This past Saturday we woke up with the rather cold temperature of -40 Celsius once the wind chill was accounted for. Those kind of bone chilling temperature cane only mean one thing, it's time for me to go out and take some photographs. That was the original plan, however, someone failed to tell my car about it as she didn't quite have the same opinion. With the car frozen in the parking lot, it meant that any trip to get some frozen photographs would have to happen in my well heated archives. So dig I did, and came up this this little frozen number. It was a slightly less cold -34 Celsius with the wind on that day, and I had headed out to take a photograph of the ice fog as it flowed over the Saint-Lawrence river by the Victoria Bridge. The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/100sec, ISO 100 at 24mm. Now, it's off to question the camera about its potential involvement in keeping us out of the cold on Saturday morning.
Sunday, 5 February 2023
Maybe I'll Stay Home
Wednesday, 1 February 2023
Snow Cones
Over the last couple of years, we've amassed a large collection of pine cones around the house as for a period of time, The Heir Apparent was a little obsessed with them. Whenever we were on a walk, if she would find some 'cocottes' on the ground, she would inevitably, and sometimes to my frustration, have to stop and pick them up to bring home with us. Looking back, I feel rather silly about having been upset by something so simple that made her happy. So, in an effort to try and right those wrongs, I try and take some photographs of those 'cocottes' for her when I see them. There are a couple of pine trees around where we live, so with some of the recent snow we've had, it presented me the opportunity to take a few more. The photograph was taken at f/4, 1/200sec, ISO 100 at 70mm. Maybe these will find their way into her little bucket when Spring rolls around.
Sunday, 29 January 2023
Jonathan Roy At MTelus
Our first concert of 2023 was headlined by a form of local royalty. It's been said that being the child of a famous person is not the easiest of roads to travel, though I am sure it is one that The Heir Apparent and Crown Prince will handle quite well. A kidding aside, our Friday night at the MTelus featured a night of music headlined by Jonathan Roy. He had originally tried to follow in his famous fathers skates, but found that his true calling was music. He obviously made the right choice, because despite his familiar family name, the family connection is hardly ever mentioned anymore. February 3rd will see the release of his latest album, and sixth of his career, Life Distortions. He says the album is a result of self discovery and coming to the realization that you can't let the distortions of life take you off course and change who you are. That's certainly a profound statement, but it is presented in such a joyful manner that it doesn't come off a pretentious, but rather as a friendly "I've found this happiness, and it's so easy that you can too." Isn't that what we're all looking for. He found it in music, maybe we can too. The first photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/1000sec, ISO 4000 at 57mm. Here are several more photographs of his performance.
Cinzia & The Eclipse At MTelus
Friday night was my first visit of the new year to the MTelus in Montreal and we were treated to the wonderful sounds of Cinzia & The Eclipse as our opening performance. It has been said on these pages many times before, but I love catching the opening act because it introduces me to so many artists I didn't know. With Cinzia & The Eclipse, that was no different as I was hooked the moment she opened her mouth and this wonderful voice came out. On one of her social media sites, it reads that her voice balances the line between power and vulnerability, allowing the listener to tap into emotions which had been dormant. This is also helped by her set of songs, mostly inspired by life events. You're drawn in by her voice and then listen closely as the relatable lyrics spin the tales of her life, though they could very much be yours as well. Their debut EP, Little Italy, was released in 2020 and some singles had been released before that. Hopefully a full album is in the works because I'm sure it would be terrific. The first photograph was taken at f/3.5, 1/250sec, ISO 3200 at 70mm. Here are several more photographs of their performance.
Thursday, 26 January 2023
Tiny Light Critters
To think there was once a time that I hated seeing a lens flare in my photographs. I would purposely move out of the way, or ever crop it out of a photograph if I absolutely couldn't get rid of it. People change, and so do tastes, to the point where if it is a sunny day outside, it is almost an automatic reflex that I try and some of those little mysterious light creatures in my shots. Though not exact, the remind me of the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Though I'm not sure if she is old enough to understand, I've already told The Heir Apparent that they are tiny light creatures and you have to be a super good photographer to catch them. She seems to be impressed with that version, and it makes her smile. The photograph was taken at f/16, 1/125sec, ISO 100 at 70mm. The truth will come out eventually, but until then, that's the story I'm sticking with.
Saturday, 21 January 2023
Frozen Memories
Despite all of the gloom and doom predictions about how the Winter was going to be back in September, it has been a rather mild one. We've only had one snowfall over 20cm's and I don't think we've gone below -15C yet. Now, there is still lots of time for that to change, but I only bring it up because this is traditionally the coldest week of the Winter. I should know, because I usually always take the week off in order to get some nice frosty photos. On the day this photograph was taken, at f/16, 1/125sec, ISO 100 at 70mm, the thermometer read -26C. So, I got out of bed extra early to freeze my processor off down by the banks of the Saint-Lawrence River. I arrived a bit before Sunrise so that I would be in position to see the sun rise just about the frozen clouds over the river and the famed Victoria Bridge. As was usually the case, I was all alone out there and it really was a sight to behold. I cropped the photograph was little bit tighter on the structure of the bridge for a little bonus shot that I'm adding here at the end.
