Fields of Work

“Jack of all trades, master of none.”

That’s how I’ve always jokingly described myself, but it’s not far from the truth. I’ve always made a point if maintaining a diverse set of skills which has definitely benefited me over the years as it allows me to speak on the same level as people in many different fields.

Design

Design wasn’t something that I ever set out to learn, it just sort of came to me and I made the most of the opportunities that were available. Working with Adobe Photoshop and InDesign were requirements while I was taking Journalism-Print, but my experience with them really only extended to laying out the Niagara College Student Newspaper. Still, I learned enough to get comfortable with their functions which gave me a little bit of a base to work from when I dove into Adobe Illustrator to start laying out posters for Big White Resort’s mountain events.

From there I kept working on little side projects until I landed in the Marketing Department at Blue Mountain Resort. It was as Blue’s Social Media and Email Marketing Coordinator that I started using the whole suite of Adobe programs on a daily basis, which led to my position as the Graphic Designer. I’ve also continued doing side projects including poster, logo and business card design.

In addition to graphic design, I’ve also picked up some web design skills through college courses and extended learning. After learning the basics of HTML and CSS, I’ve gone on to build and contribute to websites for the Friends of the Kimberley Forest, Uptop Shop, Roots Wake Series and Blue Mountain Resort. Recently, I’ve been working more with the design of HTML5 web banners, and have added Google Web Designer to my arsenal of design tools.

Editorial

While it’s not my day job, I take a lot of joy in putting words to paper. I’ve always enjoyed reading, but it was during high school that I started to binge on writers like Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated, Peter Egan of Road & Track and every issue of Snowboard Canada, Transworld Snowboarding and Snowboarder Magazine that I could get my hands on.

From there, I suppose it was a natural transition for me to end up in Niagara College’s Journalism-Print program. During this time I realized that feature writing was far more appealing to me than writing for the local newspaper. Since graduating, I’ve been fortunate enough to have my writing published with Snowboard Canada, SBC Business, SBC Skier, SBC Wakeboard, SBC Ski & Snowboard Resort Guide, Adventure Seekers, 33 Mag, Mountain Life Magazine, The Board Press, Silver Star Mountain Resort’s Magazine and Blue Mountain Resort’s Magazine.

Photography

I’ve always loved the magic of photography. The fight to freeze a split second in time that can never be captured the exact same way again.

I started playing with disposable cameras in high school, and eventually was handed down a 35mm SLR camera. Through the process of shooting and developing a lot (seriously, A LOT) of overexposed and underexposed images, I started to learn the balance of aperature, shutter speed and ISO. The transition to digital SLR cameras in college came fairly naturally, and it was just a matter of time until I started to piece together my own kit after graduation.

My favourite subject will always be action sports, but I’m constantly looking for new ways to broaden my horizons, capturing those split seconds as I go.

My current kit includes:

  • Canon EOS 7D Mark II
  • Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM
  • Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM
  • Canon EF-S 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM
  • Canon Speedlite 320EX

Social Media & Communications

When Facebook launched it was only available to university students. This was a little bit troubling since I was attending college at the time, but it didn’t take me long to realize I could create a profile by hijacking one of my brother’s old university email addresses, so that’s exactly what I did.

I guess you could say I was lucky to grow up and mature alongside most social media tools. I started my original Twitter account for a blog I was working on at the time, I helped Big White Resort launch and manage a Facebook page for their Terrain Park, I was in the driver’s seat on Blue Mountain Resort’s social media accounts when the Facebook timeline and Instagram started gaining popularity, and I’ve helped the Friends of the Kimberley Forest, Blue Mountain Bike Park, Uptop Shop, Roots Wake Series, Mac Sales Agency and Wakestock solidify their social media presence.