Kyle Thomas

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KyleWith: Photographer Dave Brosha

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Dave Brosha is one of the photographers I have always looked up to. I taught me the basics of photography; knowledge which I use everyday. So why I find he such a great photographer is not only that he is a great photographer, but also that he is willing to teach those who want to learn.

Photo by: Pablo Saravanja

Dave’s adventure started in the Resolute Bay, which is in the Canadian Arctic, where he wanted to started taking picture to showcase to his family back home. His photography slowly progressed and he also moved to Yellowknife, NT. He realized it was a passion and his and wanted to pursue it. He slowly took on clients and built up his name while still having the stability of a 9-to-5 job. Finally he took the plunge one day and quit his job and started doing photography full-time, he hasn’t looked back since.

Nowadays, Dave isn’t limited to Yellowknife, where he and his family lives. He has traveled as far north as Alert, as south Australia and has been to Egypt twice. He has traveled to these places on writing assignments for magazines or to document a friend living an adventure. He makes the point those that he is very fortunate to have the opportunities that he has had.

365 Project / A Year In 5 Minutes from Dave Brosha on Vimeo.

We go much more into detail about how his business grew and where he has been in the show. Dave also shares with me what is in his bag and who inspires him. So be sure to listen.

Be sure to check out his website and his blog and is ever-growing Facebook Page.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to Subscribe on iTunes or by Email here.

Don’t forget if you know someone doing something interesting (or another photographer or yourself) send me their info, I want to talk to them!

Jeep Reflection Photo

Here is something interesting I got. It is the reflection of the Charlie Lake shoreline on the side of my Jeep. I have seen many photographers do this type of photo in the summer in the lake itself. It works really well if water is very still. I should look into the theory behind reflection and the best way to capture them.

Jeep Reflection

Welcome, Mayor of Fort St. John, Lori Ackerman

All across BC multiple elections have been taking place today, November 19, 2011, and I was helping cover the election results right here in Fort St. John.

In my opinion the biggest race in this election was for the role as Mayor. The going out Mayor, Bruce Lantz, has a bit of an uneasy history as Mayor and as he was not going to seek re-elections it became a chance for someone new. So we had Don Irwin and Lori Ackerman, both previous councillors put in their name, along with PRRD resident, but Fort St. John business owner, Mike Murray.

From the start I felt as though this race was going to be closer than people expected, these things normally are. Don and Lori were neck and neck by the end of it, with Murray left in the dust. The final results were Lori 1269 and Don 1209, a close race.

While Lori is a friend, to me it doesn’t matter ultimately who is Mayor, while I’m glad she has gotten the position and I believe she will do amazing, I’m not that up on the politics of this town. People with shun me for not being informed, but I believe I know enough to make an educated vote, but it is definitely not something I am interested.

Regardless of all that, I got this picture below to capture the moment. It is from seconds after Lori was announced the as Mayor. As it was called out Andy, Lori’s husband let out a yell – or more of a yelp – of excitement and relief.

Mayor of Fort St. John Lori Ackerman

I could be College-Approved Social Media Certified!

But I’m not going to! It seems that the Algonquin College over there in Ottawa is try to capitalize off the boom that is social media. In their description of a new program they claim there is a high demand for professionals with Social Media experience. Maybe so, but I certainly don’t think it is worth $1750.00 to become certified in something I already know in and out.

Lately I haven’t been talking a lot about Social Media and admittedly I have lost some klout in the area, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still following it and practicing it. So when I looked at this course – that caused some heated discussion on twitter – that Algonquin College has started offering I was a little annoyed.

When I looked at their course outline I was a little surprised to realize it is exactly the same as what I use for clients and at workshops.

  • Introduction to Social Media – What is Social Media, how is it in our lives today.
  • Developing a Social Media Strategy – Best way to implement it into your business, goals, time mgmt, etc.
  • Monitoring and Measuring – Basic ROR, following the stats, etc.
  • Digital Communications – Etiquette and best practices, it isn’t traditional marketing
  • Applied Social Media in Business – What works best for your Business or Organization.

All of these topics are things that I, myself, have learned over time and things that anyone can learn. I have listened to several Audiobook on Social Media and its Marketing abilities. I also follow many of the big names in the industry, Chris Brogan, Jay Baer, Gary Vee, Amber Mac, Etc. They all offer this information, general free. You aren’t of course going to learn everything from these people, you also have to do it for yourself. See how it works. Use it for your needs, get out there, build relationships, measure what you are doing and learn how to do it better.

Now I’m not claiming I know it all, because I don’t, but I’m constantly learning more. What annoys me about this program and others like it, is that I have worked really hard to gain the knowledge I have in the industry and I work really hard to help others understand it and use it properly, but I don’t have a piece of paper that says that. So I’m put on edge as to how this may affect me in the future. I’m certainly not going to pay $1750 and go through a course that may only teach me a couple little things just so I can say I’m certified. When it comes to Social Media I believe a persons accreditation should be based on their network, those they have worked with and what people say about them.

I’ll be honest, I’m a little threatened about something like this, but I don’t think it will affect me. I am curious about what others who don’t necessarily work directly with Social Media think about programs like this?

There is a new Jeep in the family

I have actually done really well at not letting it slip online that I was making this big decision. I wanted to make sure everything was going to go off without a hitch before really letting anyone know. The time has come though and I’m here to say I did get a new vehicle, I got a new Jeep.

Let me start by telling you that I have been considering buying a new vehicle for about 3 1/2 months and it was tough. I liked my 2001 Grand Cherokee, they are a nice vehicle and I would love to have a brand new one, but they are an expensive vehicle. For the last 6 months the Grand Cherokee had needed some maintenance done to it, which I did and carried on. But in that time I started to lose faith in it. If you know me well, you’ll know that I deal with anxiety with somethings, my vehicle being one of them. To make matters worse, being in Northern BC and having to drive the highway on a semi-regular basis really stirred up my anxiety, so much so that I was convinced I would break down in the middle of know where.

Well something like that almost happened on my way to Edmonton almost two weeks ago. As I was coming into Whitecourt, Ab my Cherokee – lets just say – farted. I was terrified that I was going to be stuck in Whitecourt, but after two hours of consideration on what to do, I continued onto Edmonton. While in Edmonton for the next two days the Cherokee was fine. During that time in Edmonton I made the decision to get a new vehicle. Over a day and a half I narrowed down what type of vehicle I wanted and then I narrowed down where the best deal was.

So here it is, my new Jeep. A 4dr 2011 Jeep Wrangle Sahara Unlimited is what I’m now rolling in. I’m very happy with it and have fulfilled a childhood dream of owning a real Jeep – albeit my dream was a 2dr Yellow TJ. It is solid Flame Red and looks hot. It is not the based package, but also not the extreme Rubicon model. It is perfect for my needs – or at least what I think me needs are. I wanted something that had lots of cargo room, 4×4, towing capabilities and a little higher off the ground so I could go to places like Pink Mountain. I got all that in this rig plus more. It comes with Satellite Radio built-in, voice control and my personal favourite steering wheel controls. Plus, it is standard! It is me. It was also a very good price, one that I’m comfortable with, even though I do not like debt.

Jeep Wrangle Sahara

Jeep Wrangle Sahara

I drove it back from Edmonton and was very content with it. I no longer had this feeling it was going to break down, then even if I did there is warranty. I will admit, I am a little rusty with the stick shift and could do with some more practice when it comes to highway driving, but it will come with time. So! Who wants to go for a ride?