Yet Another New Chapter In My Life

My life has, so far, been a simple one from my perspective. I pretty much fly along whatever path life takes while making minor course corrections as I go and think it is necessary. It’s kind of funny because I often go through life like I am having one long 39-year out-of-body experience. I see things happening as though I am watching them happen to someone else. I have always lead my life as honest and kind to others as I could be. Not because I am religious, I am far from that, but because it just feels right.

Unfortunately I get taken advantage of a lot and that is too bad. I don’t lie to people because, first of all it’s not fair, and also because I have a crappy memory and I don’t want to waste my brain cells trying to remember what I said to whom. It is much easier just to tell the truth all the time and not worry about it. That said, I am not going to say things that will hurt other people. Sometimes you can leave out details and let people jump to their own conclusions without actually having to say anything.

That is another thing, I listen a lot. Some people talk WAY too much. It’s like they just want to hear themselves talk. I can’t even count the number of times I almost said something and decided not to and it turned out that I was very glad I kept my mouth shut.

In business I have found that being a good listener is one of the most valuable traits you could ever have. I sit in meetings all the time where two people are talking and they are both saying the exact same thing but arguing right and left about it because they don’t listen to what each other is saying.

Anyways, I’m rambling on but the point is that things just happen to me. It’s like the laws of attraction operate in my favor because I generally always have positive energy. Take work, which is basically the main topic of this post. When I was going to college I was working with my dad in construction during the summer and with a computer store during the winter. I put myself through college, books, tuition, everything. It was hard, and it took a long time to pay back the student loans, but I did it. When I got out of college and started the other half of my university transfer program at U of C, I was literally out of money and starving. I was only able to get about a year and a half into my two year program before I had to get a “real job” and neglect to finish my degree.

My first IT job was at a computer store as a technician. It came naturally to me and I enjoyed working with computers and dealing with the public. After a few months I was promoted to “Saturday Manager” which didn’t sit will with some of the other people that were there for a lot longer than me. Still, I took on the responsibility with gusto and did a very good job of it. When I had any spare time I was cleaning up the place and organizing things so we could be more efficient. Well all good things must come to an end and we found out that we were going to be bought out by a big US company.

As that boat started shaking I got a call from a college buddy that was working for a small software company downtown. They needed a new system administrator and thought I might be interested. Naturally I took the job right away and moved on to the next chapter of my life while the computer store went out of business (the buyout never happened). The new job was not too bad and they had a pretty relaxed environment. Although the pay wasn’t that great there was a lot of room for advancement. Within a year I was talking to my boss letting him know that being a sysadmin was not my main goal in life and that I wanted to take advantage of my education and get into programming. I got the speech about how they don’t pigeon hole people and that as long as I could find someone to fill my position they would be glad to have another good developer on staff.

As my eight and a half year career with the company went on, I quickly grew. People above me left and I climbed up the ranks to where I was doing project management, business analysis and technical sales support with my good friend and co-worker, Bill, who just so happened to be the guy that originally hired me at the computer store when I was going to college. I ended up suggesting to my boss that we hire him when the computer store went under.

My best friend since grade three, Chris, also joined our company after some nagging from me for a couple years. The three of us were an awesome team and we got a lot of work into the company. Again, things don’t last forever and one of the partners that owned the company got cancer and passed away. The remaining partner in the company, my boss, had a lot of legal crap to deal with and the boat started shaking pretty good. Work began to dry up too and we had to let a lot of good people go. That is when I got this crazy idea to start my own software company.

After a lot more nagging I convinced Chris to join me and we started our own software company. It was awesome, we worked hard, treated our clients with respect and did a good job. The company grew over 6 years to 17 people including Chris and I. We were getting a lot of work, but we were not charging enough and our capital and operational costs were way too high. With a tearful goodbye we were forced to close the office, sell off everything and let all our employees go. We were originally going to file for bankruptcy but found out that is more expensive than just paying the debt ourselves. That and I also believe that when you make your bed you need to sleep in it. We got into this mess ourselves and it is our responsibility to get out of it ourselves.

So began another chapter in my life. Down to just the two of us, I raised our rates up to where they should be and we both got a decent amount of work contracting. I was working for the Airport on a contract doing Project Management work and it was really a great job. I got along with everyone and enjoyed all the interesting technology I was involved with. Yet again, it didn’t last. The amount of work they had for me got very slim and due to some major construction projects over the next 10 – 20 years and the recession they were trimming budgets right and left. Turns out I would probably have nothing much to do for the rest of this year and very little if anything next year. With a house and a young family to support, panic was setting in. I had resumes out everywhere and went to a couple interviews, but nothing much came out of it. That is, until one of the vendors that we dealt with at the airport invited me for lunch.

This is getting to be a very long story, but anyway he offered me an incredible opportunity in his company as a Senior Business Analyst. I just finished my first week there and so far I am very impressed. This, I think will be one of the most exciting chapters in my work life. The company produces a Geographic Information System (think Google Maps, but for both outside and inside buildings). Something I am very interested in, and I look forward to learning a lot more about.

For those who are wondering, the software company we started is still fully operational but my time and effort towards the company is much more limited than it was.

Technorati Tags: Enlightenment,Focus,Positive Thinking,Technology,The Secret,Law Of Attraction

Model shoot at Rat’s Nest Cave in Canmore, Alberta

This past Sunday (June 29th), I had the most amazing experience as a photographer.  My friend Paul Spenard organized a model portfolio shoot inside a real cave called “Rat’s Nest Cave” in Canmore, Alberta.  The brave and talented model that Paul managed to convince was the lovely Tabitha Alice, and she was amazing.

Just to set the scene, you arrive in Canmore and meet with the folks from Canmore Caverns who are the only group that literally have the keys and the permission to take people inside the cave.  There is a huge steel grate covering the only entrance into the cave and it is locked behind you as you enter to prevent people from coming in behind you.  They are very strict about safety and you feel very comfortable under their care.

You follow the guide in your vehicle as they drive up to the cave site, which is about a 20 minute hike up a mountain.  Some of the most beautiful scenery too which made the long hike carrying all my heavy camera gear a little bit more bearable.

When you arrive at the cave site, you suit up in coveralls, knee pads, safety harness, and a helmet.  Then you are briefed on what you are about to endure.  Apparently many people chicken out at this point, but the three of us were eager to get started.   Once inside the grate, the best way to describe the next few minutes is that you do not want to be there if your claustrophobic!   I had to pass my camera bag down through the passage that was just a bit larger than my body as I made my way down.  There are a lot of animal bones inside the cave that are moved around by the rats (yes, I said rats) as they make their nests (hence the name of the cave).  We did not see any rats while we were there, but there was the odd patch of rat droppings that were actually quite a bit larger than I expected.  I must say, it was cool to have Paul with us as he is an archeologist and was explaining what each bone was and from which animal it came from.  

We continued down through the cave headed for an open cavern called “The Grotto”.  This was supposed to be the most spectacular area of the cave and it did not disappoint.  There were formations nearly everywhere including these crystal looking things on the ceiling that look like soda straws.  Other formations look like pigs ears and bacon, which are apparently their names, so not too hard to remember.

This was, by far, the most difficult lighting situation I have ever been in.  Basically we were in the darkest place on earth.  Just for fun our guide, Adam Walker, told to turn off our lights to which we basically saw NOTHING.  He said to go ahead and close our eyes to see if there was a difference, and there wasn’t.  So if you are a photographer and you have experience working in low light situations, I challenge you to get a good shot here!!!  Especially when you are limited to what your allowed to bring in (basically two small bags per group).  I brought a Nikon SB800 and a Nikon SB900 plus a few LED lights to just give us a bit of ambient to work with.  To make the situation worse, the place had about 100% humidity and a very very very fine dust that gets into everything.  I dared NOT change lenses, so I just went with what was on my camera (Nikon D300 with an 18-70mm DX lens).

Tabitha had a couple different outfits to work with.  The first one was a nice white and pink dress that I think worked well.  The second outfit was a custom made “cave girl” animal skin.  Oh, did I mention the temperature in the damp dark cave was 4 degrees Celsius?  Yes, Tabitha is an amazing girl.  She was determined to get the shots even though she was standing in a very cold, dark cave in freezing cold water with bare feet and a barely there outfit. 

Regardless I think we got some amazing shots considering what we had to work with in those conditions.  All the LED lights I brought along with the lights on our helmets came in really handy when Tabitha wanted to do a shot that made her look like a ghost.  We lit the place up with every light we had (excluding the flashes) and then with a 15 second shutter I had Tabitha stand perfectly still and then after a few seconds run out of the way to finish the exposure.  I think the shot turned out exactly like she envisioned and it is quite cool.

After we got to the point where Tabitha was completely freezing and could not take it any longer (what a trooper), we packed up and headed back out.  Half-way out Adam asked if we wanted to attempt “The Test”.  Not wanting to be a chicken and miss an unforgettable experience we all agreed.  This test involved shuffling along through an opening for about 12-15 feet that was barely large enough for our body to fit through.  You had to have one arm ahead of you and one behind you and you couldn’t really lift your head to see where you were going.  Eventually after a lot of grunting and squeezing it opened up into a vertical fissure that you could stand up in, but not much else.  Of course, that wasn’t bad enough, but now you had to go back out the same way you came in.  We all made it and gave each other high fives, proud of our accomplishment.  By then Tabitha was starting to thaw out a bit, so the hard work was good to get her blood flowing.

By the time we got back up to the mouth of the cave and climbed out we were all completed exhausted and sweating like crazy.  It was a beautiful sunny warm day, and we had to hike all the way back down to the vehicles.  Thankfully I had a cooler with some water on ice in the back of my truck.  That was the best water I have ever had in my entire life.

All in all it was an amazing experience and I would do it again in a second.  I think next time though, I would like to leave most of my gear behind and just enjoy the adventure without having to do a photo shoot.  The cave is extremely large with numerous passages that you can explore if your not hauling a lot of gear with you.  There are areas that you can rappel down and a long tube called “The Laundry Shute” that sound like it would be a challenge.  If your not claustrophobic and you are looking for an incredible adventure I recommend you contact:

Canmore Caverns (403) 678-8819 or 1-877-317-1178

Technorati Tags: cave,model,photography,canmore,alberta,rat's nest cave,aduro photography

The Auto Show

Every year it comes around and every year I somehow manage to get free tickets, so I go. As a photographer I have brought my camera in the past, but today seemed a little different and I don't know why exactly.

I have been doing a lot of studying in Photography lately. Much more than I typically have done in the past and I realized that I need to push myself more. Too often I try and be fully prepared for every situation, and if I am really a good photographer then I should be able to take a great picture regardless of the situation. So I took my camera, removed the battery grip, and with a single 50mm prime lens headed out. No flash, no tripod, no wide angle or zoom, just the body and my 50mm.

It was more difficult than I anticipated because with all the people crowding around the cars, you can't get far enough away to get much of the vehicle in the shot with a 50mm lens. So I decided that I would have to just make myself focus on the detail and forget about the "big picture". I am REALLY glad I put myself through this exercise because I am very happy about the detail I captured. In fact, I can safely say that this is going to be a much more common process for me. It is amazing what you notice when you are forced to point your attention on the little things in life.

There was an added bonus with the small lens and no battery grip. The camera was much smaller and lighter so my 6-year old, Tony, could use it much easier. In fact he managed to catch the "shutter bug" and kept taking the camera from me and shooting everything. He got a few really cool shots and I am quite impressed with his eye for composition. I guess the apple does not fall that far from the tree.