About

A little about me

I spent the first 17 years of my life in a small town called Fraser Lake.  Fraser Lake is small logging and mining community located in northern BC and is home to approximately 1500 people. Growing up I had the fortunate pleasure of "living in the country" about 10 km out of town.  Both of my parents came from large families that were not afraid of taking on a challenge and "getting-things-done".  This is probably why my parents decided to take on the task of building a home in the country not once but a few times!  They now have a beautiful home on the lake with a million dollar view from the cliff on which the house is perched.  My family has always had the attitude that no project is too big and everything is worth trying.  A little creativity and a little hard work will get you were you want to be.  For this I am very thankful as it has given me the work ethic and confidence to try most anything.

Growing up I had a shop and all the tools a one could possibly want at my disposal.  I spent many hours building and constructing whatever my heart desired.  Whether it was out of wood or metal the freedom was there.  I also loved art and enjoyed sketching and painting. When it was getting near to graduation and was faced with the question of "what I wanted to do when I grew up", I remember considering the life of an Artist but did not understand how to make that a carrier. Instead I choose to pursue a mechanical engineering degree and use my creative skills in the areas of mechanical design.  In this chosen carrier path I have had the opportunity to work on some really cool projects that have required their fair share of innovation and creativity.  Outside of work I have still maintained my love of the arts and have dabbled in many different mediums and forms of art.  I enjoy drawing, painting, sculpting, woodworking and most notably photography.  My engineering carrier and my many artistic interests keep me quite busy.

Photography

After finishing my engineering degree I purchased my first SLR in 1998, it was the Canon Rebel G.  I shot a lot of film with that camera and had plans of eventually setting up my own dark room.  Then I bought my first digital camera a few years later.  It was not an SLR as at that time the technology was not affordably available.  I continued to use my Rebel G for a while but eventually it started to collect dust as I simply much preferred the convenience of the digital.  Digital had the distinct benefit of instant feedback and the ability to view and edit your own photos on a computer.  This was very liberating and I found it beneficial to the development of my photography skills. Eventually digital SLR's became more affordable and I purchased the Canon 20D.  What an improvement over the over my first digital!  I shot thousands of photos with the 20D...too many in fact as the back log started to bog me down.  Eventually I started to avoid bringing my camera out knowing that I would then have to deal with all of the photos I was generating.  I ended up putting my camera down for a couple years and only occasionally brought it out to take photos.  Having missed the artistic outlet that photography afforded me I decided to get back into it in the summer of 2008.  However this time I wanted to be a little more focused in what I did with it.  I wanted to generate photos with greater artistic value.  I wanted them to say "something", I wanted them to be an expression of who I am and what I see "artistically".

What do I want my images to be?

Since I have picked my camera back up (and bought some new ones), I have been shooting with a new sense of enthusiasm and purpose.  I have wanted to explore what it is that makes an image interesting, what is it that makes it connect with the viewer.  Not only do I want the image to be interesting to me I want it to be interesting to whomever is looking at it.  I want my photos to have more depth and artistic value.  If someone looks at one of my photos and needs to take pause in order to answer some questions going through their head, or if someone is struck by a feeling or connects with the atmosphere of the photo I have achieved some form of success.  A lot of my photographs start out as ideas in my head to which I try to capture and express in a manner that is unique.  I enjoy juxtapositions and surreal imagery.  I enjoy a sense of playfulness in my images.  I enjoy a challenge in generating my images. Whether it be a technical, logistical, or artistic challenge. Though I use software to adjust and process my images into their final form the content of my images are captured in a single exposure.  Some of the images that I have taken people immediately think have been a composition derived in photo shop by combining elements of more than one image. Though I am not against this it has not been used in my work.  I may someday have a body of work that is a digital composition but right now I am more interested in creating images captured in a single exposure.  The exception to this is the images in which I have done multiple exposures for the purpose of HDR processing.

Where do I want to go with my photography?

I have been experimenting with a lot of different things and have enjoyed most all of the things I have tried.  I want to continue experimenting with new and exciting things but also have bodies of work started that I would like to revisit.  I feel that I am developing a style but have not stuck to any one body of work long enough to truly see it displayed in a coherent fashion. I think the reason for this is I am very interested in many areas of photography and would like to try many different things.  I see this as some what of an exploration stage for me to which I am gathering experiences that will ultimately all contribute to and influence the next thing I work on.  I would like to develop a few bodies of work to the point where I can hold a solo show with them.  I have had positive experiences with the group shows I have been participating in at the Exposure Gallery in Vancouver and would like to expand on this.  Right now I am having a lot of fun with my rekindled passion for photography and am enthused by the images I have been producing and look forward to producing more.