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

35mm: It's spring! Get the film!

Every fall I tend to put my film cameras away for the winter months. I've only realized this recently but I think the reasons are probably as follows.. 1) It's not as enjoyable walking around taking photos in the cold. 2) It's brighter in the summer - I don't like using flash with film so the longer daylight hours make for more opportunities. 3) I go to more interesting places in the summer. 4) I just feel summer has a 'film' vibe. 5) I like combining awesome things. Both summer and film are awesome.

Anyways... I decided to start travelling with my Canon AE-1 and some expired film. Here are the results:

This is Thomas Slack. He's really cool.

... it was nice out... just still frozen. #Canada

I've been slacking on editing lately and I plan on getting my shit together and getting them done. Expect a few blog posts in the near future.

Enjoy the warm weather! 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

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