Dear Friends; many thanks for following my Blog edited and
written by my Rep/Agent Charli; and appreciating my photos that she chooses to
highlight. This post however is in my own words.
September 4th, 2013 was a milestone for me. It was my 1000th day
on the road.
This journey began with me handing over my Calgary apartment
keys on the morning of December 8th, 2010, and heading to the airport with my
friend David Heydlauff (a real Alberta Cowboy) to co-host my booth at the Media
and Marketing Show in Dubai. (here is that story...) My kitty cat “Boo” was at first fostered by a great friend in Calgary and now she resides in California
with amazing friends that spoil her rotten.
I guess the best way to describe my decision to take to the road is simply two fold, yet very complicated.
Not only am I trying to survive as specialized professional photographer, but I am also running away from hurt. Prior to November of 2010 so many of my projects kept me away from Calgary. Mix in a recession, shrinking budgets, and my heavy heart it made no sense to keep a two-bedroom apartment for my Boo. For those who are close to me, they know what else happened. When I lost her in 2009 and I had to leave DC to re-group and it left a deep hole in my soul. I suppose time heals all, but it was a very difficult personal situation for me, and so in late 2010 I chose to run and rebuild my life somehow. I would be lying if I said it still doesn’t bother me at times, but travel, work and my priceless friends and family out there helps tremendously. In all honesty that hole is very deep, turbulence sometimes hits, and my compass sometimes is unreliable. As a result I certainly don’t always photograph and post all of the moving and breathtaking things I see and experience.
I guess deep down I wish I could have shared it with somebody special inside my circle instead of social media. At times; like us all, I am tired and I can get really lonely. But then again that is the nature of life on the road...
I have estimated the amount of miles I traveled on planes, trains,
automobiles and helicopters at about 150,000+ since. I have met so many influential and interesting people, been witness to some amazing
sights, and never once have I felt I was in harms way. Many photo projects
provide accommodations, so I will arrive early and stay late for my valued
clients. Great friends have opened their homes for me, and many more offers
from dear friends around the world are out there. I am humbled and thankful for
every invitation. I try to return the these favors by fixing something around their house and returning to my days as a farm kid. Just an FYI lighting, electricity and triaging your
storage area are my specialty...
Life on the road is not always a slice however. It can start
with the screams of silence at night in a lonely hotel room, only to awaken in the darkness, temporarily not knowing what
state or time zone I am in. I have no
first class upgrades to brag about on FB, the crying baby is always exactly three rows behind me, and there is no apartment with a
city view I can mention as “missing home”...because theoretically I am homeless. But that all pales in comparison to the new people I meet and the love and support I receive from my amazing support system of friends and family.
I gamble weekly in booking flights all the
while attempting to be loyal to an airline (yah right; Hertz is the only
company I can count on). Another issue is managing the balance of being
available for the lifeblood of some treasured annual projects (thank you), but
missing out on new opportunities friends
want to introduce me to, all the while Charli persistently assists me in the
pursuit of new projects and challenging my old photo ideas. (I think she calls
it pulling her hair out...Thank You Charli, no photos of that are attached- but it may look something like this: &^%$#@!)
Everybody is a photographer now and
almost nobody is an photo editor. The visual “noise” on the internet
grows as pro photographers try to regroup their stubborn ideals of
traditional quality versus this decades’ growing legacy of un-critiqued quantity. Dear Canon Marketing
Dept...you’re not helping me...yet you continue to sell amateur cameras with
pro imagery?!?! At times the 12 time zone jet
lag, the road food, the haunting US-Canada visa/tax paperwork, my boyscout diligent compliance efforts, grumpy
customs officers, the silent worry about over extending ones stay at a
friends place, and sweating the hotel check out time as you patiently wait for a signal as to
where to go next brings me down. Add to my guilt that I make my Mom worry
about my safety all the time. (big sigh-I apologize Ma...big hug) well I am just.....Plain. Worn. Out. This is not a dwelling of the negativity, but an
illustration of the challenges I deal with on a weekly basis.
But on the bright side and the huge potential side, I continue
my travels and opportunities to meet amazing people and do projects in exotic
places. A family in Dubai considers me “a friend of
the family”, close friends in San
Diego constantly design me into their family plans, Chicago is special, Reno
has become a hub of close friends, and I am again
able to savor DC and very close friends there once again. Quality time spent with my kin has become much more precious and never taken for granted. Many of my clients
invite me to fancy dinners, and so many selfless friends offer me their couch,
washer/dryer, or a ride to the airport. I have the honor of being the
Outriders’ Photographer and cherish all the friendships and camaraderie that
has transformed (And on a side note my artistic collaboration with
my best friend to create the best Cheer Calendar in the CFL or maybe the NFL
I’m just saying’ has been a lot of fun to work on). I savor each and everyone of the many opportunities I
get to witness a sunset on the ocean, I have lost myself in the magic as I
walked the lost streets in Roma, and felt completely empowered as I sat on the
top ledges of skyscrapers in Dubai. I have
the amazing privilege to fly in helicopters all the time and every time I still
feel like I need to pinch myself. After 19 years of specialized airmedical photography, I have the eye and the ear
of both elders and the next generation in the international Air Medical
Community, which is not only an immense honor, but so very humbling as well.
Many times I just put the camera down and stare out the window looking at so
many varied places of this earth from a jet or a helicopter. Feels like the
world is at my finger tips and in so many ways it is and for that I feel like
the luckiest guy in the world.
And looking forward, as I write this from 36,000ft, I reckon I
have a few more days on the road. I will try to visit Boo when I can, as I miss
that little wanker. I just returned from my 8th Burning Man, and I am working
hard to get a large visual project funded that I’m sure you’ll hear about as
preparations for Burning Man 2014 unfold.
My professional and now official collaboration with my Videographer Jean Levasseur continues to prove
advantageous as he flawlessly animates my stills to create powerful productions for our clients. I am looking forward
to the AMTC in Virginia Beach, including finally getting to debut my AAMS
Memorial Lights project to the airmedical community
with the assistance of some special air medical friends. I am also excited about the opportunity to
present a new visual tangent to the 2014 Airmed World Congress in Rome and I am
still honored to once again be assisting the organizers of the November 2014
Dubai Helishow. And all the while I promise I will get more professional imagery (but still...just the good
stuff) to Charli for her to edit and post, and I encourage and appreciate your
comments and support. I continue to be grateful for the priceless hospitality
of my very dear friends, who continue to invite me to places I cannot
spell! Your love, support, and generosity
to help to mend that hole inside of me and the courage to hopefully open up
better to new friends.
Some great changes are in the works this month and beyond. Stay tuned as Charli will announce this very
soon. Regards for now.
Thank You. MM
