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Leonard Carter

@beingleon_

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This is my personal IG. I post random stuff that I get into. All photos taken by me except ones of me maybe 😊#teamglansberg

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Partner Palooza 2026 was an absolute blast. Incredible athletes, unstoppable energy, and a community that never quits. Kirkland CrossFit delivered, and these are just a few of the stars who made it unforgettable. taken in Kirkland CrossFit by @beingleon_

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4 months ago

Unfortunately, I was only able to capture a couple of our champions that qualified for the 2026 CrossFit Open quarter-finals (we had quite a bit more this year) but I’d like to congratulate all of our athletes this year. You represented KCF very well and we’re all very proud of you. taken in Kirkland CrossFit by @beingleon_

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6 months ago

Portraits of Champions CrossFit Open 26.3 edition. taken in Kirkland CrossFit by @beingleon_

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7 months ago

K-Town Throwdown 2025 - Portraits of Champions v5.9 taken in Kirkland CrossFit by @beingleon_

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a year ago

K-Town Throwdown 2025 - Portraits of Champions v5.5 taken in Kirkland CrossFit by @beingleon_

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a year ago

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a year ago

I’m back from my self imposed hiatus from social media. This post is part of my “How I Shot it” series but it’s a little different as it could be called “Why I Shot it” or even “Should I have shot it?”

I took this the morning after a heavy snow storm in Ottawa a couple months ago. The man standing in the doorway caught my eye, his expression, the lighting, and his presence were kinda striking. I asked him if I could take his portrait, and he warmly said yes. As I began composing the shot, I noticed he had removed a shoe and sock, trying to dry them out from being outside in the freezing rain and snow. Then I caught a glimpse of his severely gnarled foot. In that moment, I felt a deep discomfort. Here was someone clearly struggling, and I was pointing a my phone at him to get a picture. I had always intended to offer him something in return, but when I saw the state of his foot, I was overwhelmed. I handed him a 20 dollar note and all the loonies and toonies I had (Loonies are 1 dollar Canadian coins and Toonies are 2 dollar coins) then I left, but the uneasiness stuck with me.

When doing street photography, I generally like to show a person’s humanity and resilience rather than focus on their less than ideal circumstances. In short, I don’t really like making “poverty porn.” I’d never really felt this conflicted while covering news or emergencies before, maybe because my camera always served as a buffer. A large piece of gear and looking through a viewfinder which provided a certain feeling of emotional distance and detachment. But this time, that wasn’t the case. This was shot with my phone so there wasn’t the disassociation that you get with a bigger camera and long lens.

Shot on IPhone 15 Pro Max with the Lightroom camera app.

Edited in the Lightroom mobile app taken in Ottawa, Ontario by @beingleon_

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a year ago

Labor Day 2024 “Bull” partner WOD

Two rounds for time of:
200 Double-unders
135 pound Overhead squat, 50 reps
50 Pull-ups
Run 1 mile
In honor of U.S. Marine Corps Captain Brandon “Bull” Barrett, 27, of Marion, Indiana, was killed on May 5, 2010 taken in Kirkland CrossFit by @beingleon_

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2 years ago

Welcome to the latest thrill of “How I Shot It”! This time, I’m diving into the journey behind the featured image and the epic adventure it took to capture it.
A few years back, these shots were taken in the untamed beauty of Alaska. It all started when an old friend from elementary school reached out to me after years apart. He told me he was living on a remote island in Alaska called Akutan. Instantly, I knew I had to go. He somewhat tried to dissuade me in the beginning telling me “Nah homie, like 80 people live here full time and it’s not easy to get here.” I said to myself “I’m in.”
The journey was nothing short of epic. From Seattle, I hopped on three progressively smaller planes and a helicopter! Leg one: Seattle to Anchorage. Leg two: Anchorage to Dutch Harbor. Leg three: Dutch Harbor to Akun, and finally, a helicopter ride to Akutan. On the last plane ride, I didn’t even have a seat – I sat on a stack of mail! Talk about an adventure!
Arriving in Akutan, I was welcomed by the warmest people in a breathtaking setting. While I didn’t capture portraits of the locals, I promise next time I’ll ask in advance. Their hospitality was unforgettable.
Now, let’s talk about the featured image: the Saint Alexander Nevsky Church Cemetery in Akutan. Captured at 9:00 am in September with 15 hours of daylight, the lighting wasn’t the most dramatic. But through editing, I transformed the shot to reflect the vision in my mind – darkening the image, adding a texture map, and inserting lights in the windows. I was careful to respect the locals’ views, showing the edited image to my new friends in Akutan first. They loved it, and I plan to donate a large print to the community.
On my way home, I couldn’t resist a detour. I rented a truck and spent days exploring Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, chasing eagles, and getting wonderfully lost. One of the highlights was encountering a mating pair of eagles atop the Holy Ascension of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Cathedral. Check out the story post and above images to see these majestic birds!
Tell me what you think! Like, follow, and share to join the adventure.

#TravelAdventures #AlaskaExplorations #PhotographyJourney taken in Akutan, Alaska by @beingleon_

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2 years ago

Reportage style Black and White images from last weekend’s Northwest Evergreen Battle NRL22X match sponsored by Vortex Optics held at The Snoqualmie Valley Rifle Club in Snoqualmie, WA. We had entrants from all over the West coast and even some international competitors. Everyone had a great time thanks to the wonderful ROs, match director, and a challenging but fun course of fire and props. To put it mildly, it was a great success and we can’t wait for next year!

#nrl22x #nrl22 #22lr #holdordial #precisionshooting #rimfire Marksman shooting at the Evergreen Northwest Battle NRL22X precision rimfire shooting match in Snoqualmie Washington. taken in Snoqualmie Valley Rifle Club by @beingleon_

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2 years ago

In this installment of “How I shot it” I’m going to explore dealing with depth of field and one of the challenges of photographing caged MMA events.

First of all, what is depth of field or DOF? Depth of field is the area of acceptable sharpness in front of and behind your subject. Sometimes you’ll want your subject, the foreground, and background all in focus, while other times you’ll want to isolate your subject by keeping them sharp and letting everything else remain out of focus.

A lot of factors determine and can change your DOF. The main factor is the size of the opening in front of your sensor (or film) which is called the aperture and is represented numerically by f-stops. The larger the opening the shallower the DOF. Numerically, the larger the number the smaller the aperture i.e. f2.8 is a lot bigger than f22. Second is the lens. F2.8 on a 200mm lens is different than f2.8 on a 24mm lens. The longer lens automatically has a shallower DOF. Third is focusing distance. The closer the subject is to you, the shallower the DOF.

On to the photos

I shot the featured image straight through the cage fence but you’d never know it right? This image had all the right aspects going for it. It was shot with my longer lens (70-200mm), the subjects were far enough away from me so that I could get the fence in front of me out of focus and I was shooting at 2.8 which is something I rarely do.

The other image from the same fight had a couple things going against it if I wanted the same effect as the featured image. Same lens but I was at f3.5 and the fighters were a little closer so I that combination led to me capturing some of the fence in the foreground.

The other two images were shot with my second body which I usually have a wider lens, in this case it was a 24-70. Also, I was at 3.5 so I captured the fence again in the foreground.

I’m not really saying that the other images are bad they just give a different feel. I believe one makes you feel like you’re cageside and the other makes you feel like you’re in the cage. It’s a matter of preference, I like both. Fighter lands a left jab during an MMA fight at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma Washington. taken in Emerald Queen Casino by @beingleon_

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3 years ago

Portraits of Champions V4 taken in Kirkland CrossFit by @beingleon_

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3 years ago