Time To Change The Bio | Canadian Adventure Photographer

About a month ago I received a text from one of my editors (Meghan Ward) telling me congratulations on my Alberta Magazine Awards nomination. I was a little stunned and had no idea of the context so as you can imagine a little confused. Meg was good enough to send me the on-line link but I was teaching a class so I figured I could check it later. Once I got home I checked and sure enough one of my images run by Westworld Magazine had been nominated and was a finalist.

Well I am super stoked to say that last Thursday I got a tweet from one of the editors at Westworld that we had actually won Gold in Landscape, Still Life, and Architecture. Really an amazing feeling to win something like this and to be recognized for the work I have put into my lifestyle photography.

The image that ran in the winter 2014 issue.

Looking forward to adding "award winning photographer" to the bio, but in the mean time there are a few thank you's to go out.

My buddy Stefan Dalberg (Speed Specialists / SAIT) for being a great sport and letting me shoot him and his DN Racer at Sunset.

My good friend and photography-pro Paul Zizka for turning Westworld on to me way back when.

My editor in Vancouver David Claydon (Westworld Magazine) for running the shot and continuing to use my work in their world-class travel magazine.

And Kirsten Rodenhizer (Westworld) for accepting my award for me and keeping it warm.

The spot in the online version of the magazine can be seen here.



Now it's time to update the bio...

Great To Be On Top | Canadian Adventure Photographer

I always seem to suffer. Doesn't matter what kind of condition I am in, good or bad. I always suffer. Maybe it is the 30 extra lbs of camera gear I need to bring, or the lack of ski-touring I do. It doesn't matter.

David and Pierre enjoying the wide-open space below St. Nicholas

The suffering only seems to happen on my way up and I am happy it doesn't last for very long. Especially when I finally crest the top of the Glacier and see the boys setting up their kites in perfect wind, all suffering goes away.

This weekend our crew kited up on the Wapta Ice field for two days and the weather has never been so good. Saturday was a little over cast but still had good viz and steady 25 and less wind. Enough for the 12m kites we had brought up. I broke my lens while shooting at the start of our flight so I put the camera away, focusing on the riding and even managed to climb St Nicholas's saddle. The session ended about an hour before sunset so we skied down the creamy head-wall and took in an amazing feast of fine cheeses, prosciutto, oysters and wine. Wow, alpine hut stay in style with good company.

The crew parked and hunkered down (me, Patrice, Chris, David, and Pierre)

Sunday morning we awoke to high winds so I slept a little longer. Pat, Chris and Pierre decided to go for a ski then came back early afternoon to report blue-skies and wind. Once we got back up on to the ice field we knew it would be amazing. I left the kite in the bag and swapped out my broken lens for the 24-70 and shot straight for an hour. Incredible conditions but even though it may have been my last day to kite, I had to shoot. And I am glad I did. I managed to get some real gold.

Well worth the suffering for sure...

Spindrift News | Canadian Adventure Photographer

Looking back on 2014 it is hard to believe I made it through with all the changes and chaos that happened personally and professionally. But now that I've had a rest and some time off, I'm gearing up for a busy and exciting year....

Over the last month or so I have had some time to develop new skills, do some serious study and introduce some new tools to my business. I have been working with video for two years now but decided to learn the production side and everything that goes along with it. This includes the writing and development of projects whether they are documentary or simple story. With this new knowledge I am planning to finish a few video projects that are in the que as well as add more corporate video work to the portfolio.

Last year was huge for my magazine work and I estimate I published over 70 images with the various local and international magazines I have been working with. Developing a tight working relationship with my editors has been important and recently that has paid-off with a nomination for Best Photograph (landscape Winter 2014) in the Alberta Magazine Awards 2015. Looking forward to hearing later this week if I won, and I have to thank Westworld Magazine for running my image of Stef Dalberg and his ice-boat. See the published page here: Link

Another on-going project is the work I am doing with a local outdoor clothing company called Spirit West. For a few years now I have been helping them with the occasional shooting of some product but now working year round capturing their new product line as well as testing some of the gear. It can be a long road to success for a lot of companies but if you are willing to stick it out for the long run it can really pay off.

Along with the various magazines I am also working on some upcoming projects that I can't really talk about yet. However I can say that it has allowed me to start testing outdoor gear with other companies as well and this is a bit of where I have wanted to go for some time now. Those projects I will be happy to announce about once they have been made public.

Recently one of our past clients (Eighth Avenue Place, one of the larger tenant services companies in Calgary) had asked us to become a Platinum Partner. What this means is we offer an exclusive availability to their tenants for both corporate and commercial photography. So far we are enjoying the partnership and ongoing relationship we have with their staff and management.

Another partnership we are proud to be involved in is the local sport shooting club The Silver Willow. Last year we started offering corporate packages where we come in and photograph their exec's and employees for team building and corporate events. We will be doing this again as well as updating the Silver Willow's website.

One last thing for now, I have been working on a new personal project called "Foothills Magic" that I am showing on a facebook page. Once I have the project running a long for a little while I will be creating a short movie that highlights the beauty of the foothills and the rich landscape we have along the edge of the prairies. The page can be found and followed here: Link.

Let It Go | Canadian Adventure Photographer

Over the last few years I have been working to get a start-up side project going. Even though it has little to do directly with photography, it is something I am very passionate about. I almost have too many things I am passionate about and probably good thing I can't get too involved in all of them or I would be spread thin.

Since I turned 40 I have had to re-evaluate what I wanted to do and how much time and energy I was willing to take out of my family for my career and interests. In the last few months I have narrowed it down and really feel I have made some good choices to spend more time with my family and doing the few things I feel are important. With a list of a few goals and lifestyle changes, I am shedding anything that does not bring me back in line with my new focus.

Which is why this week it is easier to walk away from the side project I was working on. Last year I put over 300 hours into the development of the project and felt that it had a good chance of taking off. For 3 years before that I was working with people in the industry to see where there was a need for development within the vacuum of this developing social/science community.

Unfortunately when you work with other people on a project or business there is always the chance that they will not see your vision as you do or even respect the work that you have put into it. It's understandable, but again unfortunate and it is just as much my fault as it is theirs. So after such a long time and hanging on so tightly to what I thought was something great, I had to let go.

Now I feel a little relief but I am sad. I am relieved that all the energy I had to spend on something else will now go back into my business and personal life. However I am sad that the great vision I had may never happen as I believe there was really only one chance for it. It will now go on, look like something else and be someone else's baby to be responsible for.

A thank you needs to go out to the one who shared my vision and understood the need for professionalism. Good luck goes out to the one who believes in it but thinks it looks like something else.

Time to move on.

Feelin It | Canadian Adventure Photographer

My music subsides briefly as the robotic voice of a female trainer pipes through my ear buds, "speed up and run for 6 minutes". The drum and bass rhythm of the dubb-step I'm listening to regains its original volume as I check the timer, '20 minutes' in showing on the almost too-bright liquid crystal display. Deep and hypnotic the beats block out the rest of the world around me and my gaze starts to narrow, I no longer see straight ahead and I forget about any fatigue I might have had.

There is no longer any effort, I am weightless and every stride matches the beat now inside my head. I am not floating but I can see from the view near the floor, the soul of my running shoe crushing the black deck of the treadmill in very slow motion as it rises up to meet my shoes. The red rubber of my heal impacts first, the compression wave slowly compounds then explodes forward along the arch, to the ball and finally through the toe making escape velocity for just a fraction of a second before the other heal ploughs in.

My upper body is motionless, I know I am breathing harder but can barely feel it. I am reduces to nothing but a single sense somewhere inside of myself. I am detached, I am nowhere but right here, right now. So intense, only a pinpoint of focus like balancing on a razor. No distraction, no past, no future, only this minute present. I am moving through space but going no where at all, time has slowed down and I can see everything all at once.

A small bead of sweat has my attention now leaving a cool trail along my temple, through the outer edge of my brow and slowly making its way to my eyelash before living out its evaporative life-cycle. It took years for that liquid to cross the distance, I was there for its whole term, feeling the temperature differential, I was with it all the way, and got to know it intimately. I even felt sorry that it had to go and left.

Or did this just happen in only a few seconds? Did I zone out or was I able to perfectly experience a few moments? Is it possible that time slowed down or I just became hyper aware of these tiny details. I could go on, I know I felt more. Is this what happens to runners in the zone or is it possible to gain the full experience of an event when you truly give yourself over to it?

I'm now 5 weeks into my running training and I absolutely love it. I know it's good for my conditioning but it also seems very therapeutic, very primal and brings me back to my core. It's easy to come back to the world when you have some clarity.

When was the last time you felt something?

Head Space | Canadian Adventure Photographer

This Sunday my usual partners-in-crime (Patrice Bance and Jay Kilgannon) made our way up to the Robertson Glacier for some early season kite-skiing. Problem with having to book a few days off so far in advance is that you never know what the weather is going to do. Sunday morning we arrived at the Burstal Pass parking lot in this season's first serious storm. Close to 3 inches on the ground and near white-out conditions. The last few days I had been mentioning I would likely have an 80 lb pack due to the fact that we were overnighting it and I had the camera gear. Patrice brought a luggage scale and sure enough the total was 76 lbs (I must be nuts).

 Patrice and Jay make their way up the Robertson Glacier moraine

 Even with the snow and wind blasting us in the meadows pass the tree-line I felt really good. I am still trying to take it easy on the back but lately I have had a lot of energy. My wife recently went on a diet and I'm sure my eating habbits have changed enough that I'm feeling better. A trip like this is so much more enjoyable when you have the energy and regardless of weather, it was amazing to be out where we were.

Enjoying a fire, dinner, and red wine at -13 Celsius.

On Sunday afternoon we set-up camp at the lower drainage from the glacier and hiked up to the moraine below the actual glacier. With gusts of up to 60 plus km/hr we figured it might be better to try for Monday. Back to camp we went and had some time to get in a large meal and a few other nice luxuries that were worth packing in. Sleeping under a tarp with a bivy wasn't bad even at -13, it was more the uneven ground that tore me from my sleep at 6 am. I figured building a fire and waking up was better than a screaming back.

I left the trees around 9 am to take some shots of the nearby peaks in morning alpen glow, perfect blue-bird day and no wind. Even without the wind we could still make some great turns. After a long boot-pack through the boulder strewn moraine we made it to the base of the glacier. Unfortunately at about 500 ft elevation gain one of my bindings broke so the boys carried on up to the base of the Robertson col to start their descent.

On the way down after a well-earned ski descent on Robertson.

Even the short ski made up for the long and rough trek into the glacier. I felt good and rhythmic in my movement. I had no place to be at the time, my life as I knew it did not exist, managing my way through the rocks and snow. The only thing from the other side of my mind coming through was my family. I love being out in the mountains and pushing myself and tend to think more about my wife and kids now. My wife is very supportive of what I do and that gives me great energy when I am out there. My kids are great and I am very proud of them and appreciate the good and the bad times, just happy they are here. Getting out is always good but getting the full experience because your head-space is there, that is living.

Constantly Evolving

The last two months have been both very busy and extremely stressful. I don't have a problem with that though as this time it is due to some big changes. I spent some time on another project in August so in trying to catch up with my photography work I went through a series of events (personal and professional) that forced me to re-evaluate my life and what I felt I should be doing as a career.

Again it was driven home that photography should be my primary career / lifestyle yet something had to change. Talking to a friend in the industry (whom I greatly admire) it was evident that I needed bigger challenges, better resources and of course, larger budgets. Strangely enough, and part way through re-designing my business plan (and of course a few key referrals) I managed to pick up a series of large commercial clients and delivered on some very serious work. Just yesterday I sat down with the VP of likely the most prominent communications agency in Canada and at this point am looking forward to potential work with them. Very excited to say the least but feeling very comfortable with the idea of the pressure and professionalism needed to produce a higher level of work.

So in the near future  our website will be changing to reflect a higher commercial value with the kind of images I love to capture. I am also specializing in only a few key sectors but won't be breaking off from current clients and magazines that I am currently engaged with. I am looking forward to the new changes and the chance to share some great images. In the mean time here are a few that have made the rounds or been accepted as key images in large commercial campaigns.

8th Avenue Place reflects another amazing Calgary sunrise.

Light Painting west of Crossfield on a cold fall evening.

Runner on pathway for a large community builder in Alberta.