Our favourites from October 2012

Just in time for Halloween!

CARLOS OSORIO - Zombies during the Toronto Zombie Walk which began at Nathan Phillip Square and paraded around the downtown on October 20, 2012.

Four inspirational athletes surprise me in October.

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

In August I was in London at the Olympics surrounded by great athletes with great inspirational stories.

Paula Finlay with low iron levels gutting out a last place finish in the triathlon, Rosie MacLennan emerging as an Olympic Champion, Brent Hayden finally cracking the podium, Alexander Despatie competing after scalping himself months earlier in a training accident and the women's Soccer team winning bronze.

When August ended I thought that the athlete stories would too, or a least slow down.

October taught me different.

October presented to me another group of athletes with stories that were more inspiring than those the Olympics presented.

Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon

The race also featured a half-marathon and a 5K, it is in the 5K that two athletes emerged.

It took seven year-old Owen Derby two hours and 17 minutes to cover the 5K route to City Hall from the Exhibition grounds. He battled the weather and pulled his walker over then entire distance turning down offers from his mother and father to take a break and sit in a stroller with his younger brother.

Seven year-old Owen Derby, who has cerebal palsy, crosses the finish line.

Toronto Fashion Week Day 5

Bernard Weil @bernardweil

Keith Beaty @KeithBeaty

Here's a look at what happened on the last day of Toronto Fashion Week.  

BERNARD WEIL - Hair stylist Cindy Duplantis, of Brampton, works on the hair of New York model Whitney Thompson who is the 2008 winner of America's Top model plus size.

 

Toronto Fashion Week Day 4

Bernard Weil @bernardweil

Keith Beaty @KeithBeaty

While Keith spent the day shooting runway action, I spent most of the time backstage being a fly on the wall, documenting what goes on behind the scenes. It's organized chaos back there, with each model being catered to by an army of makeup artists, stylists and volunteers.

Here's a look at some of the action below including a video of Arthur Mendonca's show.

BERNARD WEIL - Male model and jewellry designer Myles Sexton, left, and Ryan Turner showed up to watch the shows dressed in wearable art. 

 

Lincoln Alexander, from the Toronto Star photo archive.

Some of our favourite pictures of the late Lincoln Alexander in the Toronto Star archives.

TONY BOCK - Former Lt.-Gov. Lincoln Alexander, photographed at a celebration gala for his 85th birthday and the 40th anniversary of the Ontario Heritage Trust at The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto.

 

Toronto Fashion Week Day 3

Bernard Weil @bernardweil

Keith Beaty @KeithBeaty

We're half way through Fashion Week and so far there hasn't been any of the lengthy delays I remember when shooting in Paris or Milan or New York. A big thanks to house photographer George Pimentel for keeping things under control in the photo pit.

Below are some of the highlights Keith and I captured both on and off the runway today.

 

BERNARD WEIL - Sitting still under brights backstage, Toronto model Jill Eisenhauer gets makeup applied.

Language Lesson From South Africa

Richard Lautens - Staff Photographer

My colleague, Bill Schiller and I just returned from several weeks in South Africa working on a couple of stories.  In the news business we are not supposed to talk about the story until it publishes of course, so look for some pix, video and story towards the end of November.

One of the things we do at the Star when we are in a new or dangerous place is to hire a 'fixer'.  These are local people who know the lay of the land, speak the language and help us maximize our time in the field while helping to keep us from blundering into unsafe situations.

On this past trip, we spent several days with a lovely man named Mbulelo Sisulu.  He is a freelance journalist in the Eastern Cape region and a member of the Xhosa tribe.

He was great at helping find what we need, translate and was happy to roll with the punches.  He didn't even bat an eyelash when we suggested we get him a room at our lodge rather than his going home (a two hour trip) as we wanted to get some early starts.

Mbulelo speaks very good english and of course his native tongue.  At one point I asked him about the clicks and clacks of his language.  My children are very interested in languages (they are 12 and 15 years old) and so I asked him to explain a bit of the language in a video letter to my kids on my iPhone.  Note that he loved the Canada hat I had given him and took a liking to my jacket that he was happy to wear when it turned a little cold and rainy.

Click here to see the video here

Mbulelo is seen on the left getting the correct spelling of some names with writer Bill Schiller.

 

 

Toronto Fashion Week Day 2

Bernard Weil - @bernardweil

& Keith Beaty - @Keith Beaty

More behind the scenes from day 2 under the tent at Fashion Week in Toronto. 

BERNARD WEIL - Silhouetted against panel of photographs he took at earlier shows, photographer George Pimentel takes pictures in the lounge area under the tent.

 

Toronto Fashion Week Day 1

Bernard Weil @bernardweil 

& Keith Beaty @KeithBeaty

After a short hiatus, I'm back shooting Toronto Fashion Week, this time with Star photographer Keith Beaty. While I'm shooting video at the shows, Keith will focus mainly on runway stills for our paper and web galleries. Deadlines for print and online are as tight as ever. We'll still be looking for behind the scenes and some fun photography so check with us throughout the week. 

BERNARD WEIL - Mannequins watch over photographers and reporters working in the media lounge.

 

Doug's Hoop dreams

 

Councillor Doug Ford involves one of the kids in the TV interview while others watch from behind. The weekly practice was interrupted by the presence of the media.