Though the temperature is getting warmer, the mercury took a nosedive this past weekend. To be honest, in this very mild Winter, it wasn't really that cold. Only reaching -14C on the outdoor thermometer. However, with the howling wind, it felt more like -26C at certain times. With that in mind, we lit up the fireplace for most of the last 48hours to help with the heating. The fireplace at home is a little small, but during out Summer vacation, I enjoy taking some nice shots of the fire we build outside. With there still being a bit of a chill in the air, I thought I'd share one here to help warm up anyone who needed a little bit of heat. The photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/13sec, ISO 100 at 70mm. I was taking a bit of a risk shooting at such a low speed without a tripod, but I've learned to prop myself against a good chair while taking these shots. A slow speed was also necessary since I wanted to get the motions of the flame as I felt it looked beter that way against the burnt wood in the background. They're saying 12C later this week, time to break out the shorts!
Sunday 25 February 2024
Warm By The Fire
Friday 23 February 2024
Sweets For My Sweets
As the calendar keeps on going by at full speed, it's time to take a little trip backwards in the DeLorean to a little more than a week ago. It was Saint-Valentine's Day, meaning that there were sure to be some tasty treats to be seen and photographed at The Head Office. Oh, and eaten, ofcourse, but only after the photographs has been taken. Those who are aware of my culinary expertise are already well aware that I had no hand in the creation of this lovely little dessert. The credit goes to the fine pastry chefs at Chez La Petite Madelaine, who just moved in to a new location last year. We've bought several of their creations over the years and have never been disappointed. The Heir Apparent is particularly fond of their Chocolatines, though we have sadly not visited them very often since the move. We'll have to rectify that problem. As for the
photographs, the first one was taken at f/6.3, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 70mm. The two other photographs were both taken at f/6.3, 1/160sec, ISO 100 at 70mm and all three had a little bit of flash bounced onto them from the ceiling. I often complain about finding a background when I shoot food, but I discovered a nice corner on our kitchen counter for these where if I angle myself just right, I get to use the dark wall from the other side of the room which more than does the trick. After all, faster photographs mean that everyone gets to indulge their sweet tooth that much sooner. Thanks once again to Chez Le Petite Madelaine for their wonderful desserts. Hopefully you all had something sweet to munch on as well.
Wednesday 21 February 2024
Fear Factory At MTelus
Our final act from the big rock show down at the MTelus a while back was a band that has been around for quite a while, but has gone through several member changes over the years, Fear Factory. So many changes, that a few songs in to the set, lead singer Milo Silvestro, himself one of the new additions having only joined the band last year, introduced us to the "New and improved Fear Factory!" Those on hand certainly were happy. Through all the changes, the one constant as been guitarist Dino Cazares, who despite leaving the band himself in the mid-2000s, has been with Fear Factory through all of the good times, bad times and lawsuits since the very beginning. Getting back to the band, I couldn't find a better description for Fear Factory, than the one that is already on their own website. "Fear Factory records are cinematic
in scope; sonic landscapes, echoing the dystopian
post-apocalyptic futures found in classic sci-fi literature and films." Their songs and stage set-up fit that description perfectly. Fear Factory has also been cited by many others as being influential in their own style, including one Robb Flynn, the lead singer of Machine Head, who just happen to headline this recent tour. Fear Factory's most recent album, and tenth of their career, Aggression Continuum was released back in 2021 and last year Fear Factory released a revised version of their album 'The Industrialist', under the title of 'Re-Industrialized'. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 4000 at 55mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 4000 at 24mm. Here are several more photographs that I took of Fear Factory during their performance.
Sunday 18 February 2024
Orbit Culture At MTelus
Our second band at the big rock show down at MTelus a few days back was one of Sweden's hotest Death Metal bands at the moment, Orbit Culture. While speaking with a couple of fans before the show began, the most common statement I heard was that other than the headliner, most of them were here for this set by Orbit Culture. They certainly had a very productive year in 2023. In August they released their 4th album, 'Descent', which was met with rave reviews by the fans that I talked to. That was followed up in December by their 4th EP, 'The Forgotten', which feature a new song and two unused songs from the 'Decent' recording sessions. The good news continued into this year as back in Janurary, Orbit Culture announced that they had signed a new recording contract with Century Music Records, one of the very
top record labels when it comes to the world of Heavy Metal. On stage, Orbit Culture lived up to all of the pre-show hype that I had heard. The only mistake made was by comparing the noise made by the crowd to that of the crowd from Toronto. One does not mention Toronto here withing unleashing a barrage of jeers, though they managed to use that to their advantage as well. Using that extra bit of audience aggression to call for a Wall of Death. Not the last one that I would see on the evening. Orbit Culture's performance was flawless. But, with the year they are having and everything I had heard, I suppose that anything less would have been disappointing. The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 6400 at 70mm. Here are several more photographs that I took of Orbit Culture's performance.
