I received my first camera at the age of 13, which was a 110 film camera. I graduated to a Ricoh point and shoot by high school. I was first introduced to photography as an art form in high school. King gave me an old manual camera and a short private lesson as he had an inkling I would enjoy it and of course, he was right! . After developing and printing my first roll of film, I showed my prints
to him. He took them from me to show his photography students,"how it is done!" by a student that was not in the photography class! In high school I worked as a rep for Polaroid Canada demonstrating and selling cameras. I received the District scholarship for excellence in Fine Arts and the Coquitlam Fine Arts Council Art Scholarship upon graduation of high school. After graduating with honours, I enrolled in Langara College for Fine Arts. This would lead me to Manhatten to study in New York and get inspired by the fabulous art and other creative artists. After receiving my diploma in Fine Arts and being a true starving artist, I started working for Foto Quik Labs as a printer and photographer. After leaving the lab I started my business. While getting established, I worked part time for 2 professional photographers doing manual printing and spending long hours in a dark room. I was also working as a model on the other side of the lens. I gained experience in these aspects of photography while in the beginning stages of Originelle Designs. My business soon had me traveling extensively all over B.C. and Alberta. I would book photo shoots during this time to cover my traveling expenses. I promoted and sold my work at high end art and trade shows, gallery shows, and some mall shows. I have done shows in the Vancouver and Whistler Trade and Convention Centers, the Empress Hotel in Victoria, Jasper Park Lodge in Alberta, and a long list of venues overs the years. I would sell my photography prints and cards along with my artistic wares. I used to wholesale my work to about 10 stores from Whistler to the Okanagan. Over the years I have worked with many different photographers in many aspects of the photography business. My photography work has been published by Beautiful B.C. Magazine, The Province Newspaper, The Vancouver Sun, The Georgia Straight, The Tri City News, The Now, Fortis, Snap'd, The Mission Record, The City of Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, and Metro Vancouver, U.B.C., Wildlife and other Calendars, business cards, websites for numerous professional and personal clients, like Save On Foods and Cloverdale Paint, numerous publications, books, and a multitude of other businesses over the years. I was a sponsored artist by Sears Canada and have a long list of clients that I have worked for over the years. My film prints won first place at the P.N.E. exhibition. I was also selected to compete in B.C.'s Amateur photographer of the year winning 1st runner up in the finals. I was an official Abbotsford International Airshow photographer, B.C. Games photographer, Highland Games official photographer, Gionco Sportsworld photographer and Harry Jerome photographer to name a few. I have attended many different types of events from MMA Events to fashion shows that generally require photos on the fly but I can also set up my mobile backdrop and do corporate head shots and modelling portraits. My hours are flexible and I can work around most budgets. I support many charities and non profit organizations with my work including Variety, The Children's Charity. I am always available for a meeting to show you my varied portfolio. I specialize in original content for websites and publications.
