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.

Fil Skateboarding... again.

What's the best way to deal with the fact the winter is looming closer? Get the hell outside. What's a super cool thing to do outside? Photograph a rad dude effortlessly throwing down huge ollies over things.

I don't shoot skateboarding often but when I do it always seems to be Fil on deck (get it?). Typically I would worry about shooting the same subject too much, but working with Fil is just such an easy collaboration that always produces exciting results. For instance, things ran so smoothly this time around that I could have walked away happy after my second frame (see above)... but that would have been dumb.

Shooting skateboarding can be pretty stressful with the importance of freezing the moment, but timing your shutter can also be a huge challenge. Luckily for me, Fil is super laid back and crazy consistent with his tricks. Fil, thanks for putting up with all my "one more time..." requests.

In addition to his skills on a skateboard Fil is also an all around good dude. It’s always a pleasure hanging out with someone that’s so passionate about so many aspects of life and has such a genuinely great attitude towards people and the world around him. Like, I'm pretty sure Fil has inspired this little guy to be the next skateboard prodigy. Kudos, Fil.

Also, if you want to check out my other shots of Fil skating here are the previous posts... 2013: http://dylanleeder.com/blog/2013/07/27/skateboarding-is-cool/ 2011: http://dylanleeder.com/blog/2011/05/31/fil-skateboarding/

Thanks! Dylan

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

Street and Sharks

I recently picked up another Canon AE-1 and decided to take it for a walk to see if it was functioning right. Good news! It's working perfectly. I also decided to pick up a 35mm to throw on it and couldn't be happier with the results.

I also took it to the local aquarium... big risk considering I only had an ISO200 roll in it and i'm not the best at manually focusing fast moving subjects...

Cool!

Thanks, Dylan

Cottage on 120

Winter is coming and that sucks. You know what doesn't suck? Going to a cottage with a bunch of your friends. I'm going to use these memories to get me through this winter.

This is my friend Derek...

This is my friend Jamie. Her last name is Kendall... get it?

This is Jamies grandfather. He's super badass - he's got a bear in his basement.

Big thanks to Jamie for having us all to her cottage and to Nick for lending me his Hasselblad - Nick, I promise I'll get my own some day.

I recently received access to a few studios so... that's really awesome. I'll be able to still shoot comfortably during the winter! Expect some studio shoots soon.

Thanks! Dylan

Four Street Photos

I recently got my camera back from being in repair for over a month. The people of Canon said my shutter had died and there was bad humidity damage. I blame sweaty venues, boats, and probably those times I took photos beside waterfalls... it was all worth it. Anyways, It's back in my hands and working just fine. In celebration I took it for a walk...

Talk soon! Dylan

Skateboarding is cool.

Lately I've been swamped with a lot of work shooting various different events and, although I am very happy to be working behind a camera, I still felt I needed to produce something creative and usable in my creative portfolio. Knowing I had a free day coming up I contacted a good friend, Fil, and quickly set up an afternoon with him and a few friends skating around the city. I've photographed Fil skating before but this time around I decided to go with mostly natural light and a real 'run & gun', lifestyle feel. Some shots are even taken while I was biking.

I had such a great evening with the guys - it really brought me back to the days where I used to skate as a little punk ass kid around my home town. Although I never got good I always loved the lifestyle of it - everyone is so stoked and supportive of each other, nobody is worrying about anything but the next spot, and the determination to land a trick becomes contagious - it's so awesome when someone lands a trick they've been killing themselves to get.

Anyways, here's a little 'photo story' of the evening starting from the beginning of the evening to the end.

Can't wait to get out and shoot skateboarding again. Expect more this summer.

Cheers, Dylan

Kensington Market & Trinity Bellwoods

So... I'm still excited about shooting 120. I decided to take out the 503 to two of my favourite places in the city -Kensington Market and Trinity Bellwoods.

KENSINGTON MARKET

(Stoked on that one)

TRINITY BELLWOODS

Nobody dislikes this park. A hot spot for groups of friends to meet and drink beer in the sun. Seriously good vibes.

Lots of big things going on lately. Next week is NXNE and a week after that I'm directing my first short film!

Keep in touch! Dylan