I recently had the opportunity of photographing a charity event from inside a helicopter in Sarnia, Ontario. The event was called the “Sarnia Bay Poker Run - Making Waves for Joanne,” which took place on the St. Clair River. During a poker run, each boat makes a stop at four unique locations somewhere on the river to receive a playing card. After collecting all four, the boats head back to the headquarters (Stoke’s Bay) and receive their final card. Whoever ends up with the best hand at the end got free docking at Sarnia Bay Marina for one year.

Until Saturday, I had never been in a helicopter before, so I was extremely thrilled for the opportunity. I was born and raised here in Sarnia, so it was a very personal experience for me seeing the city from this perspective. I took A LOT of photos.. maybe too many, but I had to make the most out of the hour or so that I was up there. The pilot, Paul, even took us over top of the Bluewater Bridges on our way back so Matt (the other photographer) and I could get some photos. Below are some of my favourite images from the day.

Gear Used:
Nikon D3 with Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8
Fujifilm X100s

If you are interested in licensing any images or purchasing a print, please contact me directly at joelpilotte@gmail.com. 

All Images Copyright © 2016 Joel Pilotte 

This is my first summer in three years that I am at home. During this time, I am usually on a bus or in a parking lot somewhere on the Vans Warped Tour. Although I am not on the tour this year, I have the opportunity to create images of friends, family, and I have the ability to take on some personal projects. 

On Sunday, I made the trip up to Maitland River with some friends to go fishing, something I haven’t done in years. I used to really enjoy fishing up north in the Sudbury area with my family, but I don’t get up there near enough anymore due to work or other reasons.

The five of us hit the road around 5am after grabbing some McDonald’s breakfast. Although I had only caught one fish, it was still really great to be out on the river in the early morning. I brought my Fujifilm X100s along for the trip as well as the TCL-X100 that converts the fixed 35mm lens to a 50mm, which helps get a bit more reach. The following are some photos from that morning.

Back in 2009, I had just started going to local shows that were mainly hardcore/metal bands, and most of the time they were just bands from the Ontario area. It wasn’t until January of 2010 that I made the trip up to London, Ontario for a show that a band called Texas In July was headlining at a venue called Moon Over Marin (now deceased). It was the first show outside of Sarnia that I photographed. I took a bunch of photos during Texas In July’s set and after they finished, I went up to the merch table and introduced myself to Ben, the bass player, and showed him the photos I had taken on the rear screen of my Nikon D40. He was thrilled at what I had got, so he gave me his email to send him some of the photos. Below is a link to those exact photos.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/joelpilotte/albums/72157623081966233

In 2011, the guys came back to Canada to play the Eagles Club in Sarnia with a band called With Life In Mind. They didn’t have a place to stay, so I let the entire band and crew crash on the floor of my parents house after the show. We hit it off and a few months later, they invited me out on tour with them for a weekend. The bands on the tour were August Burns Red, Set Your Goals, and Born Of Osiris. I met up with them in London and rode with the band in their van for the next two shows, Ottawa and Sudbury, and then took the bus home from Sudbury. At the time I went on the tour, I was still in high school and had never really thought of touring or photographing shows outside of where I lived. It wasn’t until after that three day run that I realized that there was an entirely new world out there that I could potentially be a part of. 

Since that first tour, I have been on tour with the guys a total of five times, ranging anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. It was because of working with this band that I was given the opportunity to document the Vans Warped Tour in 2013 for Equal Vision Records. I have met countless bands, managers, record label employees, and other amazing individuals through Texas In July. With the work I had done with them, more and more opportunities came from it. I have toured with August Burns Red a few times now, one tour being an entire European tour, and it was because of Texas In July that I met them in the first place. 

What I am trying to get at is that I really do owe a lot of my experiences in the past 5 years of my life to this band. Even if they themselves did not directly have anything to do with something, it was still that first tour back in 2011 that drove me to keep shooting as many shows, festivals, tours, and anything else in the music scene that I could be a part of. They introduced me to a way of life that was unlike anything I had ever heard or known about, and even if I’m not a music photographer forever, I have these past five years to look back on and reflect at how amazing it has all been.

The following images were taken at Texas In July’s final show in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on December 27th, 2015 at the Chameleon Club.

This is a visual tribute to a band that gave me so much.

I recently spent part of an afternoon at the skatepark that is located in my hometown of Sarnia, Ontario. Harry Turnbull Skatepark has been a local spot for all extreme sports for over thirty years. Other than a few modifications by locals, it has been untouched and is one of the oldest skatepark in Ontario, and could be one of the oldest in Canada.

Although I don’t skate or ride BMX bikes anymore, I used to love it. I would usually skate around my neighbourhood, but sometimes my dad would take me and a few friends to the park. I was always intimidated by the older people there, but I did have a blast there as a kid. I wanted to get some images of the parks landscape, and while the park does not have an abundance of features, it was still a great way to spend time outdoors with friends.

I have not been as active on here as I would like to be, so I will begin to create more blog posts with some recent work. I just returned home to Canada after being in Europe for a month with August Burns Red and In Hearts Wake. I will be creating a gallery in my “On The Road” section for the August Burns Red photos specifically, as well as a full blog post with images that I gathered throughout Europe. I had my Fujifilm X100s camera on me at all times this trip and it really helped me get great images of my every day life while over there.

For now, feel free to check out my gallery from this summers Vans Warped Tour. I was commissioned to work for Epitaph Records on the entire tour and it was an incredible experience.

http://www.joelpilotte.com/vanswarpedtour2015

- Joel