The first two weeks in September are a magical time in Toronto. Everything is still warm, green and alive, and there’s an excitement in the air. The University of Toronto starts its fall semester in September, and thousands of students settle into new apartments and explore the city, some for the first time. The evenings are cool and alive with music.

September is also when the Toronto International Film Festival dominates the city. Known originally as "The Festival of Festivals", it was founded in 1976 at the Windsor Arms Hotel. TIFF has grown since, but is still centered in Yorkville, an upscale neighborhood with several luxury hotels and movie theatres.

For celebrities, it’s a deliberate splash. Like Sundance or Cannes they come here to be photographed and of course their very presence adds to the excitement of the spectacle. With even the most basic photography equipment, anyone can lens a ‘moment of their time’ and depending on the circumstances, that photo could be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Being an amateur shutter bug is not against the law, nor is it immoral, as celebrities at TIFF are actually ‘on tour’. Their press agents would probably encourage you to snap away.

Become Digital Photo Hunter
To get some perspective on the Film Festival, use Poynt on Microsoft® Windows Live™ Messenger and do a comprehensive local search of the Yorkville area. Set your location the Hotel Continental, or the Four Seasons Hotel on Cumberland and find the night clubs, coffee shops, book stores, and upscale clothing stores that attract A-list celebrities. Map a route between the hotels in the area.

Don’t Wait Out Front – Go Watch the Movies
Powered by Yellowpages.ca™ for Canadian listings and Superpages.com® for American listings, with movie listings powered by CinemaSource, Poynt is a very efficient movie data dispensary – Most of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival movie listings will appear beside easy-to-understand enumerated text matched to corresponding pins on Microsoft Virtual Earth™ maps.

Sell Your Photos Online
There are several websites hungry for good quality, original celebrity photographs, especially if they are less than a few hours old. First and foremost appears to be Show Biz Spy which is mentioned in the mainstream media quite frequently as the source of some truly amazing candid shots. The very popular Snitcher Desk has a helpful ‘tips list’ on their site which outlines exactly what makes good and bad celebrity photo. And there is an online celebrity photo stream supporting the services of Mr. Paparazzi in which he spells out exactly how and why he takes half of everything.

Many professional photographers in Toronto endorse an American agency called Star Max Inc . People here have come to believe that good agencies do not offer to buy pictures; they broker other people’s work to media outlets all over the world for a ten to thirty percent of the royalties. Typically, a different deal gets cut for every country. The biggest players are the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. Professional photographers are more than willing to let agencies like Star Max* broker the deals. In each country one dominant publication will typically buy exclusive rights to print your photo for a few months – but then it could be sold again. Try to get a piece of the photo’s revenue for perpetuity.

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