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The story on how I came into the field of photography dates back to 1998 when I first started to extensively travel around the province photographing and documenting scenic lighthouses, covered bridges, roadside attractions, decaying houses, waterfalls, flowers, and other scenic objects and things. At that time there was little or no information to be had at all on where you could find many of these things in the province. There were no books, brochures or websites out there, basically hardly any information at all except for maybe a few scattered resources here and there. 
By using just the New Brunswick Atlas Mapbook and the 1:50,000 scale topographical maps, as well as some information from the then provincial tourism website, I managed to track down and find the vast majority of lighthouses & covered bridges but it certainly wasn't easy! A lot of the information available, then and now, was inaccurate or just out-of-date. For instance on the topo maps (circa 1970's revision) it would show a lighthouse symbol for a lighthouse that no longer existed (in some cases not for 20 or 30 years) when it was replaced by a steel skeletal tower sometime in its past. On another government map it would show some of the lighthouses but totally miss other important ones like Cape Enrage! As well replica lights were not listed at all and many de-commissioned lighthouses that were sold and moved off-site had to be tracked down all over again. I found that by asking the local people was the best and most reliable source of information to be had on where to find these relocated lights. Covered Bridges were even harder to find and were not even on the maps!I am a totally self-taught photographer with 17,000+ digital photos and a few thousand 35 mm ones taken in the last 10 years or so. I currently take at least 2,000 photos a year comprising a variety of subjects during all seasons. My future projects do include more pet photography as well as portrait and commercial photos. My very first photos, taken many years ago, was on a cheap Hanimex 35 mm camera. I later replaced that one with a great Nikon 35mm about 9 years ago. BUT I have had my greatest success using a high-quality digital camera, the tools of the trade have changed to virtually all digital now with the exception of a few diehards out there. The first digital I had was a cheap Agfa, used exclusively for shooting photos for the web only as it had less than 1 MB photo size. One of the caneras I currently use is an exceptional Toshiba 3.3 megapixel camera with built in 6 times Canon optical zoom lens (with a variety of memory cards) and have gotten some really incredible results from this mid-range camera (prints out 11X14" size quite nicely)! I also use a Canon Digital Rebel, 6.3 Megapixels, with a variety of lens. This camera really does take better photos than a 35mm camera could ever do! Plus with digital you get total control over the whole development process from start to finish as few people actually develop 35mm photos today. You don't have to depend on the folks at a colour lab to develop your pics meaning you also save money. You can use a program like Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro to fine tune your pics: you can paint out powerlines, enhance the colour, adjust the brightness and contrast, curves, masking, etc. You can do everything that the photo lab does and much more. With the arrival of digital it did mean the slow demise of the photo lab is at hand, or at least there will be a lot fewer of them around in the future! (ie. remember Appleby Colour LAB? now defunct and Kodak in Rochester NY closed some of their film and 35mm camera plants) Going digital means you don't have to have anymore bad photos in your collection, you can print only the ones you like and delete the ones that don't turn out! No more wasted money on film and developing costs. And you get to experiment all you want and not waste film. :) But then again to take a great photo its not so much the camera you have but the "eye" behind the camera that takes the photo! You can spend $6-10 thousand dollars or more and you can still get some real lousy pictures. Likewise you could use a cheap 35 mm or digital camera and get some really phenomenal shots! Experiment and try new things is the key to great photos, as well as the drive and determination, along with loads of patience especially for wildlife shots. I also do freelance writing for newspapers and magazines as well. If you need a story and photos on lighthouses, covered bridges, roadside attractions, or on the Fredericton area feel free to contact me. My photos and stories have been published in the former Fredericton Northside News, The Daily Gleaner, Miramichi Leader, Kings County Record, Lighthouse Digest Magazine, Our Canada, The Beacon Lighthouse Society (NB) Newsletter, Foster Family Brochure, Photos for the Lighthouse Museum at the F'ton Lighthouse, various online e-journals, Hartland Observer, Woodstock Bugle, NB Gov't Covered Bridge brochure, and other publications! Past news stories include: Waterfalls in NB, Suspension Footbridges in NB, NB Covered Bridges, NB Lighthouses, Partridge Island, Roadside Attractions, Bombers for sale in NB, Trails in NB, Mount Carleton Park, Mount Katahdin, Grand Manan Hiking, Van Horne Estate and more! New Stories: Older Stories:  |
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Please see my New Brunswick Photos page for the latest photos. Also see the Extra Photo Listings page for a list of even more photos I have in stock if you are interested in buying or using my images. Are you looking for a specific photo? If so just e-mail me and I'll see what I have in my extensive New Brunswick photo collection. I can also take custom photos for you if say you want a picture of your house, property, people, a specific object or buildings, etc.  I am also adding new photos almost every week to this website so its good to check back with me every so often to see what's new. * My Portfolio Online - Roughly 500+ photos: lighthouses, covered bridges, waterfalls, buildings, flowers, etc. * See a listing of all my photos now in stock - Roughly 10,000+ photos, multiples shots of various things like lighthouses, covered bridges, waterfalls, buildings, flowers, etc.  |
