Two juniors campers fly down the screamer.

As one young guy clings on to the ropes, the others are feeling the thrill of the ride.

With the recent weather around the Cowichan valley it has been ideal conditions for the leaves to turn a brilliant yellow, orange and red color. 

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Thursday was a bit of a lazy day here at Kaleo so some of us decided to take a hike to the point. With the seasons changed and the colors beginning to really change the view was amazing, walking beneath a sunlit canopy of warm yellows.

Every once and a while I get a smidgen of inspiration to make a tilt-shift style image. This particular image was shot from the top of Mount Maxwell overlooking the sound end of Saltspring Island.

Lately I have been struggling with where my passions lie and where I should be investing most of my time. To let you in on a bit of how this is happening here is a bit of an explanation.

Many of you know that I am working as an intern in the Kaleo program (an adventure based first year bible college program based out of Camp Qwanoes). Within this role I am basically asked to throw my life at these students, love them, care for them, have fun with them and watch them grow. It takes a lot of time, a lot of will power and a lot of patience - patience beyond what I can bare sometimes. 

On the other side of things is this passion, my photography. I am barely going a day without thinking about what I will be doing with it in the come years. It as well takes a lot of time, practice, patience and will power. 

Here is where the two worlds collide. Both allow me to do something which I have a joyful passion of doing, making a meaningful difference in the lives of others and in this world. Sounds like both fit, right? They do. So why am I struggling with this? I don’t know. 

Professionally I want to go all out for my photography. I want to dive into this crazy vat of glue called this world and get all sticky. I want to go out there and tell the stories that need to be told. I want to tell the stories of children around the world. Most of all, I want people to have their hearts broken for the issues tackled in my images. I want a child’s smile to warm a heart, a personality to speak through an image and attack a persons conscience to the point where they want to act. Most of all, I want to bring hope and love in a new unique way. 

Are you passionate for something? Do you struggle with a balance? How do you tackle the battle in your heart? 

I’m excited for the future and more excited for the now.

For most serious photographers even thinking about using the iPhone camera to capture decent images is completely out of the question. Well I have an argument against those thoughts. I do feel that the iPhone camera is not as good of quality as it could be, but quality shouldn’t limit your creativity. 

Just recently there was a great app. released for the iPhone called “Camera Bag“. This app allows the user to stylize the images that you take on the iPhone, from Holga effects to B&W’s. Here are a few samples:

Once again, these images aren’t about supreme quality but rather content and effectiveness of conveying good stylized images. I have been very impressed with how this little program allows the user to take a so-so image and transform it into an well post-pro’d image. I am excited to see what the future holds for the camera software in the iPhone and hope to see some more customization in the future.

First, I just want to apologize for the slow down in posts as of late. Kaleo has kicked off and has been taking up a lot of my time. We recently just returned from a surfing trip around Tofino (Long Beach area). I would post images from that trip, but alas, I forgot to pack my camera for it! Ya, I know, how could I ever forget a piece of equipment like that. But I did. 

So now that it’s Thanksgiving, why not take a break and spend time with your family and loved ones. Appreciate the smells and old familiar aromas of the season. Take a walk and admire the colors. Make some coffee and read a book. Slow down a bit, and be thankful that you have the ability to appreciate these things, you have the ability to see what others do not see, and the ability to capture them. It’s a gift that could easily go away.