Three photographers dive in with tips for shooting at the Ripley's Aquarium

Bernard Weil, Rene Johnston & Steve Russell - Staff Photographers

Believe it or not, the aquarium at the base of the CN Tower has finally opened.

The aquarium operated by Ripley's features 450 species of fish swimming in 5.7 million litres of water!

The aquarium also offers challenges to photographers.

"This place is awesome," says Rene Johnston who reported on the progress of the aquarium for the Star's Layar edition, "Great fish and challenging light." See Rene's video on Pepper the Giant Pacific Octopus

His offers this advice for shutterbugs trying to get great pictures, "The biggest problem will be crowds. Photographer should go early in the mayor go later when crowds are lighter." The aquarium will be open 9 to 9 daily.

Bernard Weil also part of the Layar edition says, "now that all the exhibits are operating. With more than 16,000 marine animals on site, there's definitely a wow factor going on here."

As far as photography goes, "Shooting inside is fairly easy. If you want more than a silhouette of your kids gawking at the creatures, bring a flash, but watch out for reflections against the glass."

As for me, a scuba diver, the displays reminded me of dives I had made in the past.

I was impressed with the tanks, there are a lot of tanks with curved glass so I was worried about reflections. The layout and lighting design are great and there are very few reflections of from other tanks, lights or exit signs. With reflection in mind, a trip to the aquarium is a great day to leave the white shirt hanging in the closet and wear something darker.

My advice is to try to shoot as square as you can to the tank glass to minimize distortion. 

                                                                                                                    -Steve Russell 

 

RENE JOHNSTON - A shark swims past the underwater tunnel in the massive tank named Dangerous Lagoon.

 

Our April, Trudeau wins, Leafs playoff bound and Jays are back, kind of...

 

DAVID COOPER - Justin Trudeau walks into the federal Liberal showcase at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

 

Rene Johnston's 2012 favourites

Rene Johnston - Staff Photographer - @ReneJohnston1

Montage of Chris Mazza as he testifies at Queens Park. The long-waited, and much-delayed, testimony before a legislative committee, Mazza said Wednesday he "always acted with the best interests of Ontario residents in mind."

2012 Richard Lautens' favourite photos

Richard Lautens - Staff Photographer - @rlautens

It's so hard to choose my favourite photos of the year.  Favourite photos are not always the best photos but ones I feel a real connection with for a variety of reasons.   I have my favourites of the bunch-do you?

After a major strike by mine workers, 46 people were killed in the ensuing clash between security, police and the workers.  The father of a slain miner, Mxolisi Sompeta is seen in their small family home in the village of Kwadick in South Africa.

Best of July

 

        Richard Lautens              

 When it came to finding this month's collection of work, I couldn't resist offering up Richard Lauten's portrait taken on the last day of the month - today! At first, I thought it was an illustration (a picture designed, or conceived, or art directed, and a paid model) and pleasantly surprised to find a portrait (a picture which depicts something about the person). I'll let Lauten's caption speak for itself" Trish is one of more than 186,000 women in the US and Canada have logged on to find their own version of Christian Grey, the character from the book Fifty Shades of Grey. By mid-July 4,931 women from Toronto had altered their profiles on the site seakingarrangements.com indicating they were looking for a Mr. Grey, in other words, a dominant/submissive relationship with BDSM.

What follows is a more day-to-day representation of the types of assignments the staff find themselves up against. Steve Russell is only 4 days in the London 2012 Games, but already working around the clock getting to numerous events, so this is just a tease to the Best of August, when he will be featured prominently.

FINALLY, some rain for July's heat

Rick Madonik, Staff Photographer - @RMadonik

Seven-year-old German Shepherd Angel shakes off the water after being hosed down by owner Joanne Boudreault. Its a daily routine between owner and pet during the hot, humid, summer weather.

 

Yonge and Eglinton no longer intersect!

One Yonge Street and Rick Eglinton that is.

Two-time National Newspaper Award winner Rick Eglinton retires this week from the Toronto Star at One Yonge Street.

Here is some of his work over his 26 years at the Toronto Star.

Joe Carter jumps for joy after three-run homer in 1993 World Series win. Rick Eglinton won the National Newspaper Award for Sports Photography for this picture.

 

Toronto Star Photo department, good news and great pictures in the shortest month.

February, the shortest month did not leave the Toronto Star photo department short of good news or great pictures.

The Photo Department is now under the direction of a new Visuals Editor, Taras Slawnych. We are pretty excited about that.

We have also won four Society for News Design awards of excellence for photography. So before we get into the February highlights, here are the four winners:

LUCAS OLENIUK - A protestor, unconscious and not breathing, was rushed away from Bahraini security forces after being shot in the head moments earlier.  A group of Shiite anti-regime demonstrators drew fire from Bahrain security forces near Manama when they tried to march downtown to the Pearl Square from the town of Budaiya Friday evening.  A state sanctioned pro-regime rally was underway in downtown Manama when the clash occurred. Read about the story behind this image here!

Jim Wilkes -30-

After more than 36 years at The Star as a reporter/photographer, Jim Wilkes is taking early retirement at age 60. He leaves today.

In that time, he's won more than 75 awards for writing and photography and has helped mentor many of the profession's young stars.

He has covered stories around the world and around the corner, bringing a personal perspective to events of the day.

The following is a selection of some of his photos from over the years.

1975 – Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau at a campaign stop in Port Hope.

Lucas Oleniuk : 2011

Lucas Oleniuk - Staff Photographer                                                                                                          @LucasOleniuk

Miners stand above the infamous Bisie cassiterite deposit in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo.  Minerals from the remote deposit have financed a number of armed groups and are considered conflict minerals.