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

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

First time with 120 film

Hey guys! I recently borrowed a Hasselblad 503 and shot my first three rolls of 120 film - I'm excited. I'm happy with the results I got while adjusting to the learning curve and can't wait until I become comfortable with the change. Here's the photos...

TOM!

I plan on shooting more portraits with my next roll. Expect that soon.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Thanks! Dylan