Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos
Right after the pre-game skate, the game nets are brought out.
Continue reading "Toronto Maple Leafs bust out with a big win against the Bruins." »
Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos
Baby steps, the first was to actually make the playoffs, the next step will have to be win a game.
In fairness, since the last time I covered Toronto's team, I bought a house, got married and had two kids.
Even scarier, there have been four generations of cameras since!
The Leafs skate in the morning of their first playoffs in nine years.
Continue reading "Leafs drop their first playoff game in nine years." »
DAVID COOPER - Justin Trudeau walks into the federal Liberal showcase at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.
Continue reading "Our April, Trudeau wins, Leafs playoff bound and Jays are back, kind of..." »
Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos
Last night the Leafs dropped a game 4-1 to the Montreal Canadiens putting our first playoff meeting with the Habs since 1979 in jeopardy.
A Leafs win would have set the table for the 16th playoff matchup between the teams.
Even worse the Leafs' loss puts their playoff destiny into the hands of the dreaded Ottawa Senators who with a victory in regulation tonight against Boston would send the Leafs to open the playoffs in Beantown against the Bruins.
I'm sure ever Leaf fan dreads that matchup, the Bruins are 3-1 against Toronto this year, but I'm sure that they hate having the Senators in a position to dictate our playoff future.
Toronto Star writer Paul Hunter is honoured with a spot on the Toronto Maple Leafs' media wall of honour.
Continue reading "Did the Leafs blow the first Toronto vs Montreal playoff series since 1979?" »
Richard Lautens - Staff Photographer - @rlautens
It's funny how assignments can work out. I hadn't shot a lot of sports this year so far and last week I shot the TFC one day, the Raptors the next shift and the Jays home opener the next day.
This week I shot the band Muse at the ACC one night and my next shift was Green Day. Muse had a much cooler stage but Green Day had way more energy and fun about them.
Typically the photogs get the first three songs to shoot with no flash from a pit at the foot of the stage and then the security guys kick us out although for Green Day we only got 2 songs. It's amazing how many frames you can shoot in just a couple of songs.
Here's a couple of pix from Muse:
Cool stage
Classic rock pose from Matthew Bellamy
It's hard to get the whole band in one frame when they don't get together
Matthew Bellamy under the spotlight
Now a couple from Green Day:
Drunk Bunny comes out to warm up the crowd before the band
The crowd loves the bunny. The quality is a little rough as I had to shoot at about 50,000 iso and still only got 1/60 sec at f2.8.
It used to be that there would be 4 or 5 photogs at these things and now
occasionally you get up to 20 or 30 (as we had for Green Day)-I guess they're bloggers.
Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong does his thing on stage.
Billie Joe with the crowd.
Billie Joe-I loved the Green behind him.
Lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong (left) poses for a photo with a fan who he brought on stage, to the right is bassist Mike Dirnt running in for the photo.
Rock On Toronto!
Richard Lautens-Toronto Star
Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos
The list of athletes that have asked out of Toronto teams is a long one.
The return of athletes like Chris Bosh, A.J. Burnett, Vince Carter to Toronto, on the other side of the Ice/floor/court/diamond brings out the boo birds in force.
The return of John Farrell is the first ime I have seen the boo birds for a former manager.
Sure we have seen some coaches and managers that the fans don't like get booed, but how rare is for a manager to demand a trade for his "dream job"?
Former Jays manager John Farrell talks to media before the game.
Continue reading "John Farrell and the Red Sox spoil the Boo Birds' party" »
STEVE RUSSELL - Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Edwin Encarnacion relaxes before batting practice as the Toronto Blue Jays play the Cleveland Indians to kick off the 2013 MLB season at Rogers Centre.
Continue reading "The 2013 Toronto Blue Jays drop their home opener." »
DAVID COOPER - Leafs Frazer McLaren decks Senators Dave Dizurzynski during the game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Senators at the Air Canada Centre.
Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos
It is a testament to the power of the still image,
Yesterday Twitterverse heated up over Kevin Van Paassen's front page picture of Kaetlyn Osmond skating in the ISU World Championships Exhibition Gala.
The Monday, March 18, 2013, Globe and Mail front page.
Millions watched the event televised and saw the same things that you see on the photo. But, it's the photo that freezes action that generates debate.
Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos
Well after two days of practices, and four of competition, we were left with the final two hours of skating, the Exhibition Gala. All the medalists and a couple of the crowd favourites were invited to perform.
The Gala is a low pressure performance for the skaters, it is more about connecting with the fans and showing off a little personality.
Canada's Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier skate to "Sexy and I know it" at the ISU World Figure Skating Championship Winners Exhibitiion Gala at Budweiser Gardens in London.
