As February gives way to March, the inevitable turning of the calendar means that we are getting closer to the warmer months, and I'm a little happy about it. Now, don't get me wrong. I still detest Summer and the oppressive heat that comes with it, but around this time of the year I begin to miss my little winged friends. With all of our sunflowers in the back, we've become quite the meeting place for the local bumblebee population. And, they like nothing more than to let me walk among them and take their photograph. I hate the heat, but I do enjoy finding a nice spot in the shade and following those little guys walk around the sunflowers until they give me just the right pose. The photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 1600 at 200mm. I still reserve the right to complain and moan come June and July, but at least I'll have these little guys buzzing around while I try to keep cool.
Sunday 26 February 2023
Summer Friends
Thursday 23 February 2023
Hearty Treats
Valentine's Day was last week, and I'm a little bit behind in the photography schedule. Yes, there were some tasty treats that were purchased for My Lovely Assistant and The Heir Apparent to share. The Crown Prince didn't really get to partake in the tastiness this year, but his sweet tooth will probably be treated next year. I guess I could be described as someone with simple tastes, so despite all of the fancy chocolate desserts, it was My Lovely Assistant's Rice Krispie treats which I was most drawn to. She shaped them like little hearts and added some little sugar hearts for a colourful bonus. The Heir Apparent helped in their creation, so how could I not like them. The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 70mm with some flash bounced off of the ceiling to make the colours pop a little more. They were snap, crackle pop-ilicious. I hope you all had some tasty treats as well.
Saturday 18 February 2023
Tebey At Studio TD
Though it may have been an unseasonably warm February evening, when Tebey comes to town, every night is a Country music kinda night. Sly little way to mention his latest single aside, Tebey is one of the current top names in Canadian Country music. He brought his Shotgun Rider tour to Le Studio TD the other night for a down and dirty night and music. Montreal has become a kind of Country music hot spot, and I found myself in the middle of a gathering of cowboy hats and leather boots. It's also kind of rare to hear an artist willingly get booed, but Tebey did just that by admitting his love for the Toronto Maple Leafs, though he was quick to add that they have been rather lousy come the play-offs, which quickly got the crowd cheering again. Getting back to the music, Tebey has been riding a hot streak of late. His 2021 album 'The
Good Ones' spawned five hit singles. His forthcoming album, Tulum, is set to be released later this year and his latest single from the album, the already mentioned 'Country Music Kinda Night', was released the night before our big show. He opened the concert with that one and crowd gave it a great response. 2023 looks to be shaping up as a big year for him, and we were all pleased to get it going with a bang. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 500 at 70mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 3200 at 47mm. Here are several more photographs that I took of his performance.
Five Roses At Studio TD
It's always nice to get the chance to photograph a band for a second time. My first opportunity to photograph Five Roses was while they were playing a outdoor concert in Greenfield Park to celebrate Canada Day back in 2019. They had a couple of original songs back then, but filled the rest of their set with cover versions of other popular Country songs. Fast forward a few years and our paths crossed again at Le Studio TD where they were the opening act for an evening of Country fun. A lot has happened since I last saw them. They signed on with a major music label back in 2021, released a full-length album, Jukebox Vibrations, last Summer and have just released a new single, Sweetheart Of Summer which has also been playing on the radio over at The Day Job, so things must be headed in the right direction. Being from Montreal, they had filled the
Studio TD before hitting the stage, always a pretty good accomplishment for an 'opening act'. There is nothing 'opening act' about this duo though. Their songs are catchy and they put on an excellent performance. The energy in the room was off the charts and you could see it just continue to build during their set. They definitely had a home turf advantage, but they didn't just ride off of the enthusiasm of the crowd, they gave back just as much as the crowd was giving. It won't be long until they're headlining these show. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm. Here are several more photographs that I took of their performance.
Tuesday 14 February 2023
Table For Two
It being Valentine's Day, I'm sure that there are plenty of tête-à-têtes that were taking place around various tables this evening. Even the insect world was getting in on the act. Okay, this is obviously not a photograph that was taken today. It's from a the archives and was taken during a vacation with My Lovely Assistant to Tadoussac. As often happens, I had found some flowers I wanted to photograph when I was visited by this small butterfly. Moments late it was joined by another as they shared what might have been a little romantic meal. It's Valentine's Day, why not believe in a little bit of romance from the insect world. The photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/250sec, ISO 400 at 200mm. I hope you all had a pleasant table for two moment as well.
Sunday 12 February 2023
Rays Of Light
The middle of February is a kind of dreary time of year. Everyone is kind of tired of Winter by this point, there are no real colours to be seen and the sun can go days at time before appearing. Never fear, your Friendly Neighbourhood Photographer is here. I dug in to the archives to find this little shot of the sun that had just snuck behind the clouds during a Summer vacation day on the beach. I had been following it in the sky and saw that nice puffy cloud crawling over and just waited for it to pass by. A nice small aperture allowed me to grab those sharp rays and we got some little flares of colour in there as an added bonus. The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/400sec, ISO 100 at 24mm. Fear not sunshine lovers. Your golden globe will be back soon enough to thaw you all out.
Thursday 9 February 2023
Thick As Soup
There was a bit of a fog this afternoon as the warm temperatures clashed with the snow that was on the ground. It's hard to believe that just a few days ago it was -42 Celsius (with the wind), as the thermometer rose to +6 Celsius today. As I was at the 'Day Job', I wasn't able to take advantage of the conditions, but I've always got a photograph or two in the archives ready to go. Or in this case, two of the same photograph. It was one of those situations where I couldn't decide which on I liked more, so you get two for the price of one. The photograph was taken at f/16, 5sec, ISO 100 at 24mm. For the first version up top, I stretched it out a bit by using a more rectangular crop and went with a more moody black and white. For the other version down below, I left the little bit of light that was coming off of the parking lot lights and added a touch of red for a little warmth. A bit of fog can add a lot of character, even to an ordinary empty parking lot.
