Mayor Mark Heyck

Mark Heyck, Yellowknife Mayor

Meet Mark Heyck, Yellowknife’s mayor. Mark has replaced retired mayor, Gord Van Tighem, who I photographed and blogged about here last summer. These photos were done on a very chilly April morning just outside of City Hall. And in typical Mark Heyck fashion, he was gracious and pleasant and cool as a cucumber during the shoot, despite the biting wind and below normal temps.

Mark is the head of a rather young City council, many of which are first-timers. He’s has been on council for several years now and served as Deputy Mayor under Van Tighem. Leading a young council in a small city would often lead to more challenging times than not, but Heyck is taking it all in stride, guiding discussion, managing issues and taking note of resident’s concerns. He’s also helping change the face of the City by appearing at – and really supporting – community events. It’s those small details that bridge the gap between City Hall and Citizen, and he’s doing a pretty plum job at that. Not to mention, he’s a super nice guy.

Peter Rice, Summit Helicopters

Peter Rice at the Summit Helicopters hangar.

Here’s a couple shots I took of Peter Rice, one of the great employees at Summit Helicopters (formerly Trinity Helicopters). Peter is being featured in a helicopter magazine – and I actually think it is called Helicopter Magazine, funnily enough – as a “Top 40 under 40″. I’m still not sure if the folks at the publishing place even got these photos because Dropbox and FTP sites seem to be the most complicated way of transferring photos on the planet! Anyway, I hope these pics are published in the magazine because Pete deserves it. He’s a hard working guy who gets along with everyone and gets things done. Congrats on being named Top 40 Under 40 in your field of work!

Francois Paulette

Dene leader and activist, Francois Paulette.

I met Francois Paulette last year, at this photo session, but I had heard of him throughout my few years living in the North. He is a respected Dene elder who has always stood up to big oil, gas and mining development. In the early 1970′s, he was part of the Indian Brotherhood that fought for land claim rights when a potential oil pipeline was proposed for the Northwest Territories. He was a leader then and is a leader now, fighting against the Alberta oilsands that are allegedly polluting the water that flows North along the Athabasca River – a river that many First Nations rely on for drinking water and fish. In recent years, he has met anti-oilsands celebrities like director James Cameron and even took Prince William and Princess Kate on a canoe ride near Yellowknife. But he’s not in it for the PR stunts, he wants to see real change in how the environment is treated. And for that, he is one of Canada’s most respected leaders.

Susan

Susan looking great!

I don’t get too many calls for maternity shoots but just this week I had a couple requests. Well, to answer your question: I do! It’s probably because I’m not the best self-promoter in the world but maybe I should make this more of a priority in the future. Anyway, here’s some shots I did of my friend Susan at the end of another shoot I was doing a few months ago. How awesome does she look!?!? She’s due anytime now and I couldn’t be happier for her and her husband, Byron. All the best to both of you and the latest addition to the family!

My Love/Hate Relationship with the Aurora

Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) seen over Colville Lake in December, 2012. This is one of roughly five aurora photos that I’ve ever taken in my entire life on this planet.

*Note: Please take this post with a grain of salt, it is intended to give you a chuckle more than anything. 

I can’t stand aurora photos. There, I said it. Anyone who knows me well, knows that pictures of those waving green globs of goo drive me up the wall. I’m not exactly sure when it happened, but I know it was sometime shortly after my first few months in Yellowknife. I recall being asked to judge an “Aurora Photo Contest” for some ad agency and they wanted my opinion. At first, I was captivated. What beauty! What glorious angels could harken such lights to appear ‘cross our blissful night sky? I swear that Eros, himself, was playing ten thousand flutes just for me! I looked at another. And then another. And then another. And one more still. And more after that. This continued for over 3 hours and I think Eros and the angels said “Screw it, we’re outta here” because the beauty and wonder was completely and totally lost. At the end of that session, I couldn’t look at another aurora photo – it became unbearable.

Fast forward a few weeks after that, as I was settling into my new job as photo editor at Up Here Magazine, a general interest publication that covers Canada’s Far North. I would often ask photographers for pitches: “Send me some work and your ideas – I’d love to see what you have!” And there it started again. Slowly but surely aurora photos would creep into my emails. Aspiring photographers would show up with portfolios full of aurora photos. And worst of all, during our annual photo contest, my inbox would be absolutely flooded with the unsightly pictures!

Green blobs with trees at the bottom.

Green blobs with trees at the bottom.

Over and over and over again, they continued to pile in.

Wasn’t there anything else in this beautiful, spectacular North that people could photograph? What about the people? The culture? Anything but this godforsaken aurora! And then, after several thousand aurora photos, I became numb. My inner aurora had faded.

***

Roughly seven months ago I decided to try the life of a freelancer. It was time to move on and really challenge myself. So far it’s been a great ride and I’ve worked with some great clients both locally and nationally that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. But the aurora stigma has a way of rearing its ugly head, even when things are hunky-dory because just a few weeks ago I got “The Request”:

“Hi, we really love your work – do you have any aurora photos?”

“Could this really be happening?”, I thought.

“Um, well I do but not very many,” I said.

“Well, we really want to show people what the North is like, and an aurora picture would be perfect,” the voice on the other line said.

“I’ll check my archives and see what I can dig up for you,” I said.

And that was it, my first (and probably last) aurora request from that client. So I guess the joke was on me. For whatever reason, for whatever purpose, those pictures of green goo really resonate with people. It is what the Statue of Liberty is to New York or the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. The aurora is loved around the world, and for that I must step back and graciously accept defeat.

People have asked me if I actually and truly hate the aurora, and my answer is of course not. I guess for me, the magic of the aurora doesn’t happen when I haul out a clunky tripod and fiddle around with my camera and look at it on my computer. Sometimes you just gotta look up, take it all in, and be totally awestruck and happy with where you are in the world.

My Tips for Aurora Photography

• Go outside when the aurora is out
• Stick your camera on a tripod (make sure you have a camera that lets you manually set the shutter speed)
• Point your camera at a bunch of trees and make sure the aurora is above those trees
• Take a 10-30 second exposure as the lights “paint” themselves onto your camera’s sensor
• Be amazed at: A) How cool it looks, and B) How frigging easy that was

2013 Yukon Quest 1,000 Mile International Sled Dog Race

A dog team rests at Braeburn Checkpoint.

A few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to work as alongside my friend Alistair Maitland as the official photo team for the 30th running of the Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race. The race is a long one: 1,000 miles (1,600 kms) that crosses some of the harshest terrain in Alaska and Yukon. To those not very familiar with mushing, you may have heard of the more well-known Iditarod Sled Dog race? Yeah, well, this is the difficult one.

Sometimes called “the toughest sled dog race in the world”, the trail follows the Yukon River between Whitehorse and Fairbanks, alternating directions each year (Fairbanks to Whitehorse in even years). Mushers travel day and night, from checkpoint to checkpoint, over mountains, through overflow, across streams and sometimes surrounded by caribou. When one musher was asked why she did what she does, her answer was simple: “To get away from you people!”, a musher’s way of saying, “to be one with nature.”

For nearly 3 weeks I traveled with the awesome PR team at Outside the Cube based in Whitehorse and helped capture the event as it unfolded. Thanks to all the good people I worked with and met along the trail. I made some great new friends and it was awesome to be part of The Quest Family. I’m not going to post many mushing photos here, but more behind-the-scenes of the places and people that were part of the Yukon Quest. Enjoy!

To see more photos and get updates, visit: www.facebook.com/YukonQuest and www.yukonquest.com.

Workshop: Getting Published

Ever wonder what it takes to get published in magazines and newspapers? How do you get your images from your desktop to the printed page?

Editors look for so much more than a pretty picture when deciding what gets published and what doesn’t: the photographer’s knowledge of the publication, their professionalism and reliability, design needs of the publication, seasonal needs, budget restrictions, the list goes on. The publishing world is a competitive one, and knowing how (and when) to pitch is crucial in getting your work printed. As a photo editor and freelance photographer, I’ve had the rare opportunity to work on both sides of the editor’s desk. Join me in a discussion about the publishing industry and the do’s and don’ts of getting your photography published. In this 2-3 hour discussion, we will talk about:

- “production cycles” and how publications are organized (and why this is incredibly important for you)

- where editors look for photos

- stock vs commissioned work (and how to do both effectively)

- marketing your work and getting noticed

- the “do’s and don’ts” of pitching your work

WHERE: TBA

WHEN: Tuesday, March 12, 2013

COST: $40/person

SIGN-UP: Email me at patkanephoto@arcticmail.com to reserve your spot.

EXTRAS: all participants will receive a free PDF of the discussion for personal reference

A Little Bit About Me

I’m the former staff photographer and photo editor for Up Here Publishing which produces Up Here and Up Here Business magazines – both of which have won a number of national awards during my term, including Canada’s Magazine of the Year in 2010 and 2011. In 2012, I took the leap of setting off on my own to start Pat Kane Photo where I specialize in editorial, documentary and corporate work.

Some of my editorial clients include Maclean’s, Reader’s Digest, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Geographic, Toronto Star, Canadian Business Magazine, Albertaviews, Alberta Venture, Alberta Oil among several others.

I studied print media and photojournalism at the School of Media Studies at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario.