Iceland 2012
Influential Quotes for me
“Make visible what without you, might perhaps never have been seen.”
“For me, photography has been a way to express myself, as a frustrated artist who can’t draw and as an excuse to wander and explore. Sometimes a walk can feel aimless, but put a camera in your hand and your walk can soon turn into a wonder of exploration. I believe photography changes the way I look at the world and without it, I think it would be a less interesting place to be.”
About me…
My photography is my creative outlet and is my way of exploring the beauty I come across in nature and the world around me. The art of seeing nature and creating artistic images has been a passion for me since the early 1990s.
I was born and raised in Canada’s North. The magnificent views of the Yukon were my home until 2003. Since then I’ve been located in the diverse region of Central Alberta. We’ve got mountains to the west, badlands and prairies to the east, woodlands to the north and ranchland to the south.
But exploring doesn’t stop there. The rest of Canada is also on tap. I’ve have explored Canada for many years. Traveling by car is the best way to see and enjoy the country. I’ve driven to all the provinces and territories (except Nunavut since I cannot drive there). I’ve driven to the far north of Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, to the far West of Tofino, BC, and to the far East of Newfoundland and Labrador. In the spring of 2012 I jumped off the North American continent for almost 2 weeks and landed in beautiful Iceland. I then revisited Iceland in 2014 (such a beautiful country for landscape photography). In 2015, I then jumped over to another volcano island, this time the Big Island of Hawaii. Even after some International adventures, I’m always drawn back to Canada and the beautiful country. Plans are to continue exploring Canada for those perfect photos.
About my photography…
My photography approach is one of conservation first and protection of the area as best to my ability. We all have to share the planet, so I want to leave what I found so the next person that comes along will see what I saw. With landscapes, all efforts are made to tread lightly and leave the location the way I found it.
With wildlife, all efforts are to allow the animal to be comfortable with the distance and not to approach the animal. If the animal is too far, then a longer lens is used or post processing cropping is done to get the image I wish to show. Often the perfect photo is unattainable, so I do not push it and will then take a photo of the animal in its natural surroundings and then move on. Research and understanding of the animals helps to get full frame images without stressing the animal. There is a very thin line with wildlife photography of habituating the animals to human presents, therefore I often will not pursue animals, but I am ready for when they show up and ask for a photo to be taken. Wildlife images are truly wild animals; I rarely take photos of captive animals. If the animal is captive; I will say so in the description of the photo.
About my photographs…
The photographs from the camera are a raw flat images that needs post processing. All my images are processed to create the look and feel or story that I wish to convey. What I publish is realistic style art work. If you were at the same spot where I took the photograph, you would recognize the spot, but angles, lighting, filters, long exposures, lens selection, etc. allow me to create something unique, therefore I consider this artwork. My definition and my approach may change over time, but as I write this, this is my approach at the moment.
About my Gear…
I’ve used Nikon gear from the early 1990s forward. The gear is a tool and an expensive one. Since I’ve stayed with the same brand, I’m very comfortable with the tools and prefer to just take photos than figure out different cameras. Also the ability to still use a lens from 30 years if I choose, is a great benefit. All cameras and lenses have allowed me to take great photos and most of the time you cannot tell which one came from an expensive camera and lens or low cost one.
The gear I’ve used or is in use:
- Cameras: Nikon
- Lenses: Nikkor lenses
- Tripod: Manfrotto
- Camera Bag: F-Stop Gear
- Filters: B+W, Rodenstock, PhotoRepublik