2016

NEW YEARS 2016-17!

January 01, 2017

Holy Crap! where did 2016 go?

Well, we're here, it's 2017.. welcome to the future! Hope everyone had an amazing new years and didn't wake up to hung over! 2016 was a fantastic year (for me anyways.. seems like a lot of people had a really rough 2016.. and thats unfortunate), but with some travelling, fun photography opportunities, some new friends gained and some big life changes things have been pretty good. 2017 is a year I really want to push photography and get things moving in the right direction so this post is here to start 2017 off right!

New Years is also my birthday, which almost everyone forgets haha but thats not a big deal. This year I decided I didn't want to go out and do the "usual" .. hit a club or bar or someones house and get wasted, wake up feeling horrible for the next 3 days, I wanted to do something that I wanted to do. For those of you who know me, you know that I'm into concerts and that I love to photograph concerts, even though I can't ever seem to get in to photograph them anymore because i'm not affiliated with a media outlet and you pretty much have to be to get into them these days. This New Years London Ontario, Canada (30 mins from my home town) was putting on a "rockin' New Years " in Victoria Park at the band shell. This years headliner .... FINGER ELEVEN! now, I'm not a huge Finger Eleven fan.. but they have a hand full of songs that I like.. and let me tell you, after this performance I'm a fan! WOW! These guys have so much energy and from the first note of a song, right to the end, they are flawless... every song sounds like like what you hear on the radio/CD. With kids and parents on the big Ice Rink behind us, my camera in my hands front row, Finger Eleven on stage and a big fireworks display off the top of the London Life building behind us.. this New Years/ Birthday was fantastic! I couldn't think of a better way ringing in the new year then doing what I love, photographing a concert, outdoors in winter lol.. it was a little cold but hey.. we're Canadian!

OH!! Ps. ... before anyone points it out... Yes, there are no "full band shot " .. this is simply because I figured I wouldn't be able to get close to the stage as they were expecting 12,000 people so I had an idea of where I was going to shoot from, which would require a long lens, so thats what I had. When I showed up there was absolutely no one at the front lol.... so I went to the front and decided I was just going to shoot single portraits... then of course, some other crap happened like a camera guy in the cage area stood right in front of me and the crowd was so thick I couldn't move around so ... you get to see lots of images of the one guitarist and the singer.. everyone else was hidden from view. I tend to shoot the action people.. the bass player just stands there in the back so there was much of him .. the other guitarist moves around but I couldn't get shots because he was blocked by the singer, a large sub, and the annoying camera man...

- Shutter Click.

© Kevin Vyse Photography All Rights Reserved 2017 FINGER ELEVEN — © Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2017

FINGER ELEVEN

Great Lakes International Air Show 2016

June 20, 2016

Helicopters, Fighter Jets, Vintage Airplanes, Paratroopers, Gliders and vendors, the 2016 Great Lakes International Air Show was fantastic! With a clear sky, a scorching sun and a very small breeze, the Snowbirds took to the skies to open the show. Screaming in from the left, right, front and back, not knowing where they will be coming from next or how many of them there will be, the snowbirds never disappoint! As an air show veteran, it was nice to see a few new maneuvers in their routine.
This year there was everything from a transport truck that had a jet engine on the back of it shooting a gigantic flame out the back and making large clouds of smoke, to a glider. A C-130 Hercules flew in from 8 Wing Trenton Airforce Base, made a few passes, dropped some WDI ( Wind Direction Indicators ) then two SAR Techs leaped out the back, with parachutes of course. Once on the ground the C-130 made a pass, landed to show how quick it can stop, turned around and picked up the SAR Techs, then took off to show how little room it needs to take off. They were on duty so, so they could not stick around, but when they left they did one more high speed pass before they left the air space.
Another crazy display, which I've never seen before at an air show was the car drop... Yep, I said car drop! A helicopter came out with a long cable hanging from the bottom of it and on the end of that cable was a white car. The announcers played it up like it was a car that parked in a no parking zone so the OPP came up with a way to get it out of the way... thats when they brought it out. Once nice and high in the air, they decided to "put the car down " ... and put it down they did. The cable cut loose and the car fell for what seemed like quite a while until BOOOM!!!!! a big cloud of smoke and bits and piece of car went flying!
Two favourites at the show were the F-18, Of course, and Pete Mcleod, A Red Bull Racer/stunt pilot who is the youngest race pilot in the history of racing ( I believe ). The F-18 Demo Jet ripped the skies hitting 1000km per hour just screaming by, you could feel it in your chest. With it's high altitude capabilities, it's quick high G turns, rolls, flips it's always an amazing sight.. My fav by far.
Pete Mcleod, wow... this guy is insane! The things he does with this plane are mind blowing. Flips and rolls like nothing else.. things that make the plane look like it should just fall apart, or things a plane should never do. Climbing so high the engine stalls out, the tumbling uncontrollably back down to earth, Pete then regains control, powers full throttle using the earths gravity and the power of the engine, he gathers up a ton of speed to push him through the next series of flips and turns.

Over all, it was an amazing day! The heat was intense 34ºC, no clouds and barely a breeze.. people were passing out, the EMT's had their hands full. Did I get burnt.. Oh yeah, I suffered heat stroke.. did I drink a ton of water.. sure did... did people have an amazing time.. you bet.. was it worth it.. HELL YES!!!! always is. Next up is the London Air Show in London Ontario, Canada.. cannot wait for that in September.. This year the F-22 Raptor will be there.. my dream plane.
- Shutter Click.

NEW YEARS 2015/2016

January 01, 2016

"When he woke his, body was covered in coke fizz ".

SLOAN!!!! SLOOOOAAANNN!!! was being chanted by the crowd in Victoria Park - London Ontario and when they took to the stage the crowd went wild. Playing many different songs of many albums, Canadian Icon rock band SLOAN put on an amazing show despite the -4ºC weather and the bit of snow. Once the band started to play, it was like the cold didn't matter, no one cared, people were singing along, jumping around and dancing having a great time.

Ivory Hours is another Canadian band from London Ontario who is now getting national attention. This energetic band with an original poppy sound came out to open for Sloan and were a fan favourite as many people knew their lyrics and the band mates names, constantly yelling out " LOVE YOU! " "PLAY " so and so song... also chanting for an encore at the end of their set.

Once Sloan hit the 30 min before midnight mark, the countdown clock popped up on a screen behind the band on stage. They filled the 30 mins with a few hit songs including " Money City Maniacs " complete with the siren, which told everyone what song was about to be played and made the crowd lose their minds. At the 29 second mark everyone started counting down, when 1 second hit, the fireworks went off on top of the London Life building. Sloan's lead singer and bass player disappeared off the stage and their guitar tech jumped on bass as the band started to play AULD LANG SYNE ( the New Years Song ). We could hear the lead singer singing but no one knew where from until the band pointed out he was behind the crowd on the ice rink skating around with a wireless mic singing... how Canadian is that?, EH! What a great way to ring in the new year. Happy 2016 to all! - Shutter Click.

Oh PS. I didn't think I would be able to get as close to the stage as I did, seeing as how I read that last year there was 10,000 people attending the event, so my lens of choice was my 70-200. This lens is quite long and with me being so close my images had to be individual members. If I would have backed up to get everyone the crowd was so dense that it would have just been band members heads so I stayed where I was and did the best I could with what I had.

© Kevin Vyse Photography All Rights Reserved 2015 SLOAN — © Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

SLOAN

IVORY HOURS

2015 WNU FITNESS CALENDAR

November 22, 2015

Well, it's that time of year again!! welcome to the 2015 WNU FITNESS CALENDAR photoshoot.

Dedication, Strict diets, long hours in the gym, time management... this is what it takes to get the bodies you see in magazines and thats what our models have been doing for this calendar... well not specifically for this calendar.. this is their life style.

This year two calendars were made.. 24 people! 12 males and 12 females for a male and female calendar.. WOW! I know, thats a lot of people, but they were amazing people, easy to work with, fun and ripped! We shot this calendar over 4 weekends, we had planned on shooting about 6 people a day, but like with anything in life.. people get busy plans must change so we work around it to get the job done, which is what we did and we pulled it off.

WNU Fitness is selling calendars to raise money for two charities: DASO ( Domestic Abuse Service Oxford ) and The Kendall Courts Project, which is an outdoor basket ball court that will have a roof over it so it can be used no matter what the weather is calling for, so kids have more fitness options. Not only did we shoot a calendar but there was a fantastic Party that followed. GOFF HALL in Woodstock On. was rocking with special guest, DJ FLASH from 91.5 The Beat Kitchener spinning all the hits. Everyone was there dressed up all pretty, dancing and drinking the night away. All proceeds from the calendar release party also go toward the two charities.

Overall, I had a blast being part of this amazing cause, meeting new people, pushing the photographic boundaries, my knowledge and editing abilities. I'd like to shout out a big THANK YOU to WNU for bringing me on board as the official photographer and for all their shout outs on social media and Rogers TV promoting my photography, you guys are fantastic! Can't wait to hear the finally tally raised. - Shutter Click.

Kevin Vyse Photography Blog:

Featured posts:

NEW YEARS 2016-17!

Great Lakes International Air Show 2016

NEW YEARS 2015/2016

2015 WNU FITNESS CALENDAR