2011, european heaven (pt 1)

Contrary to what the title suggests, I (unfortunately) did not spend all of 2011 in a European heaven. But I'm limited by rhyming options this year, so I'm going with that. It's hard to believe that this year is over...a part of me still feels like the Olympics (in February 2010) were just yesterday. They were not. Anyway, I am at least a little more organized than I was a this time last year, due to missing Challenge, so I figured that I would start my year-in-review posts. Considering that I posted all three of them in February last year, this is a huge improvement.

January:

I kicked off the New Year sitting on an Amtrak train in Jackson, Michigan, craning my neck to see fireworks from the window. A last-minute gap in my work schedule allowed me to join Christina and Jules in Michigan after all, but by the time I knew my schedule and could buy a train ticket, the one that would have allowed me to ring in the New Year with them was out of my budget. So I arrived in Royal Oak after 1am, and they picked me up on their way home from the New Year's party that they had attended. We had a stellar couple of days together for our belated Christmas.

I also went to a Charlotte Martin concert in January!

CharMar is one of my absolute favourite musicians, and I had not seen her perform before. The show was incredible. She débuted many of the new songs from her album Dancing on Needles, and I fell in love with "Warrior," which I am still patiently waiting for her to release as a B-side...

Of course, the main event in January was, once again, the Canadian Figure Skating Championships. They were in Victoria, BC, this year, so the trip was looking like it would be quite expensive, at first. I managed to save money by flying into Seattle and when one of the skating families found out that I planned to stay in a hostel, they found space for me in their rooms. Skating families are fantastic! Flying into Seattle also meant that I had a great excuse to fly in a couple of days early, so that I could spend some time in Vancouver with Lori! Of course, it rained the whole time, but she had tons of Road to Avonlea episodes available on PVR, so all was not lost. After 2 days with L$, it was off to Victoria! I was busier at Canadians than I have ever been, since I doubled up on coverage and was working for both Ice-Dance.com and GoldenSkate. It was exhausting, but exhilarating, and I'm still so relieved that the pieces fell into place for the trip to be a possibility.

Day 1: Grueling 15-hour day at the rink for novice short programs, the junior ladies short, where I snagged this amazing Ina Bauer shot of Julianna Sagaria, and junior dance practice.

Day 2: Another 15-hour day for novice free skates, junior pairs short, and the novice medal ceremony, which was way after bedtime for some of the kids on the podium. The novice dance event was my favourite to shoot all last year, because the top 6 or 7 teams were so talented and had such wonderful free dances. I hated that it was the first event to end this week! So one of the standout moments of the day was Madeline Edwards & Zhao Kai Pang's championship-winning novice free dance. They also set a new Canadian record. I love this shot, snapped a couple of seconds after they hit their end pose, because it's so easy to tell how thrilled they are with their skate.

Day 3: Three junior programs, but I was able to sneak out after the junior free dance to head back to the hotel early, eat an actual meal (and not just a bagel slathered in Nutella), and catch up on photo organization and submissions. Photo of the day is Nicole Orford & Thomas Williams in their first-place short dance. They also won the title the next day, which meant that their coaches & my friends went 3-for-3 on the national dance titles below the senior level. Awesome! Anyway, I had the privilege of shooting Nicole & Thomas quite a few times in their début season, but this shot might be my favourite.

Day 4: Finally, the schedule worked in my favour! I shot senior dance practice in the morning, and then I had time to get out of the rink and breathe. I met some of the novice dancers & parents at Roger's for sundaes, and embarked on an amusing turbo-shopping adventure to find a black skirt for Maddie, before heading back to the rink for the junior free dance, men's free, and medals. Photo of the day is Kelly Oliveira & Jordan Hockley, a team I loved watching for several years. I didn't have any idea then that this was my last time to photograph them as a team. I sure miss those smiles! At IDC, we called them our prozac team, since they always gave such a bubbly performance.

Day 5: First day of senior competition! However, the POTD is from practice, since I knew that I wanted this shot of Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje, and I knew that I needed an angle that I wouldn't be able to get from the media seats during the competition. The first time that I saw their short dance, via a tiny feed on my computer, I knew that I wanted to get this shot at Canadians. I had missed it a couple of times in practice the day before, so this was my last chance, and it was one of those moments where I knew that it was perfect the instant that I clicked the shutter. Love those moments!

Day 6: Two of the senior frees, ladies and pairs. POTD is, without a doubt, Meagan Duhamel & Eric Radford's reaction at the end of the free skate that would propel them onto the podium and send them to Worlds. I think that even people who don't know the backstory can understand what this moment meant to them, but for those of us who have watched Meagan's career unfold over the past decade, well, it probably means a bit more.

Day 7: Canadians comes to a close with two incredible events, the free dance and the men's free skate. In the free dance, Vanessa Crone & Paul Poirier and Kaitlyn Weaver & Andrew Poje were so fantastic and so close that I almost forgot that the headliners had withdrawn earlier in the week. In the men's free skate, Shawn Sawyer and Patrick Chan delivered the most incredible back-to-back free skates I have ever seen, finally topping Chris Mabee and Jeff Buttle in 2005. (No offense meant to Chris and Jeff, I still adore those moments, too.) It's funny—during the competition, I am so focused and so worried about my action shots, and initially, those are the ones that I look through first. But months after the event, when I go through the photos again, it is almost always a photo from the emotional reaction that jumps out at me...

...like Vanessa & Paul's reaction in the kiss & cry, when they found out that they'd won the Canadian title. Again, I had no idea that this would be the last time that I would see this familiar scene.

...and like Shawn Sawyer's extended celebration at the end of his free skate. I think that his flawless performance surprised even himself, and for me, it was the most incredible moment of a wonderful week. And I don't think I have ever left an event more exhausted than I left Victoria.

February:

February kicked off with a big, white, fluffy bang. Chicago had its worst blizzard in something like 30 years. People who didn't listen to repeated warnings and tried to drive home on Lake Shore Drive were stranded until the wee hours of the morning, but I didn't mind the blizzard much at all, tucked inside my house, watching the snow drift all the way to the top of my patio door while I sipped hot chocolate and probably ate Nutella.

Fortunately, the blizzard came the day that it did and not a day later, because just two days after the dumping, I was on a flight east for my second skating event of the year. The eventual destination was Oshawa, Ontario, for EOSIC, but since I'd forgotten to make my plane reservation while I was at Canadians, I ended up flying to Buffalo, taking a bus to Toronto, and taking the commuter train to Oshawa. Quite the ordeal. I wasn't too excited about the actual competition at first, since it was a StarSkate event, and I did not know most of the competitors. But of course, once I was there, I had a great time shooting. I especially enjoyed the Triathlon event, which I had never shot before, since I got to follow the same girls through three phases of the competition. A few highlights:

Francesca Joanette, one of the most expressive skaters in the junior bronze event

I even got to shoot some dance! Here's Chelsea Sheridan & Alex Gunther in the pre-juvenile Fiesta Tango.

Casey Barber, gold triathlon skills

Marisa De Souza, bronze triathlon interpretive; this Chicago program is one of the only skates that I still remember at the end of the year, such a joy to watch

Rebecca Marcinek, gold triathlon free skate

I don't think I did anything interesting the rest of February. At least, I didn't take any photos. I wrote a lot of Olympics-in-review and year-in-review posts in February, so I'm guessing that it was cold and I stayed inside all month.

March:

March kicked off with beautiful weather. I remember this because I left my coat in the car when I went to a concert on March 3, and I did not suffer from frostbite or hypothermia as a result.

The show was Made Avail's CD release party, but they invited Superchick, and that was why I was there.

Specifically, because I grew up in church/school/jazz band with the Superchick bassist, Matt Dally. I was hoping to see more folks that I knew there, but the only person I knew besides Matt was his mom, who was running the merch table. I'm also remembering now that I think I promised to send her photos, and I don't think I ever did...perhaps I should see if I can find her email address. Anyway, Superchick always puts on a great show, but this show was even more fantastic because the lighting was just perfect. I got so many great shots, most of which have still never seen the light of day.

The following weekend, I went to see Stars on Ice with my mom. This was my 10th event (or so) of the season, but this was my mom's first time seeing live skating since Disney on Ice with Girl Scouts, circa 1993. I was excited for the chance to take her, but a little worried that she would hate it. She didn't, though, and she even wanted to talk about who was good and who wasn't on the drive home. Our seats were crap (sometimes Stars on Ice gives the photographer a good seat, and sometimes they can't be bothered; this was a 'can't be bothered' day), but Mom was willing to scootch at intermission.

Mom and I were both most excited to see Jo, who was definitely on our "good" list.

I can't remember if Sasha jumped or not at that show, but she was into the dramatic flair, at least, and I really enjoyed this shot.

I was also thrilled to get a dramatic!Evan!spin! photo, and even more thrilled about the angle. Perfectly in front of the SOI sign! Tell me again why they haven't hired me as their official photographer yet. Haha.

At the end of the month, Mom went to a conference in San Francisco, and asked me if I would go with her. I couldn't turn down an almost-free trip to one of my favourite American cities, so off I went! Unfortunately, a sunny California weekend was not in the cards for us, but we went out in between the showers and made the best of it. We went to SFO in 2007 for Thanksgiving, and it was the first trip that I took with a "real" camera. I was anxious to get better shots this time, now that I have a bit more experience, and I even sprung for a wide-angle lens rental. I typically rent with BorrowLenses, and they are based in SFO, so I was able to do a local pick-up 3-day rental. Awesome!

Day 1: Scoped out the walk to Mom's conference and also picked up my lens rental. Introduced my mom to the magic of eating quick meals at Whole Foods, instead of at a sandwich shop. Took the ferry to Sausalito and spent the day walking, drinking cappuccino, and browsing art galleries. Dinner in North Beach, walked back to our hotel just off Union Square.

Great views of San Francisco on the ferry ride!

And I fell pretty hard for both the Ferry Building and wide-angle photography.

Day 2: Mom's conference started, so I was on my own. Met up with Tina for lunch at the Ferry Building (Blue Bottle Coffee & Cowgirl Creamery & Scream non-dairy ice cream!) and wandered the Saturday market, too. Walked and photographed all afternoon, through the Financial District, Chinatown, Nob Hill, and Union Square. Met up with Mom after sessions ended, and went out for sushi.

More Ferry Building photography

View from Nob Hill, looking north down Stockton Street, all the way to the bay

I also decided to try HDR more on this trip, and here's one of the crazier results. I don't know, I really like something about the effects on this shot at Union Square.

Day 3: On my own most of the day again. Took the cable car to Ghirardelli Square (I would do this every day of my life if I lived there, I feel), then continued west to the Palace of Fine Arts and the Presidio, where I thought that I would see the Golden Gate Bridge, but I did not. Treated myself to froyo twice. Photographed Alamo Square once the afternoon sun went away. Paid homage to the Full House house. Met up with Mom, and had dinner at the fabulous Hyde Street Bistro, which I found a Yelp, and which I later read about in a travel magazine. Guess I picked a good one!

The Palace of Fine Arts is other-worldly!

My effort at the postcard shot. Much better than the 2007 attempt, but still not zingy enough.

Day 4: No photos, since I had to return my lens on the evening of Day 3. During Mom's morning sessions, I walked around Union Square some more, but the real highlight came at lunch, when I brought her to the Blue Bottle Coffee shop on Mint Plaza. Most perfect cup of coffee ever. I can still taste it.

April:

Much of April was spent finishing my last lit class ever, in which I wrote a killer paper that compared the two most recent film adaptations of Sense and Sensibility to the novel. It was a good way to end my lit class career. Of course, even with concentrating on school, it's not like I could deal with staying home all of the time.

So once again, I spent the second weekend of April in Ottawa, shooting the Gloucester Spring Skate. I had fun shooting the interpretive events and a lot of cute little ones, but I did not have fun when my shutter died. It had been acting funny for most of the day, and at least I had my backup 20D close by. Until that one died, too. Oups. So I had to spend the second day shooting with Phil's backup Nikon. Everything felt backwards, so it was challenging, but I made it through. And at least we didn't have to close up shop on one of the rinks. Of course, it was just about the last thing that I needed. I sent the 50D off to get fixed as soon as I got home, using the money that I made from the competition, but I still haven't been able to afford to fix the 20D. It also seems silly to fix a 20D (soooo 4 models ago), but I am having a hard time imagining being able to afford an upgrade. Everyone cross your fingers for me for more photo sales and freelance work. But anyway, a couple of random shots I liked from Gloucester:

Beyond the photography that weekend, I had a wonderful weekend with the Ottawa family, and as was the theme of the year, I didn't realize that it would be my last event with them. I am really missing my regular trips to see my "Canadian li'l sis."

Right after the semester ended, I was off to Toronto for the annual Canadian Stars on Ice weekend. We went to the usual Friday night show at the ACC, which I photographed, of course.

This program of Kurt's wasn't my favourite (I am getting a little tired of voiceover programs), but it was quite photogenic.

Another photogenic one was this quirky ensemble number that reminded me of the way SOI used to be, pre-budget cuts.

We were feeling a serious lack of energy and commitment from the skaters during the show, so for the first time in a long time, we didn't feel like going to another Canadian show. Jules, Christina, and I skipped Hamilton and spent our Saturday in Niagara-on-the-Lake instead. Christina took us to some touristy sites we'd never seen before, like the world's smallest chapel:

and we feasted on a Whole Foods picnic in the park before doing some photoshooting on Lake Ontario. Note to self: when the plan is to save money and skipping eating in a restaurant, buying picnic fare at Whole Foods with the girls doesn't actually save money...but it sure is tasty!

And that's it for my first four months of the year. I'm expecting the summer months to take some time to put together, so I hope I'll have that post ready by January. No promises, though. ;-)

superchick in the house

Last Thursday (March 3), I had one of those terribly crazy days. It began at 4.30 am and it involved work and a midterm and a train and driving and exhaustion. But then I got to Mojoes and the music started, I finally relaxed.

I was there for Superchick, a band I've been following since the beginning, to say the least.

It started with Matt Dally, whom I met the summer I was 8. He was the lead in the children's musical at church, playing Gideon in Zeroes into Heroes. I was in the "corps," parading up and down the stage, holding a papier-mâché jar over my head in "Crash Go the Pitchers." I don't think he had any idea who I was.

But in high school, the jazz band was desperate for a pianist, and I was coerced into the job, despite having no idea how to read a chord chart. Matt played guitar, his friend Bill was the drummer, and Bill lived down the street from me. My sophomore year, they were both seniors, and Bill drove us to 7am practice every day. One day towards the end of the year, Matt gave Bill a cassette tape to play when he got in the car. It was a recording of a band he'd kind of auditioned for the night before, and he really wanted to join. 12 years later, Matt is still playing bass for Superchick.

For whatever reason, I'm often out of town or otherwise booked when they have nearby shows, so it had been almost 2 1/2 years since my last Superchick show. It was great to catch up with Matt and his mom, who was working the merch table, and of course, to see the band play. It's a really cool feeling when I look around and see girls shrieking for them and singing along to their songs.

From the beginning, they've always put on spectacular shows. At the last show I went to, in fall 2008, the shutter on my camera broke midway through their set. I've been a little worried about my shutter lately, but it held up just fine and I got some awesome shots. So enough with the sappy stories about the "beginning" and I'll get on with some photos. Warning: these photos have more lens flare than a pivotal J.J. Abrams scene.

The first opening band was Keep the Change, a local band from Joliet.

They seemed a little nervous at first, but looked like they were having fun by the end of their set. I think this is Frank Stella on bass and Jeff Winter on vocals.

Next up was At Rifts End, another semi-local band out of Bradley. This is their frontwoman, Haleigh Boatright. She tossed her hair a lot, so I had plenty of opportunities to get "hair-movement" shots.

I think the show was actually Made Avail's CD release party, and since they've played with Superchick before, they asked Superchick to join them. I'd heard the name before, but hadn't heard their music. It's not usually the type of music I'm drawn to, but they played really well and put on such a great show that I really enjoyed their set.

I tried to find the names of the guys in Made Avail, but I'm having some difficulty, especially since it seems that they've recently added 2 or 3 new members. So I don't know who this is, but I love the way the light is hitting him.

The frontman (also nameless) for Made Avail. Their last song was this crazy performance piece that involved super-dramatic lighting, a rose, and a face mask.

Then Superchick was finally up!

I got this hilarious shot of Matt early in their set. It really sums up the essence of Matt's typical performances. :)

Melissa Brock, guitarist and vocalist, working the crowd during "Hey Hey," I think.

It's really hard to get good shots of the drummer in most bands, because they're generally in the back and generally not well-lit. But I tried! So while this one isn't as pretty as the spotlight shots, it's a fun one. I believe this is a new drummer, and I actually don't know his name. Apologies!

Guitarist Dave Ghazarian in one of his more tranquil moments

Tricia Brock, lead vocalist, in one of my favourite shots of the night. She's an incredibly photogenic performer, so I have a ton of photos of her to eventually post to my Flickr account, along with more shots from all four of the bands. I'll try to remember to post an announcement when they're up.

Whew, this has taken me 2 1/2 days to finish this post! I'm technically on spring break, but that only means that it's crunch time for the projects that I had to set aside while I was trying to get ready for my midterm. I have two chapters of thesis to finish this week, along with two columns to write for IFS by Thursday, which includes reading two books. Off to continue book #1...at least I won't have to worry about being bored this week!

Billy Joel and Elton John

Last Thursday night, I went to the first of two concerts that Billy Joel & Elton John did this month at Wrigley Field in Chicago. As primarily a Sox fan, it was only my third trip to Wrigley, but easily the most memorable. The field provided the perfect backdrop to a fantastic concert—certainly one of the best I have ever attended!

I'd heard people say in the past that Elton and Billy are getting up in years and don't sing as well as they used to, but I didn't find that to be the case at all. Sure, I could hardly understand a word that Elton sang, but I think his lack of enunciation is a stylistic concern, not an aging problem. Both of them sounded strong, spectacularly on-pitch, and their piano playing was just incredible. In a world when live performances on television are often not even in tune (I'm talking about you, So You Think You Can Dance), it's incredible to attend a concert featuring two musicians as talented as these two.

The show was kind of epic, and well worth the price of nosebleed seats! First, Elton and Billy sang and played together, alternating between some of their biggest hits, then Elton did a full set, Billy did a full set, and they closed the show playing together. I only have a few complaints about the set list: Elton didn't play "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" and Billy didn't do "For the Longest Time." "For the Longest Time" is maybe one of my favourite songs in the entire world, and one of his extremely popular ones, so I was surprised that he didn't include it.

I forgave him, though, because his performance of "It's Still Rock & Roll to Me" was completely unexpected in the most awesome way. For that classic, the piano was lowered back under the stage and Billy performed with just the microphone and his band. The energy was incredible, and he even pulled off a few mic tricks! I think it was my favourite solo performance of the show, followed closely by Elton's "Tiny Dancer."

There were some other great moments from their solo sets: Elton's "Crocodile Rock" and "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" and Billy's "Only the Good Die Young" and "She's Always a Woman to Me," to name a few. However, the best moments of the show were the songs that they performed together, including "Your Song" (which opened the show), "Candle in the Wind," "Uptown Girl," and "Piano Man," the concert's fitting finale.

I knew it would be a fantastic experience, but I don't think I anticipated how incredible it would feel to be part of a crowd of 40,000 people, singing along to some of the best songs of the past thirty years.

As far as where this concert ranks among all that I've attended, I think it's a very, very close second. Seeing Céline Dion last December was a moment that was so many years in the making, and she didn't disappoint at all. I'm not sure anything will ever top that. But in terms of production value, I think Billy & Elton was a slightly better show. Céline's show was performed in the round, which meant she could really pack the United Centre, but it was a little distancing at times. Even though my seats were just as bad at Billy & Elton, I never felt as far from the stage as I really was, and something about enjoying their music outdoors on a beautiful summer night was just so magical.

Billy & Elton packed Wrigley Field again tonight, and I happened to be in Wrigleyville/Boystown for a theatre performance this evening. I took the red line home and as I waited for the train at Addison, just half a block from the stadium, Billy was closing his set with "Only the Good Die Young." People on the platform were singing along and two guys standing near me were saying that even though it wasn't their favourite type of music, Billy and Elton really have made some classic songs. Absolutely, I wanted to turn around and say, but I know better than to talk to strange people on the El.

Special thanks to my mom for funding our evening at the concert! I couldn't have gone if she hadn't paid, and I was happy to share the experience with her.