FREEZE FRAME

Dean McLeod of Saskatoon embraces the challenges of winter photography

- Dean McLeod

Growing up in Saskatchewan where I have lived my entire life, summers are short while winters can be long and cold. The seasons are very distinct in this part of Canada and we are lucky to experience the beauty of such dramatic changes in the landscape every year. Countless camping trips during the summers of my childhood sparked my love for nature at a very young age. The fresh smell of the trees and damp ground of the nature trails in northern Saskatchewan brought me absolute joy, while cross-country skiing and sledding kept me outside in the wintertime.

I have also loved creating art for as long as I can remember. While many of my school friends played sports year-round, I was the quiet kid who was perfectly happy sitting for hours drawing pictures or building models; anything that I could dream up in my head and somehow manage to manifest with my own hands into something tangible. Every meticulous little project I finished brought me such great satisfaction—I could stand back and say, “I made that!”

While Christmas shopping a few years ago, I found myself standing in our local camera store and it brought back memories of the fun I had learning photography in high school. On a whim, I selfishly decided to buy a new camera for myself with absolutely no clue how to use it or where it would take me. To say that landscape and nature photography has become an obsession since that day would be an understatement. I quickly became fascinated by how I could create art with this new tool while renewing my relationship with the outdoors. It magically combines everything I love into a single craft that allows me to pursue art while enjoying the outdoors in every season.