2011 - The feature photo.

Paragliding off the big hill in Cochrane.

Remembrance Day in Cochrane.

Finding feature photos (or stand-alones as the reporters insist on calling them) is a real challenge in Cochrane. With a large portion of the population leaving Cochrane to work in the City not a lot is happening in town during the day.

Cam Macdonald breaks boards while fundraising for the Firefighters for World Need trip to Haiti.

I have a few favourite spots around town for features but I can't really run something from the same place in every paper. This is where being a weekly paper is an advantage. So long as we make sure to shoot as many photos that go with a story as possible I don't need to produce features every day which means I can spend the time to look for great pics like the ones featured here instead of settling on the first thing I see to fill the paper.

Kids sled on one of the few snowy days in Cochrane.

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2011 - Fire

2011 turned out to be a good (or bad, depending on your point of view) year for fire photos. I covered everything from house fires, semi fires, wildfires and again lots of training. Given the distance I have to travel for many of these I was not always able to get the flames but had to photograph the clean up afterwards.
Below is one of my best and favourite images of 2011 from a house fire in Waiperous Village. It is also the only shot I can think of that has received multiple complaining letters. The more interesting one was a person who wrongly wrote in saying that the firefighters had plenty of water on scene. I spoke with one of the Cochrane fire captains after the e-mail arrived. He told me I had all the facts right in the paper, always nice (and reassuring) to hear.

Cochrane firefighters Hans Peterson and Cameron Robin keep an eye on a house fire in the Village of Waiparous while they wait for water to be trucked in. Fire crews from Ghost River, Cochrane and Exshaw responded to the fire March 2. The house was fully engulfed in flame by the time crews arrived.

Another favourite of mine this year came from car fire training, just as my favourite was last year. This time it was the Cochrane Fire Services training. This image works well entirely because of the one visible eye as the firefighter signals for increased water flow.

Cochrane Fire Services firefighter Randy Shiman signals to the pump operator for more pressure during vehicle fire training Nov. 5.

Although the controlled burn in Kananaskis, below, was a little outside of the Eagle's regular coverage area, the decision was made to cover it because the smoke could potentially blow into and affect our coverage area. It was also a great opportunity to get photos from a helicopter of a large forest fire.
Again luck came into play. According to the public information officer on scene the larger publications from Calgary and TV news had come out but conditions were unsafe and they left without any photos or video footage from the air. When I was there along with a summer student from a paper in Canmore, conditions had improved and we got, as far as I know, exclusive images of the fire.
I also discovered that I am probably prone to motion sickness as I wasn't feeling to well as the flight went on but started to feel much better once I was one the ground again.

The view from the air of a controlled burn in Kananaskis country.

Burnt out trees after the controlled burn in Kananaskis country.

The view from the air of a controlled burn in Kananaskis country.

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2011 - Adventure in Haiti

Top: the firefighters play with one of the orphans at New Vision Ministries. Above: Firefighter Kailyn Sundby hands out toys to Haitian children.

The trip to Haiti with members from Cochrane Fire Services is something I should have blogged on as it happened. It was an incredible experience that taught me a lot.

Lieut. Derek Orr plays with one of the orphans at New Vision Ministries

I learned that although I can survive the heat I am much better suited to Calgary or perhaps even cooler climes. I also learned that I can handle the pressure and produce stories and images anywhere that I have too.
It taught me how to pack for working trips, I was maybe a little over packed with equipment as far as batteries and chargers go but in Haiti if anything had been broken, stolen, lost or worn out I would have been out of luck.

Firefighter Ryan Morrison and New Vision Ministries Stephen Byxbe work on the second day of the trip.

The trip also had several surprises, the biggest shock was how little culture shock I experienced traveling.
The number of people and confusion at the airport in Port-au-Prince was a little overwhelming, and likely would have been terrifying if I had been alone, but after I became used to the number of people it didn't feel very different.
I have often described Haiti to people here at home as a warmer, more populous first nations reserve here in Canada.

The group works on Marc Onell Pierre's house.

I very happy to have had the experience and am grateful I went with such a great group of people. Despite my loathing of the heat, I would jump at the chance to go overseas again to tell this kind of a story be it in Haiti or somewhere else.

Firefighter Kailyn Sundby works to smooth out the concrete before the firefighter start working to frame the wooden roof.

Click on the links to read the stories about who we helped, bringing happiness to kids and local firefighters build homes.
I am also writing a photo book that on the trip that will be published with help and support from the firefighters. I'll write more on that later.
Included in this post are some of my favourites from the trip. Click here for the full gallery of images posted at the Cochrane Eagle.

The firefighters work on the home of Marc Onell Pierre.

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2011 - People & Portraits

This post combines some of my best portraiture and people features. Portraits are, for me, the most challenging aspect of the job. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't shoot enough of them. Depending on what the stories are in any given week I can shoot several or I can shoot zero portraits. Setting up and using lights, especially in tight, small indoor rooms is challenging and it is easy to lose these skills if you aren't using them.

Tea on canvas artist Marie-Josee McCool displays finished work.


Lee Edwards and Dwayne Eliuk, not pictured, are working to organize a competative singles darts league.


A composite image portrait of the team Cougar Town For A Cure who participated in Cochrane's Relay for Life on May 27 2011.

Although these next couple of pictures aren't portraits they are very much like what I would try to create if I needed to illustrate a story on an actress or play. As for the mayor, as a politician it is probably my favourite shot and works better to than a simple portrait at a desk.

Evil step-mother Devilia Hardup, played by Lisa Wood, gloats after tearing up Cinderella's ticket to the royal ball during the Cochrane Vision Theatre's performance of Cinderella Dec. 3

Mayor Truper McBride makes a speech thanking everyone for their role in getting Cochrane's Community Health Centre urgent care, lab services and diagnostic imaging facilities up and running.

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2011 - The best of rodeo

A bullfighter attempts to get the steer’s attention during Tyrell Ward’s ride Sept. 5 at the Cochrane Lions Club’s Labour Day Rodeo.

Cochrane is a very western town. Over the course of the year I covered 5 rodeos and a PBR bullriding event. The nice thing about rodeo is that great images can be made regardless of whether the cowboy (or cowgirl) has a successful ride.

Wade Jober of Viking missed his steer and ended up landing on his head at the Dogpound Rodeo July 20.

This year most of my success has come from the unsuccessful rides. Some of those shots include the steer wrestler above who overshot his steer and the pair of bullriders, at bottom, who ended up with hard landings.

Water Valley trick rider Shelby Cummings performs at the Dogpound stampede.

Although it is definitely not one of my best action photos the shot below is one of my favourites. This year when we started to run preview stories in the Eagle for the PBR event, to be held in town in the darkest arena there is, I was not excited to say the least.
I knew that no matter how good the action, available light images would be of terrible quality, especially when compared against the outdoor rodeo pictures taken throughout the rest of the year.
I decided that if I could get permission, it was time to try something new. After speaking to both the arena manager and event organizer, I got permission to set up my studio lights for the event. I am very proud of the experience I gained and the success I had setting up the lights and shooting the event to get sharp wonderfully lit images.

Steven Turner scored an 87 for this ride on Mega Bite at the Cochrane Classic Bullriding May 14 at the Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre.

Landen Collins from Coleman has a rough landing after being bucked off of Tree Toad during the bull riding at the Water Valley Rodeo June 4.

Grant Good Eagle is bucked off of Heat Seeker at the Tsuu T'ina rodeo and pow wow July 22.

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