For Stonewall’s Deaghan McLeod, pictures are worth far more than a thousand words— they are her future.
Stonewall’s Deaghan McLeod is a rising professional photographer completing her degree at Red River College this spring. She recently placed first at the Skills Manitoba competition in photography on April 9
The 22-year-old is in the final month of the professional photography program at Red River College Polytechnic and recently earned a gold medal in photography at the Skills Manitoba Competition, held April 9 in Winnipeg.
Now, the aspiring photographer is preparing to represent Manitoba on the national stage at the Skills Canada Competition in Toronto next month.
Inspired by her grandfather, who used to take photos at the Morden race track, McLeod said she knew from a young age that photography was the path she wanted to follow.
“Anything that lets me be creative in a high-energy environment — that’s where I want to be,” she said. “Photography has been a way I can express myself, allowing me to make my own meaning out of the situation.”
She got her first camera — an original Canon Rebel — at age 12. One of the first photos she remembers being proud of was a tree branch coated in glistening frost, taken by her lime green, iPhone 5C.
Since then, her passion has only grown.
Competing with her Canon EOS 6D at Skills Manitoba, McLeod went up against 19 other post-secondary students in a fast-paced three-hour challenge.
Contestants were assigned four photography tasks the morning of the competition and had to submit raw, unedited images before the deadline. The assignments included photographing lines, a single shower curtain ring, other skills competitors using numbers and skill competitors using digital technology.
McLeod described the day as “completely chaotic.”
“It was a pure representation of your raw skills behind the camera,” she said.
Each image was judged blindly on a 300-point scale based on vision, impact, creativity, composition, camera settings and other technical criteria.
One of McLeod’s images placed her among the top four finalists, initially putting her in silver-medal position.
While she is unsure which of her four submissions scored highest, she said she is most proud of her shower curtain ring image, created using a multiple-exposure technique that layered five separate photos to create a striking visual effect.
She noted no other competitor approached the challenge in the same way.
Once finalists were selected, judges reviewed each competitor’s four images as a complete series. McLeod said the strength and consistency of her collection helped push her into first place.
She was stunned by the result.
“To be recognized at something like this is incredibly validating,” she said. “This is something I wanted— I wanted to make my grandpa, teachers and family proud.”
The competition marked McLeod’s first major event.
She said it was her instructors — Jocelyne Hebert, Rodney Braun and Sherrianne Talon — who encouraged her to enter.
“They turned around my belief in what I can do,” she said. “Having your skills be appreciated is encouraging and it opens a lot of doors. Turns out, this is exactly what I needed to do to gain a new level of confidence.”
Her win has earned her a trip to Toronto, where she will compete at the Skills Canada Competition from May 26 to 30 against gold medalists from across the country in a two-day photography challenge.
She said she is “beyond excited” to showcase her work at the national level.
McLeod was also a finalist in the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC) competition this April, with a photo of a can of Monster Energy drink for the Student Commercial Award and a portrait of her best friend’s younger sister, Alex Snell for the Student General Award.
She credits her education at Red River with transforming both her technical abilities and confidence.
“The skills and confidence I have gained has changed the way I operate as a photographer and changed where I want to go in the future,” she said. “I know I can do this for a living.”
Her instructor, Jocelyne Hebert — an award-winning photographer and a member of Team Canada with the World Photogenic Cup — is beyond thrilled at her progress since meeting her in September.
“She brings a true sense of charisma and creative talent to the classroom with her raw photographic style, dynamic bold colours, cinematic ideas and captures beauty in all forms of subjects from portraits, fine art and commercial photography,” she said. “She comes to class with a simple camera, nothing fancy— no ‘bells and whistles’ just a camera and an idea.”
Commending her strong work ethic, she added McLeod’s talents comes from effort, hard work and tenacity.
“She will work in the studio for hours to complete a vision and does her best to capture the proper exposure and composition in camera rather than relying on photoshop to enhance her imagery— this is the heart of a future master.”
Noting her ability to inspire others, she is proud of McLeod’s accomplishments this year and takes pride in watching her grow.
Currently, McLeod is focused on building her portfolio, photographing everything from people and places to live events and concerts.
Her favourite environments, she said, are fast-moving and unpredictable.
“I like running around and the chaos,” she said. “Nothing is posed— it’s just you, your camera and the world.”
Recently, she was hired to photograph the Asper School of Business’ Future of Indigenous Business Banquet, an awards evening recognizing Indigenous business owners.
As a Métis photographer, McLeod said the event held special meaning.
“Being a part of this was really cool,” she said. “It brought along networking opportunities, but it also brought along this increased level of respect I have for culture and tradition. The whole evening was absolutely wonderful.”
Looking ahead, McLeod hopes to one day work as a photographer for touring artists, travelling as part of their media team.
Until then, she is open to photographing events of all kinds.
“As long as I am behind a camera, I am happy,” she said.
For aspiring photographers, her advice is simple: keep going.
“Don’t let the rules stop you from being creative,” she said. “Use your creativity to define the moment— that’s what makes you unique.”
