Telling Stories

Tales That Need to be Told!

Every photo I take tells the story of a moment in time. In this blog, I'll tell the tales of those moments and the people in them! Maybe you'll catch a glimpse into the mind of the man behind the lens as well! Keep checking in! I'll be adding new photos and their stories all the time.

Nailing the Shot

Feb 5, 2023

     I often, if not always, struggle to find the words to describe that moment; the moment I KNOW I've nailed a shot. To say it's a rush, or that I get "giddy like a schoolgirl" doesn’t even start to say how I feel.

   Through my teens and twenties, I always felt like I was strange or weird but I could never quite put my finger on why, but then, as I moved into my thirties, how I looked at myself started to change. I started learning that I wasn't odd or weird. What I used to look at as being "strange" was actually a gift. I realized that I just see and feel the world around me differently. This is what draws me to photography, a desire to capture the world as I see and feel it!

     As an artist, this gift can be as much a curse as it is a blessing. It can be so frustrating when I don't get a shot to look like it did in my mind. Sometimes this can be because of things out of my control like technical limitations of my camera or lighting that just doesn't work. Whilst these situations are disappointing for sure, they're easier to accept than those times when the shot doesn't turn out because of my mistake.  Whether it's missing a setting on the camera or not seeing something when I'm framing the shot in the viewfinder, these blunders can be really hard to swallow. They're extra disappointing because I could have done something differently to get the shot.

All that frustration and disappointment quickly gets forgotten however, when I nail a shot. Occasionally I know it right away, but normally it's not until I get home and get the shot on the computer that I know I've hit the mark. The last time this happened I was SO excited it actually brought tears to my eyes. It was a shot I had taken on a trip with my partner.  Since she knew how excited I had been when I took the picture, I just had to call and share! I'm sure if you asked her to describe me in that moment, she'd use words like ecstatic, giddy, proud, and beaming. To say I was chuffed would be an understatement indeed! I was like a proud new father!

The pic in this post is not the one from that trip with my girlfriend, but the feelings are no less intense. While out for a camera walk one summer evening, I walked past the local police station and a cruiser parked out front. I looked at the roof of the car and a shot emerged in my mind's eye. This shot. 

I got home and quickly went to my computer, eager to see if this shot had turned out like I hoped. I scrolled through the thumbnails until I found the one I was looking for; the moment of truth! I double clicked the file and... BOOM! There it was, just as I had seen it in my mind! And there was that rush, that high, all those great feelings that are so hard to describe! 

THIS IS WHY I'M A PHOTOGRAPHER!


Protecting the People

Jan. 16, 2023 

Imagine coming home from work one afternoon to see the street in front of your house filled with thick, black smoke.  This is exactly what happened to me one day in Three Hills, Alberta.  

Initially, I panicked, wondering if it was my home from which the smoke was coming. I pulled up to the curb a few houses away and jumped out of my car.  It only took a moment to realize that the smoke was not coming from my house but from a car parked across the street.  

Then, another panic came over me! Had I left my windows open? The breeze was carrying the smoke toward my yard! Was my house filling with this thick black, toxic smog?  I ran to the front door and let myself in. I checked the windows, and then felt relief again; the windows were all shut tight. 

While all this unfolded before me, the volunteer fire department arrived and instantly jumped into action. This is when I grabbed my camera and ran back outside. There HAD to be a story here to tell! 

I watched what was going on with great interest and began shooting. As I did, I wondered about the men and women who volunteer for the local fire department.  What might motivate them to put their lives on the line to protect the people of Three Hills and their property? Why would they risk everything to do this?  On a volunteer basis no less?

I never came up with an answer to these questions. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to ask any firefighters on the scene this day. However, the photo clearly shows one of them unabashedly doing their job,  putting their life and health on the line to protect the public.  Although shot in colour, it appears  this photo is black and white, demonstrating just how dark and toxic this smoke must have been, yet here they are, risking exposure to these poisons to protect the people. 

Only the person pictured has the answers about their motives to risk life and limb for the community. Only they will know what they were feeling at this moment.  Maybe one day I will have chance to talk to them and ask these questions. Until then, I can only use imagination and empathy to consider what those thoughts and feelings might be. Regardless, this person IS  a hero.