Fun morning shooting some corporate headshots for Carolyn.

Soundtrack for the shoot was the Ultra Chilled Compilation Volume 6 to fit the mood.

Covered this new 4 day festival in Toronto for Quip Magazine. TURF (Toronto Urban Roots Fest) was held at Fort York Garrison Common with two stages and 28 bands/artists. Many of these bands (plus several bands that did not play at Fort York) also played what the organizers called “Late Night Club Bonus Series” at the Horseshoe Tavern and Lee’s Palace for all four nights. There was a great line up of artists and many of whom I had not heard. In addition to shooting the bands that Quip requested I cover, I also shot many others to get some great images to add to my portfolio and also to check out some new music. Best show for me was The Hold Steady for the combination of their awesome energy and great songs. Best surprise artist for me was Xavier Rudd. Great vibe and some serious talent. How he plays a couple of didgeridoos, a stompbox and the drums at the same time is pretty crazy to see live. I actually stopped shooting for a couple of minutes while in the Media/VIP area during our three song limit and just watched. Biggest hype for me to shoot was Kurt Vile & The Violators. Although I was a bit disappointed with the show (expected too much I think) they sounded exactly like their albums which I love especially Smoke Ring For My Halo from which they did a few songs. Biggest disappointment was not being able to shoot She & Him. They only allowed a few media to shoot their show and in addition, believe it or not Zoey Deschanel had their PR people request that there be no photos from spectators cell phones. Yup I shook my head also, at home actually, since I decided not to watch their show.

Overall a great festival to add to Toronto’s vibrant music scene and I hope to be back next year (without the torrential rain that absolutely soaked everyone on the last day).

Thanks to Quip Magazine.

Visti Quip Magazine for the review of the festival here.

All of my images of The Barr Brothers can be viewed here.

All of my images of Camera Obscura can be viewed here.

All of my images of Joel Plaskett Emergency can be viewed here.

All of my images of Justin Townes Earl can be viewed here.

All of my images of JD McPherson can be viewed here.

All of my images of Fitz & The Tantrums can be viewed here.

All of my images of Arkells can be viewed here.

All of my images of Matt Mays can be viewed here.

All of my images of Frank Turner can be viewed here.

All of my images of The Lowest Of The Low can be viewed here.

All of my images of The Hold Steady can be viewed here.

All of my images of Flogging Molly can be viewed here.

All of my images of Kurt Vile & The Violators can be viewed here.

All of my images of Yo La Tengo can be viewed here.

All of my images of Whitehorse can be viewed here.

All of my images The Cat Empire can be viewed here.

All of my images of Xavier Rudd can be viewed here.

All of my images of Neko Case can be viewed here.

All of my images of Belle & Sebastian can be viewed here.

*shot on July 4-7 2013*

Colette and I decided to do some portrait work at a great location near our studio. We shot once before at this urban type park under some bridges and thought we would give it another go. We were also looking to fine tune this location for future shoots with clients. After picking the best spot and a quick set up (one speedlight with umbrella) we worked quickly and efficiently and this was my favourite from the day. Another gorgeous shot of Colette to add to my portfolio.

Soundtrack for our shoot was Junip’s self titled album. This album is so good!

After a week of shooting the jazz festival and trying to catch up with some edits and everyday essential business activities, I thought I would enjoy the city and get back to some sort of life. It’s been about a couple of years since I’ve been to the Royal Ontario Museum and Colette and I thought that today would be a great day to visit. We were in luck because there was an exhibition of Viktor & Rolf Dolls as part of the Luminato Festival. There were 31 Victorian porcelain dolls dressed in miniaturized versions of Viktor&Rolf’s historic couture designs. Kind of creepy but pretty amazing with all of that detail. Anyway, we spent the rest of the afternoon absorbing the great exhibits at the ROM and then back to the dungeon for more edits.