I recently photographed Caitlin from Elite Models. Because my roommate is also a photographer I was lucky enough to be able to shoot Caitlin after he did. It was a productive day in the apartment! Big thanks to Cait too!
It's nice to be getting back into studio lighting. I'm excited to keep practicing my lighting and to experiment with different schematics. With studio lighting it's a lot more challenging because you don't have an environment to help make the image interesting - you have to create every aspect of the image.
Shoot went well! Both Caitlin and our make-up artist Andrada Mogosh did an awesome job. Made my part a lot easier!
Here are the images...
Yes, I know... I have a thing for putting my subjects on the right side. I try to switch it up but it just seems so unnatural! I'm going to have to figure that out.
I'll leave you with a little outtake. Presenting Andrew:
Normally I'd probably start this by going into some rant about how parking booths are metaphoric for something a lot bigger then they are. Perhaps I'd go on about how they're significant because they're still partially man run and that robots are taking over the world...but really... I just like the way they're lit at night.
Hope you're all excited for the next year! I guess here is where I'd go on about my resolutions and goals and stuff but to be honest I haven't really set any solid ones. I think I'm just going to do what I usually try to do and TAKE OVER THE WORLD (Ah, no, that'd be way too much responsibility). I'm just going to keep pushing myself to improve my photos and to get closer and closer to becoming a full-time photographer. Oh, life!
I've been SUPER busy with work and stuff so I haven't been shooting as much as I'd like to but I was able to take a few portraits.
Here's a good friend of mine, Ryan. He really likes buffalo and plays in a sweet metal band called Aggressor. Check them out... http://www.myspace.com/aggressivemusic
Here's a portrait of another Toronto photographer, Kevin Bryan. Check out his work at his website... www.kevinbryan.com
Kat works in the tattoo parlor I currently live above so it wasn't too hard for us to set up a shoot. She's a body piercer at Ultimate Tattoo on Yonge St in Toronto. She's super chill and her passion towards body modification is really interesting. I can't imagine doing some of the modifications she's done to others and have gotten done to herself.
Also, consider that a quick preview to the next Strange(r) People update. Yes! I am finally updating it!!
There was a big fire less than a block away from my apartment. Pretty interesting... the buildings wall collapsed in the summer so it was blocked off then a fire mysteriously started. Check out the damage...
And here's a cute puppy looking over a couples shoulder...
Also! Huge thank you goes out to the college I attended a while back for updating their blog about me. Some days I wish I could go back to when I was in school there - I loved it. Check out their blog... http://algonquinphotography.blogspot.com/
Thanks to my roommates who promised me that they'd wake me up in the middle of the night if I didn't update this. Thank you for being good at being dicks. Chicken woman.
Oh... and if anyone knows any of the following people can you tell them I'd like to take their portrait:
Brody Dalle Angelina Jolie (and Brad Pitt if he's around) Conor Oberst Bob Marley Barack Obama
Thanks! - Dylan
P.s. ALL IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT DYLAN LEEDER. DO NOT USE WITHOUT PERMISSION. Thanks.
It's been a while since I've updated this so... here I am.
I haven't updated too much since I got back from Newfoundland because of my transition into my new apartment and job. It's been a busy few months for me but I hope to do some shoots in the near future that I'm really excited for.
I recently started working at Pikto and am enjoying it. Pikto covers many areas of photography so I'm hoping it'll help round out my photograph knowledge more. With having studio rentals, photo printing, seminars, a gallery and press I'll definitely learn a few things along the way. I think the best thing about working at Pikto is being surrounded by photography. The more I'm surrounded by it the more I'll be inspired to shoot.
So yeah with living in the new apartment...
and working at Pikto I expect to be inspired/motivated to shoot more.
So much to do and so little time!!
I've also began thinking more and more about what direction I want to take my photography in. I think I may actually be realizing what I really want to be doing in the future and it feels good.
I find when I'm talking to photographers they mostly declare themselves one form of photographer and that's it. "Hi, I'm ****** and I shoot fashion" or "I shoot still life" or "I shoot film". Me? I just shoot. I simply love taking photos no matter what it is. I have a large range of photographs from portraits to events and I'm okay with that. Photography offers me a way to show my depiction of the things i've seen/done and also to have a creative outlet to produce images i've created in my head during my non-stop brainstorming. The satisfaction I get when I finish with an image is so rewarding that I crave it constantly.
My love of capturing the world around me is what powers my photography. If I go a week without producing at least one image I become anxious. Life moves so quickly and I hate the thought of missing an opportunity. I have found that photography is the best way of freezing time and truly immortalizing a moment I feel should be remembered. I live for new experiences and seeing new things. For me photography is the best way to keep those experiences alive - by capturing these images the moment lives past that 1/125th of a second. With sharing it to people I hope to provide at least the slightest idea of what it was like... good or bad. I want people to see what I'm seeing, to get intrigued, to wonder, to question or simply know that these certain things exist or are going on.
Another thing I love about photography is the power an image can have on a viewer. People say an image is worth a thousand words but I personally believe they're worth more. When someone views an image they have no choice but to think something of it and with that I've already done what I want to do... I've got you thinking, I've got you feeling something.
Here are a few photos I've taken recently.
Sausage Lady:
My roommate Andrew:
Michelle and Derek:
Koli's Hand:
While i'm at it here's a few Newfoundland photos. The next post will be completely dedicated to Newfoundland. It'll be really awesome.
In other news...
A few months back I took photos of art for a book called "Around The World In the Blink Of An Eye". The photos were simple copy board lighting shots of the artwork so you wouldn't be able to tell they're mine - but I'm still extremely excited to help such a positive project. The book is a charity book that directly supports education and literacy programs in Africa. If you're interested you can check out the book and the organization, we(e)press, here.
Lately I've also had a very strong interest in conflict photography. I hope that someday I'll able to shoot conflict but that won't be for a while. It's something I'm definitely going to have to ease myself into. Here are two documentaries that I loved.
The first is called War Photographer and it follows conflict photographer James Nachtway. I loved the way they attached a video camera to his still camera so you can see the exact moments he's photographing. It really shows how personal he gets with his subjects.
"In a way, if an individual assumes the risk of placing himself in the middle of a war in order to communicate to the rest of the world what is happening. He's trying to negotiate for peace" - James Nachtway taken from War Photographer.
The second one is called Shooting Robert King and it follows Robert King for over 15 years while he photographs three different wars. It follows him from the time he was 23 and just out of college so it's particularly interesting to me. I loved his honesty about it all and how naive he was going into it. Very eye opening.
So yes... I have ideas for a lot of shoots so hopefully I'll be able to put them into action soon. Pikto is a good step but I can't wait until the day that my full time job is taking photos. Even the thought of getting paid to be somewhere and doing something I love is surreal. Sure! I'll travel to another country to take photos for you!
I'll leave you with a video by one of my most recent musical obsessions, Frank Turner. Honestly, I listen to at-least one cd of his every day.
"AND I WONT SIT DOWN! And I wont shut up! But most of all I won't grow up!"
Nuit Blanche describes itself as a free all-night contemporary art event where people take to the streets to witness and be memorized by hundreds of different contemporary artists (List of artist can be seen here)
The event starts at sundown and ends at sunrise so it makes for quite the night. There was no way I was going to miss it.
Life has been pretty exciting lately... I have recently returned from an amazing trip to Newfoundland, I've moved into a brand new apartment in the heart of downtown Toronto, and I've started a new project that I'm absolutely in love with. Life is good.
So... I have absolutely fallen in love with Newfoundland. The land, the people, the atmosphere, the ocean... everything. The whole trip was surreal. Going into it I never expected the amount of beauty I witnessed over the two weeks there. Me and my co-pilot, Lexi, were able to cover most of the shoreline of the island and were able to see various terrains from mountain ranges, cliffs dropping into the ocean and vast fields with what seemed like no ending. Canada is amazing.
I won't go into it too much on this post because I'll go into all the detail in a future post dedicated to the trip. I'm not quite done the photos yet so I'll just post a sort of "teaser"...
Newfoundland Teaser:
These are just two of a lot of images i'm very happy with. I'm excited for you to see them all.
And a few fun ones...
One of our campsites. Yes, that's the ocean and a full moon... We also enjoyed a bottle of wine on a stone beach that night.
This is me flying a kite at the top of Signal Hill in St. Johns.
And introducing my wicked co-pilot Lexi! Without her the trip would not have ran nearly as smoothly as it did. She did most of the navigating and figured out crucial things during the day... like where to camp in a campground without paying - and not get caught. Oh, and she was able to put up with me for two weeks straight! GO LEXI!
Okay, that's all about NFLD for now. Keep checking back and i'll have the official Newfoundland post up. I may be doing something pretty big before that... but stay tuned either way because i'll be posting about it as it develops.
Okkaayyy... NEXT.
Strange(r) People
I've recently started a new project that i'm super excited for called "Strange(r) People". I explain everything about it on the blog so you'll have to go over there to understand what it's about.
But... here i'll ask this... TELL YOUR FRIENDS. Strange(r) People is a project I really want to spread around. I feel that not only will I get A LOT out of it personally but other people may get something out of it as well. It IS about people. Also, it'll help my photography career so... why not?
A photo from the latest post:
I've only got one post of up so far but it gives you a good idea of what it's about. I'm also testing it with two different hosts so there's two options to check it out...
I think i'm liking Tumblr a bit more so here's that link...
I expect to update it at least once a week with various sorts of people. I may even start theming each post. Who knows... it's still in the early stages.
So yes, I love hearing all your feedback so feel free to comment here, facebook, or any other way you can... send me a letter!
