MCpl Brandon Liddy is looking forward to starting his new job at CFB Shilo, and moving his family here from CFB Borden, Ont. Expect to see him around the Base, with either his cameras or video camera. During a visit to the Stag, he noticed a photograph on the wall featuring Cpl Bryce Cooper, a former classmate at photo school. His fellow photographer, formerly with 2PPCLI, is now working at 17 Wing Winnipeg.

Jules Xavier
Shilo Stag

Having your mom name you after the city where she was born makes for a great conversation starter for 3 Div’s newest photographer being posted to CFB Shilo.

Born in Windsor, Ont., 39 years ago, MCpl Brandon Liddy arrives here from CFB Borden, where he was a photojournalism instructor. He will have boots on the ground sometime after Aug. 29.

He considers himself a CAF military photojournalist — he not only tells stories with his cameras, but also uses video to further enhance this military trade no longer belonging to just RCAF members.

Why did he choose to be a photographer in the CAF versus other military trades? What piqued his interest to pursue this line of work outside being a civilian photographer? Was there military in the family tree?

“No one in my family has ever been much of a photographer,” he offers. “I’ve wanted to become an image tech for a very long time, ever since I was told about the trade in 2010. Shooting military subject matter is unique and keeps the job interesting — if you end up at the right units.”

Returning to his role as a photojournalist, MCpl Liddy did not mind his last posting to CFB Borden, where he instructed the next batch of CAF members who will fill the many openings at Wings/Bases across Canada with retirements taking its toll on the trade.

“Teaching new image techs was a cool position,” he said. “It was a bit nostalgic for me as well, seeing I was once a student in the same classroom that I taught in.”

He added, “While I had no trouble teaching, it wasn’t really for me, I really need to be behind the camera. It’s why I joined the trade.”

With a partial BA in communications while studying film production at the University of Windsor, MCpl Liddy initially joined CAF in 2004, choosing infantry as his trade.

He then left a year later to pursue a post-secondary education, but re-enlisted as a RMS clerk.

“I was a clerk until 2016 when I OT’d to image tech, which I wanted when initially re-enlisting,” he said. “I never deployed anywhere until I was a fully trained image tech in 2017.

“I was posted to Combat Camera right from my QL3. After that, I deployed to places such as Belgium on Op DISTINCTION October 2017; then ice waterfall climbing in Banff with the SAR techs February 2018; Mali June 2018, San Diego December 2018; Egypt Op CALUMET March 2019; West Point February 2020, and just recently Op NANOOK [this year] in February.”

What was the first camera MCpl Liddy picked up and used, which piqued his interest in photography? What was his first photo taken with that camera?

“The first camera I ever used [as a teenager] was a Nikon F65 which was given to me by my mother when I was a teenager,” he recalled. “The first real photograph I took was probably of my mother’s flowers or something around my parents’ house.”

While film photography for some might now be extinct, replaced by digital photography, don’t tell that to MCpl Liddy.

“I still use both mediums outside of work,” he said. “Up until a few years ago, I also shot with a Pentax 6×7 which uses 120mm film.

“There’s something very special and irreplaceable about shooting film, holding and looking at a physical photograph. I have the intention to start shooting film again once I’m settled in CFB Shilo.”

MCpl Liddy has a simple thought process he uses when approaching the next assignment with a camera or video camera.

“I always strive to create exciting imagery that demonstrates how the CAF operates,” he explained. “I don’t have a single creative approach, I handle every scenario differently.”

Always looking to capture that CAF moment in a positive way, MCpl Liddy considers himself a street photographer at his core. He’s looking to tell a story when he shoots, not just expose his film or digital mode to grab a quick shot. He will work an assignment or the scene to ensure he’s covered it from all directions.

The same goes for when he’s out with wife and son doing family activities. No matter where he is going, or doing, there’s a camera nearby to capture what he’s observing around him.

Like the majority of photojournalists, he has a favourite and least favourite lens. For MCpl Liddy, his least favourite lens in anything with a variable F-stop. He lens of choice is an 85mm f1.4.

“An 85mm [lens] is a beautiful portrait lens, but can also be used in a multitude of other scenarios.”

When it comes to equipment he will have hanging from his broad shoulders while covering a military activity, there are specific lens he will have at the ready.

“Depending on the situation, I’ll usually dual wield two cameras,” he explained. “One with a short-range zoom, probably something like 28-70mm. The other would have something with longer focal range — 70-200mm, 200-500mm. Whatever is necessary.”

MCpl Liddy is especially happy when he’s embedded alongside soldiers who are deployed on operations. He’s there to tell their story through his lens.

“Real life is always the best subject,” he said.

Once he’s moved in to his home on Kingston Avenue, and his son settled in at La Source with the advent of another school year in September, MCpl Liddy will commence his objectives and goals to give the Base and soldiers more exposure on a public affairs level, not unlike what he did as the photojournalist working at RMC in Kingston, Ont.

“I want to deploy with the troops and capture what they do at the ground level,” he said. “I’d love to see the Base get an Instagram [page] that would focus on everything from featured operational photos and videos to Base community activities and Base lifestyle.”

Is there a famous photographer out there, alive or dead, who MCpl Liddy would like to have mentor him?

“Tim Hetherington would be my pick,” he said. “He was a civilian war photojournalist. He was killed in Libya in 2011.”

MCpl Liddy takes over the 3 Div job previously held by now Sgt Heather MacRae, who was posted to Sudbury, where she will work in CAF recruitment.