Portrait | Jayden

Recently, I had the pleasure of photographing a friend's baby. Being out of the country so much, I hadn't been able to meet this little guy yet. Let me say this, I was completely blown away by his presence. He is such a little man! And he is not even a year old! The biggest cheeks. The cutest mouth. And the bluest of blue eyes. And then there's Tina... beautiful inside and out, she is stunning in every shot. Motherhood has blessed this woman's beauty even more... if it was even possible.

You have a beautiful family and it was an honor to photograph you all!

Seeing Through the Fog

I haven't worked a 9 to 5 job in many years. Like most, I have worked many jobs in my life, one of my first being a "gas jockey" at the local Chevron and a server at a Chinese Buffet Restaurant (but in truth my first job consisted of a lawn mowing and leaf raking contract I had with some of my neighbors when I was about 10). I worked different jobs through high school and university, including two summers at the sawmill on the clean-up crew. That was very "character-building", as my father would say. After university and before I picked up my camera again, I worked serving jobs that were more along the hours of 9pm to 5am... but no, I haven't had a normal 9 to 5 in many years.

Now that I have moved back to the city and am more settled, I feel the pressure to get a more structured job. Why is that? Is it something that is pummeled into our heads by society and media? I have to admit that I feel a little thing called guilt when I compare myself to other members of society. I've never been one to really fit into that box. When I started my photography company, I worked hours that way surpassed a normal 9 to 5 day, but it felt different in that I was working on something I loved and felt passionate about... and I was working for me. But with the way the economy is heading, where does my future as a freelance photographer lay in a career that has little structure and little consistency?

But I think the real problem is that I am feeling guilt when I compare myself to others. First of all, why do I allow the feeling of guilt to enter my consciousness at all? Am I doing something wrong? I think not... And secondly, why am I comparing myself to others when we are all completely unique individuals with different strengths, goals, dreams and life paths? I think this is a common problem. We look to others for direction and affirmation, when really, we should be looking within.

For the last week, Vancouver has been immersed in fog banks, sometimes lifting and allowing the sun rays to penetrate to the sidewalks and the upturned smiling faces. It creates a mystical atmosphere. I can only imagine what this fog looked like in the cedar forests that once grew in place of the skyscrapers...

Frozen Ocean

My last day in Ucluelet. Although I rarely find myself far from the ocean, I have never, absolutely ever, seen the ocean freeze. Okay, so the whole ocean didn't freeze, but the tidal pools, kelp, algae, shells, sand and everything else on the ocean shore was frozen! It was one of the most beautiful sights I've yet to see.

Resolutions, Dreams and Goals

I haven’t made a resolution in quite some time. For me, it seems like the opportunity for let-downs. So instead, I use this new start to make goals. Or perhaps it’s moreso about voicing my dreams and figuring out how to make them reality. By acknowledging my dreams, I am validating them, giving them a voice, making them a priority. Personal goals, work goals, relationship goals, life dreams… And I’ll tell anyone who wants to listen, that way it holds me to them!
I learned something about my father recently. Since a young boy, he has wanted to go and see the gorillas in Africa. This shocked me to pieces. Not the idea of flying across the world and trekking through the jungle to sit with some primates, but moreso that I only just learned of this! We are a close family, so to learn of this only now, a lifelong dream of my father’s, was a bit of a shock. So for those of you that haven’t already, tell someone your dream(s), and perhaps it will become more than just that. It will be realized.
I have had the pleasure of spending the last week in Ucluelet. For the last 6 days I have woken to crashing waves outside my window. Each morning has been so very different. Stormy seas to calm waters to sunny skies to dark and snowy. But unlike in the city, it doesn’t really matter. I don’t have to go anywhere or do anything. As long as there is enough food and drink (ie. Chocolate and wine), the weather is merely a backdrop for my holiday of relaxation.
I used to spend summers camping in Tofino with my family, so coming back over the years has been a wonderful experience. Walking the same beaches, feeling the same anticipation as I walk the path or turn the corner to a favorite spot… and yet it is different. The difference is me. The years between Tofino and I are many. The places, the people, the pain and the pleasure. All has made me appreciate this incredible area even more. I look forward to sharing this with my children as my family did with me years ago. What a gift to pass on.

Tingle

Another year gone by. I think we all view January 1st in the same light. It’s a new beginning. It’s another chance to be the person we strive to be. It’s understanding where we went wrong. It’s letting go, as if discarding a leaf in the stream and watching it float and twirl and drift away. It’s being glad that it is gone, but thankful for what it taught us. It’s knowing a bit more about our happiness, and holding onto that sliver of sunshine that makes its way across the room, igniting the dust and fibers that dance in its path, slowly disappearing into another day. It’s the opportunity to dream a fresh slate, to feel the possibility of… possibility. It’s exciting and inspiring and makes my whole body tingle.

Happy New Year. I hope you all tingle.

Portrait | Trystan Miller Tyson Orser

I've known Tyson for about... well, my whole life. Our families spent a lot of time together: bbq's and bonfires, camping and Christmases. His father always had the coolest inventions that we had to check out. Homemade docks and swings that went across the river, miscellaneous motorized vehicles, tree forts and everything else just beyond the normal imagination. Growing up in a small town can be a great thing, and those are just a few of the reasons why. The last few years I haven't been at home as much as I would have liked, so in what seems like overnight, Tyson found himself a great partner and is raising two beautiful girls and just had a beautiful baby boy, Trystan. I've never seen a more proud papa. It is so special that I remember running around in diapers with Tyson, and now I am photographing his son in them! You have a beautiful family Tyson and Rhonda! Much love!

Not Just a Bridge

This is so much more than just a bridge. A bridge of my youth. It was a gathering place in the summers; my friends and brothers and their friends meeting to jump off the bridge into the emerald waters below to escape the searing, dry heat. It was a platform on which friendships were built and tested. It was a path to my girlfriend's house: over the bridge and beside the river through a grove and then a field to a small house. It was my first kiss and my first heartbreak. It was where we went to measure the river's rise in the spring with the melting snowfall and the subsequent freeze in the winter.  It was fun and laughter and tears and friends that turned to foes that turned to friends again. It was challenge and growth and sorrow. It was therapy and dreaming and reflection on who I was and more importantly, who I wanted to be. It was so much more than just a bridge.