I used to be a kayak guide on the Red River in Qc and out on Vancouver Island, BC. I was never really any good at kayaking, but I got to a level where I was comfortable enough to float down the river backwards while keeping a watchful eye on my clients.

Most of my clients had never been in a kayak before, never-mind a flowing river! So concentration and focus were two skills that I quickly developed. I normally got stuck with the real newbies, the ones who’s only goal was to just enter the current and get back to shore in one piece. I kept my boat pretty close to theirs, and often knew when they would flip before they did. And when they did flip, the action started.

So…If you flip over in a kayak, you are supposed to calmly reach down and pull the safety handle that releases your skirt from around the cockpit of the kayak. But most of the time, the shock of being upside down in raging white water, while floating down a river tends to unsettle people’s nerves. Often, a slight delay of a couple of seconds while they try to get their bearings and pull the strap is normal. So my job was to take a couple powerful strokes (I was already on my way before their head submerged), grab a hold of their boat with both hands and simultaneously flip myself upside down while flipping them the right side up.

We called it the Hand of G-d. We’d reach down and return their gasping lungs to the oxygen rich air above.

But for a brief moment, while I was on my way under the surface and they were coming up…our eyes would lock in a magnificent millisecond of existence. Their mouth would fire wide open and inhale as much air as they could, and their eyes would scream “thank you”, “holy shit”, and “you never said that was going to happen”. And the water poured down their face as a smile erupted from within. And I saw it all.

I did this for a summer, repeatedly witnessing people who were completely engaged in the moment. And I was right there with them. I learned to crave that moment of eye contact where I too could completely leave my life behind.  Thoughts of unpaid bills, lost loves and endless lists of chores…they all evaporated during that instant.

So now I’m a photographer. And I spend my time paying bills, lamenting lost loves and pouring over my to do lists…but sometimes, once in a while I capture a moment where it all comes back to me. In an instant I capture that feeling and emotion I knew intimately while guiding kayaking.

The cruel irony of it is that I don’t get to actually be part of that special moment anymore. My body tenses as I wink through my camera’s viewfinder, one eye closed, one eye watching and knowing that the moment to depress the shutter is nearing…and then the moment arrives. Poof! Darkness. The shutter opens and closes at the exact right moment, capturing the essential but leaving me briefly blind and cut off from everything. And I don’t get to see it. I know instinctively if I got the shot or not. But I’m only witness to the before and after.

So, there ya have it. I dig moments.

• p.s. The shot above is of Max Fisher on the Gold River on Vancouver Island. That dude has gills, is a sick paddler, and has probably given more HAND jobs than me.

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Incredible weather. Incdredible location. Wonderful people. Awesome food…it all just came together perfectly!

We spent the morning and afternoon shooting all over the old city of Quebec, with all of it’s incredible charm and architecture. Caught some incredible moments with perfect light, and then it was off to a roof-top wedding overlooking the port. The food was never ending, served as appetizers all evening and into the night. Dancing was legendary and we even had front row seats for the Moulin a images shown on the old grain silos!

Hope you enjoy!

I was actually there to shoot a couple of the alumni during their induction to the hall of fame, but shooting the entire event was a blast. Nice crisp fall day, couldn’t have asked for better weather.Click to view slideshow.

In April I photographed an event for Youth action Montreal and had the good fortune to rub elbows with David Suzuki, Stephen Lewis, Joey Berdugo Adler, and Craig Kielburger. Normally when I shoot an event, my visual sensitivity is firing on all cylinders while my subconscious plays marching tunes and I plan out the rest of my life in my head…but this time I kept my ears open while I clicked away. What I came away with was no less than inspiring; Lewis is the greatest orator I’ve had the chance to witness first-hand, Suzuki IS the epitome of passion and endurance, Adler’s commitment to her cause shocked me into change, and Kielburger taught me that even a kid can do it.

It was the second time I had the opportunity to meet David Suzuki, who, this time, emitted a combination of overwhelming fatigue and desperate passion (I think he swore 4 times during his presentation). I trailed him through the back corridors, into a cramped freight elevator and into a private cocktail party, where he was presented with a surprise 75th birthday cake. (he only blew 62 candles out).

Stephen Lewis mesmerized me with his presentation. A born storyteller, he recounted his career’s work with surprising detail, humor, sadness and eloquence. Within a week of the event I had obtained a copy of his Massey lectures transcript, “Race Against Time”.

Joey Berdugo Adler is my hometown hero who took the opportunity to challenge the attending youth to take their first step and lead their peers. Backstage I listened to her plans to construct a LEED certified factory in Haiti and help empower them to change their own economy and lives. I asked her what she needed me to do.

Craig Kielburger is young. Really young at only 28. But amazingly enough, he founded ‘Free the Children’ in 1995 when he was only 12 years old. I tihnk that the youth in attendance were really receptive to his story.

http://www.youthactionmontreal.org

Enjoy the photographs…and if you feel the urge, contact me to make a donation to Forgirlsake. Your money will go towards educating young women and thereby changing their communities (and the world) for the better.

Big sigh of relief from me…every year I seem to lose steam around this time of year and can’t figure out where I went wrong. If it weren’t for a big sign above my desk that reads “You aren’t depressed, it’s just February”, I’d have filled an anti-depression prescription weeks ago. Canada hibernates, Vitamin D is a scarce commodity, and spring seems like a distant dream.

But March is Here! And March embodies hope…hope of summer days, outdoor terraces, long bike rides, short skirts, outdoor climbing, swimming, sweating through your shirt, and color…the monotony of another grey winter is nearing it’s end.

Check out what’s coming…

Dogs are good for you.

So here’s a few image of me finding the joy in all this cold.