I had been planning to post this image of the Edward Johnson building (Faculty of Music, University of Toronto), and while I was getting it ready this morning it struck me that the lines of shadow cast by the railings looked like a musical staff turned on its side.
Rolleiflex 3.5 E3 (Xenotar lens)
Ilford HP5+ film,
developed in LegacyPro EcoPro Ascorbic Acid Developer
My wife Janice belongs to the early music ensemble Sine Nomine, and last night they put on a concert of 14th century music at St. Thomas’ Church in Toronto. I had a chance to take a couple of images with the Hipstamatic: one of some of the instruments used, and the other of the Bapistry at the back of the church.
I had the pleasure of working with friend and frequent creative collaborator Jennifer Bettencourt this past weekend. In addition to being a talented model, Jennifer is also an accomplished fadista, or singer of Portuguese Fado music. The shoot was inspired by Fado legend Amália Rodrigues, a we were going for a fairly formal look, with some intensity.
Rolleiflex 3.5E3 (Xenotar lens)
Tri-X, developed in Ilfosol 3 1+9
While at the Toronto Beaches last weekend, another photographer friend and I can across a saxophone player, playing on the rocks at the waters edge. He wasn’t busking , just playing, in a perfect location for music.
Olympus Pen F 35mm half frame SLR with 100m/3.5 Zuiko lens
Svema Foto 100 film developed in Xtol 1+1 for 9 minutes, 2o seconds @ 20 C
Preparing for the show, so little time for new photos, finally got a roll developed today. A couple of weeks ago I was at Koerner Hall in Toronto to take in an amazing concert. It is a lovely hall, so I decided to take a chance with a photograph. No flash of course so I had to use a shutter speed of 1/8th of a second. Pleasantly surprised!
Voigtlander Bessa R, 15mm/4.5 Voiglander Heliar lens
FPP EDU 400 film, developed in Tmax 1+9 for 12 minutes @ 20 C
The fall colours in High Park, with leaves rustling in the breeze were a perfect backdrop yesterday for a photo shoot with Angela Saini, a very talented Toronto area singer/songwriter/guitarist, for whom I was privileged some time ago to do my first album cover for her recording “Leap” (Great album by the way!!).
Working with creative people such as musicians, writers, actors, dancers and artists is always very rewarding, and it’s no exception with Angela; I always see the songwriter’s spirit in images of her.
The image below is digital, but I also shot some black and white film; I can’t wait to get it developed!
Taken at the recent Matsuri Japanese festival in Toronto, this is an image of a performer backstage, preparing to perform. The bright sun made her visible behind the backstage screen.
Nikon D7100, 18-200mm Nikkor lens
Today’s image is another one from Rock, Stock and Barrel’s gig at Irene’s pub in Ottawa. The band’s bass player, always quietly smiling in the background, always rock solid, but never seeking the spotlight.
Nikon D7100, 18-200mm NIkkor lens. Shooting at ISO 8000
Post-processed with Lightroom and Nik Efex software
I had a lot of fun shooting my friend Sue Murphy’s band Rock, Stock and Barrel on Friday night at Irene’s Pub in Ottawa. I was struck by a couple of things: first was the very low light: I had to shoot at ISO 8000, and take a lot of photos to make sure I had an adequate number of keepers. (I made it, barely :-)). The second thing that made an impression was talking to the band: definitely not a bunch of teenagers, the discussion centred around family responsibilities, and how they preferred playing shows that didn’t keep them up past their bedtimes. But once they hit the stage all that was forgotten, and proved (as if it needed proving) that rocking high energy music is not the property of a single demographic.
Nikon D7100, 18-200mm Nikkor lens
Post processing done with Lightroom and Nik Efex
Today, “In the Beginning” by George “Saint Vybz” Chapman was released. I did the photography for this recording last year, and the cover image was taken using Fuji FP-3000b instant black and white film (recently discontinued by Fuji, boo!) with my Mamiya Universal Press Camera. I used the negative scanning technique for a nice gritty look. 🙂 It was a lot of fun working with George, and my good friend “Stevie Z” at Badly Bent Records for this project! People who read my blog on a regular basis and/or check out my Flickr stream might be able to figure out the location 🙂
My Third Eye 