On his conservation work

I’ve always seen my work as supporting conservation. I hope that sharing my images helps people appreciate what’s around them and I like sharing details about the wildlife I photograph. I’m a founding member of Canadian Conservation Photographers Collective that brings together photographers from all over Canada to raise awareness and dollars for conservation issues — to make sure people have a better understanding of the issues that are impacting wildlife. We look for ways to educate about conservation issues and highlight all the challenges facing wildlife in Canada. Sometimes people have a tendency to focus on saving, say, elephants or rhinos, but there are a lot of challenges, obviously, just at home — right in Alberta and all the other provinces and territories.

On ethical wildlife photography

I have learned a lot about animal behaviours. Sometimes you see an animal and realize right away that your presence is not welcome. Maybe it stops and watches you or it moves away from what it was doing. Even though I might have been using a telephoto lens and been shooting from far away, I still have to respect that the animal is disturbed. The Canadian Rockies are very harsh environments to survive in but because life is fairly comfortable for humans, I think we sometimes forget how difficult it is for wildlife around here. Take bears as an example. There is really extreme weather and, unlike on the coast, our bears aren’t feeding off salmon. So there’s not the same abundance of food like a bear might find on the coast. Bears really have to work hard to find enough food to make sure they are strong and can survive. So it’s life or death for them. Wildlife photography is a constant learning curve and I am always learning how to do better.