Bright light on an historic stage

Fresnel, not Fresno
Toronto, ON
April 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

They say you shouldn't stare directly at bright lights. But I've never really cared who "they" are, anyway. So last week, when I noticed the really neat stage light lurking in the shadows of the stage at work, I found a 10-second sliver of time to steal the shot in between takes.

First, some background: Our Toronto office - where my super-smart colleagues create IT research and support our members across North America and the globe - is a former concert hall. Wait, ignore that: It still IS a concert hall, and is available for bookings during off-hours.

Back in the day, Led Zeppelin played here, as did Pearl Jam, the Ramones, the Tragically Hip, and virtually every other rock band you've ever lusted after. The Rolling Stones loved the place so much they used it to practice whenever they were in town.

These days, I'm here just about every week to shoot new segments of our #InfoTechBrief video series. We try to mix things up a little, shooting in different parts of this historic building to give our work a varying visual signature. But we always come back to the concert hall, where I stand on the same stage where Mick Jagger once danced. Even better, many of my colleagues have vivid memories of coming here for concerts before our company bought the building.

So I almost feel a responsibility to capture the feel of this place, even if it means ducking into the shadows while our beloved production team sets up for the next shot. We're pretty blessed to get to do what we do, in this hallowed place, and a random photo seems like an appropriate way to remember what it feels like to be here.

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