Annie Blanchard At Fête Nationale

It was a rainy night on the streets of Longueuil last Thursday, but the clouds broke just in time for the music to begin at the big Fête Nationale festivities organized by the Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est Culture.  The first artist to hit the stage was Annie Blanchard.  Bursting onto the scene as the female finalist in the 2005 edition of Star Académie, she has been sharing her brand of Country music ever since.  She rose to fame on her interpretation of the song Évangéline, which went on to win the ADISQ award for Song of the Year in 2006.  She has gone on to record 6 albums, the most recent of which, Hurricane, was released last year.  She credited the crowd for chasing away the rain crowds, but one could argue that maybe it was the Sun that pushed them out in order to hear her sing.  Both arguments have merit.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1600sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm.  Here are several more photographs of her performance.

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 59mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 28mm

f/3.2, 1/2000sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 57mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 35mm

f/3.2 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 39mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 1600 at 35mm

If you'd like to find out more about Annie Blanchard and her music, you can do so by following the link to her website.  If you'd like to see the photographs of Geneviève Borne & Friends and Marc Dupré, you can do so by following the previous links.  The rain clouds did indeed pass, showing Annie Blanchard to the the ultimate opening act.  Not only did she get the crowd going, but she was able to conjure more favourable meteorological conditions as well.  What can't this great performer do?

Geneviève Borne & Friends At Fête Nationale

June 24th may be the official date of our National Holiday, but the city of Longueuil usually gets the festivities off with a big bang the night before.  Thanks to the kind folks at Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est Culture, I had a pass to shoot the festivities that were taking part up on the main stage.  Our master of ceremonies for the occasion was someone well known to us cable TV kids of the 1990s.  Geneviève Borne first gained our attention as a VJ at Musique Plus, back when the station actually played music videos.  Since then, she has been a mainstay of Québec pop culture, handling various radio, television and internet related media.  On this night, other than being our host with the most, she was also responsible for closing the evening as she made sure the crowd danced the night away as DJ.  I don't have much experience shooting DJ's, so I tried to focus on some of her movements behind the computer.  To add a little something more to the post, I've also added some photographs of her 'friends', who made speeches during the evening.  Up on the stage were Longueuil mayor Catherine Fournier, Members of National Assembly for the CAQ Lionel Carmant and Shirley Dorismond, Member of the House of Commons of Canada Denis Trudel and City of Longueuil councilor Carl Lévesque.  Quite the distinguished guest list.  Once the speeches were out of the way, it was time for the party to continue.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/2000sec, ISO 1600 at 59mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/800sec, ISO 1600 at 26mm.  Here are several more photographs of their time on stage.

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 1600 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 67mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 67mm

f/3.2, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/1250sec, ISO 1600 at 61mm

f/3.2, 1/500sec, ISO 1600 at 24mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 59mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 53mm

f/2.8, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/2.8, 1/640sec, ISO 3200 at 35mm

f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 3200 at 63mm

If you'd like to find out more about Geneviève Borne you can do so by following the link to her website.  If you'd like to see the photographs that I took of Annie Blanchard and Marc Dupré, you can do so by following the links. On with the festivities!

Fallen Light

There might be a next generation of Friendly Neighbourhood Photographers after all.  The other day, I found myself in the backyard with The Heir Apparent.  We were yelling at squirrels who dared get too close to our garden when she suddenly said 'regarde papa!'.  She pointed over to the little pot of Marigolds that were sitting on the deck floor.  The sun was peaking through some of the holes in our trellis and falling softly on the middle of the flower.  'Soleil!' was her next word.  After a congratulatory high five for seeing that, I headed back inside for the camera.  The photograph was taken at f/4, 1/100sec, ISO 100 at 70mm.  After showing her the final product on the computer screen, the flower got a nice 'Oooohhhh' from The Heir Apparent, so she approves.  She also enjoyed the little sticker she got for the good deed to showing me the flower.  Guess I better start saving up for her camera.

Saint-Hubert Skatefest

I'm always ready to try out something new photographically, so with that in mind, I headed out to the annual Skatefest at Parc du Patriote-Joseph-Vincent in Saint-Hubert.  It was being held by the Ville de Longueuil as part of their Longueuil est Culture event series.  After exploring the site with the rest of the staff, I abandoned My Lovely Assistant and the two Junior Partners in order to photograph the finals of the advanced division.  As someone who has enough problems walking straight on two feet, I have a newfound respect for these daredevil athletes who were jumping over obstacles and flying through the air, all while landing on a small piece of wood with four wheels.  I've never photographed any skate events before, so I squeezed into a little spot next to the judging stand.  I figured that if that spot was chosen for the judges to see all of the action, it must be a good spot to grab some photographs as well.  The first photograph was taken at f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 100 at 200mm.  Here are a few more photographs that I took during the finals.

f/2.8, 1/1000sec, ISO 100 at 165mm

f/4.5, 1/2000sec, ISO 200 at 200mm

f/4.5, 1/1000sec, ISO 200 at 70mm

f/4.5, 1/2000sec, ISO 200 at 165mm

f/4.5, 1/2000sec, ISO 200 at 145mm

f/4.5, 1/1250sec, ISO 200 at 70mm

f/4.5, 1/1600sec, ISO 200 at 105mm

f/4.5, 1/2500sec, ISO 200 at 120mm

f/2.8, 1/800sec, ISO 100 at 115mm

It was a fun afternoon with activities for all ages.  The junior partners were certainly entertained.  If you'd like to find out more, or possibly even participate next year, keep your eyes on the Ville de Longueuil website as all of the information you need will be found there.

Ready To Sneeze

Spring is a wonderful time of the year for most people out there.  For me, it means it is time to load up on kleenex tissue because my nose is going to run and my eyes are going to burn.  It's also a time for a variety of flowers to bloom.  One of those flowers is the much despised dandelion.  They were growing everywhere this Spring.  I found this one half blown away one day after a day of strong winds.  I found this incomplete flower to be more interesting than the other full ones that were in the yard, it reminded me of an incomplete Death Star.  It's true that most people hate them, and my nose is certainly not a fan, but once seen up close, they do look a little more majestic.  The photograph was taken at f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 100 at 182mm.  There's always something interesting to see in the backyard.

Josh Ramsay At Le Studio TD

The last time I was at Le Studio TD, it was before the most recent COVID wave and it was still called L'Astral.  It's always nice to be back in familiar concert halls, and even nicer to be taking photographs inside of them too.  On Sunday night, I was there to photograph the concert put on by Josh Ramsay.  Perhaps better known as the lead singer for hit Canadian band Marianas Trench, Ramsay like lots of artists, was very busy during lock-down.  He ended up writing a solo album, which he also produced and played all of the instruments on.  That's certainly more productive than I was during those long months.  He describes the album as a love letter to all of the musical styles he enjoys listening to.  The result was a very diverse album of songs, each of which has a style of its own.  He had stated that in making the album, he wanted to produce something upbeat and fun.  Based on the reactions of those in attendance at Le Studio TD, he more than succeeded. Speaking of those in attendance, a special thanks to some of the front row fans who helped me pass the time with some chit chat.  I try and get to the shows early when there is no photo pit in order to get a good spot, but that means some long waits until the lights go down and the fun starts.  The conversation was great.  May our front row paths cross again some day.  The first photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm and the second photograph was taken at f/3.2, 1/1000sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm.    Here are several more photographs that I took during his performance.

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/50sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/60sec, ISO 3200 at 38mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/125sec, ISO 3200 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/400sec, ISO 6400 at 44mm

f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 4000 at 70mm

f/3.2, 1/160sec, ISO 4000 at 200mm

f/3.2, 1/80sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

f/3.2, 1/250sec, ISO 6400 at 24mm

If you'd like to find out more about Josh Ramsay and his music, you can do so by following the link to his website.  A very big thank you goes out to Julie Baldwin of 604 Records for getting me pass to shoot the concert.  Being surrounded by all of that happiness and positive energy, both from artist and fans, is always a good boost for morale.