My favourite photo from the last 2 years

I can’t believe how time flies.  2 years ago, I was in Calgary, Alberta ready to come home.  Not knowing I was to be extended for another month on my contract for another month and I wouldn’t be in Ottawa until July 2017.  My girlfriend was going to fly out from Ottawa to Calgary and we were going to drive back to Ottawa together.  We were gonna go through the northern states and see some of the National Parks in Montana, Oregon, South Dakota etc. That didn’t happens as I got extended by a month.  Honestly I really miss Calgary and being in the mountains.  I remember getting a smile on my face every time I headed out to the Rockies from Calgary.  It was only about a 45 minute drive.

I took the gondola up the mountains when I was in Banff, Alberta one weekend.  I remember the wind was howling up at the peak of the mountains.  The light wasn’t good as well.  The sun was to my left casting a shadow over the centre mountain.  It had blown out the sky and clouds.  I didn’t think much of the shot at all.  Certainly not one of my favourites at the time.  I decided to turn it into a black and white and throw it up onto Shutterstock thinking it would be rejected.  If it was accepted, it would never be bought.  It would just get lost in the millions and millions of photos.  As it turns out, I sell it once every 2-3 days on average and it’s turned out to be one of my very photos.  I’ve been told by acquaintances that it’s their favourite photo of mine.  You can purchase it here here from my Shutterstock portfolio or here to hang on your wall.  I would really appreciate your support.

My girlfriend and I have pretty much decided that next spring, probably in April, that we will be moving to Alberta permanently as neither of us speak the French language and it’s virtually impossible for us to get permanent government jobs here in Ottawa, ON Canada.  With everything that’s going on with federal politics, and if the current guy in charge federally, we believe, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta will eventually separate from eastern Canada as the two are so different from each other.  But that’s another story.  

So today I forgot...

...my wallet at home.  All my ID's are in my wallet along with my bank cards, credit cards etc.  I'm all in a panic that I don't have any money today.  Or anything.  Than I look at my phone beside me.  And I think to myself.  I do have access to cash.  My Apple iPhone 8 Plus is going to be my valet today.  Who needs cards when you have your phone?????  Today I am also seriously starting to study Affinity Photo.  I know photography has to be my go to career now.  I have to pave my own way.  I cannot do the I.T. thing anymore.  I can't work only contracts.  Hire a photographer!!!!  Today!!!!!

Out west

I really, really want to move out west.  Not to Bring Cash British Columbia but somewhere near Calgary, Alberta.  I was there for four month last year on a contract and I fell in love with the ruggedness of the province.  From Calgary, you are about 45 minutes from the mountains.  I absolutely love the Rockies and the lakes within the mountains.  Calgary is also much closer to the American southwest where I was in 2016.  I totally love the wilderness of the western U.S and Canada.  Being in Ottawa is crap.  I've been here for 35 years.  I am so bored here.  There is absolutely nothing to do here.

 

The girlfriend and I will be looking for a place to live and of course jobs out there.  I would love to get a full time photography gig out there.

My most popular image

My most popular image so far has only been online for just over a year.  I shot it in Banff, Alberta while on a weekend.  I've been doing micro stock for about 4 years now and this image just keeps selling on average every 3 days.  At first I thought it would be a throw away image when I shot it and looked at it on the computer.  Then I had the bright idea of turning it into a black and white image.  It got accepted and I keep selling it.  You can find the image here.