Well, it’s finally happened. My quarterly update has progressively been reduced into what is now an annual update. Although I enjoy writing, putting fingers to keyboard can be a tough thing to do when the life of a digital photographer is already spent primarily in front of a computer. (When I started my career, home computers had nothing to do with photography. Sometimes I miss those days. But mostly I don’t.)
I would like to start with a confession:
I am a workaholic.
I spend 7 days a week, 360’ish days of the year keeping busy with the one thing that I love the most. And I love my job. So for me it never feels like ‘work’. On a daily basis I get the opportunity to photograph and experience some of the most incredible people, places and products that I could ever imagine. I love what I do but, more importantly, I love the people that I get the opportunity to work with. (And thanks to them, in recent years, I have been able to eat Kraft Dinner by choice and no longer by necessity.)
Throughout my career I have shot hundreds of aerial assignments. One of the enormous challenges with working from a helicopter is that, in most situations, you cannot fly below 1000 feet. The “sweet spot” for aerial photography and cinematography is typically anything below 400 feet. So I purchased a DJI Inspire 2 drone for capturing aerial photographs To see some of our latest aerial photography please visit my gallery here.
This year was jam-packed full of awesome adventures. We photographed massive oil and gas rigs north of Edmonton. I got to travel to some exotic locations with a film crew and be the subject of a new photography documentary series premiering in the spring of 2014. We got out on the water and shot for Reinell Boats. We helped the Garage Sale Luxury Auction House advertise and sell two incredible properties valued at over $7 million. We flew many UAV missions for Tourism Kelowna and the BC Wine Institute and captured thousands of images of the Okanagan to help promote the region. We were hired by Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles to photograph the new Ron Burgundy ‘Scotchy Scotch Scotch’ to coincide with the release of Anchorman 2. We shot beer and wine. We drank beer and wine. Mansions and commercial expansions. Utilities and government facilities. Food and Alberta crude. Pools and tools. Gold bars and supercars. An open heart operation and the General Electric Corporation. Swarovski crystals and…I actually can’t think of a photoshoot that rhymes with crystals.
Anyway, I want to send a huge “THANK YOU” to all of the amazing people that we have had the chance to work with this year. It has been such a pleasure and we look forward to collaborating again in 2014!
All of our best to you and your family!
Shawn and the Team
