Dylan Leeder: Whats up? BlogTO.

I recently started shooting for a Toronto blog - BlogTO. I'm pretty excited about it because it's getting me back shooting shows and will hopefully open a few doors along the way. It's been interesting so far because a lot of the job is writing. I'm definitely not the strongest writer in the world but I'm interested in improving. I think it'll be a great advantage in my career if I'm also able to write about my future experiences.

I work for their music section so I'm shooting a lot of shows. With the shows I also plan on doing "features" on local musicians or musicians that are stopping through on tour. The features will be a good way to improve my portrait work and make for some interesting subjects along the way. With the portraits will also be an interview - it's funny because this kind of just plays off of my Strange(r) People project. I guess I just like people.

Here's a few photos and the links to my recent BlogTO articles:

Tennis

Full article HERE

Persian Rugs

Full Article HERE

I also do a feature called "In The Window". It's basically a weekly article about what's in the windows of local record shops. I take photos of the storefront and then ask an employee to talk about a few of them. It's pretty interesting and has already gotten me listening to different music.

In The Window: Criminal Records

Full article HERE

In The Window: Rotate This

Full article HERE

I recently also set up my Paypal. So... I'm going to try and really get into selling prints/books. I find the quality of a photo increases drastically once it's printed. I want to start putting more value on my photos, as I think some of them deserve. I'm going to do a post on specific prices and sizes of prints available in the near future. I'm excited.

So ya... lot's coming up in the future. A BUNCH of shows I'm hoping to cover coming up... Deer Tick, City and Colour, Frank Turner, Cancer Bats, Joe Purdy. I'm hoping to start shooting more portraits (hah I always want to shoot more portraits). Uhmm... Actually, I should go to bed.

I'll leave you with a pretty funny behind the scenes of a shoot I assisted for a Toronto based photographer Matt Barnes. I really admire Matt's work so it's been pretty cool experiencing it first hand. Really good way to learn.