2014 Year in Review

2014 has been an incredible year full of new direction, adventures and faces from all over the world. As many of you know, but some of you still may not, I decided at the start of 2014 to narrow my photography focus to automotive alone. This was in hopes to allow me to better my skills and experience in the automotive field and to allow room to take on more automotive jobs. Reflecting back, I am very happy that I can say I achieved both those goals. I am also very thankful for those around me who helped me get here. I must give my biggest thanks to my wife Kristen, who pushes and challenges me, helps me to overcome many fears, and even helps out on shoots on occasion. I am also so grateful to every one of my clients, those new, and those who have continued to provide work for me over the years and also so grateful to close friends and mentors who have helped me become better in my craft and business.

My goals for 2015 are that I can take my photography to new levels, meet and work with many more new people, collaborate with other artists in Vancouver, print and hang more of my work, and get out to photograph even more automotive creations.

Below is a handful of the work I did over 2014. I will start though, with an intro into this year from 2013. In September 2013 I worked with Mazda Canada to photograph the brand new 2014 Mazda 3 all over Vancouver during the Media Launch events held at the Westin bayshore a week before the car was released. I still have not released many of these photos to the public yet, so check back for a feature on this soon.


In June, 2014 I embarked on a 6 day joint adventure with Mazda Canada, Mazda Australia, and two Aussie journalists in Alaska. I documented an entire road trip from Anchorage to up past the Arctic Circle to the town of Wiseman(pop. 14), and back down to Fairbanks in time for the Midnight Sun Festival in two brand new Mazda 3’s during the longest days of the year. We travelled the stunning Denali Highway, as well as the Dalton Highway, or Haul Road as made famous by the TV show Ice Road Truckers. The main feature for these photos was in a 10 page spread across Australia’s biggest motoring publication, Wheels Magazine, released in September 2014. Much, much more from this to come. The 3 photos below are the first I have released from this trip.


Working with Volkswagen Canada magazine to cover GTI display at the Vancouver International Auto Show.

The Dilawri Groups’s new Audi Downtown Vancouver Dealership Exclusive Grand Opening

A 1964 Porsche 356 SC for Jakobs Porsche Specialists.

Shop photos for RWM & Co

A 1969 Porsche 911 E, and a 1974 Porsche 914-6 for Jakobs Porsche Specialists.

A Mk7 Volkswagen GTI I shot for CTS Turbo


All the marketing shots for Fast Track Karting in Langley.

Alliance Concrete Pumps has been a regular client whom I’ve photographed many trucks for and most recently their own facility where they build the trucks. Many of the shots are used across their websites and catalogues.

I covered a number of completed construction projects for the Maxx Group of Companies including this Esso Station and on The Run.

HPA Motorsports have put out a number of projects this year that I have covered as well. Amongst getting a cover feature of their red Jeep YJ TDI build on 4WDrive magazine earlier in the year, here are a few of the projects I have shots for them this year.

A Jeep Cherokee TDI build

An Audi TT from Hawaii with almost 450HP, one of HPA’s SEMA builds for 2014.

HPA’s 740HP Twin Turbo 3.6L 7 speed DSG Golf R went down to SEMA and won the Best European Import award.

The last of the SEMA builds is one that I have extensively covered for HPA. A Jeep JK to TDI conversion. Over the next few months my photos of this build will be featured in several issues of 4WDrive Magazine.

I also made it to some amazing car events this year that I hope to hit in 2015 as well.

The Knox Mountain Hillclimb in Kelowna

The Leavenworth Drive in Washington

The Italian Car Show in North Vancouver

The Dundarave Porsche Show n’ Ride in West Vancouver. My photos of this event were used in the Porsche Club of America | Canada West Region‘s members newsletter “Timberline” July/Aug. 2014 issue.

The Great Canadian VW Show, look for a magazine feature of this later in January.

And the Classic Car Adventures Thanksgiving Day Sea to Sky Run

2014 was also a great year on the non-business front. Kristen and I moved out of the suburbs and into the city of Vancouver. It’s been a dream of ours from before we got married, and we finally did it last January. We are so happy with the move, and we absolutely love our neighbourhood, love all the new friends we have met, and love being right in the city.

I’ve been working on becoming more experienced with bicycle mechanics and in the process I restored this vintage Apollo bike.

Kristen Graduated from UBC and started a new job!

We did some small roadtrips…

A Bowen Island getaway

A Similkameen Valley wine tasting roadtrip

Cabin time in Barriere, BC

And a very big roadtrip:

All the way down to Carmel, California along the coast, and back up to Vancouver along the coast.

Made it to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, California. Got to see the first public unveiling of the new model Mazda MX-5 Miata, and also got to drive the infamous corkscrew on the raceway.

It has been a really great year. One that we feel we have worked hard towards over the last few years to attain. We are looking forward to 2015 and what it will bring, and what we will make of it!

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Back Alleys and Railways | CTS Turbo’s Mk7 GTI in Vancouver’s Railtown

The new Mk7 GTI is a true hot hatch right out of the box. With this one, Volkswagen seems to have built on the already aggressive design of the mk6 and enhanced that aggression even further with sharper lines and edges. CTS has done a good job of maintaining VW’s intended look, but adding just that bit more, making other new GTI owners stop in their tracks and wonder why their own cars don’t look quite as good. KW Suspension and a custom CTS Turbo exhaust lend a hand in achieving this well tailored look and the Rotiform IND wheels perfect it. It’s almost like they were made specifically for the Mk7 GTI.

British Classics on a Fall Day in Whistler

Before the weather in Vancouver turned to the fall season, I got together with a few friends and took a drive up the Sea to Sky Highway to enjoy our cars before putting them away. After arriving in the village and walking around we stumbled upon a Classic British Car show. I was immediately taken in by all the classic details of these beautiful British sports cars.

A shot of the group stopped near Pemberton

On Canvas | A GMC Sierra in The Mountains of BC

There is nothing better than seeing your own work in print or on canvas. With so much photography staying in the digital world now, it is truly satisfying to have it in print. A client recently had this canvas made of a shot I took of his Dad’s truck while we were exploring the mountains just outside of Barriere, BC. He brought it by recently so I could sign it! It turned out great!

All In The Details | Two Classic Porsches

A photo essay of two classic Porsches focusing in some of the unique details of these specific cars. Pictured below is a 1969 Porsche 911E Targa in Gold Metallic, and a 1974 Porsche 914-6 in black.

Original leather luggage straps



Rare, original key pouch

Tan interior with houndstooth inserts and rare houndstooth inlay on the dash

Original tool kit, and super rare factory travel kit

While on the shoot another 911 joined in for a shot and the owner was nice enough to let me take the car for a spin. It was my first time driving a classic 911, and I must say, it was very different than anything else I had ever been behind the wheel of before. It took some adapting to, but I could definitely get used to it, which is a good thing, because I do hope to own one of these eventually.

The 914-6. The less common of the 914’s offered by Porsche, these came with a proper flat-six instead of the 4 pot like the bulk of the 914’s.

A very interesting detail with these cars, whether you like it or not, is the white headlamp surrounds. These were a defining detail of the 914-6 that the regular 914’s did not come with.