Jerome 50 At Parc De La Cité

It's been a while since I've been able to hear, let alone photograph, some live music.  I came upon a little internet message from Longueuil est Culture announcing that Jerome 50 would be having a mobile concert close to where I live on Thursday night.  Mobile was the right word.  He arrived in a pick-up truck and performed, along with his accompanying keyboardist, from the bed of the truck with a single spotlight.  Interesting combination to work with as a photographer.  With mask firmly attached, I worked my way around some of the people in attendance and found a couple of spots to shoot from.  Always being sure to keep 2 Meters from everyone.  There were lots of shadows, but it was fun to be out shooting some music again. The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/1600sec, ISO 6400 at 160mm.  Here are a few more photographs from the show.

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 6400 at 168mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec,ISO 6400 at 135mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm

f/2.8, 1/1600sec, ISO 6400 at 102mm

f/2.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 6400 at 155mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 6400 at 155mm

It was certainly a fun challenge shooting a one-light show.  Lots of trial and error as I played with different shutter speeds.  I think I came up with some nice shots though.  I also really like my photograph with the moon, though I had to cheat a little bit to get it.  If you'd like to find out more about Jerome 50 and his music, you can find his website by following the link.  Feel free to also look up Longueuil est Culture and the Théâtre de la Ville de Longueuil for more culture activites if you live around the area.  Will there be any other concerts in 2020?  Only time will tell.

Musical Memories - Part IV

One of my many 2019 highlights was getting a photo pass to shoot the concerts at the annual Saint-Lambert en Fête.  I had been going to this event since my family had moved to the city when I was eight years old.  So, it was extra special to me to be back on the site, this time camera in hand as photographer taking in the shows from the front of the stage.  This set of photographs took place on the third evening of the event.  Up first was Onefourtyseven.  A group of local young men that were playing before a hometown crowd.  Up next on the big stage was one of Montreal's best known 80s post-punk and new wave cover band, The Tina Trons.  The final act of the night, and festival headliner, was Sylvain Cossette who was performing his "The 80's" show.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  Here are a couple more photographs.

 f/2.8, 1/40sec, ISO 3200 at 75mm

 f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 90mm

That was the end of the festivities, but what a great memory and four-day event it was.  If you'd like to find out more about Onefortyseven, The Tina Trons and Sylvain Cossette, follow the links to their respective websites.  If you'd like to see the other photographs I took of the groups, you can find Onefortyseven at this link, The Tina Trons at this link and Sylvain Cossette at this link.  I hope to get the chance to photograph them again soon.

Musical Memories - Part III

One of my many 2019 highlights was getting a photo pass to shoot the concerts at the annual Saint-Lambert en Fête.  I had been going to this event since my family had moved to the city when I was eight years old.  So, it was extra special to me to be back on the site, this time camera in hand as photographer taking in the shows from the front of the stage.  This set of photographs took place on the second evening of the event.  Up first was the Noémi B. Trio.  A young artist who was just starting out in the business.  Up next was Jerome 50, an artist who believes we should all 'just chill'.  The Saturday night headliner was acclaimed singer/sonwriter Coeur de Pirate.  During her performance she claimed that she liked Saint-Lambert so much that she was going to move there.  One year later, it might be time for someone to look into that claim.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm.  Here are a couple more photographs.

 f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 400 at 200mm

 f/2.8.1/800sec, ISO 6400 at 135mm

f/2.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 6400 at 150mm

That was the end of night number two, but it is just beginning our trip through time.  If you'd like to find out more about Jerome 50 and Coeur de Pirate, follow the links to their respective websites.  I still couldn't find a link to the Noémi B trio, but you can find some of her performances on YouTube.  If you'd like to see the other photographs I took of the groups, you can find the Noémi B. Trio at this link, Jerome 50 at this link and Coeur de Pirate at this link.  I hope to get the chance to photograph them again soon.

Musical Memories - Part II

One of my many 2019 highlights was getting a photo pass to shoot the concerts at the annual Saint-Lambert en Fête.  I had been going to this event since my family had moved to the city when I was eight years old.  So, it was extra special to me to be back on the site, this time camera in hand as photographer taking in the shows from the front of the stage.  This set of photographs took place on the first evening of the event.  Up first was Jon MacAulay.  This was actually my third time photographing him at the event, and every year he puts on a terrific performance.  Up next was an up and coming rap performer named Benny Adam and to close the evening was one of Québec's biggest names in rap, Loud.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 400 at 170mm.  Here are a couple more photographs.

 f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm

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

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 6400 at 80mm

That was the end of the festivities on Night #1, but there are still some more stops on our trip through time.  If you'd like to find out more about Jon MacAulay, Benny Adam or Loud, follow the links to their respective websites.  If you'd like to see the other photographs I took of the groups, you can find Jon MacAulay at this link, Benny Adam at this link and Loud at this link.  I hope to get the chance to photograph them again soon.

Musical Memories - Part I

One of my many 2019 highlights was getting a photo pass to shoot the concerts at the annual Saint-Lambert en Fête.  I had been going to this event since my family had moved to the city when I was eight years old.  So, it was extra special for me to be back on the site, this time camera in hand as photographer taking in the shows from the front of the stage.  This set of photographs took place on the final afternoon of the event.  Up first was the Preville Big Band.  A terrific little group that I had been able to photograph twice before, and the final act of the weekend was The Luckies, a rockabilly band that brought the event to a close with their rockin' tunes.  The first photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/200sec, ISO 400 at 200mm.  Here are a couple more photographs.

 f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 400 at 70mm

 f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 400 at 30mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 400 at 24mm

That was the end of the festivities, but it is just the beginning of our trip through time.  If you'd like to find out more about The Preville Big Band and The Luckies, follow the links to their respective websites.  If you'd like to see the other photographs I took of the groups, you can find the Preville Big Band at this link and The Luckies at this link.  Hope to get the chance to photograph both of them again soon.

Daisy Day 2020

Despite everything that has been going on this year, the numbers on the calendar keep on rolling by.  It is once again August 22nd, Daisy Day.  Longtime views know that this is the day I like to post the photograph of a Daisy as a tribute to my late Grandmother who was always a big believer in Your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer.  I had hoped to photograph a Daisy from our own flower bed, but they've been a little bit lazy, so I needed to find one that was growing wild.  I used a Macro lens to focus some of the fallen pollen which is always a favourite flower shot of mine.  It was taken at f/16, 1/40sec, ISO 100 at 60mm.  Hope you like this one Grammie.

Follow The Brown Gravel Road

It's not quite as glamorous as that fabled yellow brick version from the land of Oz, but there also isn't a wicked witch hanging around looking to get you and your little dog too!  This photograph, taken at f/9, 1/30sec, ISO 100 at 70mm, was the opening of a little walking trail My Lovely Assistant and I took last year during our vacation.  We didn't happen upon any Scarecrows, Tin Men or Cowardly Lions, but did have an interesting encounter with some quicksand that resulted in my shoes not making the return trip home. The leaf-less trees tend to make one think more about horror movies rather than family stroll, but I've always been drawn more towards the darker side of the street so all of the reaching branches and creeping shadows were right up my alley.  Besides, I think it would have been far more interesting to meet a bunch of flying monkeys instead of a bunch of singing Munchkins.  Next time though, we'll steer clear of the quicksand.

Singing The Blues

Another of those missed events of 2020 has just gone.  This past weekend would have been the Festin Culturel in the city of Brossard.  A large culinary celebration of tastes, closed by a large Saturday night show.  Back in 2018, I took some photographs from the crowd, but last year I was able to position myself at the front of the stage thanks to a photo pass that I had gotten from the organization.  The musical entertainment on that night was a tribute to one of Québec's greatest blues singer, Bob Walsh.  There was a who's who of talent up on the stage that night.  Martin Goyette, Brian Tyler, Breen Leboeuf, Nanette Workman and France D'Amour along with a talented group of musicians led by Bob Walsh's great friend, Guy Bélanger.  Opening up the festivities was Lydna Thalie who got the crowd moving with her Super Hero energy.  The first photograph was taken at f/8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 35mm.  Here are a few more photographs from the event.

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 53mm

f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 57mm

f/2.8 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

If you'd like to go back in time and see the other photographs that I took of the shows, you can see the photographs of Lynda Thalie, Martin Goyette, Brian Tyler, Breen Leboeuf, Nanette Workman and France D'Amour by clicking on their names.  You'll also find the links necessary to find out more about their music on those updates as well.  Hopefully I'll be back there next year.

Hot Pursuit

As we continue with our trip through the archives, I stumbled upon this photograph from a few years back.  It is another of the pre-fireworks photographs that I take before the explosions begin, but end up getting lost in the archives since I am in more of a rush to post the actual fireworks photographs.  This photograph is from a few years back, something locals will be able to recognize by the fact that the Jacques Cartier Bridge is without its now famous lights.  It was taken shortly after the police closed the bridge, which they do to allow the public to walk on the structure to enjoy the show.  My camera was already in place when I noticed a couple of police cars making their way down their respective ends of the bridge.  To capture their voyage, I took a long exposure photograph to capture the streaks of their passing lights...mostly red with flickers of blue headed east, and the opposite heading west.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 30sec, ISO 100 at 68mm.  If you'd like to see some photographs of the fireworks from that evening, just follow the link.

Among The Living

I think that it goes without saying that we could all use a little bit of fun.  It's one thing to take a little snapshot of the things that I notice, but sometime I like to look for things that are not there.  A little walk through the forest last summer presented me with a little big of fun.  I aimed my camera at the sun as it was shining through the trees.  I then moved around a little bit until I noticed a nice little line of lens flares in the corner of my viewfinder.  Most of the time, lens flares are the last thing that photographers want to see in their image, but these were planned. The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/100sec, ISO 40 at 123mm.  The little colourful shapes reminded me of the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  Maybe there are some extra terrestrials out there floating among us after all.

Yummy Yummy Yummies

As we come close to marking our fifth month since the madness began, I think that we have all earned a little treat.  Luckily, I have just the thing hanging around here in the archives.  The photographs were taken a while back, but luckily they haven't gone past their expiration date so I think they're still good for human consumption.  These little tasty morsels are called Yummies.  They are little milk chocolate wafers decorated with several little colourful sugar beads.  Those beads which are so fun to play with, photographically that is.  My Lovely Assistant and I like to pick up a package of them to snack on once in a while, and judging by the reaction of The Heir Apparent to these photographs, I think they may one day become a favourite of hers as well.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/160sec, ISO 400 at 60mm.  To tempt your taste buds, here are a few more.

f/4, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 60mm

f/4, 1/200sec, ISO 400 at 60mm

f/14, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 60mm

f/4.5, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 60mm

I suddenly have the munchies.  I know it's not polite, but I do enjoy playing with my food.  Go out and treat yourselves to something sweet as well.  I think we deserve it.

After The Fireworks

Today would have been the recap update of the 2020 edition of the L'International des Feux Loto-Québec here on the Old Blog.  I had planned on using some photographs from past shows to fill the void over the last few weeks, but I just didn't have the heart to do so.  Looking at the old photographs just served to further remind me of what I was missing.  Since this would have been the final update, I figured I would instead take out one of my photographs that I took after the fireworks have ended.  I don't usually get many good shots after the fireworks due to the lingering smoke.  This was one of those rare occasions when there was a nice breeze that cleared the smoke out pretty quickly, allowing me to get a clear shot of the bridge, but also the light trails of the boats that are leaving the site and heading for home.  Rather that having a light show in the sky, this shot features a light show on the water.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 30sec, ISO 100 at 50mm.  Hopefully things get better for the fireworks in December.  If you'd like to see the recap of last years shows, which features links to all of the other photograps I took last year, follow this link.