Viewing & Me
Where You Can See My Work
You may have unknowingly seen my “day job” work—both images and video—on real estate listings or in web advertisements for businesses far and wide. Or, you may have seen photographs in several Northumberland Country Recycling calendars or editions of the Canadian Almanac.
As for my real passion though, fine art photography, I’ve only been exhibiting for the past 5 years. The list below gives you an idea of where I’ve been. (This, of course, is outside of the video shorts and photos I’ve uploaded to Instagram, Vimeo, and Facebook).
- SPARK Photo Festival – Peterborough (2023 & 2018)
- Cobourg Waterfront Festival (2019, 2023 & planned for 2024)
- Pomona Restaurant (2023/24)
- Capers Tap House and Grill – Solo show (2023, 2022 & 2019)
- Colborne Municipal Office (2022)
- Northumberland Hills Hospital (2020/21)
- Spirit of the Hills Virtual Gallery (2020)
- Sienna Living – 3 permanent displays (2019)
- SOTH Juried Show – Parrott Gallery (2019)
- Warkworth Public Library 2019/2020
- Snapshots Artist of the Month (2019)
- Spirit of the Hills Square Foot Sale (2019)
- SOTH Juried Show – Art Emporium by the River (2018)
- Campbellford Farmers Market (2018)
The Colborne Art Gallery is my first “permanent” exhibit space. It’s a very cool location and our members are working hard to bring more awareness to the art space . . . it really is a hidden jewel. Currently, each of the 10 members provide art for each of the shows throughout the year. Often, there are solo shows in one of three gallery rooms. In 2023, fellow member and photographer Ken Solilo and I are held our Two Perspectives of Water exhibit in gallery 3, part of the SPARK Photo Festival.
What I like to Photograph
Usually, I like to look at things differently. Not in a shocking sense, just differently. The art I like best, be it music or painting or photography, should give me an emotional response. I want to feel the moment and not think about it. I like my photography to be viewed and experienced the same way. (Most of the time, but not always.)
My photographic interests lean towards black & white and night images. I like the moody nature of “dark” where things aren’t always what they seem. But I also like colours, particularly when they are strong. When I shoot, I know the initial photograph is just the starting point. I usually have an idea of what I want as a final product but sometimes working on a photo yields new thoughts. From experience, I know that a lot of the magic occurs during this editing.
My landscape images often have a degree of surrealness to them. I recall what I was feeling at the point of capture and then creatively apply this to the image. I might have felt whimsical. Or sad. Sometimes I want to say something. Quite often, it’s a feeling of awe and a sense of amazement.
In 2023, I started to create images with humans as the subject. And now, having completed a course on “The Human Form” at the Art Gallery of Ontario, my interests and direction is evolving fast. There are several project I have in mind but I needed to “upgrade my toolkit” to make this happen. More on this in the future.
I shoot with a mirrorless camera with various prime and zoom lenses spanning 12mm to 350mm. This gives me tremendous flexibility in how and where I can shoot. While my imagery interests are fairly wide, if I had to more accurately define my photographic interests, I’d have to say that it would involve some form of “scape”. Landscapes, waterscapes, nightscapes and even industry-scapes.
About Me
While Campbellford is now my home, I’m originally from St. Catharines (in the Niagara Region). Along the way, I made stops at various points in Northwestern Ontario, Labrador, and then back to Niagara for a few years. From 1988 to the present, I’ve lived alongside the Trent Severn Waterway.
My grandfather was my first inspiration in photography. He would go out and take pictures “just because”. Grandpa spent time in darkrooms, owned many different cameras, had hundreds and hundreds of slides and prints. He showed me what a contact sheet was and talked about darkrooms (he once had a tiny one in his basement). Unfortunately, just as I got started with one of his older cameras (see in the image below), he passed away. But at least he gave me an important introduction.
Throughout the years, I shot photos with various film and digital gear. When I was a bush pilot flying de Havilland Otters and Beavers in northern Canada, I always travelled with two things; a fishing rod and my manual Mamiya SLR. After I left flying and entered university, my photography was put on pause other than for recording family and life events.
Just a few years ago, at the urging of my brother (who gave me his old DSLR and helped me buy a drone), wife and sons (they all thought I had a good eye for imagery), I started working at real estate photography. This quickly branched into videography and fine art photography. The learning curve for both was incredibly steep but I stuck to it and here I am, still learning and still shooting.
My Grandfather's Cameras
Get in Touch
Business Hours
- Home Studio: By appointment
- My photography is on regular display at the gallery, 51 King St. E., Colborne Ontario
- Colborne Art Gallery Hours Thursday — Sunday, Noon – 4pm