Go Skateboarding Day 2021

Hi internet. I haven't written outside of work for about four years apparently, so here you go. 

In film, pt. 2

This is part 2 of a 2 part series featuring my film work between 2014 and 2016. To see part 1, click here.

I've always loved landscapes and scenic work. It's some of the first stuff I started messing around with when it comes to my "photographic journey" if you want to call it that. It seems only natural it was some of the first stuff I started shooting on film.

This post consists of some of the visuals I have come across during my time travelling across Canada. From British Columbia to Ontario, here's some things I've found.

A view from around Algonquin Provincial Park in the fall of 2014.

Banff, Spring 2016. Had to walk through some freezing knee deep water to get to a good point for this one. Shot on 120, still unsure about this crop though. 

St. Thomas Anglican Church, in Belleville Ontario, summer 2015. 

The bridge spanning the Bay of Quinte, in Belleville Ontario, summer 2015. 

Canmore, Alberta. Spring, 2015 on my way back east. Woke up early in Banff to make sure I got this beauty magic hour lighting.

Cathedral Grove, Spring 2015. A short visit to the island, but a productive one. I've always loved that trees can seemingly regenerate from their old husks. 

Goldstream Falls, just outside of Victoria British Columbia, spring 2015. My short island tour took me from the far western portions of Vancouver Island, to the far south in a span of three days.

Highway 6, between Regina and Southey, Saskatchewan. After torrential rainfall in the spring of 2015, a few portions of this particular section of highway appear to be miniature lakes. I feel for whoever owns these buildings; in the last few years I haven't seen any changes in this particular scene.

From water damage, to fire damage. This was somewhere along highway 17 in Ontario in the spring of 2015. Just outside Dryden, if my memory serves correct. 

Lake Minnewanaka, in Banff, Alberta. Spring 2016, while moving between St. Catharines and Penticton. 

Saw this while visiting Alyssa Lloyd in Bancroft, Ontario, spring 2015. She's got a hell of a view to look at every day!

Long Beach, British Columbia, spring 2015. Long Beach is just outside of Tofino, my favorite place I've ever visited. I do miss that salt air.

Johnston Falls, Alberta, spring 2015. These falls are west of Banff. Some of the coolest and freshest looking water ever. Pure glacial run off. 

I think this is around the Killarney Park area in Ontario, in the spring of 2015. Took the scenic route through Ontario on my way back east; skipped all that horrible Toronto traffic by doing so.

Highway 62, between Belleville and Bancroft, in the spring of 2015. The last leg of my epic solo journey.

The northern portion of Okanagan Lake. This was my last stop in the Okanagan heading east back to Belleville in the spring of 2015. 

The southern portion of Okanagan Lake. The homeland, Penticton British Columbia, spring 2015. 

An orchid, in the Cathedral Grove forrest in the spring of 2015. Testing the detail of my TLR.

The Penticton Herald office, in Penticton British Columbia, where I spent three and a half weeks or so as an intern. I learned a lot in my brief stint here; and I continue to learn at my new job in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

Somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, in the spring of 2015. Mountains are amazing. I went quite a bit off the beaten trail to make this one. Saw a few bears on the road down to the trail I found - had to make sure I was quick here! 

The Rogers Pass, in the spring of 2015. Pretty much 100% guarantee I am stopping for a smoke break at this point. 

Sandbanks Provincial Park, Ontario, Summer 2015. I only made three visits to Sandbanks. I'm glad I brought a camera along all three times. 

Penticton Indian Band lands, British Columbia spring 2015. Water is one of my favourite subjects.

Snake Falls, Ontario, Spring 2015. These little rapids / falls caught my eye on the highway driving through Ontario. I believe they're before Sault Ste Marie.

A rock stack at Flinton Falls, in Ontario, fall 2014. 

Wikaninnish, British Columbia, spring 2015. Another one of those magical stops outside of Tofino.

A winery, en route to Naramata from Penticton in British Columbia, spring 2015. 

Until I get a few more rolls developed, that's all for now folks. Thanks for reading and checking out my photos! I'm excited to be working with film; the next step for me is to learn how to develop my own work, and then perhaps I will be able to post more consistently! 

Watch for my upcoming "Sweet 16 for 2016" post, which will be 16 of my best from the last year. 

The Last Keepers, pt. 1

During the second semester of school, I am doing bi-weekly reporting through the Loyalist College student run newspaper, The Pioneer. This week, I got a chance to meet a really cool guy in Belleville named Roger Boomhower. Meeting and chatting with him has given me an idea for a project to occupy my time waiting for the snow to melt  so I can finally jump on my skateboard again.

The Last Keepers aims to document the final few pigeon keepers in and around the Belleville area. Through word of mouth myself and two colleagues have managed to get a hold of three of these guys and get the project off the ground. This is the first profile style article I have written on these guys, keep your eyes open for a few more of these photo stories to come in the next few weeks!

2014, The Best Of

All in all for me, 2014 was an interesting year of many changes, and growth. I wrapped up my first full year of school in five years, and ventured into one of my first summers unemployed. School started up for the second and final year, which I have still not fully processed. I made my first skate tour to major city centres, and I stumbled upon an idea with tons of potential for work down the road. Ultimately, my camera took me farther across this country this year than it ever has.

I learned a lot about myself as a photographer and as a human being in 2014. I learned a lot about how thinking positive can really change your outlook on life.

As the liquor starts to flow in my system I chose 10 photos from 2014 that I feel are not my best, but some of my most memorable moments from the year.

Connor Stone -- Hardflip -- Belleville, Ontario. January

I got my hands on some pocket wizards over Christmas break, 2013, and this was one of the first shots I pulled off with em where I had an idea of what was going to happen because of them. 

Mike Van Dolder handles a corner during the Hastings Cup in Bancroft, Ontario. February. 

Bancroft hosted the Hastings Cup in February, and I found a ride up there with some of the homies for a fun day of shooting. Rented out a 300mm for the weekend so I could get something like this, happy it all worked out. 

We were given 48 hours to find an active senior citizen in Belleville during our second semester in March. After having a subject fall through and a subject take too long. I got put in touch with Turk. Turk is a 65 year old bottle picker here in Belleville. He had to undergo a triple bypass surgery in 2010 and has not been able to find adequate full time work since the surgery. March

Chatting with Turk was easily one of the most heavy experiences I have ever had going through the photojournalism program at Loyalist College. He told me one of the most heart wrenching stories life stories I have ever heard a human being go through. After a two and a half hour interview session I snapped off this photo of him. 

Tyler Riddle -- Kickflip -- Belleville, Ontario. June

Because Tyler lives in Trenton, we don't always get to skate together. Whenever we do link up, we make the most of the time we get shooting together. He's one of those guys who just seems to love skating, no matter what. Thanks for the good times g! 

A buffalo grazes in the Grasslands National Park in Saskatchewan. July

The Grasslands National Park was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. I found that I have a passion for long exposure and star trail photography this year, and when I found out that Grasslands happens to be one of the largest dark sky preserves in Canada I knew I had to go. I actually found out two days before I went that it happens to also be a large free range preserve for bison as well. It was a goal of mine to get a shot of the bison in their natural habitat, and I am pleased with the result. Definitely will be back here in the near future for more photo work. 

Tyrrell LeGrand -- Backside Flip -- Montreal. August

Through the last week of August, Tyrrell LeGrand and Corbin Schmidt made an epic trek out east from the humble prairies of the 306 to put some work in the big city streets. I had never made a skate tour before, let alone to two of the biggest destinations in Canada. The trip was amazing, many memories were made (and potentially forgotten) during the whole affair. It was a g time, thanks for the trip boys! 

Benjamin Slinn -- Ollie -- Trenton. September.

This may not be the flashiest shot, or the hardest trick I have ever taken. But what this shot represents to me is an idea, an objective, a goal. In September, one of the first assignments we were given is called Sense of Belonging. It challenged us to find a community of people, and photograph at least 5 people from within this community. The skateboard community of Belleville took me in without hesitation when I moved here in August, 2013, and it was the first group of people I thought of for this assignment. 

Since showing my first 5 images in the project I have continued to pursue the project and I will continue to persue the project across Canada for as long as I can. More details will be out soon enough, I got a few more pieces I have to put together for this to be properly announced.

  

Heart Lake, British Columbia. October

In October I traveled to British Columbia under some rather unfortunate circumstances. I got some time to make a few treks up to Heart Lake and reset myself after a hectic first half of the semester. It has forever put itself in my memory as a place of peace and serenity. 

A woman walks down Front Street in Belleville Ontario. November

In early November one of my professors told us we had the class period of two hours to produce either a feature photo or an environmental portrait. I've always worked well under the pressure of a deadline, and I came back with an image I was really satisfied with. I had been watching this location for a little while and decided it was time to camp on it. 

The Bay of Quinte, frozen after a relatively mild winter. December 

This is one of the few times I've actually felt compelled to make a photo for someone. This bridge is one of the iconic images of the Hastings County. I'm happy to have gotten an image of it during a scenic sunset. 

The Hometown Adventure

For a little bit more background about myself, I was born on Vancouver Island, where I lived until the age of 13 when my family made the move to Regina, Saskatchewan. 

Since that move in 2005 I have been able to go back and visit my hometown a grand total of two times. I brought my camera along with me to document some of the things I grew up seeing. 

On two of the four days I made the hike up to Heart Lake. It is a quiet, and beautiful spot to relax and get away from everything. It's quite the hike up to the lake but it's certainly worth it.

Who makes these crazy little things?

Greeting you early on in the trail is this little brook. Cross it for a harder trek.

The first trip up myself and my little brother Andrew were surrounded by clouds.

Found a number of these guys on the way up.

You've almost made it. It was such a relief to see this sign on both trips up...

And then you see this.. This was from the second trek up with Spenser. 

 Look real close, you might just see him. We debated getting closer but as we started packing it flew off. 

When I wasn't hiking, I was waiting for the rain to let up to try and skate around. When that didn't happen I decided to explore the town and see what I could see. 

Strange little place, Ladysmith is. Love it though!

A tunnel the town built to Transfer Beach underneath the Trans Canada Highway in Ladysmith. 

Aaaand a detail shot of it. 

Growing up I had logging roads just beyond my back yard fence so I'd always wander out and explore them. On my last day in town I got a chance to do it again, and I jumped at it.

Breaking out the fisheye again.

 Look up. You'll be amazed at what we miss out on.