A little note from the photographer (please read, it will take 30 seconds)

Due to the number of emails I get about photography, please no inquires about boudoir photography, unsigned model portfolio development, family portraits or wedding photography. I'm flattered you like my work but there are many other talented Calgary photographers who specialize in those kinds of photography.

If you're an assistant/student looking to work with me, I'm flattered but I now have an extensive list of assistants who are a great group of people and am lucky to have. I do accept students for work placements however that normally happens once a year.

If you are a fellow photographer and are seeking advice on how to get further in the industry, you will likely find the answers to many of your questions on my photography blog where I do my best to share my modest collection of insights. The only reason I write this on my contact page is because I get many requests like this an often direct them to my blog.

(Sorry, no phone number listed here, don't want to be hounded by telemarketers)

Evolving into a photographer

Photography began for me around the age of 10 when I snapped my first photo of a train and it was rather well composed. Likely it was luck but it encouraged me to take more pictures. Throughout high school I was always shooting and had a established rep for being a photographer (which was nerdy at the time). After high school I went to Sheridan College in Oakville and took their Commercial Photography program and set out into the world of assisting. After nearly 2 years of assisting some of the best photographers in Canada, in nearly every discipline of photography (fashion, editorial, automotive, product, architectural, food, advertising etc...) I thought I knew enough to break out on to my own. Of course, the part I didn't know too much about was the business of photography. That was a whole other learning curve but after 15 years of shooting (moved to Calgary in 2004), things have reached a point in that I can live comfortably and support my family.

I'm a lighting nerd

I'm addicted to light. It's natures greatest design tool. Despite having a solid grasp of what to do with light I still get giddy when the high res image opens up on my laptop (I appear calm and collected, but it's just an act). Seeing shape born of light and darkness is the first thrill but the real slap of glee happens when the eye is successfully directed around the photograph. Quite simply, all professional photographers are control freaks about other peoples eyes. The more you can control where those glossy spheres look, the better you are. The better you get the more control you want to have, until one day you end up going a bit nuts, and do "pinhole only" photography while talking to the trees you photograph. I'm pretty sure that's my retirement plan.

Everyone is a photographer, so I share everything photography

But not in the "If you can't do, you teach" sense. I am hard wired to shoot an push myself to be a better photographer and am very competitive. One of the ways I've found of doing this is to teach what I know about lighting and it forces me to come up with new techniques. I've done many photography lectures and have had plenty of positive feedback on them. I often post my photography tutorials on youtube. If you want to get a sense of what I'm like to work with, the videos should give you that, even though they are a bit on the lighting nerd side of things.