopefully it will help you all sail away to a happier place in your minds.  The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 155mm.  I now leave you all to dreaming about warmer days, while I begin to look for a nice snowy photograph to send me to a happier place come July.

Looking Through The Trees

Continuing with the theme of a few weeks back, I again went out and decided to try something new.  There was a sun high in the bright blue sky that was calling to me as I was driving home from the Day Job, so once I got home I grabbed my camera and decided to stroll around.  I've done lots of photographs with the sun in the sky, so I tried to find a spot that would give me a new take on an old classic.  After a few minutes in the park, I found myself in front of some bare trees with their branches reaching out.  Just beyond the trees was a view of the skyscrapers of Montreal.  It was taken at f/16, 1/400sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  I overexposed the photograph a little bit to darken the trees, and moved around a little bit to get that rainbow lens flare that you see in the upper left and lower right corners of the photograph.

Monster Truck At Théâtre Corona

March 1st was a date I had been looking forward to since mid-January.  After my success in getting a photo pass to photograph a concert by The Beaches back in November, I had made a little list of concerts that I was hoping to earn a pass to as well.  Monster Truck was on the list, and I got my confirmation that I would be getting a pass a little more than a week before the show.  This was a big event for me because it was at the Théâtre Corona where I first 'snuck in' a camera to get some shots at a concert six years ago. It was also the first time I would be shooting a band that I had previously shot from the crowd.  Monster Truck are out touring their most recent album, True Rockers, their third full length release which was released last Fall.  The band hail from Hamilton, Ontario, and I think you could say they have inherited the Canadian blue collar rock title from BTO.  I did manage to move my feet around during the set.  I shot the first three songs from my spot at the front of the stage, but I then wandered around a little bit, walking around the floor of the concert hall and shooting from some staircases to get some different views.  Based on my relatively small experience, I still prefer shooting from a photo pit, but leaving the front of the stage to shoot from different spots on the floor was a step in the right direction.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 30mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 27mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took during their set.

f/2.8, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/50sec, ISO 3200 at 28mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 30mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 123mm

f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 27mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 160mm

Thanks goes out to Monster Truck for getting me a photo pass to their show.  I'm always very appreciative to the bands that are willing to do so for me.  To find out more about the band, hear some of their songs or find out how to get their music, don't forget to visit their website.

The Picturebooks At Théâtre Corona

We all end up buying tickets to see a show based on the headlining act, but I've never understood why so few people arrive in time to see the opening act.  I've been introduced to so many bands over the years thanks to showing up for the opening act, and The Picturebooks are the most recent.  On this occasion, I arrived early at the show because I had a photo pass to the event.  I wanted to be there just in case there wasn't going to be a photo pit for the show, which ended up being the case.  I ended up right at the front of the stage where I experienced what was described as an incredible amount of noise being made by only two guys.  The Picturebooks hail from Germany and were finishing up their first Canadian tour here in town.  They played 11 of their original songs and got the venue rocking, while also inspiring us with their own personal experiences and philosophies on life and music. For myself, I'm supposed to be trying to move around a little bit while photographing these shows, but I didn't want to lose my spot at the front of the stage since the headliners were still to come.  Despite not moving around, I still tried shooting from different angles to try and make things look a little different.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm and the second photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 42mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took during their set.

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 12800 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 48mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 45mm

f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 28mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 25mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 38mm

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

The Picturebooks were a nice revelation.  Head over to their website to hear some of their songs and find out how to purchase some of their music.  As their show ended, they promised they'd be back to visit us soon, I'm sure there were many converts who can't wait for that do to come.