iLovetheBurg is going to miss Bryan Leighty; great friend to the arts community, professional photographer, Star Wars fanboy and most notably a teacher who introduced photography to hundreds of aspiring photophiles during his time at The Morean Arts Center. A respected and well-known photographer amongst his professional peers and artists in the fashion & modeling field, he’s known best for getting the job done at a moments notice for his clients. After assisting Bryan on some of his shoots, what stood out most was his unique ability to understand the clients creative need. He operates with an expert comprehension of how to balance the artistic endeavor with the logistics and purpose of the shoot. Through that economy Bryan has produced pictures beyond just studio quality.

It wasn’t always like this for Bryan.  He got his first paying job helping a friend who couldn’t afford to hire a professional. “I can do it and I can do it much cheaper” he said.  So Bryan went out, bought his first DSLR and started shooting the models.  The images he produced were, as promised, “much cheaper”.  The pictures were scraped and a professional had to be hired. "I didn’t start off gifted," Bryan jests, "I had to put in time and learn what it means to be considered gifted."

Bryan has a proclivity for instituting strobe light techniques into his work and would speak passionately about the occular distortion in our introductory course.  Bryan noted that there would be many instances where the light would not cooperate with your vision, your shoot or your time frame. Strobe lights, in those cases, are the reigns that tug and tame the shade or lack thereof.  His passion for teaching and incomparable desire to imbue his students with the same appreciation for all the minute elements that compose a photo left an indellible impression on everyone he taught.   

Bryan now heads west to the city of Portland, Oregon for an opportunity in his other career field in Network Engineering.  To his students, he leaves this message:

“These last few years have been so amazing and the classes at the Morean have been the icing on the cake.  Thank you all for participating. I have met so many great people and have loved every minute of it. Enjoy the Florida sun as I am hiking the mountains of the Pacific Northwest (and sometimes digging my car out of snow in the winters!)”  

Article contributed by the "Fabulous" Mia M.

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