Blue Rodeo with Terra Lightfoot

I know I have said this before, but I throughly enjoy shooting concerts and live performances. Relating to photography, that would have to be one of my New Year's resolutions, to shoot more events. Well, what better way to kick off the New Year, then to photograph one of Canada's most well known bands in Blue Rodeo. Not to be overshadowed by them is of course Terra Lightfoot who was the opening act. 

When The Walleye asked me to cover the event I jumped at the opportunity. I had never seen Blue Rodeo live in concert before so it was really a no brainer. Be sure  to check out the upcoming issue of The Walleye for a full review of the concert. 

I had the pleasure of getting up close with the opening act, Terra Lightfoot. Admittedly, this was the first time I had even heard of her, but I will definitely be checking out more of her music as she and her band sounded amazing! 

Once she was done, it was time to get ready for Blue Rodeo to eventually take the stage. After a short intermission they took the stage. Unfortunately, I was required to only take photos of the first 3 songs from the very back of the Auditorium. Suffice it to say, it was difficult to get a lot of variety in those photos but I think I managed to capture a few. I did shoot everything in colour, but most of my concerts are converted to black and white, mainly because I just like the look.

For anyone interested in the technical aspect of this shoot, I used one camera and one lens. The Fuji X-T1 and 50-140mm lens performed flawlessly. The OIS on the lens allowed me shoot at very low shutter speeds while keeping the ISO at a reasonable level. With that being said, even some of the photos I took at 4000 ISO and above turned out great. 

I'm looking forward the next concert of the year. Stay tuned to find out who that will end up being. 

ONWA Family Portraits

It was that time of year again when I got the chance to photograph 5 wonderful families at ONWA. For those of you that haven't seen any of my previous sessions with ONWA, I'll give some quick info on what ONWA is. It's a not for profit organization that was established in 1971 to empower and support Aboriginal women and their families throughout the province of Ontario.

So, about 3 times a year, they hire me to photograph any families that want to get their portrait done. That way, they eventually get the hi res photos that they can then get printed. It's really a great cause and every family I have photographed up until this point has been a pleasure to work with. There are almost always kids involved to which makes it that much more fun.

Usually, the photos are done outside but this time around, the weather was a bit chilly so I set up a backdrop inside and we just had families stay inside. Once all my lighting and everything else was in place, the families came in one by one. I think everyone had a great time, especially the kids. The last family, actually chose to do their photos outside so that was a nice change. If I had my preference I would rather use natural light outdoors but the weather doesn't always cooperate. 

The outdoor photos turned out just as nice as the indoor ones and had a completely different feel to it. Since it was just a mother and daughter combo, it was really easy and we were able to use a couple different spots.

I can't wait to see some new faces at the next session in the New Year. If this photoshoot was any indication, the next one will be just as fun.