Recent Work ...

Nelly Furtado at MuchMusic. I was under the impression she was launching a CD for herself, but it turns out that this appearance was merely to lend her fame to a recently signed band on her own label.
First time with the 35-100mm f2 shooting at the MuchMusic studio. It's a perfect focal length from where we are allowed to shoot.

After the shoot at Much I hiked it down to Habourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre - such is the traffic situation Toronto it's not even worth taking the car downtown most the time - to shoot Melanie Doane' guest appearance with The Art Of Time Ensemble.
One of my favourite groups, this ensemble consists of an ever shifting cast of gifted musicians who will offer up a classical concert one performance and morph into a jazz group, or integrate dance into the next.

Led by master pianist Andrew Burashko, The Art Of Time are one of the gems of the Toronto music scene.
This evening they were doing very different arrangements on classic popular Canadian songs, with Melanie Doane handling the vocals.

Seen above, she opens the show with a beautiful slow arrangement, bathed in nostalga, of Kim Mitchell's Patio Lanterns that was unlike any other version you've ever heard of that song.
The 35-100mm f2 is a bit too short in this circumstance and some cropping was required on the final image.

Then from Enwave Theatre I walked back up Bay St. in the dying evening light for a late dress rehearsal of The National Ballet of Canada's production of Giselle.

This was the farewell performance for Principal Dancer Chan Han Goh after a twenty year career with The National Ballet. At their season announcement last Feb. Karen Kain had tears in her eyes as she broke the news of Chan Han Goh's leaving.
The performance itself was quite beautiful. Nice and fluid, easy to anticipate where things were going, unlike a lot of contemporary dance.
This is where I really fell in love with the 35-100mm. Absolutely perfect range of focal lengths to cover a performance like this, and it's high speed optics came in handy during the darker moments.

Next day, Mandy Moore, at Much again.
She's actually more beautiful in person, although I think she photographs very well. Quite tall, with statuesque model proportions. She seemed very friendly and down to earth when talking to the host.

Next night The Toronto Criterion Bike Race.

A fun shoot, I brought along my folding step stool ( a vital part of every photographer's kit and only $15 at Canadian Tire!) to sit on so I could shoot the race through the bars of the safety fence. With bike racing the action is in the corners.
Here I'm using the 1.4 teleconverter on the 35-100mm, and it's a very nice combo for framing in tight on the rider's faces, or widening out to include more of the location in the background.

The fellow in the middle was the ultimate winner with the rider in greenand white behind coming in third.

Lastly, DesiFest at Yonge Dundas Square. With a gloomy looking sky and low clouds threatening rain, I decided to zip down there and cover the afternoon concerts and activities in the square before the skies opened up.
Turned out to be a good decision as the evening portion of the one day festival was a pretty wet affair.
Here some traditional dancers wait off stage, preparing to go on with a Desi-style rapper. It was an interesting cultural mash-up, and I found myself really getting into the music.

This is a fun, friendly festival. Very colourful, and the music whether traditional or contemporary Indian Pop or Rap, was really enjoyable. It's the third edition of DesiFest. I haven't photographed it since the first, and was impressed with how far it has come from it's beginnings.

All photos done with the Olympus E30 w/ 35-100mm f2 and 50-200mm 2.8 Digital Zuiko lenses.

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