I spend a lot of time photographing the bees that like to buzz around the property, but there is a wide variety of winged insects that enjoy flying through the yard. Many of them are friendly visitors who are just passing through, but there is always one bad apple in the bunch. While bees seem to be rather universally loved, the same can not be said for their annoying little cousins. There isn't much love out there being given to wasps. A with good reason. They are probably the most annoying of all insects. More so than even the mosquito. To make matter worse, though they do sting at times out of self-defence, they are also known attack just for the heck of it. Just a few Summer's ago I was minding my own business when one decided to give my leg a poke, and my Mom got attacked earlier this year, though I suppose that wasp could be forgiven since he had been smacked by my brother seconds before. However, they are also rather handsome. When they're not buzzing around my head or trying to steal my supper that is. This little guy rather peacefully decided to pose for a photograph the other day. I got a nice clear shot of of face and the little hairs on his back. The photograph was taken at f/7.1, 1/1600sec, ISO 400 at 200mm. I thanked him for posing, but I don't think I'll be hosting any Wasp Appreciation Days any time in the near future.
Thursday, 28 September 2023
Annoyingly Handsome
Sunday, 24 September 2023
Baby Boomer's Band At Festival Tempéo
I've been spending a lot of time over the last few years hunting down bands, venues and various contacts to shoot the concerts that you have been seeing on The Old Blog. So, it's nice to actually be on the other end and be contacted by someone else. Such was the case with my friend, in The Baby Boomer's Band, who reached out for my services a few days back. They were going to be performing at the Tempèo Dance and Music Festival, which takes place on the Esplande at Place Des Arts in Montreal, and were hoping that I would be able to photograph their performance. The Tempéo Dance and Music Festival took place over 6 different nights. Each night was hosted by Philippe Fehmiu and featured a different variety of dance and musical styles. Bollywood, Haitian, Disco, Latin, and Indigenous were among the different
styles that were presented and The Baby Boomer's Band were there to present a concert of 1960s music. There was a special dance floor set up for the festival, and the hole are was already pretty full before The Baby Boomer's Band even hit the stage. If there was any doubt that a swinging good time was about to be had, they were gone as the opening guitar riffs of Johnny B Goode pierced the air. Nothing like some Chuck Berry to get people rocking and rolling. For the next hour, The Baby Boomer's Band ripped through a wide variety of hits from the era, both in English and French, as the crowd continued to dance the night away. I was tasked with shooting the show, and also getting some shots of the crowd having a good time to go along with a few band shots before the show began. I had a blast as I love that style of music and, 
having already worked with The Baby Boomer's Band in the past, they were already comfortable with me and even took the time for some well placed poses during the show. I had free reign to shoot from wherever I wanted during the entire concert, so I took advantage of it. The performance only lasted an hour, but the time went by so quickly, it felt like it had already ended in the flash of an eye. The 60s were such a rich period musically, and The Baby Boomer's Band play those songs to perfection. It's impossible to not have a good time, as everyone who was dancing away at Place Des Arts can attest to. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 800 at 24mm, the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 800 at 24mm and the third photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/200sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm Here are several more photographs of their performance.
Wednesday, 20 September 2023
Picking Apples
It's apple picking season, and the whole clan got in on the action this past weekend. As one would imagine, it's not easy to try and snap off a few photographs while holding a bag full of apples and watching a couple of young junior partners who are running through the trees and petting various farm animals. Fortunately, the archives are chock full of photographs for just such an occasion. This particular apple had caught my eye due to the green streak that was running down it. I positioned it on a tree stump, facing towards the sun, and poured a little bit of water over it for a little bit of shine. The photograph was taken at f/9, 1/80sec, ISO 400 at 57mm. The kids had fun, we came home with lots of apples, which My Lovely Assistant had already begun to transform in to various tasty treats and a good time was had by all.
Saturday, 16 September 2023
Little Blue Light
A little while back I wrote about how sometimes it's fun to take a fast snap shot of something you find interesting, rather than spending a long time looking for just the right angle and perfect conditions. This isn't one of those stories. This was one of those photographs where I ended up getting left behind on the trail while the rest of the clan moved on without me. It's another shot from our recent vacation. While out for a walk, I noticed the sun coming through the trees. From where I stood, I could see the rays coming through the branches, so I had to stop and try to get a photograph. I used a nice small aperture to get the star effect around the sun and then tried to line myself up nicely to get that little blue streak of light that you see in the bottom left of the photograph. Yes, I did all that waiting for a little blue streak of light. I feel it was worth the wait. The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/13sec, ISO 100 at 24mm. Luckily, The Crown Prince is not a very fast walker yet, so I was still able to catch up with them down the beach.
Thursday, 14 September 2023
Playing With Fire
There are lots of fun vacation moments that we all get to share, but for me, my favourite vacation moment is sitting by a fire. The crackling sound soothes me and watching the orange flames go around the wood in the pit is fun to watch. It's also fun to photograph. The fire has a life of its own, and there is no way to know where it will go. I find that the best time to shoot fire is near the end of. There is still lots of action around the flame, but you also have a nice layer of red embers in the bottom of the pit to give you some additional colour. In a perfect world, I'd use a tripod to get these shots, but with The Heir Apparent and Crown Prince along for the ride, space is kind of limited in the car. So, I try and shoot with as slow of a shutter speed as possible to get some movements of the flame, but also to try and keep everything in focus and not blurred by camera shake. With this one, taken at f/3.2, 1/25sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm, you can see some of the dancing flame, as well as the red embers of the fire that was going through the piece of wood in those bright red spots. It's all fun, but if I can be serious for a moment, playing with fire can be very dangerous. Stay safe, and take some great photos.
Monday, 11 September 2023
BRKN LOVE At MTelus
Our latest music adventure took us back to the MTelus this past Saturday night for one of my favourite new Canadian bands, BRKN LOVE. I first got to photograph them last November (check out the photographs by following the link), but missed out on a show that they played here in June. So, I was really excited to find that not only were they returning, but they were going to be playing at the MTelus as well. BRKN LOVE casually hit the stage, soaking in the applause and the roars and chants grew louder with every second, until singer Justin Benlolo, with an outstretched arm, let out a primal scream, which the crowd responded to even louder. The guitars roared to life, the drums began to pound and the band broke into their hit song Dead Weight, which was originally released as a single back in 2021 before being included in their most
recent album, Black Box, which was released last year. That was quickly followed by their hit songs Like A Drug and Complicated before we were ushered from the pit. The rock didn't stop there though as the party continued with some more songs, including a terrific version of the Black Sabbath classic, War Pigs, before they brought the curtain down with their first big hit, Shot Down, to the roaring approval of the crowd. I said before that BRKN LOVE was on an upward trajectory. Sure, they were still the opening act, but it won't be very long until they'll be the featured band on the MTelus stage. And I hope that I'll be there to shoot it. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 28mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm. Here are several more photographs that I took of their performance.
