Our town had its second annual Pride event this weekend. It was as hot as the hinges on the door to you know where, but, as a semi official event photographer for the town, I determined to go and take some pictures regardless. Of course, we also wanted to support Pride and would have made an appearance regardless. We just might not have stayed so long.
As it turned out, we stayed for two hours before we took a brief break. We came home for a few minutes. When I changed my sweat-soaked shirt, I struggled to get it off because it was almost stuck to me. I returned to the for maybe less than a half hour but had to call it quits. Sitting in the high, early afternoon sunlight in temperatures of 34C/93F in very high humidity which made it feel like 46C/114F became a little too much for the old guy.
Speaking of hot and old, do you know that older folk don't process the heat as well as younger people? So, be careful out there.
I took a ton of photos to record the event, but I will limit my output here to just a few dozen. Sort of kidding, but there are more than a dozen.
Bob, the other event photgrapher
Pics of Sue.
Sue with Danica and friends
Danica and friends
The fire department was there to help cool off those who were game.
A few of the performers
It was a delightful event, which I cut a little short because I am a bit of a wimp.
Sunday afternoon from noon until 6 used to be all that there was to Celtfest, and it was very fine. Gradually, they expanded to Saturday night before adding Saturday afternoon as well. For the past two years, they have also added Friday night. It has become quite the event. But that seems to mean that there are fewer acts left for Sunday, and, therefore, each act performs longer. So, if there's a ho-hum act (and there were a few), they play longer than they used to — or so it seems to me.
Oh dear, I am making it sound poor, and it isn't, but I am tired and less inspired to photograph by the time that Sunday rolls around. It's partly because I have shot a ton already and partly because I know that daytime photos are flatter and less interesting than nighttime photos when the colourful lights are on (although they didn't do as good a job with the night lighting this year). One year, I didn't even bother to take my camera on Sunday, so that I wouldn't be tempted to frustrate myself. Last year, we decided not to go on Sunday afternoon because we were tired and had had enough by that point.
What with the flat lighting and my tiredness, I don't always work very hard to get into a good shooting spot, and the conditions were a bit hazy from a distance, but while I am on the Celtfest diaries as it were, I shall post a few photos.
The final act was The Fitzgeralds, consisting of three siblings and another accompanist. They played Celtfest quite a few years ago as Everything Fitz, which included their father and another brother.
Julie is the oldest and a Canadian Grandmaster Fiddle Champion.
She is also a Stepdancing Champion. The sister and brother are too, I believe, but I have lost track.
They have a polished and well rehearsed routine that flows without hitch. Here ↓ they have a dance-off between Superman and Batman. Their fitness level was off the charts as they could dance and dance, and Ottawa Valley stepdancing is a very strenuous and exuberant dance form and not at all sedate.
They had a whole routine with drumsticks, including more stepping. This is somewhat in honour their drummer brother who has moved on from the band at this point. (Tired of the blah colour, I am switching to mono.)
They do some trick fiddling. He loosened the bow with the handle part under the fiddle and played a tune.
Another trick: Julie does the fingering on two fiddles simultaneously while her siblings do the bowing.
It was a very lively and well performed show, and except for the finale, which is all of the performers and audience singing The Parting Glass, was the end of Celtfest for another year. And a very fine year it was. In case you don't know the song, I'll include a rendition from YouTube, which is not from Celtfest. You perhaps can appreciate how poignant a conclusion this is to conclude every Celtfest.
I do hear the groans and see the eye-rolls when I post yet another Celtfest entry. Such is life, but they are mostly photos and very few words.
These are from that Saturday afternoon before the two major groups hit the stage. But all of the performers were talented.
Anna Ludlow on what else — the fiddle.
Two photos of the Bang on the Ear band.
I take some crowd shots too. This guy's tartan cap was perfect for Celtfest. I wore one too, actually the same tartan, I believe, but a different style of cap.
Photographers abound. Well, maybe not abound, but they aren't exactly scarce either. It's hard to shoot under that hat, and noses do get in the way,
This guy has very good form: hand supporting the camera under the lens and elbows tucked in pretty well.
Braveheart is a staple at Celtfest. According to Bob who talked to him, the outfit is actually from the movie, Braveheart. He happened to be there when items were being sold off. I wonder what he paid for the outfit. Whatever the cost, I think it was worth it.
I just kind of wing it, y'know. So when I thought I was done with Ashley MacIsaac, I decided to post a little more. I will begin with two photos through the crowd. It gives you a good idea where I was shooting from.
The drummer/beatboxer was something else. I will show a picture here and have also included him in the video below.
I really don't shoot video very much, but I did squeeze a few clips on this occasion because it was something very different and special.
It was still light in the first clips but finished in the darkness. Just before we go from light to dark, you can see the accompanist doing a little of the mouth stuff, which is my highly technical way of describing it. You will also see the crowd dancing about in the dark part. The whole thing is only about 46 seconds. (Something went wrong, and this is only part 2 of what I wanted to show.)
I shot so many photos at Celtfest, and I had other photos and things to deal with as well, that I am still doing some sorting and editing — as the spirit moves.
I previously posted of the Great Ashley MacIsaac in colour, but I have decided to do some b&w processing too.
First, permit me to digress very briefly to reveal what happened on our way home from this concert. Less than one kilometre from home, a deer dashed in front of our car. Confused by the headlights, she didn't keep going, and we collided. Thankfully, I was only going ~60kph/35mph, and it could have been worse for both the deer and us. We drove on, called 911 in case the deer was injured on the road, but it was gone. The officer said that this is the deer-hit capital of Ontario and that experience proves that deer are extremely durable. We certainly hope so as we were almost devastated for the poor creature at the time. Meanwhile, we have $4000 damage to our vehicle.
Back to the Maestro.
I was confined to my seat for all of these photos, but my new long lens (100-400mm) came in very handy. All of these shots were shot handheld from 300mm to 400mm, but you can tell from the logo on the hat that they are pretty sharp.
I set the shutter speed on shutter priority at 1/200 and the ISO on auto, but the camera always chose the maximum ISO that I limited it to (it could have gone much higher). I a;lso let the camera choose the aperture which was usually between 5.6 - 6.3, which is as wide as the aperture in this lens will open at those lengths. I am happy enough with the results. I think I like the third photo best with the bow hairs flying, and it was also the most extended shot at a full 400mm.
I could process a few other photos, but I think I shall leave Mr MacIssac alone now.
It's been a few years since I photographed the Penstemon (beardtongue) flowers. I have them planted out front, but with the tree growing bigger in the middle of the garden, they no longer do well there. However, last year, I transplanted one to the back where it has thrived. Unfortunately, it was in decline by the time I decided to snatch a few photos, but there were still enough decent blooms to snap a couple of shots.
Sometimes, I feel the need to get out on my own and to just wander about with the camera, so that same evening, I drove to a few spots downtown.
I have taken several photos of townhall from this angle from across the river in better light than this, but this will do with a longer lens than I normally use in this situation..
I then wandered over the St James church. It is Pride Week, and this church embraces the event as you can see by the flag over the doorway. I left the flowers in the shot deliberately, but I really needed a wider lens to do it properly. I was shooting with a long lens that evening in all of the photos.
My next stop was on the bridge where I incorporated the beautiful hanging flower baskets into two photos. This first one has the townhall tower in the background. I might return some time with a tripod and use photo stacking to get both the flowers and the tower in focus. But I like this well enough as is with the tower a bit out of focus.
Finally, looking upriver past the flowers.
As an after thought, I am including a photo of Danica by the river, from earlier in the day.
Our neighbours suggested that I take a few pics of her very red lilies.
Easier said than done.
On my first visit, I decided that it was too windy. My second visit was early morning but too late still, for the harsh sun was directly upon them, and they showed no depth. On my third visit in the evening, they were flat in deep shadow. Besides that, the mosquitoes quickly drove me away. But they were of such a colour that I determined not to give up.
Fourth Visit: I determined to return even earlier in the morning to catch some low and gentle sunlight. Alas there was none, but I went regardless (it's only across the street) and took some shots. Red is a tough colour, photographically speaking, but with a little gentle persuasion, I got the colour to look more or less right to my eyes. Perhaps I will try again if I get the right early morning sun, but that may not happen before they fade, so I have something to show the neighbours.
Whilst there, I took a few more photos of other flowers in the garden.
This final one, below, was actually my first shot. The flower was sticking through the fence, so I thought it was worth a snap.
