Monster Truck at The Corona

It's been a while since I've been able to get my camera into a rock show.  I've been thinking about going to see Monster Truck at the Corona Theatre for a couple of weeks now for a couple of reasons.  One, they're a really good Canadian band from Hamilton who I had previously seen a few years back at an edition of Heavy Montreal, and I enjoy both of their albums.  The second reason was the location.  I have been very fortunate in not having any problems getting my camera into the Corona Theatre.  Well, a compact version of my camera and only my 50mm lens, but pickers can't be choosers, as the old saying goes, and I'm happy to at least get those through the door as opposed to nothing at all.  I managed to position myself in a corner of the theatre against a wall, and waited for the show to begin.  Monster Truck was the headliner of a three group concert, some photographs from the other two bands will hopefully find their way to this site soon enough as well. I tried to mix things up a little bit while I was taking some photographs by trying to get a few specific shots.  I wanted to get a shot of the drummer with his sticks in the air.  I think I captured a pretty cool photograph of that with the second photograph that you see here on the page.  There is also a lot of headbanging that goes on at these shows, and I was hoping to get a shot of singer/bassist Jon Harvey with his hair flying.  The third photograph on the page is where I got just the right moment where his hair is flying, but you can still see his smiling face behind the flowing locks.  Another fun little photograph that I came upon by chance happened when someone in front of me pulled out their cell phone to record some of the concert.  I focused on the cellphone, which threw the rest of the image out of focus.  It might not be something that everybody thinks of, but I think seeing the action through the eyes of another camera is kind of cool.  I've done this kind of photograph a few times now and I really like the final result.  With the rest of the photographs, I pretty much just tried to capture the band rocking out.  It was an evening of good fun.  The first photograph was taken at f/4, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm.  The second photograph was taken at f/4, 1/40sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm and the third photograph was taken at f/4, 1/50sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took during the show.

f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 50mm

f/2.2, 1/100sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/3.2, 1/30sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/4, 1/60sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

f/7.1, 1/125sec, ISO 1600 at 50mm

It was a great show, made all the more fun by my being able to get some photographs of the event as well.  Hopefully my luck getting my camera into these show will continue.

Reserved Seats

We're turning the corner from Winter into Spring, but Mother Nature still had a couple of late-season blasts of snow for us.  I like the peaceful feeling that things have when they are covered with snow.  Kind of like looking into a snow globe after everything has settled after having been shaken.  This photograph was of a rather popular park, but it was deserted in the aftermath of the storm.  The trees, monuments and plants covered in a blanket of snow.  The benches, usually taken up by people, now reserved for Mother Nature.  This photograph was taken at f/13, 1/160sec, ISO 400 at 35mm and is probably destined to be repeated some time this summer when it is terribly hot to remind me how much nicer and cooler it looks now.

Hiding From The Storm

If you happen to live in the Montreal area as I do and you've been listening to the local weather reports, you'd be led to believe that we're on the eve of destruction.  A late Winter blizzard is due to hit us and dump a large quantity of snow on our heads.  Despite these ominous warnings, I'm a Winter person so I'm not all that upset, but being the friendly neighbourhood photographer that I am, I can understand how some of you may feel otherwise.  This lovely home with the summer sun falling on it and the foliage, should be able to house your imaginations in a happy place long enough for the storm to blow over.  The photograph was taken at f/5, 1/100sec, ISO 400 at 30mm and I tried to frame the house in the background surrounded by all of the greens in an attempt to make it look welcoming.  You're all free to hide out there for the next few days.

Giant Protector

Since I wrote a little bit about changing perspectives in my last update, I figured this would be a good time to post some similar style photographs, while also getting a couple more snow photographs out of the archives.  March is already upon us, which means that these would have likely disappeared into a hard drive, never to be seen again.  These photographs were taken during a snowy walk this past January.  I've mentioned here in the past that for some unknown reason, I find snow covered benches to be interesting.  With these photographs, I was trying to capture the presence of the bench and the tree, from two different perspectives.  With the first photograph, taken at f/13, 1/100sec, ISO 400 at 35mm,I was trying to show the difference in size between the tree and the bench.  It's just one of those strange things that I notice from time to time.  With the second photograph, which was taken at f/13, 1/50sec, ISO 400 at 24mm, I tried to make the bench seem closer to the tree.  So it would kind of appear that the tree was protecting the bench from the harsh winter weather.

There's still snow on the bench, but not as much as has fallen on the ground or the tree.  I admit, it's kind of a stretch, but it does illustrate my point.  From where I chose to the the photograph, it looks like the branches of the tree are reaching out to cover the bench.  The two photographs are of the same thing, but with the first I tried to make the tree look like a looming giant over the bench, while in the second, I tried to make it look like a protecting force.  Is all of this only in my head?  I guess that's for you to judge, but it's just one of the things goes through my mind while taking photographs and trying to keep it interesting.

Different Perspectives

There comes a certain time when as a photographer I get a little bogged down with the feeling that any photograph that I put up here has already seen this page in some way or form.  This photograph is kind of an example.  It's a photograph that I took of the old Clock Tower down at the Old Port of Montreal.  The tower was built in 1922 as a memorial to Canadian sailors who had died during World War I.  It is a building that I've photographed several times, and others have photographed even more.  But, when I'm in the area I still can't help but want to photograph it again.  I guess the trick is to try and see things from a different perspective.  One of the things I try to keep in mind is to move.  To try and see things from a different angle.  So, that's what I did.  The first photograph is something along the lines of what I've taken several times before.  I tried to line up the photograph so that everything leads to the Clock Tower.  If you follow the sidewalk, the lamps or the tops of the trees, they all lead end up at the tower.  It's not that far out of a concept, it's something any photographer learns pretty early in the game.  The photograph was taken at f/8, 1/500sec, ISO 100 at 66mm.  So, what can I do that would be a little different?  How about this.

Change the angle.  It's not the most amazing photograph ever taken, but for me it was something fun and a little different.  I walked up the base of the tower, pointed my camera up and snapped away.  Rather than looking up at the tower, you might think I'm looking down at a sidewalk.  The second photograph was taken at f/6.3, 1/1000sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Same building, just from another view.  I guess that's kind of the trick, seeing things from different perspectives helps to keep things fresh.

Ghosts On The Water

This would be the last of my little ice fog trilogy from the last few days.  This is one of those photographs that you don't expect to get and then thank the heavens that you happened to be in the right place at the right time.  As previously mentioned, when I arrived at the Victoria Bridge there was more ice fog on the river than I had thought.  While walking around and looking for a good angle, I looked over the water and caught the sun rising into the steam.  I just thought it was a terrific view.  It took me a few tries to get the proper settings, and I must admit to a little colour manipulation in Photoshop, but I really like the final results.  This photograph was taken at f/16, 1/320sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  The intensity of the sun in the fog is what grabbed my attention, but they way the sun lights up the rest of the fog on the water is what really grabs me.  Like a bunch of ghosts.

Chilling Sunshine

As previously mentioned, I wanted to have a brighter sky for my ice fog photograph.  I had originally planned on returning Sunday, but there was very little steam on the river.  I woke up early on Monday and checked the traffic cameras.  There was all kinds of fog showing up on the video.  Moving at a speed that I'm not known for so early in the morning, I was quickly out the door and headed back to the river.  I was on the shores of the St. Lawrence in about 10 minutes.  Only one problem, there was so much fog that it was blocking out the bridge.  I ended up watching the steam roll over the river and tried to time my shots so that I could grab a photograph while the steam was low enough to see the structure.  As a result, you can make out the bridge in the back of my photograph, while I also managed to keep some of the big clouds like at the right of my shot and the one going through the third stone pier of the bridge.  The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/80sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Much happier with this photograph, but there was still one little surprise waiting for me.