Record Setting Toronto Waterfront Marathon

A runner makes a last minute pit stop before the race begins.

Rick Madonik - Staff photographer - @Rmadonik

Wow, Toronto Maple Leafs win again

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

Leafs drop the Wild 4-1!


 Nazem Kadri sprints out onto the ice as the Toronto Maple Leafs play the Minnesota Wild at Air Canada Centre.

 

A win over the Edmonton Oilers gives Maple Leafs best start since 1993-94 season

Richard Lautens, @rlautens & Steve Russell, @RussellPhotos - Staff Photographers

 

STEVE RUSSELL - Jonathan Bernier and the Leafs get ready to take to the ice.

Goalie fight breaks out at Leafs versus Sabres

Andrew Francis Wallace, @awallacethestar & Steve Russell, @RussellPhotos        - Staff Photographers

Less than 24 hours after an Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon had been dismantled at centre ice after UFC 165 it seemed that the blood letting had not finished.

An otherwise uneventful, well, boring game erupted in the third period to a series of bloody brawls that climaxed in a goalie fight.

ANDREW FRANCIS WALLACE - Aquired in the off season Jonathan Bernier stretches prior to Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres NHL pre-season game at Air Canada Centre.

 

Praying for pictures as Jon Jones defends his UFC Light Heavyweight title

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

 

The photo positions beside the octagon at the Ultimate Fighting Championship 165 presented me with a new wrinkle. It was something I had never seen before, rather than photographers standing beside the octagon platform, or sitting, we had a low padded bench. 

The bench is to kneel on, much like the kneelers in church pews.

It was appropiate though, because shooting a fast moving sport through the octagon cage had me praying for a picture.

The fence was a little more of a challenge because it is painted with a black glossy paint which reflects light like crazy and makes an irresistible target for our autofocus cameras.

The solution is to use a combination of autofocus and manual focus.

 

 Alex Caceres lands a knee on Roland Delorme.

Riveria helps Yankees dump the Blue Jays 4-3

Steve Russell - @RussellPhotos with Richard Lautens, @rlautens & Carlos Osorio, @carlososorio - Staff Photographers

 

The layars edition of the Toronto Star allowed us to cover a baseball game in a manner that is usually reserved for covering a sporting play-off game.

We sat in the two photo dug-outs, at first and third, and placed another photographer up high.

While we hoped to capture an exciting play for the Layars project, the photo gods and baseball gods failed to align for us. 

 

STEVE RUSSELL - New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera warms up before the game.

Bitchy the Hawk takes me to new heights.

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

 

 Bitchy is a working Harris hawk.

 

Rob Wernaart cares for Bitchy at his home outside of Toronto. Bitchy is a working Harris hawk in Toronto whose mere presence is enough to scare away gulls at BMO Field and the Molson Ampitheatre.Wernaart, is a wildlife management specialist.

 

Rob Wernaart gives Bitchy's beak a caress. Bitchy is also the unofficial mascot for Toronto FC.

 

Bitchy sits on Rob Wernaart's glove.

 

Bitchy has been working at BMO field since the opening season, he added the Molson Amphitheatre this year.

 

Rob Wernaart, loads Bitchy into her travelling box for the drive into the city for a gig at the Molson Amphitheatre for the John Mayer concert. Her box has air holes below her sightlines so she does not get motion sick.

 

Rob Wernaart and Bitchy cross the bridge for a gig at the Molson Amphitheatre.

 

Rob Wernaart hauls a boxed Bitchy through the ceiling on the way to her perch on the roof of the Molson Amphitheatre.

 

Rob Wernaart hauls a boxed Bitchy to the top of the stage enroute to her perch on the roof of the Molson Amphitheatre.

 

Rob Wernaart walks across the stage towards her perch on the roof of the Molson Amphitheatre.

 

Rob Wernaart takes Bitchy out of her box on top of the roof of the Molson Amphitheatre.

 

Rob Wernaart pats Bitchy after placing her on her perch on the roof for the John Mayer concert. 

 

Gulls might fly by once or twice but never lower than the roof once they catch sight of Bitchy.

 

A fan that lost an entire slice of pizza to a gull was the catalyst for the Amphitheatre to hire Bitchy.

 

Rob Wernaart checks Bitchy on her perch before the concert starts. Bitchy doesn't have to fly to keep gulls at bay.

 

Birds give Bitchy a wide berth as they fly by.

 

Phillip Phillips performs as Bitchy keeps the gulls away.

 

Bitchy walks along the edge of the roof.

 

Rob Wernaart picks up Bitchy at twilight, by the time the sun goes down most gulls are back on Leslie Spit and Bitchy might fall prey to an owl. 

 

 

 

 

Toronto Blue Jays games 99 &100, it was like Déjà Jay, er, vu.

Steve Russell - Staff Photographer - @RussellPhotos

"It's like déjà vu all over again."

                                        -Yogi Berra

If you missed the Blue Jays 99th game of the season, you need not have worried, the Jays offered up a rerun for game 100.

The two games were almost identical, the Los Angels Dodgers jump out to am early lead, Jays come back, Dodgers come back and win.

If the fans on that emotional roller coaster that ends with a puch to the solar plexus noticed it, photographers notice it too.

But we have the added stress that game story is being re-written by the half inning in a game that is well into its fourth hour.

The pressure to file is tempered by the fact that we fear being stuck under the stands missing a pivotal play.

Here are the two games in photos,

Déjà vu - Brett Lawrie's pregame stretch

Blue Jays game 99

Blue Jays game 100

 

Our Best of June, Super Moon, Rob Ford, Blue Jays, MMVA, etc.

 

RANDY RISLING -  Cyclists get a rare opportunity to ride traffic-free along the Gardiner Expressway and Don Valley Parkway for the Becel Heart & Stroke Ride for Heart. June 2, 2013.

 

Arrivederci numero Sette, Raptors Andrea Bargnani traded

Steve Russell, Staff Photographer, @RussellPhotos

 

It is always strange when a long time player gets traded or retires.

I seem to always think about the pictures that they gave me.

Andrea Bagnani, numero sette, was a challenge for photographers. His teammates had that one trait that photogaphers love. Great expressive faces. (see links below)

Andrea's face revealed nothing!

Oddly enough his face factors in my favourite story about him.

I was tasked with photographing him for our season kick off section.

I had ideas, I was promised time, I scouted Italian tailor shops, restaurants and magic venues.

Something magic happened, the time frame I was promised vanished, ergo, the big concept photoshoot.

I was given a 15 minute window in between events at a venue I had never seen before.

I was limited to a simple portrait.

Struggling for an idea I found some old raptor tattoos.

I pasted one on the seven footer's face and snapped a couple frames.

Time to go!

Problem, the tattoo wasn't coming off after the shoot!

Took a lot of elbow grease and a few Italian words, don't think he was thanking me, to get the tattoo off. 

 

Raptors number one pick would wear number seven.