Milky Way over the Austrian Alps

In 2015 I embarked on a few month Eurotrip that was capped off by a stay in the alps here in Austria.

Being less experienced at the time I freaked out and tried to shoot the stars at F22 because I thought you needed a high aperture to get a sharp image at night

Six years later I finally got the opportunity to go back and give it a second shot. I only had one night in the mountains and I couldn't have asked for better conditions to capture it.

For those who want to know my settings:

Camera: Nikon Z6
Lens: Sigma Art 14MM-24MM 2.8
Settings: F/2.8, 20s, ISO 2000

Venice Beach, California

A stunning set over the beachfront homes on Venice Beach. Pink skies, palm trees, and the Hollywood sign overlooking the beach. What a surreal view, can’t imagine that some people get to see this every day of their lives.

Spotted: My First Barred Owl

After three days in a row of searching, I finally came across this absolutely beautiful Barred Owl.

She was perched in the hollow of a tree taking a nap without a care in the world.

I spent 5 minutes in awe snapping photos, and got on my way so as not to encroach too much on her territory.

Owls have been having a bit of a hard time right now because since the pandemic, the popularity of birding has taken off, meaning more bird species are being harassed by humans more than usual.

Another couple was there, and the lady kept shuffling her feet loudly and stomping on snow to get it to open its eyes for her husband’s photo 🤦‍♂️

Needless to say, the well-being of the wildlife you encounter is always more important than the photograph. Don’t be that lady.

🦉🌲

Camera: Nikon Z6

Lens: Nikon 300MM F4 AF-S

Settings: 1/1000, F4, ISO 800

Le Draveur Service Center

Le Draveur Service Center in Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Malbaie National Park.

Shot on the Nikon Z6 Mirrorless Camera

Lens: Sigma Art 14-24MM 2.8 w/ FTZ Adapter

Settings: 5.0 sec, f / 2.8, ISO 125

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Three Fox Cubs in Gaspésie National Park

When we arrived to Gaspésie National Park, the peaks were completely enveloped in clouds. There was a small chance that the weather could clear up by the end of the hike, so I decided to haul up all of my camera gear to the top of Mont Joseph Fortin. Once we got to the top, we could barely see a few feet in front of us. Disappointed, but not defeated, I kept my camera gear handy on the drive out of the park.

As we were driving towards the exit of the park, my friend told me to stop the car. I slammed the brakes, and noticed a single red fox pup relaxing on the side of the road. We parked and started shooting, when suddenly, two more pups came out of the bushes to play. We watched in amazement for over 20 minutes before deciding to quietly walk away and leave them in peace. 🦊

Here are some of my images from this beautiful encounter.

Camera: Nikon Z6 Mirrorless Camera

Lens: Nikon 300MM F4 AF-S w/ FTZ Adapter

Settings: 1/1000, f/4.0, ISO 640

The Malbaie River

While shooting this scene, a family traveling in a retrofitted ambulance turned camper van showed up to make a huge fire at Le Draveur service center in the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Malbaie National Park (Sépaq)

To take advantage of the orange glow emanating from the fire, I tried my hand at a super long exposure using bulb mode. I held the shutter open manually for exactly 69 seconds, allowing the glow to emanate softly over the trees and river.

This is my favourite shot from the trip.

Camera: Nikon Z6 Mirrorless Camera

Lens: Sigma Art 14-24MM 2.8 w/ FTZ Adapter

Settings: 69.0 sec at f / 2.8, ISO 250

Mother Moose and her Calf in the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Malbaie

This past weekend, I spent Friday afternoon to Monday morning in the Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Malbaie national park.

Every morning of the trip, we woke up at 6AM for the opportunity to catch the sun rise over the mountains or capture some small wildlife. On our first morning, while the skies were cloudy, we were so lucky to cross paths with a Moose and her calfs crossing the road right at dawn.

They crossed the road slowly, the mother crossing first and giving us a very intent and intimidating stare. After assessing that we were not a threat, she beckoned her calfs to cross the road. They quickly disappeared into the forest moments later.


The next morning, we returned to see the same family eating in a small clearing not far from the road. This is my first time seeing moose in the wild. So magnificent, and so Canadian.

Camera: Nikon Z6 Mirrorless Camera

Lens: Nikon F4 300MM AF-S

Settings: 1/500, f/ 4.5, ISO 1600

Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Malbaie

Appreciating Québec’s national park system more than ever right about now.

Spent the weekend at @reseausepaq Hautes-Gorges-de-la-Malbaie. It is part of the @unesco Charlevoix World biosphere reserve and the mountains are among the highest walls east of the Rockies.

I hereby declare it the Yosemite of Canada 🇨🇦 Super grateful to have spent 3 nights in this beautiful park - it was a much needed break from the monotony of quarantine in Montreal.

Camera: Nikon Z6

Lens: Nikon 50mm 1.8 S-Line

Settings: 1/800 at f/2.0, ISO 125

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Georges St-Pierre

I recently had the opportunity to photograph the consensus greatest mixed-martial artist artist of all time, Georges St-Pierre. Training out of the Tristar Gym in Montreal under the tutelage of Firas Zahabi, Georges ruled the Welterweight division of the UFC, defending the title 9 times before retiring as champion.

After four years of retirement, Georges St-Pierre would decide to come back to face what would be the greatest challenge of his career - a fight for the Middleweight title against the reigning champ, Michael Bisping. 

In 2017 when GSP vs Bisping took place, only three fighters in the history of the UFC had won the title in two weight classes: Randy Couture, BJ Penn, and Conor McGregor. 

GSP would become the fourth after submitting Bisping in the third round, becoming the middleweight champion of the world. He would relinquish the title soon afterwards, leaving the game on top and healthy.

In his interviews with the media about a possible fight with the reigning lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, he insists that he intends to stay retired, but if the UFC wants him back, they have his number.

Sunset over the Sahara - Merzouga, Morocco

After spending days travelling in a van in the sweltering heat of Morocco, we finally arrived in Merzouga - a small Moroccan town in the Sahara Desert that borders Algeria.

Because the A/C of the van was broken, everyone would periodically pass out due to the sheer intensity of the heat. We stopped every 30 minutes on the highway to pick up frozen water bottles and ice cream to keep our body temperatures down.

Once we arrived, we rode on camelback into the desert during sunset. Taking photos here was extremely difficult because of the jerky gait of the camel, but I was lucky enough to snap this shot of the sun setting over the Sahara as the Berber guides took us towards our camp for the night.

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I took this photo with a Canon 6D and 24mm-105mm F4 Lens (the first version)

Camera Settings: 1 / 250, F/ 10, ISO 200, 24MM

A Shocking Moment in Morocco


I met this man who worked at the corner store at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ait Benhaddou. My friends and I were passing by the cash when he asked if he could buy my blue-eyed, blonde haired female friend. I’m not entirely sure if he was joking or not, but it was a shocking request.

While Morocco felt safe at most times as a male tourist, the Global Slavery Index estimates that there are over 85,000 victims of slavery living in Morocco - that includes child labor and marriage, forced marriage, and human trafficking. The report defines modern slavery as “one person possessing or controlling a person in such a way as to significantly deprive that person of their individual liberty”.

Throughout this excursion across Morocco, I also saw what I believe was a child slave doing labour for merchants selling carpets to tourists. I do not think I’ll be posting that image.

Taken on June 8th, 2015

Women Discussing in Jemma el-Fnaa

Two Moroccan women in discussion on the streets of Jama El f’na.

Morocco was an intense and beautiful country - the opportunities for street photography were nearly endless. However, I experienced some very tense moments when the occasional person would get very upset about being photographed candidly.

I realized that if one wanted to photograph the locals without confrontation, it would have to be covertly, with my camera strung at my waist using a wide-angle lens.

In some ways, this limited me -- but it made me far less noticeable and helped me capture scenes in the streets that would otherwise be interrupted immediately if they noticed a foreigner snapping a photo.

It was taken with a Canon 6D, using a Canon 24-105MM F4 lens.

Photo Tip #1: Shooting handheld, Motion Blur, and In-Body Image Stabilization - Mont Tremblant

A beautiful stream flowing alongside our hike up Tremblant last Friday.
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For the photography hobbyists who follow me: I can't believe how well the In-Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) works in my Nikon Z6. IBIS is a new technology that Nikon implemented in their new mirrorless cameras that tilts and shifts the sensor on 5-axis' (up, down, left, right, pitch, and yaw) to counteract unwanted movements in the camera operator's hands.

In practise, this allows you to shoot with a much-reduced shutter speed, allowing you to: A) capture motion blur in your image without a tripod, and B) reduce your ISO while shooting in environments with less light.

This photo was taken at a shutter of speed of 1/3 handheld - that means that the shutter was open for a whole third of a second handheld. Let me explain why this is so amazing.

The general rule of thumb is that your shutter speed should not go below your focal length. So, this image was shot at 45MM on my 24-70 F/ 4.0. That means that in most situations, that would limit me to shooting at 1/50 or 1/30 max.

IBIS allowed me to shoot at a shutter speed of more than 10 times slower so that I could capture the movement in the water. If your camera has IBIS, I would recommend trying this out if you don't have quick access to a tripod but want to capture a more ethereal look in your nature photography.

🏞🍂

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Mont-Tremblant National Park - Secteur du Diable - Fall Colours

Behold, the magnificent view from the top of Mont-Trmblant trail “La Roche, La Coulée, La Corniche”, a combination of a few trails in the Secteur du Diable.

It’s been years that I’ve wanted to go to the Laurentians to photograph the leaves changing colour in early October. Circumstances finally aligned and my trusty friend, Andrea, joined me with snacks to hike the trail and spend time shooting this beautiful panoramic photo. It’s a combination of around 3 side-by-side photos.

It was taken with the Nikon Z6 using the 85MM 1.8G lens.

Montreal Climate Strike - 2019

Yesterday I documented some of yesterday's climate strike in Montreal where estimates say that between 300,000-500,000 people came out to protest against climate change. Melting land glaciers are causing sea levels to rise, threatening the safety of coastal cities and the viability of living on islands in the North Pacific in the future. Climate change will increase the frequency of floods, droughts, and other extreme weather globally, which will threaten the global food supply.

For anyone still unsure about whether climate change is really a thing, I would recommend reading, and taking seriously the reports made by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, it’s a special group made for the express purpose of gathering the world’s leading scientists from countries all around the world to make scientifically assess the severity of and consequences of climate change. 

For their Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, they gathered 104 scientists from over 30 countries and referenced exactly 6,981 scientific publications in their final draft. 
https://www.ipcc.ch/2019/09/25/srocc-press-release/

JACKALOPE FEST 2019

JACKALOPE is an action sports festival that happens every year which takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. This is my second-year covering the festival and it was so incredible watching these young world-class climbers compete and climb for this huge crowd.

Athlete: Jakob Ellis

Camera: Nikon Z6

Lens: Nikon 24-70 F4 S-Line

Settings: 1/200, F5.6. ISO 400 - external flash: Nikon SB-900, 1/8 power