I immigrated to Canada from Great Britain in 1979. As a youth living in England much of my time was spent dreaming about adventure in the outdoors. On weekends and school holidays I would travel up north from the midlands. Most of these trips where taken with a local climbing club or the scouts, whether camping, climbing or just rambling amongst the hills anything outdoor related would keep me happy. It was these small adventures that ultimately shaped the direction I have taken in life.

As a teenager, the move to Canada was and still is an exciting wilderness adventure. In relation to the wilds of England and much of Europe, Canada is extremely expansive and somewhat unpopulated. With a population of roughly 25 million people and 80% of Canadians living along or close to the US border ‘getting away from it all’ is not that hard to do. The challenging part about travel in Canada is getting from A to B, which usually involves hours/days of driving, hiking or air travel.

I spent much of my youth and early adulthood exploring North America. Rock climbing, mountaineering and hiking throughout N. America led to some quite remarkable wilderness situations that I feel quite privileged to have experienced, however it wasn’t until I picked up a camera that I really noticed how much more there was to see in nature and how much I was actually missing.

My first camera was a huge Polaroid camera that I used to haul up climbs with me. I liked it because of the instant results, I still have some of those images and to this day cannot figure out what I was actually photographing. Poor photography led me to find out what I was doing wrong. Rather than figure out things for myself I took the more formal approach and studied photography at a Community College in Vancouver. In the long run a more formal approach has proven beneficial, especially on the business side of things.

Up until a couple of years ago I exclusively used 35mm equipment for all my work. Unsatisfied with the results that I wanted to achieve in my landscape photography I switched to a 4X5 and to be honest wish that I had changed over a long time ago. The 4X5 seems to suit my slow methodical style of shooting; I just wish the equipment were a bit lighter, especially on those uphill grunts.