Despite what some of you may think with all of the concert photographs that have been on The Old Blog of late, I have been trying to stay home a little more. The Heir Apparent and Crown Prince end up taking up a lot of time. As such, I have been trying to focus more on things in my immediate presence to photograph of late. During a recent lunch hour, while taking photographs of the Junior Partners, I noticed that one of the kitchen chairs was reflecting nicely on the table. It's something rather easy of a photograph, but still rather pleasing to my eye. Hopefully, to some of yours out there too. The photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/60sec, ISO 100 at 38mm. Both Junior Partners gave the photograph a 'thumbs up', though one is still impressed with the notion of seeing the photograph immediately on the back of the camera and the other still doesn't really have full control of his arms. It's still positive feedback, so I'll take it.
Friday 27 May 2022
Moment Of Reflection
Monday 23 May 2022
Victoria Bridge Day
No, despite my floating the idea here on The Old Blog last year, there still isn't a real Victoria Bridge Day. Though it's an idea whose time is due to come. There's something that keeps calling me back to the structure, oddly enough in the coldest of weather. It's such a historic site, the piers date back to the 1850's. While looking in to the history of the bridge a few years back, I actually found photographs taken in 1901 from almost the same spot as this one. I may be a tad bit over-sensitive, but I still get little goosebumps on my arms when I'm walking around and under the bridge at this location. Not only for the many living who walked that land, but for the hundreds of dead who were buried there after contacting Typhoid while making the trip from Ireland in the 1840's. I think that's why I like going there in the Winter. The ice fog that dances under the bridge looks like ghosts walking on the water. The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/160sec, ISO 400 at 24mm. Hope you all had a Happy Victoria Bridge Day.
Saturday 21 May 2022
Jann Arden At MTelus
A few short days ago I was writing about my current favourite Canadian rock band, The Beaches (concert photographs you can be viewed by following this link), but on Friday night I found myself before Canadian musical royalty as Jann Arden was performing at the MTelus in Montreal. Over a the last 30 years there have been 15 studio albums, her most recent, Descendant, was released earlier this year. There are also 16 Top Ten Singles and 19 Juno Award nominations to go along with 8 Juno Awards. Among those are Juno's for Songwriter of the Year in 1995 and 2002 and Female Artist of the Year in 1995 and 2001. To top things off, she was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2020. Her talents aren't limited to music either as there have also been awards to acting and she is also well known for her charity
work, most recently her work to prevent the export of live horses to Japan. There really isn't anything she can't do. It was a packed house to see this legend perform, and after an early hiccup, things quickly returned to normal as we were regaled with a catalogue of songs performed by a true master. This was a seated show, so rather than being able to shoot from the front of the stage, I was confined to a spot behind the soundboard. But, with trusty telephoto lens in hand, I was still able to get some nice shots of the show. It also gave me the chance to see the sound and lighting guys work their magic to make everything look and sound great. The first photograph was taken at f/5.6, 1/320sec, ISO 6400 at 125mm and the second photograph was taken at f/5, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 200mm. Here are a few more photographs that I was able to take during her perfomance.
Monday 16 May 2022
Symphony X At Théâtre Corona
Anniversaries are pretty cool lifetime events. However, I think I've reached the point where anniversaries are beginning to make me feel rather old. Such was the case this past Saturday night when Symphony X was in town to headline a concert at the Théâtre Corona. They were in town as part of their 25th Anniversary tour, which is pretty cool on one hand because it bring back so many good memories of listening to their music. On the other hand, it means that in the blink of an eye, 25 years has passed, seemingly in the flash of a stage light. While most bands saw their activity shut down due to COVID, Symphony X had a much bigger problem when lead singer Russell Allen was involved in a serious bus accident. He received a large roar of appreciation from the crowd while mentioning how hard the road to recovery
had been. Those same fans had been roaring for a while. Due to the above mentioned incidents, it had been almost six years since their last visit to town. As the lights dimmed, the crowd got louder and louder until the band finally hit the stage. Gone was the trauma of bus accidents and pandemics, all replaced by the rabid energy of a live crowd, happy to see their heroes back up on the stage. For a few hours at least, for both the fans and the band, all was right with the world. That's probably exactly what both needed. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/125sec ISO 1600 at 55mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/40sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm. Here are several more photographs that I took during their performance.
Haken At Théâtre Corona
I'm a little at a loss for words as I try and write a little bit about this update, the second of three bands that took the stage at the Théâtre Corona in Montreal this past Saturday night. While I know my fair share of Progressive Metal bands, I had never heard of Haken. However, they went out of their way to make sure that after Saturday night, they I won't forget them. Formed in England back in 2007, they've been rocking the world ever since, despite my ignorance to their existence. They have six albums under their belts, including their most recent, Virus, which was released in 2020. I have the feeling that I'm going to have to try and hunt some of those down to add them to my collection, despite My Lovely Assistant (and my Mom), thinking that the collection is large enough as it is. Sorry ladies, when you encounter something this good, space must be made. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm. Here are several more photographs of their performance.
