About the Artist

Growing up my dream was to travel the world and photograph for National Geographic. I grew up in Cottage Country and spent more than half my life on Lake Simcoe and surrounding waterways. After high school I enrolled at the University of Guelph Humber in Toronto in a Media Studies program, fully intending on specializing in journalism. There were a few Introduction to Photography classes available before choosing my specialty.

In my second year, I took a portrait photography course. I completed an assignment for our unit of study - The Human Form and my professor asked me what my goals were as a photographer. I answered traveling as a photographer for National Geographic. I’ll never forget what she told me. She said my connection with my subjects and my ability to put you at ease in front of the lens is effortless and impossible to manufacture. Capturing genuine emotion, your personality is my specialty!

I chose to specialize in Image Arts and spent the rest of my university tenure fully immersed in my craft - studio lighting and compositional techniques, post-production image handling and correction, what the rules of photography dictate but most importantly how to break them skillfully and artfully, showing my point of view.

  • In 2008 I had the opportunity to take a Photography elective course in high school. At the time the course was still instructed on film cameras, in black and white. I was positively smitten with the process - art at the mercy of daylight. Rolling and loading my film in complete darkness, processing my negatives in the two stage chemical process, enlarging them onto paper and watching the magic as the solutions brought my images to life.

  • After my first year of university, I knew journalism was not for me - too many regulations and influences that colour your perspective. I went shopping with my mom and found a Canon DSLR second-hand. It felt very much like a step in the right direction, the seller had just graduated from UGH and the Media Studies program. Choosing my Rebel and Image Arts as my speciality allowed me to explore how I see the world and the beauty of humanity.

  • In my third and fourth year of school our assignments became more complex. We were provided with Nikon D7100 cameras to learn with, this is why I chose it as my next equipment upgrade. I was comfortable with the way it worked and I knew its strengths and weaknesses. When I began booking photography commissions - family portraits, sports tournaments and weddings, I could work confidently with my camera.

  • After serving me well for 5, maybe 6 years my older DSLR began to slow down on the job. I wanted to be able to provide my clients with photos they love and capture the beautiful details of the milestones they celebrate. To achieve this I’ve taken the plunge this year and switched from a traditional DSLR to a mirrorless model. Choosing the Z50 allows me to still work confidently, the interface is almost exactly the same as my previous Nikon model. I don’t consider myself a ‘Gear Geek’ but the sharpness of the images, the intelligence of the facial detection software and the speed of the focus and recycle time of this camera makes it hard not to get excited!