St. John's Presbyterian Church

I must have passed by this little church in downtown Medicine Hat countless times in my life without ever giving it a second glance.  What I hadn't realized was that St. John's was actually one of the first churches in Southern Alberta, when the Hat was nothing more than a tent town.  In 1883 the church was merely a tent itself, and in 1884 a wooden structure was built that also served as the town's school.  It was in 1902 that St. John's was rebuilt out of brick, with sandstone blocks around its foundation.

Walking around the church it becomes clear how long St. John's Presbyterian has actually been here.  It's not because it's in bad shape, but because of the decades old graffiti left on those sandstone blocks.  I captured a few noticeable carvings, one dated from 1923, the other from 1941. It was fascinating to discover that human element attached to the building, even if it was technically from vandals.

St. John's underwent an expansion in the early 1950s, and again in the 1960s, which changed the appearance of the building with a new entrance and hall.  The building now features turn of the century classic architecture mixed with post-war modernism.  As the oldest church in Medicine Hat, St. John's is so much more than just another building, it's really a history lesson in the growth of the city and the evolution of downtown. 

St. John's Presbyterian Church ca. 1910

When My Career Took Off (Literally)

Just a couple of days after starting work at Stream Media in June of 2008, my boss asked me if I wanted to accompany her on a helicopter ride to shoot aerial images of the city. Considering that just a few months before this I had been stressing myself out about how bleak I expected my post-university career options to be, this was the start of what only continued to be a series of 'I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this' moments with Stream.   

Agreeing to the helicopter ride was a no-brainer for three reasons.  One, I'd never flown in a helicopter before (let alone one with the doors removed so that we'd have an unobstructed view).  Two, I knew it would be a memorable experience and allow me to see the city I grew up in in a way I never had before.  And three, when would I ever get a more opportune time to joke, "look I can see my house from here" and actually mean it? I even found a screencap of us flying over the place I live now.  

Barb shot video and I shot stills. We hovered around Medicine Hat capturing different landmarks, development projects, and athletic facilities - really anything that we thought existing or potential clients might want to use in future projects. Needless to say, the views were awesome and surreal.




On one hand it was just a helicopter ride, but on the other, it marked a promising start to my life out of film school.  Professionally my work only continued to improve from there.  Although it's tough to beat a helicopter ride after only a few days on the job, the work continues to be unpredictable and spontaneous - if not still occasionally nerve-racking.  But, how's that for a symbolic start?

Good Night

Sleep rarely seems like a priority until first thing in the morning.  When I'm working and feeling productive, sleep isn't on my mind until I realize that I haven't left near enough time for it. So goes the circle of my routine.

When I moved into my new place in 2010 I upgraded everything in my bedroom to make it the perfect rest zone.  A new bed frame, mattress, lamps, alarm clock/sleep machine, and even 600 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets were all crossed off my wishlist.  And when I sleep, I sleep well.  Getting into my bed at a reasonable hour has still alluded me however.

Schedule is one thing.  Sometimes staying up late is the only way I find personal time to edit my own work, or blog, or just chill out.  Depending on what's going on between my jobs, sometimes I procrastinate just to trick myself into feeling balanced only to overwhelm myself later.

I've had this discussion many times in the past and what I've come to learn about myself is that I'm creative in spurts.  When the mood strikes me I can get a weeks worth of editing done over a weekend, but if it's constantly regulated and scheduled I freeze up.  It really is a dilemma for me to choose between getting more sleep or sacrificing what have almost always been the most productive hours of my day.  

And so I'm always left questioning how can I make this work?