The Pacific Times - by Adrien Veczan

Spot News (Halifax, NS)

2012-01-31T22:55:00.000-05:00

Winter Canadiana (Chocolate Lake, NS)

2012-01-20T16:09:00.000-05:00

Night (Peggys Cove, NS)

2012-01-07T21:50:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas (Halifax, NS)

2011-12-23T13:21:00.000-05:00

Basketball (Halifax, NS)

2011-12-05T19:27:00.001-05:00

Business portraits (Liverpool, NS)

2011-11-30T22:24:00.003-05:00

Romancing the Stone (Blarney, County Cork, Ireland)

2011-10-16T06:08:00.004-04:00

Dingle Peninsula (County Kerry, Ireland)

2011-10-15T04:39:00.003-04:00

Farming (County Donegal, Ireland)

2011-10-14T03:45:00.003-04:00

Giant's Causeway (County Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK)

2011-10-13T05:04:00.002-04:00

Irishman by the Sea (Glenarm, Northern Ireland, UK)

2011-10-12T15:57:00.001-04:00

Canadian Thanksgiving (Port Loring, ON)

2011-10-10T16:27:00.001-04:00

Good times with Matt & Sheena at the family cottage.

21-second portrait (Halifax, NS)

2011-09-20T10:13:00.002-04:00

Canadian actress Kristen Kreuk.

Can't imagine I could have turned a red carpet shoot into a quick portrait - while they held the crowd outside the premiere - back home during TIFF.

Decade (New York, NY)

2011-09-11T23:11:00.006-04:00

"Imagine there's no countries,
It isn't hard to do.
Nothing to kill or die for,
And no religion too.
Imagine all the people,
Living life in peace."

- John Lennon, 1971

World Junior Beach Volleyball (Halifax, NS)

2011-09-04T23:57:00.004-04:00

Haligonian Sports (Halifax, NS)

2011-08-31T16:17:00.003-04:00

Irene: That's all you got? (Lawrencetown, NS)

2011-08-28T14:32:00.003-04:00

Irene: Bring it on (Halifax, NS)

2011-08-27T20:42:00.002-04:00

Smooth Sailin' (Chester, NS)

2011-08-12T22:41:00.002-04:00

Incendie (Halifax, NS)

2011-08-09T18:55:00.002-04:00

story by Laura Fraser here

Aurora Borealis (Malpeque, P.E.I.)

2011-08-05T23:20:00.003-04:00

story by Selena Ross here

Moose (Chéticamp, NS)

2011-07-29T10:16:00.002-04:00

I met up with friends Lori and Ron Erwin at Cape Breton Highlands National Park for a couple of days.

Haute Voltige (Kirkfield, ON)

2011-07-24T22:35:00.002-04:00

Retired ironworker Henry Battah, 84, photographed by Boris Spremo while working on the construction of the CN Tower - notice how nobody is wearing a harness; gravity only became dangerous after the seventies - would like to try the Edgewalk, the tower's newest attraction.

Splash (Lawrencetown, NS)

2011-07-20T21:07:00.002-04:00

Sam McKenna surfs at Lawrencetown Beach.
Jessie Thompson starts his 50m race at the 2011 provincial Special Olympics in Halifax.

Golf Tournament (Truro, NS)

2011-07-15T09:37:00.001-04:00

Illegally Laid Off (Toronto, ON)

2011-07-13T07:33:00.003-04:00

Star story here

Low Tide (Bay of Fundy, NS)

2011-07-11T09:28:00.001-04:00

Atlantic Times (Peggy's Cove, NS)

2011-06-21T23:13:00.000-04:00

Lingerie Football League (T.O)

2011-06-11T23:07:00.004-04:00

Flying (Kawarthas, ON)

2011-06-01T18:17:00.005-04:00

Varsity Variety (T.O)

2011-05-11T13:39:00.000-04:00

Catwalk Smoke (T.O)

2011-04-16T14:39:00.001-04:00

"Far too much dancing, not nearly enough prancing" (T.O)

2011-04-09T14:32:00.002-04:00

The Boys of Summer (T.O)

2011-04-02T13:55:00.000-04:00

aka the millionaires in pyjamas; are back!

La-La Land (Los Angeles, CA)

2011-03-28T13:50:00.001-04:00

99 in the Shade (Death Valley, CA)

2011-03-14T03:33:00.004-04:00

Viva La Recesión (Las Vegas, NV)

2011-03-10T15:49:00.002-05:00

Pacific Coast Highway (San Simeon, CA)

2011-03-09T13:20:00.003-05:00

Bixby Creek (Big Sur, CA)

2011-03-07T12:32:00.002-05:00

Pebble Beach (Monterey, CA)

2011-03-06T14:07:00.001-05:00

Sierra Road (San Jose, CA)

2011-03-04T03:06:00.001-05:00

Golden Gate (San Francisco, CA)

2011-03-02T02:18:00.001-05:00

Touch the Sky (Sioux Falls, South Dakota)

2011-02-28T17:54:00.002-05:00

Spinning Tunnel (Niagara Falls, ON)

2011-02-17T00:18:00.000-05:00

California Dreamin' (Lindsay, ON)

2011-01-25T01:50:00.003-05:00

minus 30 degrees Celsius

Lunar Eclipse (Bobcaygeon, ON)

2010-12-21T13:29:00.002-05:00

Composite image taken at 1:30, 1:39, 1:54, 2:08, 2:22, 2:30, 2:37; 2:58, 4:00 AM Eastern Standard Time.

The first 6 have a constant exposure for the moon lit by the sun.

The last 3 are exposed 10 stops brighter to expose for the red hue as the moon is lit only by the Earth's atmosphere.

10 full stops mean that the top photos are 1024 times brighter than the lower three.

Early Morning Swim (T.O)

2010-12-19T20:21:00.002-05:00

Hoops (T.O)

2010-12-04T14:26:00.003-05:00

Kayak (Kawartha Lakes, ON)

2010-12-02T18:53:00.001-05:00

Judo (T.O)

2010-11-29T10:46:00.002-05:00

Rest in Peace (Markham, ON)

2010-11-19T19:04:00.004-05:00

Aziz was the pilot of this plane; the picture was taken a few months ago. The 26-year-old flight instructor died last night in a crash that also killed two Seneca College students. Pictured below; Aziz (center) monitoring students in a flight simulator. Having spent some time with instructors and students of Seneca's flight program both on ground and in the air, I can say they were professional and very meticulous. This tragic event should not eclipse the thousands of flights over many years where nothing went wrong.

Globe and Mail report

Toronto Star report

Lets hope the program - the only public college offering it in Canada - will recover. I would not hesitate a second if asked to fly with them again.

May Aziz, Cynthia and Lloyd - unfortunate casualties of one of man's greatest invention - rest in peace.

Breaking the Double Team (Barrie, ON)

2010-11-10T20:35:00.002-05:00

Violent Football (T.O)

2010-11-05T15:00:00.001-04:00

Knight Portrait (T.O)

2010-11-03T23:28:00.001-04:00

They Might Be Giants (San Francisco, CA)

2010-10-27T21:52:00.003-04:00

Just watching the World Series and remembering shooting a couple of ball game in San Francisco last season (these two pictures taken in 2009)

They have the best ballpark and I had a great time. Go Giants!

Fake Football (Toronto, ON)

2010-10-20T13:49:00.003-04:00

Many factors come into play when it comes to positioning yourself at a soccer game (or any sporting event for that matter)

For pro sports, more often than not, you don't really have much choice over where you can be. This was a rare Toronto FC game that was not sold out so we went and shot from the stands - away from the overbearing security guards.

Shooting from a higher angle allowed to have cleaner backgrounds (see above). The spot we favoured allowed us to cover a big part of the field, but unfortunately, while being able to see both nets, the angle was pretty bad (see below).

This is still a good gamble, because God knows there isn't a lot of action around the goals in soccer, but this is what the only goal of the game looked like from where I was:
Now I didn't re-invent the wheel here, but fortunately, I had a camera in the net to show a different angle (without advertising MasterCard).

Real Football (Montréal, QC)

2010-10-20T13:37:00.002-04:00

Some CFL action from the weekend. Always great to shoot at a different venue; light is different, making new friends / meeting old friends...

Highway 401 (T.O)

2010-10-03T11:26:00.004-04:00

Toronto International Film Festival Portraits (T.O)

2010-09-13T11:58:00.006-04:00

American actor Robert De Niro - (good chat about bedbugs)

During the film festival, one of the best assignment, and probably most stressful, is the one-on-one portraits. To give some idea of what it's like, we are given 1 or 2 minutes (often much less for the bigger names) and the setting is usually an empty hotel room (so much for being creative). Sometimes it varies. Some of the stars are really friendly; a few others not so much, but there are always good anecdotes.

French actress Mélanie Laurent - (the one who killed Hitler in Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds)

Canadian actor Michael Cera - (a few weeks before film fest)

Canadian-American actor Jason Priestly - (pretty boy in Beverly Hills 90210)

American actor Edward Norton - (from many good movies)

Soviet-American actress Milla Jovovich - (with a delightful and exquisite English)

American actor/director Emilio Estévez - (aka Billy the Kid)

American actor/director David Schwimmer - (aka Ross Geller)

American actor Martin Sheen - (just as nice of a guy as his son Emilio)

... "cricket sound" ... (T.O)

2010-09-07T22:51:00.004-04:00

I was assigned to shoot a photo-story on cricket last month. I wish I could explain how cricket works, but there's not enough room on this blog - or on the entire Internet for that matter.

I can tell you though, that spending a day around the extremely large oval field and asking questions to the players on the sideline has made me a semi-expert on the subject.

It's a slow paced sport, which allowed me to ask many questions - some quite stupid - to the very patient players. (Of course they are, they play a game that lasts forever...)

One of the game I attended ended up in a tie; a very rare occurrence in a sport where scores are in the hundreds. The photo below shows the batsmen scoring the tying run; beating the wicket by a fraction of a second on the last delivery of the game. The wicket (ball hitting the wooden bars and dislodging the bail - wooden thingy on the right of the frame) would have dismissed (retired) the batsmen. Retiring all the batsmen is one way to end the inning (half of the game, each teams bats once). The other way is for all the bowlers (pitchers) to deliver (throw) all of the set number of deliveries.

If that helps at all. (refer to Wikipedia for any additional information)

Otherwise, just take my word for it: this was a very close play deciding of the outcome of the game which makes this picture both significant and storytelling.

Ouch! (T.O)

2010-09-05T15:07:00.002-04:00

Canada's Simeon Jackson experiences Peru's "friendliness" first-hand as they host a FIFA friendly soccer game.

Below: a behind-the-scene photo of yours truly, taken by friend and former co-worker René Johnston from the Star.

Baseball (T.O)

2010-09-04T14:44:00.003-04:00

When the dome opens (above) and a slow shutter-speed picture of Toronto's own homerun king José Bautista (below)

Same Sun (Nice, France)

2010-09-01T16:30:00.001-04:00

Some outs from Nice and elsewhere.

Sailin' (T.O)

2010-08-13T15:13:00.004-04:00

A few pictures from earlier in the week.

And a portrait of John who was driving me around to shoot the sail boats.

"Where are his feet?" (T.O)

2010-08-12T00:27:00.003-04:00

Tennis is in town. I don't feel like blabbing about how to shoot it; there's a thousand ways to do it, and to quote a mentor of mine: "You'd have to suck not to get "something" out of three hours of hitting the yellow ball". (Though it is a little more subtle than that)

But I thought I'd share a little bit about the importance of feedback.

Feedback is invaluable. Having experienced shooters helping you out and telling you how you could have done this or that better, is the best way to improve.

Upon coming back with what was probably the best "jubo" picture of Rafael Nadal; a colleague and mentor immediately said : "Where are his feet?". Referring to what he saw on TV (from the media room); Nadal jumped at that moment upon winning a very long set, and my tighter picture didn't show it.

Now this picture is still good enough; and he could have simply said "good job", but by telling me how it could have been better; you can bet your ass off next time around, in that situation, I'll be shooting loose and will have the full body.

And that's how you learn, and that's how you get better...

Caribana 2010 (T.O)

2010-08-02T18:08:00.005-04:00

The biggest Caribbean parade in North America. Organizers claim there are more than a million people participating and attending, which is a major overstatement but everybody seems to benefit from the juiced up numbers (and reporters can't be bothered to venture an accurate estimate and call them on the lie).

Even if the actual figure is far less than half what they claim; there is a lot of - sweaty, horny, festive - people.

I tend to get migraines from the mix of loud music and big crowds; which is why I never look forward to covering these events. If it wasn't for my job, I'd never get anywhere near these things.

But as I've said before, the variety of assignments makes Toronto such a great city to work in, so it's with eagerness and good earplugs that I tackled this year's Caribana Parade.

Good pictures are easy to make; great pictures are very rare. It is what it is, costumes are colourful, people are dancing, "like shooting fish in a barrel" my colleague Andrew said. But good moments - the photojournalistic sense of the word - are rarely encountered because the event lasts all day and is spread all over the four-kilometre route.

I (unsuccessfully) headed out looking for great pictures (I always keep an eye open for the zinger.) It didn't happen this time around - it almost never does - but here are a few of the good - not great - photos from that day.

This was last year's post

FORE!!! (T.O)

2010-07-26T00:41:00.004-04:00

My first time shooting a major golf event; here are pictures of Carl Pettersson from Sweden, winner of this year's Canadian Open.

While harsh sunlight (as opposed to an overcast day) makes it tough to get the good important news photos (i.e. reactions after putting and the like), it is very fun to play with the shadows and make some artsy images.

But in the end, the only picture that really matters for the final round is:

Start your engines (T.O)

2010-07-20T09:00:00.002-04:00

Dario Franchitti drives during the 2010 Indy race in Toronto (above) and kisses his wife, actress Ashley Judd after a second place finish (below).

The cars all go around 85 times around the track during the race - and many more times the few days before - so there is plenty of time to get a close-up picture of every car and then get artsy. Short of a spectacular crash - unfortunately for photographers, car racing is safer and safer - the only pictures that carry any news value are the winner driving past the checkered flag and then being on the podium.

And finally local "hero" Paul Tracy drives past the Princes' Gates:

OMG-20 (Toronto, Ontario)

2010-07-15T18:31:00.004-04:00

I delayed posting this thinking I would have time to re-edit some photos, and maybe come up with some poetic way to describe the hectic weekend of the G20 summit in Toronto. I was wrong. I've been very busy ever since.

Although these were exceptional events here in Toronto, on the world stage, the protests and riots were fairly insignificant. A few police cruisers burnt down, some broken windows... Protesters didn't injure anyone (the police took care of that), nothing compared to what we saw in Thailand a few months ago, or in the Paris suburbs a few years back (when they wanted to increase tax on baguettes if I recall).

I wanted to cover the lighter side of this social experiment. Some protesters dressed like clowns, were actually hilarious:

Or people dancing in Allan Gardens, where a lot of out-of-town protesters (a lot came from Québec) pitched tents - I guess you can't afford hotels on an activist's paycheck:

The city had been deserted, this is Yonge Street during the morning rush hour:

The bigger story was really the way the police acted. Numbers were humongous; 19 000 officers (Pittsburgh only had 5 000), 1.1 billion for security (60 times more than the 18 million last year in Pittsburgh). And all that just to kick civil rights in the crotch.

Some of my friends and fellow journalists, while wearing proper ID, were roughed up and arrested. At one point I was watching a very peaceful - borderline boring - protest, in the officially designed protest spot - and out of nowhere, police officers in full riot gear would charge the crowd and arrest the person standing next to me, who hadn't done a thing. I could go on and on with example of police fuck-ups - and I'm not one to usually side with low-life protesters.

More so than a few 17-year-olds from Montreal dressed in black breaking windows; the way the police forces dropped the ball on that one is what will be remembered of the G20 in Toronto.

Blue Jays (T.O)

2010-07-10T01:29:00.001-04:00

MuchMusic Video Awards (T.O)

2010-07-03T18:05:00.004-04:00

Variety is what makes my job interesting. I'd rather die than have to shoot this type of event day in and day out, but in the grand scheme of things, being part of the huge (useless, ridiculous, absurd) celebrity circus just adds to the variety of tasks a photojournalist is expected to do.

Some photographers specialize in celebrity photography (and do quite well). The only one respectably doing so in Canada described his skill has being able to both "be arrogant and suck-up in a single sentence". It's a fine line. One I'm trying to stay away from.

So it starts with the red carpet. These events always attract all kinds of wannabe photographers, working for themselves, for a shitty blog, or giving away pictures just to get a pass. For once, I found some of them to be useful:

About 50 to 100 "celebrities" will walk down the red carpet. 5 to 10 of them are actually important enough for us to need pictures, of which I know absolutely none.

They all look the same. Chatting to those fan / fake-photographers was actually really helpful as they knew almost everybody.

Now we tackled the event with 5 photographers. We had people posted on the red carpet, and later around the various stages. My assignment was to roam around, and find some pretty pictures; look for something different. My fellow photographers thought this was the best job, and I agreed.

Until I met the PR people. (I so hate them; beware the short lady with the clipboard and headset...)

I was herded back into a photo pit (in which we already had a shooter) and told this was the only place I could take pictures. I'd have to try and make something different, from the same spot everybody else is in... The first picture of this post is an example of what I was supposed to do, it was taken just before I got yelled at and taken back to the dedicated photo spots (for the second time of the night).

These PR people, whose job it is for us to make them and their event look as good as possible, do so by restraining us as much as they can. Think about it for a second, I simply wanted to wander around in the crowd.

Features (T.O)

2010-06-29T22:22:00.004-04:00

Plenty of things worth writing about, including the G20 and everything related to it. But for now let's just go with those two features.

About that... (Toronto, ON)

2010-06-14T20:47:00.003-04:00

Last year it was a garbage strike, this year it's a G8 / G20 summit. Almost everyday, there's an assignment related to it.

There's the big fence they are building around the convention centre, there are protesters telling us they plan on breaking stuff, police showing how they'll beat on people who break stuff.

Someone please tell the world leaders about Skype...

Overall a big display of human stupidity, if not primitivity.

GMC (T.O.)

2010-06-10T15:18:00.002-04:00

Keeping the trend going; here's something else we have to do as photojournalists.

It's not as glamorous as some other assignments, but it's in the news and we have to cover it.

This particular image, to illustrate the fact GM recalled 1.5 million vehicles, is probably the photo of mine that has played in the most newspapers, magazines and websites this past few weeks...

Some Recent Portraits (ON)

2010-06-08T16:33:00.004-04:00

Portraits are a big part of what photojournalists are asked to do. You usually get between 1 and 30 minutes to make an image. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Here are a few recent portraits assignments.

Three Kilometres High (over Cookstown, ON) II

2010-05-29T17:07:00.002-04:00

"Don't worry, I've got your back" had never sounded better.

There was no way I would jump, but for safety reasons I was wearing a parachute - a "rig" rather, as the parachute is the part that opens.

I asked to be tethered, and they ran a cable from my rig to the plane. But, soon enough I would realize that was only to humour me - when we reached the desired altitude, they unhooked me.

As logical as the reason was - it's better to fall off a plane than to be dragged by it at 200 km/h - my discomfort was hard to hide.

That's when James, who was staying in plane with me, told me "Don't worry, I've got your back".

This is Marc, signalling me to come and take my position. (Note the angle of the horizon; my camera is parallel to the airplane)

To get the picture I wanted, I had to lean outside the aircraft. One knee was still inside, and I was holding (clasping, grasping...) the red bar (see photo) with my left hand.

Knowing, or rather thinking, I would be attached to the plane itself, was the only thing making me feel safe about this position.

So much for that.

The practice runs helped. I got accustomed to suppress my fear of heights long enough to make photos.

And on what was to be the very last jump because it was already nighttime on the ground, the pilot executed what would have been a wheelie had we been on a motorcycle to catch a last glimpse at the sun.

And it worked.

May Two Four (Bobcaygeon, ON)

2010-05-26T09:37:00.013-04:00

Play Ball (T.O.)

2010-05-15T21:13:00.002-04:00

My first game of the season. I'm always impressed when people say they've been shooting the Jays for 25 years, but I realize this is my third season already and I'm still a newbie.

Baseball is a weird sport to shoot, it's the most challenging. I'm not going to bore anybody with the technical aspect of it; light, focal length constraints, shoot with Canon gear, trying to get better backgrounds, etc.

But this was as far from a perfect game as it could be. 25 runs in the first four innings, 11 different pitchers, quite an interesting game.

This and That (Toronto, ON)

2010-05-10T01:23:00.004-04:00

There are thousands of reasons for pictures not to work.

Sometime the sky is boring, the light ain't right, and there's just no point trying to compose something.

And sometimes the sky is great, the light is good, but the sun disappears before you can find a good subject, and all you have is a dumptruck.

Sometimes there's a key goal, nice jubo (backlit but that's not a big deal) but you're stuck with the 400 (to long a lens) and you crop out half of a guy's face.
Can't win them all!

You've been... Thunderstruck (Sydney, NSW, Australia)

2010-05-08T06:45:00.005-04:00

When I first posted that picture, almost exactly a year ago, and use the same clever title, I don't think I realized AC/DC was an Australian band. In fact, unless I'm mistaken, they have played more than once at the Opera House that seems to be hit by lightning.

It was a Saturday night in Sydney. In fact it was Saturday in most parts of the world, but I was in Sydney. I don't remember what I had planned to do of the evening, but I know that whatever it was, it changed right away when the thunderstorm began.

Skies can be amazing before of after storms. It wasn't the case on that night, but it's hard to know in advance (so you just go).

I told the story before of my homeless friend Jay, whom I met trying to protect my camera from the heavy rain on the porch of the church. When asking why I was heading to the riverside park, I specifically told him I was "going to photograph lightning hitting the Opera House", and on my way back to the hostel, when I showed him the picture on the back of the camera, he thought I was some kind of magician.

Jay didn't really understand the ins and outs of photography, let alone how to shoot lightning, so he was simply impressed at the timing I must have to be able to snap a shot just when it strikes.

The reality of it is, you simply take longer exposures and wait for something to happen in your frame. When you're outside of where the storm is, it's quite enjoyable, you just set your camera on a tripod, watch the show, and click every so often for the next picture to be taken.

That night, well it was somewhat different. I don't travel with a tripod (too big), so I usually use whatever I can to fix the camera. There, it was my bag padded with my coat.

That coat would have been useful since by the time I got to the pier, the storm had shifted and was over and behind me and not over the downtown core.

Because it was pouring rain, I used my shirt to protect my camera and keep the lens clean - that smudge is a raindrop that got past me and my makeshift shield.

I couldn't just stand there and enjoy the show, I was simply hovering over my camera when I saw the reflection of a flash, and just made sure the camera would stay still for the remainder of the exposure.

I knew (at least hoped) I had something. I was on vacation so I just kept shooting, but if you're working and you're on deadline, once you get such a picture, you have to quickly decide if it's good enough or if you can get something better.

This was the case last August, while I was on staff at the Toronto Star. After a full day of work, I was watching the Simpsons, trouser-less, when a raging thunderstorm pulled me back outside. I quickly grabbed the camera, and started to think of a better vantage point (than that of my basement). I tried a few places, but couldn't get anything good. I finally parked my car on a curb of the highway exit, raced to the top of the overpass, and started snapping away. All of this happening really quickly because I didn't want to miss the storm.

(Again, no tripod, hand-held against the metal railing for 10 seconds at a time, thinking the streetlights would be hit before the railing I was holding on to)

The picture below was the last frame I shot. After seeing it, I quickly had to make the decision to stop shooting, rush back home to send it to my paper.

No way it would've been published had I waited any longer.

Stars for the Star (Toronto, ON)

2010-05-07T10:04:00.003-04:00

Spent a delightful night with astronomers at an observatory a few weeks back. Light pollution makes Toronto an odd choice of location for an observatory, but the brighter elements of the sky are still visible and analyzable.

I got to see Saturn and its rings, Mars, and super close-ups of the Moon.

"Je m'balladais sur l'avenue, le coeur ouvert à l'inconnu" (T.O.)

2010-04-19T10:42:00.003-04:00

Digging some up from the archive.
Apple Store on one of the most famous avenue in the world, Fifth Avenue in New York City - January 2010.

Lovers cross another famous avenue, l'Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris - September 2009.

London Eye at night over-seeing the Thames, in London - November 2009.

Kiss in front of the "Painted Ladies", a classic view of San Francisco - May 2009.

More Hoops (Barrie, ON)

2010-04-11T16:16:00.004-04:00

Wow, it has been exactly a full month in between posts; this blog was indeed pacific.
This previous picture I really like. Here's why. Sports is too often shot tight. A nice close-up of peak action always does it. First off, shooting wide is a gamble because you'll most likely miss the usual bread-and-butter tight frame.

And it's a challenge because it is tougher to compose an image. Or, in other words, there's gonna be more crap in your frame. In that picture, the only (of three) referee is under the running track, so in the shadow, and, all the players are doing something.

If you have the point guard standing back picking her nose, there's no picture. And that happens, a lot. But eh, a college ball game is a perfect opportunity to experiment.
And then, and there's no way to nicely say that, there's the fact that this was women's basketball. A slower dunkless version of the sport I love.

And I'm not saying that just because it's not as fun to watch. but as a photographer, you have to be aware of what's happening (Vince Carter only drives from the baseline, Serena Williams always reacts looking at her parents in the stands, this pitcher's motion looks better from third base, etc) and anticipate the kind of pictures you can get.

Because the ladies don't jump as high, but instead like to fumble the ball, a really nice picture you can get is of the players fighting for a loose ball. Just an example of something I keep in mind; the game is played a lot closer to the court, and not necessarily in the paint.

But time was different, because although there was no shortage of loose balls, as soon as I entered the gymnasium, I noticed I could have access to a jogging track built around it.

Not that many gyms have that in the 21st century, and I wanted to take advantage of it. the obvious way was to shoot from up there, with a different angle, but I also used that area to set up lights and give a cool contrasty look to an otherwise boringly lit room.
And again, just like for the LeBron picture, flash only lets you shoot every 3 seconds, so you can't just hit the motor drive and snap away. An additional challenge!

Shoeshine $5 (Toronto, ON)

2010-04-11T16:07:00.002-04:00

Carmen Liscio, 70, has been shining shoes in Toronto's underground (PATH) for 38 years.

It's not always a national story, but it's fun to be assigned to things like that.

Otherwise, I've been shooting a lot lately, unfortunately the vast majority of it I can't show just yet.

Boiler Room Ballet (Toronto, ON)

2010-03-19T16:35:00.000-04:00

All opposed say "Nay" (Washington, DC)

2010-03-11T23:58:00.003-05:00

Ah the democracy...

It's been done (T.O.)

2010-03-03T13:14:00.004-05:00

I like the challenge of shooting landmarks because you need to find a different way to photograph something that's been shot from every angle thousands of times. The challenge was no different with this LeBron James picture.

Tossing talc powder is LeBron's pre-game ritual, and it's been shot by many people 82 times a year (plus playoffs) ever since the star player arrived in the NBA.

I'm particularly proud of this image because luck was only a small part of it (luck - good or bad - is always a factor in photojournalism).

First I did some research. Does he only do this during home games? When does he do his trademark powder tossing? Before the game, yes, but when exactly? Before or after the shoot-around, before or after the warm-up, before or after the anthems, before or after the players presentation?

Then I looked at the exact spot this happens. I know he faces the crowd, but where exactly at the scorers table would he be. I wanted to shoot him square (straight on) and since moving through a crowd isn't easy, I had to pick my spot.

Then the decision to light it. Where to put a strobe that will overpower the ambient light of the arena. Where to find the most convenient place to put it. Had a few test shots to see if there was anything wrong with the radio-transmitters (there was) and made sure I'd get enough time to fix it if needed (I did).

Then the luck factor. What if that day they play with an ugly throwback jersey. Because of the flash, I only have one shot (the flash will take 3 seconds to recycle), what if a fan steps in front on me just when I push the shutter. And so on...

Often, these things don't work. But as pride wants it, I don't mention it, just suck it up and try again the next time the opportunity presents. But this time around, it did work, and that's why I post this image, and not the otherwise pretty cool picture of the game winning basket.

--

Try and see if you can recognize the people sitting on the far right of the image.

Olympics recap (T.O.)

2010-03-01T12:06:00.005-05:00

Ski all you want, curl all you want, skate in circles all you want; all that really mattered to this country was the men's hockey gold medal.The scene at Gretzky's during the gold medal game.

Not to say it wasn't fun to watch everything else, I myself don't really like hockey, but a loss would have tainted the accomplishments of the athletes who, for once, kicked everyone else's butt with the most gold medals.

This doesn't put us on the map more than we were, let's face it, the World doesn't care about winter Olympics, but it was great to see Canadians cheering for Canadians, being united and patriotic, singing impromptu anthems here and there in the streets.

By the way, don't mess with that anthem. In both the opening and closing ceremonies, we've seen O Canada butchered. It's not jazz, or boyband-like. It's the only part that should remain serious and solemn.

Speaking of the ceremonies... A lot of over-compensating with the First Nations in the opening. I think it's ridiculous that the non-elect (non Canadian born) Governor General is officially our head-of-state (because she represent "our" Queen), let alone the 4 guys in disguise. (With Harper there they could have played "Cowboys and Indians")

If I recall history class, European settlers bought the land with guns, booze and mirrors. Hey, you made a bad deal, suck it up.

First Nations are part of our heritage. But, according to the last census, there are more Italians, more Ukrainians, twice as more German living in Canada, than the 1.2 million people with native ancestry.

So when it comes to representing Canada in a ceremony, cut the crap, we are not Indians. To include and represent Canadians, instead of those four giant dildo-shaped zombies and native (stroke symptoms-like) dances, a big party with wurstls, pretzels and sauerkraut; a hairy guy singing O Sole Mio; or whatever non nuclear thing could represent Ukraine, would have been way more appropriate.

And one last thing. People dying is sad. And sometimes tragic. BUT, let's keep the word "tragedy" in perspective.

Earthquake in Chile (or Haiti a few weeks ago): tragedy.

Georgian luger banging head against metal post: sad, but not a tragedy.

If you go down an icy garbage chute on a Harvey's tray at 100 miles per hour; shit can happen.

Now the Olympics are over, which means NBC will run The Office again, and that our athletes can step out of the spotlight, into the closet, until we need them again 4 years from now.

Two years from the London Olympics. And for those of you who like real sports; 17 days until March Madness.

Gone Full Circle (Toronto, ON)

2010-02-23T00:59:00.003-05:00

Oh the freedom of having to make a living for yourself. I graduate photo school. The last of a long line of various programs, campuses, classrooms and teachers.

Teachers from one end of the spectrum; the likes of now-good-friends Ray Steinke or Fred Thornhill, going all the way to the other end, to grade-A assholes such as Didier Gouriou.

One thing was sure, I echoed Alice Cooper's song and said "School's out Forever!"

Enough was enough.

And now, ironically, a long term assignment has me right back in colleges and universities, including York University, 50 metres from my classes at Seneca, where I shot this:

You May Say That I'm a Dreamer

2010-02-03T18:16:00.003-05:00

(click to enlarge)

Pretending to Be a Fashion Photog (T.O.)

2010-01-31T22:26:00.005-05:00

I played with some cool lighting toys with my friend (and fellow photographer), the lovely Sarah Dea.

Hoops (Toronto, ON)

2010-01-26T20:23:00.002-05:00

Can't say I was too sad to see the Lakers lose.I might not like the purple and yellow uniform, I have to admit Kobe Bryant is an amazing athlete. He hasn't been very emotional on the court ever since the trial a few years back...

If I Can Make it There... (New York, NY)

2010-01-11T23:35:00.002-05:00

Dawn, sunrise, sunset and dusk are the best time of the day for outdoor photography. No secret there. But light changes fast and doesn't last, so for travel photography, be aware and be ready.

Here's sunset and the Statue of Liberty.
Sidenote, in this particular situation, where the subject is three kilometres away (so you need all the "zoom" you can get and then some), cold temperature is your friend as there is less humidity, fog or pollution between you and what you shoot. It was freezing cold...
And after sunset (30-60 minutes) wait for magic hour, when artificial light matches natural light.
(A better example of magic hour is the previous post's picture of Manhattan view from 30 Rock)

Riding the F train (New York, NY)

2010-01-04T22:21:00.005-05:00

Future post about how light changes and the Statue of Liberty...

Happy New York (New Year, NY)

2010-01-01T13:25:00.003-05:00

From Central Park, happy 2010.

A Rainy Day in Manhattan (New York, NY)

2009-12-31T20:43:00.001-05:00

New Year's Eve in New York. Fireworks, crystal ball, bring it on!

B-Ball (T.O.)

2009-12-22T18:09:00.002-05:00

Sitting and watching (as did the Raptors) a basketball game at the ACC (a few weeks ago).

50mm Snapshot (T.O.)

2009-12-19T00:09:00.002-05:00

Prime lens, wide-open.
One-roll, 36 frames, no less, maybe one or two more. *
No crop. No Photoshop crap.
No looking at the back of the camera. No auto-focus. No motor-drive.
No scrum, no caption, no filing.
Not sharp? No sweat; not nice? who cares.

Once in a while, just pick up a camera and play.

MVP (T.O.)

2009-12-09T20:20:00.002-05:00

I've had the opportunity to see and experience many things already in my young career. It is a very fulfilling job where you get to meet people you wouldn't normally have access to, get to see things people rarely see, and get to do things you never thought you would.

A highlight has been the chance to cover the sport I grew up playing, at the highest level possible. Basketball is a great sport overall, and it photographs well. The field of play is reasonably small (unlike soccer), the players don't wear face-masks (so emotion is easy to capture, unlike football), the access is good (unlike hockey where you shoot through a little hole in the window) and the action is continuous (unlike baseball).

The ultimate treat as been to get to cover games in which Canadian Steve Nash, the best point guard to have played in the NBA, played. I played highschool and college varsity looking up to that player, and trying to learn from his skills, ethics and overall sense for the game.

Here are a few pictures from his latest visit to Toronto.

Seasons Greeting, Ugh... (T.O.)

2009-12-05T00:52:00.003-05:00

A few jobs I look forward to posting on here, but they have to get published by the people who paid me to shoot them first (exclusive first rights, then, it's all mine!)

In the meantime, it is, sadly, December. We turned the light on at City Hall. Whoopty-doo.

(all images in this post from this event)

One of the only good things about Jebus' birthday is Ron Erwin's Christmas card. This year is a big white bear! He just got back from a trip at the Manitoba/Nunavut border to photograph polar bears. The pictures are amazing; search for "polar bears" on www.ronerwin.com