First time covering Toronto Jazz Festival and I absolutely loved it. Fantastic music (you know I’m a total music junkie) and I got to photograph some serious musical greats. The highlight for me was shooting George Benson although I thought the best show was Trombone Shorty. That show was off the charts with amazing energy. The jazz/rock/funk combination got people on their feet, dancing. Janelle Monae’s show was pretty much the same and even felt more like a rock concert as it was the only show I covered where there was no seating in front of the stage. I stood with the crowd sweating like crazy while I photographed the show. The rule for media was shoot the first two songs or shoot the first ten minutes whichever was the shorter and that was it. I thought the usual three songs at rock concerts was short but…wow. What made it worse was the crammed space in front of the stage and having to basically shoot on my knees since us photographers did not want to get in the way of the first row of patrons (except for Janelle’s show as previously mentioned) nor obstruct the video feed. All good though and I definitely got the shots needed and a few for my portfolio.

For you tech geeks out there, D3s with 70-200 2.8VRll, ISO 2000, manual.

Thanks to Anna from Toronto Downtown Jazz.

Special thank you to Craig from What is Hip? CIUT 89.5 FM.

Images of Roman GianArthur’s show can be viewed here.

Images of Janelle Monae’s show can be viewed here.

Images of Hiromi’s show can be viewed here.

Images of The Bad Plus’ show featuring Joshua Redman can be viewed here.

Images of Treasa Levasseur & The Daily Special’s show can be viewed here.

Images of George Benson’s show can be viewed here.

Images of Saidah Baba Talibah’s show can be viewed here.

Images of Trombone Shorty’s show can be viewed here.

Images of Gretchen Parlato’s show can be viewed here.

Good times at the studio with Brooke (aka Fine Lines) for some edgy black and white creatives. Adala Clothing supplied some latex designs for the shoot and these were some of our favorites from the afternoon.

Thanks to Charlotte Wolfe for the make up and hair.

Thanks to Colette for her assistance.

Soundtrack to the afternoon included Die Antwoord.

Great night covering Chic-A-Boom Room: Electronic Cabaret at the Mod Club. The DivaGirl Entertainment & CMC Entertainment production was full of energy with 40 sexy burlesque dancers putting on an amazing 30 minute performance. It was a totally packed house for this ultimate live and interactive cabaret show. I had a fantastic time shooting even though it was crowded and I was sweating like crazy the whole time.
Make sure you come out and check out their upcoming shows!

All images from the show can be viewed here.

Special thank you to Laura Furtado.