Amos/Hollerado/Green,Go/Magneta Lane

Ah! It's been a while since I posted last! I've been busy with working and well... Toronto in general. hah.

It seems every day I'm finding something new about this city. This summer is going to be awesome. No doubt. I'm really excited to further explore the city. I feel like every day i'm scouting for possible photo shoot locations. Now just to do them!

I've been doing a lot of editorial style photos lately and I'm definitely okay with that. I'm loving having the high ISO's that the 5d can handle. Although I'm enjoying the editorial stuff I'm definitely missing my portraits, but, I can definitely see some kind of portrait shoot coming up!

Okay, so most recently I went to a show down at the Horse Shoe in Toronto. My first time being at the venue and I definitely liked it! Although the environment was good I definitely struggled with the lighting at points.

The main reason I actually went to the show was to see one of my favorite bands, Amos The Transparent. If you haven't heard of them I strongly recommend you check them out! Their music is addictive and they've never let me down live... Oh! And their from Ottawa!!

Check 'em out here... www.myspace.com/amosthetransparent









There's more of Amos over at....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dylanleeder/sets/72157623648738716/

One of other bands, Hollerado, played and I was surprised to hear they were from Manotick! A little town just outside of Ottawa. They were a lot of fun to watch. Good genuine feel good rock.

Check them out at... http://www.myspace.com/hollerado







Green, Go also played that night. First time hearing Green, Go and I enjoyed them! Although they were good- I would have preferred to see them at a more suiting venue/crowd. Basically just a lot more dancing. Yeah, they make you want to dance.

http://www.myspace.com/greengomusic









And the first band of the night was a three piece band from Ottawa. I don't remember them too much - which was probably because I was playing with my camera settings while trying to find out how to best get the light.

An all female three piece by the name of Magneta Lane.

http://www.myspace.com/kissingiseasy








So Yeah! Again, you can see more of all four bands at my flickr set here...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dylanleeder/sets/72157623648738716/

Also! Look back in the next few days for images from another show and a Bike competition I went to recently!

THANKS!!!
- Dylan

Oh, and like always... all images © Dylan Leeder. Images may only be used with permission. E-mail contact@dylanleeder.com

Dundas Square after a gold medal win.

So, Canada won the mens hockey gold medal. Hell yes. In which helped us earn the most gold medals in the 2010 olympics. Hell yes, again.

This year I was following the olympics more than I ever had! I'm really happy I followed it as close as I did based on the fact that it was so huge for us - both because it was on Canadian soil and that we had to show the world how good we are at the whole winter thing.

Of coarse with following it with the rest of the country I was equally excited for the Mens US vs Canada hockey game. Knowing that the Womans team already won it and that well, It WAS the US we were beating I was totally stoked. So stoked.

I think one of the biggest influences on me was the level of excitement in Canada overall. All the buzz on the street and anticipation of for the big game had the whole country in in a state of jitteriness.

With my recent purchase of a Canon 5d Mark II I was looking for a good opportunity to really test it out and see what it could do. I decided that heading to Dundas Square downtown would work quite well. I also took it as a good time to practice some journalism photography as it is quite different from what I've been used to shooting in a controlled environment at the studio.

If you didn't know - Dundas square was one of the clips they would flash during intermissions showing everyone watching.

I first went during the first period to check out the vibe and although it was awesome - it wasn't really what I expected. Here are a few of the photos during the first period.



The first goal...



After enjoying the first period I decided to head over to a friends house and watch the game with some good people and a few beer. The game was awesome and the suspense in the room was through the roof. Thank you Crosby.

After the game I saw a quick clip of Dundas Square and the party chaos that was going on and was quickly reminded of my mission with my new camera.

Although I'd normally be celebrating with everyone - I decided to take the photography route venture down with photos in mind.

As soon as I arrived my heart began to pound. This is what I saw.















Some of the next photos are my favourite. During the night people were climbing on top of the stop light poles to express their excitement (and possibly the amount of drinks they've had) to the crowd below.





And of coarse the police didn't like that too much...





hahahah imagine telling that story to your kids!

I'm pretty sure the police did make some arrests but overall I found they were really well controlled. They even posed for a few photos!









Look at the horses! Notice the people taking pictures of their friends infront of them.

After I was there for a bit I realized how easy it was to get people I didn't know to pose for me. Sometimes I would just have to point at my camera and I'd get an outburst of "YEAHH!!! WOOO!!! GO CANADA!!!". Here's various shots of people having a lot of fun.



















This guy had something like 500 signatures on him...



And some more photos I liked from the night...











hahah get it? Beer. Olympics. Gold medal winner?

I didn't end up staying all night because I had to work the next day but I was definitely there long enough to experience something I'm sure I won't experience for a long time. The whole downtown core was in pure happiness! I've never seen so many high fives, smiles, and canadian pride in one night. The noise was wild! From the "Crosby! Crosby! Crosby!" chants to the national anthem sung over and over again. It was all amazing.

Oh, and I'm definitely happy with the results of the camera. For all the photo people out there I shot all the photos with the 5DmkII's kit lens - 25-105 F4 all at ISO 6400. Both were amazing and I definitely do not regret my decision on buying the camera.

Thank you so much for reading and checking out my photos! I'd love to hear your feedback!

- Dylan

All photos are Copyright Dylan Leeder. And can not be used without my permission. If interested in using any of the images please e-mail me at contact@dylanleeder.com.

© Dylan Leeder. 2010.

Goodbye Ottawa, Hello Toronto.

So, I've made it to Toronto.

After six days of saying my goodbyes to all my amazing friends and what seemed like almost continues packing, moving, and unpacking I finally made it. I haven't even been here for a week and I already have a good feeling about it all.

One of the worst things about leaving Ottawa was leaving the studio behind. Although I'm definitely going to miss it - I'm grateful for the fact that I did it for as long as I did. I got some decent images and was able to continue learning and practicing my studio lighting. Now it's time to work on my environmental lighting. I'm really excited for that.

I just removed my bookmark for the "OC Travel Planner". That felt good.

During the last few days with the studio I managed to do a few last minute shoots.

One of the shoots I did was with my friend Lexi. I noticed at a party of hers that she was making a corset and I thought why not photograph it!

Here she is wearing it herself!



I didn't include my signature on that one because I feel it throws off symmetrical looking photos.

We also took photos in an awesome dress she found...





I just noticed she's looking in the same place in all of the photos. hah

Prasheel stopped by the same night as the shoot with Lexi so we took a few photos.



He rides flatland and does stuff like this...



Alsssooo....

On my last night with the studio I decided to do a self portrait. I don't usually like photos of myself but this one isn't too bad.



I feel like I always look tired. hah

Okay, well that's about it for now. This week is going to be big for me - It looks like I will finally be getting my new camera. Expect a lot of photos.

photo and video!?

Lately has been a very interesting time in my life. As I become closer and closer to moving to Toronto I find myself becoming so busy that days seem like minutes. I can't stop thinking about my move. I'm so excited.

I'm hoping to take advantage of the studio as much as I can before I leave. It's going to be really hard to go without a studio to shoot in. Hopefully it will encourage me to shoot more environmental stuff.

Anyways, I did a shoot of Keturah a little bit back. I'll show you some images!





Alllssoooo...

I recently borrowed a D90 and tested the video a bit. Here's two videos of the results.






I found taking video with a DSLR pretty difficult. Keeping it in focus is difficult - especially with moving subjects.

Either way hope you enjoy everything.

THANKS!

Big times ahead!

So, here we go.

Lately has been... well, interesting. hah I'm moving to Toronto! I have been planning to move to Toronto since I did my field placement there. I loved the environment and have been told it was the best place for photography in Canada.

I'm taking the move as the perfect time to put all of my effort into my photography. I'm going to a whole new city, with all new opportunities. I'm meeting new people and opening more doors. I'll be networking like it's my job! hah Stoked!!!

In other news! I was on my way to the studio on Monday and when I stepped off the bus I immediately smelled smoke. So I look up and notice a large amount of smoke a few blocks down... so, of coarse I go to get as close I can. And guess what I did... I took photos!!





I also edited a few more photos of Shaun and Sarah. Here they are.







Okay! That's it. Hope you like them!

It's been too long!

Hello friends!

So, I haven't updated this in quite a while. Eesh! I've been super busy. I've picked up a job at Blacks so I've been constantly busy this last month or two. I'm finding it challenging balancing my photography with work but I'm getting used to it as time passes. I'm actually starting to enjoy being so busy. More accomplished, I believe. The way I see it is that if I'm this busy for long enough I'll start seeing some good results. I can't wait to form more of a client base so I won't have to work another job - so that I can focus entirely on my photography.

Anyways, what have I been up to other than Blacks? I've done a few shoots with the people of the Canadian Electricity Association. It was interesting to do because it was some what different from what I normally shoot. First shoot was a posed photo of 14 business men/woman and the second shoot was of their safety award ceremony. It was interesting to get a glimpse in the business world. I found it hard to picture myself working in an environment like theirs. I'm so have chosen photography as a profession.

You now may have to stretch your browser because some of these may be a little wide.

In the world of my studio photography I've shot a few friends. First was my friend Paige, it was a last minute shoot but it went well!

Here's a photo from that shoot...



And another...



I also did a shoot with two good friends Sarah and Shaun. The shoot went awesome! We even had some flying guests!





So yeah, I hope you guys like them! It's bed time for me.

- Dylan.

P.s. Please don't steal them. All © Dylan Leeder. Thanks.