The Sun Sets On 2022

Another year has come and gone, and though we are still living under The Plague, things have begun to get back a little to how they used to be.  We began the year with yet another lock-down and curfew so you could say that things were once again looking bleak.  Personally, things took a turn for the better in March when two big events happened.  The Crown Prince arrived at the end of the month, and much like with The Heir Apparent, you don't see very many photographs of him here on The Old Blog. There were more photographs taken of them than anything else I took this year, though they are pretty much reserved for the family.  You can see his cute little fingers, should you choose, by following the link.  The other event happened a few weeks before that when I got to photograph my first concert of the year as Sara Dufour (photographs can be seen by following the link) hit the stage.  That led to 22 other concerts that I ended up getting passes to shoot this year.  Far more than I had ever imagined I would be able to get as the year began.  That doesn't include all the outdoor summer concerts that I shot, which included another personal highlight for me as I often had The Heir Apparent at my side for those.  My Lovely Assistant had constructed a little wooden camera for her and she would follow me to the front of crowd where we would each take photographs of the shows together.  Sitting there on the ground with her was probably the most fun I had taking photographs this past year.  She was most impressed with a performance by Rita Baga and got a plastic lay from the Fiesta Latin Band.  It sadly didn't last a week, but she enjoyed going to the shows and was a hit with both artists and the crowd.  You can revisit those moments by following the links.  Another big musical moment for me was my return to the Centre Bell for a concert by The Pretty Reckless and Greta Van Fleet. I think you know the drill by now about following the links.  It's not my favourite place to shoot a show, but there is certainly a little prestige which comes with the location. On top of that, I managed to get a few more photographs onto the CTV Newscast and La Presse + newspaper.  I also photographed a couple of weddings this past year, which was a definite adventure.  You haven't read about those yet here on The Old Blog, but I hope to get some shots up in the new year.  Though it started rather bleak, 2022 saw 132 updates here on The Old Blog.  We celebrated our 10th Anniversary together and hopefully things will continue to grow as we prepare to turn the calendar to 2023.  So the sun has begun to set on our year, much like it was setting on the Saint-Lawrence River, photographed here during a summer visit to Rimouski and taken at f/5, 1/50sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  A big thank you to everyone who passes by to see my photographs and read my words.  Your visits are appreciated, even if you aren't a very vocal bunch.  Happy New Year to everyone out there and lets see what will develop in the new year.

Gingerbread House

As previously mentioned, My Lovely Assistant is a marvel of modern day multi-tasking.  She somehow has the time to watch over The Heir Apparent and The Crown Prince and make multiple tasty desserts for both of our families.  I get overwhelmed watching them even when one is asleep.  One of her Christmas Creations was this little Gingerbread House and all of the extra little tasty treats that surround it.  Though she did have some help in the designing department from The Heir Apparent, all of the construction work she did herself.  It proved to be very popular among the young and old alike at our Christmas Eve diner, though for some reason, only the candies ended up being eaten.  She thinks it is because nobody wanted to be the first person to break down a wall, which could very well be the case.  It ended up being a good thing, though, as it meant that we got to bring it home and enjoy it ourselves.  The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 6sec, ISO 100 at 70mm with a little bit of flash bounced off of the ceiling to brighten it up.  Even though The Heir Apparent claimed that there was someone trapped inside the house, as someone who ate multiple walls, I can assure it that it was abandoned at the time of its tasty destruction.

Tree Decoration

The stockings were hung by the TV with care, and thankfully Jolly Old Saint Nick made a stop by the Head Office the other night.  After the madness of the holidays, I like to take a moment to relax.  That isn't always easy to do with The Heir Apparent and Crown Prince.  So, to keep things simple, I like to just sit back and stare at the Christmas tree.  Most people have a lazy bone or two, I think they may make up about 90 to 95 percent of my body.  Even the simplest of tasks can get sidetracked by something on the television.  Even bad television is bearable.  So, when it comes time to putting up the tree, my contribution is to just toss stuff on to it in the hopes of ending the job as quickly as possible in order to get back to my comfy couch.  Fortunately, My Lovely Assistant is a bit more energetic than I, and the tree looks great.  That's where I found this little guy, hidden among the lights.  I liked the way the light fell on him and the shadows it created around his face.  The photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/40sec ISO 1600 at 70mm.  I suppose that I could have used a tripod to bring down the ISO, but it was downstairs and I was feeling lazy.  Enjoy your holidays.

Elf No Longer On A Shelf

Last year, my brother gave us one of those Elf on a Shelf gift boxes for Christmas.  Based on the Facebook pages of friends, it was all the rage to post the nocturnal activites of the tricky little guys.  While ours has taken up a residence on the roof of The Heir Apparent's playhouse, he has been largely ignored.  But, that doesn't mean that his little trouble-making elf instincts have suddenly disappeared.  Unfortunately for him, the tricky little guy shares a living space with a couple of other figures who I think were less than impressed with his hi-jinx.  One simply doesn't mess with Brock Lesnar.  I think the elf learned his lesson as he hasn't left the playhouse roof since this tragic incident took place.  The photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/25sec, ISO 100 at 61mm with some flash to fill out the image.  Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

Low Hum At Le Studio TD

There are only so many hours in the day.  I had a good run of concerts back in November, but with a couple of triple bills and one show with four acts, a little delegation of time was in order.  The headliners, of course got taken care of first since they are the ones who often give me my pass.  That means that a couple of opening acts had to wait a little while before I could get around to finishing their photos.  The first opener we will revisit is the band Low Hum who hit a very crowded Le Studio TD stage early last month.  They were opening the night for BRKN LOVE and The Blue Stones whose photos you can see by following the link.  The Le Studio TD stage is small to begin with, so putting two sets of drums and two sets of keyboards up there didn't leave much room for this rock trio to move around very much, but they did the best with what they had.  I had originally not planned on shooting them at all, but felt it bad form to be standing there with a camera and not using it after all of the time I had spent wanting to be in such a situation.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took of their performance.

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 6400 at 42mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/100sec, ISO 6400 at 38mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 6400 at 42mm

f/3.2, 1/50sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about Low Hum and their music, you can do so by following the link to their website.  They were touring in support of their most recent album, Non-Fiction, and I'd love to get the chance to shoot them again on a bigger stage.  I have a feeling that they'd be even more entertaining.

Snowy Lights

The snow finally arrived, and unless we get a sudden heat wave, it will be a White Christmas after all.  Since I was lamenting the lack of snow last time in an update about our Christmas lights (which you can find by following the link if you missed it), I went back out the other night to take another shot of them, this time with snow included.  I found a nice selection of colours from the tree, some classic Christmas red, white and green will do, while also making sure that a generous dollop of of snow was also included in the shot.  I don't think it will be visible in the reduced resolution photo that I'm using here, but in the original you can clearly see some of the snow crystals and how wonderfully unique they look.  The photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 400 at 70mm.  It's nice to see some snow on the ground, though shoveling it is another matter.

Observing Nature

This is a cautionary tale and an example of why it's probably not a good idea to go on a walk with a photographer.  This one in particular.  To begin with, I walk slowly.  Very slowly.  However, my speed decreases greatly if I happen to have a camera with me.  There is all kinds of neat things out there to see, especially when taking a walk through a forest path.  Such was the case here.  We were away on our Summer Vacation at SEPAQ Lac Simon and took The Heir Apparent and Crown Prince for a little walk through the woods.  Once out in the trees, my head started going from left to right as if from a scene right out of The Exorcist as I was taking in the sights.  You already saw one photograph from the walking path earlier this year, feel free to revisit it by following the link, but I also saw this broken tree covered in moss and was immediately drawn to it.  I made a mental note of its location and as we made our way back, I knew where to stop.  As the rest of our merry group made their way out of the forest, I stayed back a bit and revisited my broken tree.  So many questions to pose.  How long had it been there?  How did it fall?  What carved out the middle?  Was anything hiding in there?  How far away has the family gotten?  All of that, and I had still yet to take the actual photograph.  It was finally taken at f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 1250 at 24mm.  And that is why you probably shouldn't take walks with a photographer.  Unless you happen to like lots of stops along the way, or you happen to be one yourself.  As the great Yogi Berra once said, 'you can see a lot by just observing'.  So, take the time and go out there and observe.  Just make sure to bring the car keys with you so that you don't get left behind.

Waiting For It To Look Like Christmas

Despite the days on the calendar continuing to pass, it has yet to really begin to look at all like Christmas.  Other than the decorations that are currently lighting up various houses, it looks more like a depressing mid November day as opposed to the most wonderful time of the year.  So, I went in to the archives and found some photographs I took of our Christmas tree a few years back.  If it looks out of focus, it's because it is.  Yes, it's kind of a rule that your photographs should be in focus, but sometimes rules are made to be broken.  The photograph was taken at f/2.8, 2sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  I suppose it's only a matter of time before the snow and Holly Jolliness of the season finally arrives.  In the meantime, you can always enjoy the lights, and the fact that there is nothing to shovel in the morning.

Different Kind Of Ornament

Even though Christmas is fast approaching, I had a different kind of ornament on mind.  Though we aren't officially finished with 'The Plague' just yet, 2022 was a year that saw the return of lots of the things we used to enjoy before the whole world went crazy.  However, one thing that hasn't yet returned was the annual antique car show that would take place in Saint-Lambert.  It was always one of my favourite events of the year as I loved to look at the classic cars and also take photographs of the little details that you only find on those old automobiles.  Such as this back hood ornament from an 1967 Dodge Charger.  The photograph was taken at f/22, 1/60sec, ISO 100 at 52mm.  Hopefully the event will return next Spring.  It is fun to walk among the old cars and might be something that The Heir Apparent might find interesting as well.

Glass Tiger At Théâtre Corona

There are a couple of iconic musical voices for young Canadians growing up in the 1980s.  The top two spots probably go to Bryan Adams and Corey Hart, but not to far behind would be Alan Frew from the band Glass Tiger.  I can remember watching Video Hits on CBC in the hopes that one of their songs would play and it was a sure fire lock that someone would bring the cassette of their big album, The Thin Red Line, to our school parties.  To say that the album was huge would be an understatement.  It has sold nearly a million copies and spawned their biggest hit, Don't Forget Me (When I'm Gone), which won the Juno Award for Best Selling Single back in 1986.  That was coupled with Juno Awards for Album of the Year and Most Promising Group of the Year.  I told you there were big.  Here we are, 36 years later and little 11 year-old me would sure find it cool to know that we were photographing them in concert.  Though he might be tad bit perplexed to know how old we now are.  Glass Tiger was at the Théâtre Corona in Montreal this past Thursday night as part of their Song's For A Winter's Night tour.  That is also the title of their most recent album, which was released back in 2020, but they never got to tour for due to 'The Plague'.  They describe the tour as all of the hits, mixed with a touch of Christmas cheer, and that is exactly what the crowd got.  The big hair may be gone, but the reaction to their songs is just as big as it ever was.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm.  Here are several more photographs that I took of their performance.

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 4000 at 38mm

f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 4000 at 28mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 4000 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 4000 at 41mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 4000 at 31mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/640sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about Glass Tiger and their music, don't forget to follow the link to their website.  A big thank you goes out to Andrew Turner of Enlightened Management and to Kimberly Zimmer of Get It Promotions for getting me a pass to shoot the show.  As always, the opportunity is very much appreciated.  This was likely to be my last concert of the year and I can't think of a better band to end things off with.  It's been a big year for concerts here on The Old Blog, hopefully it will continue into the new year.