Cancer VS. The Power of Positivity and Support

A very close friend of mine, Sierra, was recently diagnosed with a form of cancer called Lymphoma. With any horrible news there was a whole series of intense emotions; first, the obvious overwhelming sadness and fear, then anger towards the universe while questioning why such things would happen to some of the most undeserving people, but then, most recently, I've been focusing on the power of positivity and being there for each other.

Sierra is honestly one of the strongest, most positive/level headed people I know and with knowing this I've barely questioned the fact that everything will work out fine. If you know me you know that I truly believe in the power of positive thinking - the simple concept of believing in the best possible results will attract them; that surrounding yourself with like-minded people can be a miracle cure, and that life is simply too short to dwell on the inevitable downsides of life.

Because Sierra's cancer was diagnosed as aggressive, but luckily still at stage 1 (WOO!), the recovery process started very quickly. Within two weeks of diagnosis Sierra had already begun chemotherapy and with that quickly comes the difficult reality that she will lose her hair. With Sierra being the person she is, she decided to gather some of her closest friends and have a little sun-shine-filled shin-dig to bring together our smiles and ease what is obviously something that is hard for anyone to do.

So, Sunday came and a group of us got together to provide laughs, support, and some heads of hair to accompany her through the process.

Her brother, Eric, and good friend Sara starting the process...

And then came the chaos. We all went a little crazy on each other...

And the mid-results...

(I swear these girls can pull off any look...)

And Brandon finishing the process...

And here is as far as we could get with the quality of shaver we had. (There was definitely some clean up work done afterwards)

So, with the support from friends and some simple positivity we were able to make what could have been a difficult afternoon into an afternoon of laughter, smiles, and sunshine.

With the situations that have been arising lately and specifically spending this particular afternoon with Sierra I've been reminded of the importance of friendship and having love between one another. Not long ago I found myself dwelling on the fact that I could have potentially spent more time shooting or 'being productive' rather than out being social, but now I've realized that I should never regret the amount of nights I've spent out with my friends, the days wandering the city or enjoying music with friends, or the small things like watching pointless movies with roommates. I truly believe that friendships and love between one another is the most important thing in the world and our time spent Sunday was a true testament to that.

To my friends - I love each and every one of you. Even if we may have lost contact I swear I still feel the same towards you as the last time I saw you and can't wait for the next time we see each other.

To everyone else - go give someone a hug or something! Positive thinking is not only healthy for people in general, it also does wonders beyond what you may even realize.

Sierra, I love you and this B.S. will all be over before we know it. I'm so happy my singing brought us together all those years ago and am so grateful to have you in my life. You've always been such an inspiration to me and I can honestly say I would not be the person I am today without your support, life lessons, and open ears. I can't wait until we share a drink with all of this behind us but, until then, i'll provide the puzzles.

FINALLY, I will be walking alongside Sierra during the "Light The Night' walk in Ottawa this Saturday in support of the Leukemia & Lymphona Society Of Canada. If you would like to donate to sponsor me and Sierras team, LymphNOma (get it? So witty) please go here: https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=2647096&langPref=en-CA

If monetary donations are not your thing I ask that you just support someone you love that may need it. Go ask them to go for a walk through a nice park or bake them cookies or something.

Riot Fest 2014

I've begun shooting my 'Strange(r) People' series for Toronto Standard and decided to do a feature on the attendees of Riot Fest. While there I obviously shot some of the bands in this years stacked lineup. The festival was one of the best this season. So many bands I was excited to see; some all time favourites like New Found Glory and City And Colour and then some I've recently been obsessed with like The Hotelier and PUP. They all performed amazingly and not even the mud could reduce the fun.

Here's Riley from the Strange(r) People post...

Check out the Strange(r) People post here: http://torontostandard.com/the-sprawl/stranger-people-riot-fest/ ... you should also check out his super rad work here: http://rileytaylorphoto.com/home.html

And now the music...

Die Antwoord:

New Found Glory:

Taking Back Sunday:

Bring Me The Horizon:

Dead Tired:

PUP:

City And Colour:

And some fun additional shots!

Hope everyone is well! Dylan

35mm: Summer Parties & Adventures

Hey guys! Summer has been great so far, so many music festivals and wonderful adventures throughout Canada's beautiful wilderness. Although I will never regret all the rad adventures I've had so far - I've got to admit it's somewhat interfered with my productivity in regards to my creative photography. It's just so hard to say no to a cold brew on a patio, a weekend trip to a cottage, or just a nice bike ride through the city.

One of the highlights of my summer so far includes a short trip to Nova Scotia to assist Joey L, the photographer that actually inspired me to become one myself. In addition to being able to check out Nova Scotia, it was also a great experience to chill with a dude I admire so much. Here's Joey and some shots from the trip...

I've been fortunate enough to hit up some cottages as well! Here's a few quick shots from some time spent up in Muskoka.

Here's Anthea rockin' that rad canoeing look.

and her and Lauren barely balancing on a paddle board.

Boats are the best.

As mentioned, I've also been attending tonnes of festivals and shows including one of the biggest of the summer, NXNE. Here are a few shots from Audioblood and Pistonheads rooftop party:

Teenage Kicks!

And friends!

Zach!

Sari!

Dave!

Ben!

Of course I had to make sure to attend NXNE's Bruise Cruise. Good times were had:

More friends!

Tom!

So yeah, I've basically just been carrying along my 35mm camera and taking shots along the way. I plan on doing a bunch of shoots this month to take advantage of the nice weather (it's already August! WHAT!) so expect those.

and I STILL haven't posted the shots from my trip to Grenada. There's just too many! Expect them very soon.

Thanks! Dylan

35mm: Pistonhead & Field Trip

In a previous post I mentioned that I enjoy shooting film during the summer and this summer has been no exception. Lately I've been throwing my Canon AE-1 in my backpack while checking out random events. During the last few weeks I attended a rad Pistonhead sponsored party at the Bovine Sex Club and this past weekend was Field Trip. Here are some visuals for you...

Pistonhead @ Bovine:

First off - I'm really digging this portrait. I saw this dudes gold tooth and asked him for a portrait. Anyone know who he is?

Hi Andy!

And big shoutout to Pistonhead for the free beer...

Field Trip was last weekend and it was super awesome. Saw a lot of great bands and hung out with some of my favourite friends...

Fucked Up's set was my favourite of the festival and not just because George (of Alexisonfire) made a guest appearance.

And finally here's some portraits of two of my favourite people...

Rich! It's become a tradition to take a portrait at each festival we're both attending.

And my girl, Anthea!

Cool. Thanks! Dylan

Sailing in Georgia

I recently came back from Georgia after being kidnapped (or hired...) by National One Design Sailing Academy to take photos of a sailing regatta they were hosting on Lake Lanier just north of Atlanta, Georgia

We drove the straight 16 hours with only a few hiccups and basically went from -20 directly to +20 - if you're Canadian you can probably relate to how awesome that is. So, the trip was already off to a good start.

We spent most of the trip on the lake/boats so I really only got to take a few shots of the surroundings the first few days...

The first day was all prep and getting the boats ready to race. The boats racing were all 10FT 'Flying Tigers' with an LOA of 32.68′ and a displacement of 4376... Kidding, I don't know what that means. To me the boats were just very big and completely covered with ropes and gadgets - trust me, they're cool.

If you ever hear that someone needs to climb the mast for some reason or other make sure you volunteer. Great view and it seems just sketchy enough to be exciting.

The next few days were completely spent on the lake. Lake Lanier is a man made lake thats purpose is to provide water to Atlanta during droughts and also control potential flooding to the city. The scenery actually reminded me a lot of the river back home!

The trip to the the docks always made for a nice way to start the day...

Going into this I was actually pretty ignorant to how intense sail boat racing can be. The races were two laps around an orange pylon and the committee boat that is basically making all the calls for the races. Here's the small boat that anchors the pylons:

And then the racing...

Notice the angle that the boats sometimes sit at. Being my first time sailing it came as quite a surprise - a lot of the racers time is actually spent weighing the opposite side down by hanging themselves over the opposite edge.

and dodging the boom...

and pulling ropes...

It's always interesting photographing a subject that you have little knowledge of. This was particularly exciting to photograph with the swaying of the boats, the constant dodging of things while not falling off, and the general intensity in the air. Although challenging I found the experience extremely rewarding and equally enjoyable. This trip will definitely not be my last time sailing.

I'll end the post with two familiar sights at the end of each day...

Thanks, Dylan

P.s. If you're interested in sailing you should seriously check out One Design. They provide lessons and are really great teachers. Check 'em out: http://1dsailing.com