2026 Year Photos
Word : REFLECT

DAY 139

Lessons in Cam and Tone

Pushing our advance Cinematography class into another in class assignment. Here I get the students to understand camera operation more and creating emotional tonality.

Creating frames with purpose is an important skill for these filmmakers to understand and build on to create more dynamic visual art in their stories.

DAY 138

Deep Yard Revamp

The days are finally warmer here and we are back to attacking our side front yard section.

Last year, we had a row of old decaying smaller trees along this fence line, so we cut them down and fought the stumps out. 

This year, utilizing more rental yard tools, we are finally clearing out the weeds and spotty grass to create a nicer side entry to our driveway.

DAY 137

Our daughters BDay

We now have a 5 year old running around our house. How time flies.

Our daughter Adalynn has grown so much and her personality has really blossomed in the past 2 years. 

She has a strong personality and knows what she wants. She keeps us on our toes, and though it can be challenging connecting with her, it’s great to see her stand for what she believes in. 

She is a sweet soul with a fire that pushes on her passions. 

DAY 136

Fam Dance Party

Finding ways to entertain our kiddos and some family dance party is the best to both connect with them and burn off a little fat.

Lately we have been introducing line dances to our daughter who is enjoying doing the dances and we enjoy getting back into some fun teaching them a little of our own past when we enjoyed these songs at family get togethers and clubs.

So just dance home fun.

DAY 135

Simplistic Organization

With two kiddos, a dog and ourselves and our busy daily lives, I have to appreciate these simple organizational finds that my wife catches. 

These stylish hooks add some control to our daily messes but also has a nice asthetic feel that doesn’t stand out as an eye soar. 

Appreicating the little things.

DAY 134

Lessons on the Jib

So a few of my past students wanted to come by and understand and learn the jib for a small project of theirs.

They came by and learned how to build up the jib and balance it for different camera rigs.

An enjoyable thing I like to do and give some assistance and my experience to others when I can.

DAY 133

He’s on the move.

Our son has been really building his strength and pulls up. It’s amazing how quickly is strength has built and at just 10months old, he is more on the move than our daughter was at this age.

What an explorer he is becoming.  

DAY 132

Dental Cleaning Visit

Well another good bi-yearly check up with my dentist. Nothing really much to report here, just adding to my daily world.

To be honest, I use to be bad with my dental visits, but after a couple of major root canals in the past, focusing on my dental health became a bigger place to keep up.

DAY 131

Here is a typical site in our mornings in our house. Our son in the stroller and our daughters backpack in tow under the stroller.

It has become a nice morning walk and afternoon walk. Sometimes it can be a bit much handling both of them and our dog, but as the routine becomes more consistent, the easier it becomes.

Plus all of these memories will soon just be that, memories, so cherishing what we can. Even the little things,

DAY 130

Mothers Day

A beautiful day that thanks all of the hard working mothers out there who have kept us all fed, entertained and just plain in good health.

Here my daughter made my wife Meghan a mothers day card and I put together a simple breakfast for us to enjoy. 

But from scratch, it’s always more tasteful and filled with love.

Thank you for all you do for our family Meghan.

DAY 129

Yard Clean Up

Well its the start of the Mothers Day Weekend and the request was to put a bit of elbow grease in our backyard. 

It for sure needed to be done and for the Mothers Day weekend, we finally started to really have a weekend of good weather for a couple of days straight.

So tackle we did. 

It’s also quite mentally soothing to clean up our own physical space and get small projects like clean up done. So more room physically and more room mentally to take on the new week.

DAY 128

Bus to Car Repair

It’s nice when we live in a city that has alot of transit support. One of our cars needed to go into maintenance checks.

So my daughter loves transit and wanted to go with me to pick up the ride when they called that it was done in the late afternoon.

I do like working on cars, but with a busy schedule and the attention of our kiddos, can’t always get under the hood to work on it.

Transfit for the win for easy pick ups.

DAY 127

Green Screen learning

Well into the new school building and teaching this next round of students about green screen and lighting it and balance.

Gets pretty techy in the class at this point, but as usual I like to have the class build the system and understand how to connect the technical to the hands-on know how. It really solidifies and understanding when the student can connect what we are talking about to visual tangeable components.

DAY 126

Bloody Nose

Well, after a lost voice, then the nose decided to act up. And it acted up all week.

Almost every 2 hours I was gushing blood. Great. It has finally subsided but talk about a challenging mishap. 

No temperture, no other symptoms, just the wonderful nose decided to run red.

Red is my favourite colour, but not in this way. 

DAY 125

Voice Loss Tea

Over the weekend I had lost my voice. Which for an extrovert such as myself that is a challenge to stick to tea, honey and keeping my mouth shut.

By this time, I had been drinking all of that for about a day.

Today I also had a class to teach. I actually was able to talk to the class okay, with a bit of a modified voice and thankfully my TA helped cover the details of each topic.

Thanks for tea and honey for a nice home remedy for voice issues.

DAY 124

May da 4th Be With You

Star Wars day. Each year it always fun to see what everyone posts on social media to get into the nerd of Star Wars and how it’s grown even more with social media.

We had this outfit for our daughter years ago and now fits our young Linc to keep the Yoda outfit alive once more in the family.

DAY 123

Uhaul to Cottage

The family cottage is getting a bit of facelift in Muskoka and many large items needed to go back in. 

My inlaws tapped my shoulder and I brought my good friend Daryl to come out and get these large items from Toronto to the Muskoka cottage hangout.

The day was nice to us with the weather and it’s always fun to come and see the cottage at the start of the season and see it getting ready for a wonderful summer to come of family and friend hangs.

DAY 122

48 hr filming with friends

So the 48 hour film project has added these earlier events lately and a good director friend whom I haven’t collabed with in a long while gave me a call.

To be able to film with an old friend again is always a welcome regardless of the project. Especially with a director that we both are on the same vision path.

A wonderful collab with my good director friend Dave and the whole crew that came together.

DAY 121

Battery Testing

These fairly new portable batteries are becoming more and more common on sets replacing gas powered generators. 

But the problem I was having with them was the ability to run high power lights, such as my HMI 1.2K and 800. 

Since we were prepping for a project at night on an indie project, I decided to go with 800W on the system and was surprised to see it power it for a descent amount of time. 

DAY 119

Tools in the Corner

I was catching up with a fellow DP friend of mine and we were talking about our upcoming projects. Chatted about our usual catch ups then got into gear and what we were using and looking to rent.

He brought up that they needed to utilize a small slider and nothing big and something to handle a smaller cam.

Funny, I forget sometimes what tools I still own but at that moment remembered in the corner of my gear storage was an old 4FT slider that I rarely use. But that he was more than open to utilize.

Funny how sometimes just getting a moment to catch up with fellow DPs can be beneficial of helping each other out at the right time in need.

DAY 118

Pushing the High End

This term I am teaching Cine3 and we have reached the part of the class where I am going to really push the culmination camera and lighting as one to the students.

But also really get them to start thinking beyond the tech and getting into the tone of why we capture what we capture and how it conveys through imagery.

Deeper meaning for my more advanced class.

DAY 117

Middle of post

Post work is always something I found myself in over the years. And lately it’s not as common since I moved to Toronto, but I still enjoy it. 

When I first started my career in the media industry back in 2004, learning to do post work was essential. It started to create my vision behind a camera to be more purposeful.

Now that I have transitioned to Director of Photography, understanding the purpose behind every frame and choice is becoming more and more clear and needed. So doing post is very helpful.

DAY 116

Premiere Docuseries : Hidden Horrors

Here is a project I collaborated with a couple of directors, Cassidy and Shauna, who are the team leads of Sage Sky Productions. 

And this project, Hidden Horrors, is a wonderful docuseries that dives into the horrors of women who have been through varying dramatic life changing abuse.

This was the premiere to watch the whole series in a theater setting and there was a nice group of supporters to come and witness the premiere of the whole teams effort.

DAY 115

Birthday Creation Consideration

We were going to an extended family birthday and my daughter insisted she make a custom card for the special birthday person.

It’s amazing when she gets into a mindset of creation and giving back to keep people smiling. Its a glimpse in her future self, a creative and caring person.

DAY 114

Cherry Blossom season

Near our home at the Botanical Gardens are these layouts of Cherry Blossom trees that bloom for a few weeks during this time. 

Went for a small family venture to visit the trees before the season end and see them at their end of their bloom. 

Most had already started to release these beautiful leaves. But what was a wonderful day to get out and enjoy them.

DAY 113

Lighting Basics

First term students getting into lighting basics. Leraning about 3 point lighting. 

As a new term begins for the spring, I am still working out how to teach the old school basics in a new school diggs. 

The spaces are a bit smaller than the previous studios but the students are still able to learn together and make small space collaborations with their fellow colleagues work.

DAY 112

Swap tires for Warmer days

Well the warmer days are finally here in Toronto. And time to swap those tires.

I’ve always been a fan of working on cars a bit. So owning my own tools and working on the cars can be therapeutic at times. 

There are times I don’t care to do, but also, for something as simple as changing out the tires, I also don’t want to wait in lines or waiting rooms for such an easy request.

Thank my dad for putting tools in my hands in front of a car. A little gear head in my soul.

DAY 111

New play pen area

So our little guy is now more on the move along with our 4(almost 5) year old. 

And the house became a huge play hazard. Okay it’s a fun jungle for them, but once your foot and the smallest of toys parts gets under the foot … its a hazard.

So to help with keeping the toys contained, we brought in this large play pen area. 

Also helps to keep the dog off of them when they just want personal play time.

Hey there is a zipper if they want out … 😉

DAY 110

On to the Sippy Cup

My wife has gone back to work off of mat-leave and our little guy has started to add a few bites of regular food to his diet. But he still need the milk provided by my wife’s system.

But for a good while he wouldn’t drink the milk. Just pushed it away from standard bottles. We tried a straw and using spoons. Nothing really was acceptable for him.

But I noticed he liked drinking from our regular glasses. A mess for sure. But progress. Enter the sippy cup.

And today, was a win. He drank it all. Yay.

DAY 109

Big Lights Demo

The crew behind Gaffers Salon and a collab with the Canadian Society of Cinematographers put together this lighting demo at SunBelt in Toronto.

Great to compare some of the new larger LED lights vs the tried and true large hot lights in the industry. 

Additionally, these little breaks from being on set and gathering a group of like minded filmmakers gives another opportunity to connect with those we know and meet new faces in the game.

Wonderful gathering of creatives.

DAY 108

Zumbini

So my daughter’s dance class instructors also offer a Zumbini class. And since little man has been interested in participating in activities. We are giving this a try for him.

Honestly has been quite good. 2 classes in, and we also found it both entertaining for our little toddler but also a bit of excersize for the parents. We get little of that time for ourselves, so we are game for little overall wins like that for everyone.

Gotta stay active with kiddos.

DAY 107

Cheerios for the Win

Those of you who have children can relate to the cheerios win.

Those of you without children, Cheerios are a great tool for kiddos.

They are both nutritious and calming for many toddlers who go into fuss mode. Plus it works on their dexterity.

Our little guy loves Cheerios.
Thank goodness.

DAY 106

Early Foggy Train

With my new school teaching schedule where I teach part time for the Toronto Film School, I now have to go into the city much earlier. 

The fog rolled in and with the early morning and just the practical lights illuminating the environment, it offered this wonderful moment with the train coming in.

Love a good natural atmospheric timing when I have a camera ready in my hand. 

DAY 105

Business After 5

Ive been apart of this community for a little while, but have been absent from the events. Life as it is always changing and realigning my schedule.

But now I want to get back in, reconnect with the community and find ways to make my networking with the community known once again and get back up as a reliable business for my locals in Burlington.

DAY 104

City Broll Pick Ups

Going guerilla filming for an indie project we shot a few weeks ago. 

I met with the director Laila to find the right type of footage to go along with our edit. And we needed city shots. 

Perusing the stock imagery just wasn’t hitting the right notes, so met up to film the right angles and tone we were aiming to align with the picture edit.

Plus it’s just more fun to film your own stuff than to rely on other’s images or AI to create what you need.

DAY 103

Ribs on the BBQ

The beautiful days are finally here this year and we were in the mood for some slow cooked ribs.

With the rising costs of everything these days in this economy, buying meat for sale and putting them into the freezer until you are ready to cook is a sure way of saving money and creating the meals you want.

Plus, slow cooked easy meals are some of the best, especially on the grill.

DAY 102

Fun with Exposure

It was a laid back day. And then my daughter started playing with these little LED finger rings.

And I wanted to capture her fun with them. Then wanted to show her how much fun it was to light write.

Here I put down my camera on a foot stool and set it for a nice long exposure to capture her little movement. The neat thing to see how lights when they merged even showed the combination of the colours through light.

Red + Blue = a hint of Purple.

Fun.

DAY 101

Vegan Donuts

Yes the donuts were half eaten before the photo, but had to test before I made a post about it.

We were all in the mood for sweets. We found a place called Bloomer’s Burlington close to us. 

They did not disappoint.

My wife has been feeding our new born naturally and his body reacts to her having food made with dairy, so we have improvised to different foods that steer away from dairy.

I typically don’t like a lot of Vegan dishes, but if a vegan chef finds the right flavour combos with other trickery, I am all for it.

DAY 100

Game Time Social Fam Hang

We hit a point where we had no more energy to cook and handle being in the house, so my wife and I decided let’s have a little energy fun.

Our daughter loves these game places and it was step away from the normal cooked home food for a second. Burning a bit of funds to enjoy a bit of fun.

Worth it for the family bonding and fun for a night.

DAY 099

New Classroom Gear Adjusts

Well my second day at the new school location for Toronto Film School and the gear in the classrooms were quite a mess for teaching and working sets.

So myself and my TA, Dom, took a look and assited our equipment team with re-arranging the room that was a better layout for class teaching 20+ students.

Feels good to stretch with some organization.

DAY 098

Poor Sick Kiddo

When the kids get sick it’s a full day watch and no sleep.

I already don’t sleep much with trying to balance the world of our industry plus the kiddos. It’s a challenge but for sure will be wonderful memories down the road.

For anyone wanting to take on kiddos in their lives, be mindful it is no cake walk. But also has it’s soul rewarding benefits.

I’ve adjusted my mindset with my 2 kiddos and when they get sick, it’s a different mindset to make everything work for them.

DAY 097

Toronto Film School Moved

I am back for another term to teach cinematography students and the school has moved from their old location to this new merged spot with YorkvilleUniversity under one roof.

Took a moment to walk around and get a lay of the land. But after we are now in process to figure out the new processes with gear to teach and moving around the other classes.

Adjustments are both fun and challenging. For the instructors and the students.

New space looks good. just tight.

DAY 096

The Result of the Eggxperiment

So after 48 hours our daughter and I checked on this little egg experiment.

And success, the eggs became bounce, colourful and half fragile. 

After a few laughs and bounces, it became a very wet and sticky mess. But it was a good fun experienct and science project for her.

I look forward to them as she grows older. I grew up loving these fun science projects and having a fun result.

DAY 095

Easter Egg Hiding

Being Easter and kid tradition to hide eggs full of candy. 

Interestingly, looking up the notion of hiding eggs came from the 16th century tradition of hiding eggs. It use to symbolize the new birth of crist and people looking for that new birth. 

There is another idea behind the fact that eggs were forbidden and hard boiling eggs and hiding them was a way for the people to be able to still enjoy them.

Well, whatever the reason, finding candy filled eggs is also just plain fun for our daughter.

DAY 094

Eggxperiment

My daughter fell in love with watching science shows, which is awesome. I grew up loving science projects. Change of path and life, I didn’t stick to science and went into the arts.

Great to see my daughter merging science and arts.

Here we have an egg project to make a bouncy egg. And with Easter around the corner, she wanted them coloured.

Has to sit for 24-48 hrs, so stay tune.

DAY 093

Line Dance in the Kitchen

Needed to burn off some energy with our kiddos and then our daughter asked us to dance.

Then the idea of playing some old line dancing songs.

My wife and I became really connected when we lived in Texas and dance the two-step and a big part of country dancing, line dances. Copperhead Road by Steve Earle was a huge play back almost every hour then.

Fun to share a bit of our young past to our kiddos.

DAY 092

Botanical OZ

So the Botanical Gardens in Burlington created the world of OZ.

Amazing how the floral creators brought the world of the OZ to fruition through their designs. A very neat display that brought a descent crowd to the location.

It was a mom and dad day out with our littlest one and he enjoyed seeing the sights, especially the recreated monkeys. 

Creativity like this is always awe inspiring.

DAY 091

NASA Launch to the Moon

At first I thought it was an April Fool, but watching all of the news channels it was definitely happening.

The Artemis II Launched.

Not since 1970s NASA landed on the moon and 2011 since NASA launched a shuttle with humans.

So the Artemis II has alot of goals on the team’s shoulders. 3 Americans, 1 Canadian who are 3 men and 1 woman. 

We will be watching to see if they can reach their goals in space.

DAY 089

Solo day with Kiddos

My wife is now back to work part time after her mat-leave, so first full day of me and the kiddos. 

Thankfully, it was a nice transition they gave me. A little morning play, some laughters, some breakfast and then getting on the gear to hit the road to school.

I have to appreciate my wife prepping the kiddos with this routine and though at times it doesn’t always run smooth, I am happy the first day of my wife back to work went smooth solo sailing for me.

DAY 088

Crew Filming Outside

Short films allow us to keep creating new stories more often.

Wins and losses. Win, enjoying the film process and working with wonderful crew members to make a story come through. Lose, only able to be with your wonderful crew creating the story and imagery for a short period of time.

As a director of photography, I cherish my team coming together to help create the visual compositions of the story with me and get more done within a projects alotted time.

Creating alone allows personal growth and creativity but working with a team opens up new creative avenues that allows the vision to grow farther than a solo imagination.

DAY 087

Gear Prep and Pack

The beginning of the weekend was testing the gear and prepping it for the next day project. 

People forget when working smaller indie projects that its just a couple of people or 1 person packing and testing all of the gear to bring to the team for the shoot, even for a planned out short film.

I love having a team and a story that has something to say.

And for that, I love having the gear that lets my visual side of the story shine. So a 2 car package is what I push for.

DAY 086

Borrowing more gear

Supporting our local rental houses is always a great way to keep the industry busy. Can’t own it all.

Picture Perfect Packages are close to me on the West side of Toronto and the team there have always been helpful and provide the right gear for my projects at hand.

I say own the gear you know you will use all the time and rent the gear that you only need every so often. Keeps you above and not chasing gear but offers you the ability to still get the latest gear with little cost.

DAY 085

Switching Storage

Today is moving day out of our current storage and into a more modernized one.

With all of the gear, having storage is essential for not cluttering the home.

This was a drive up unit, we will miss that, but customer service for me goes a long way. This particular one really fell flat on making our experience with them positive, they were nice at times, but didn’t follow up with any issues we had ran into nor offered to adjust things when requests were put in but no action after a month. 

So off to green pastures they say for our storage needs. New place so far is promising.

DAY 084

Student Film Showcase

This is the Winter Student Film Showcase at HotDocs Cinema in Toronto. 

This was the first time I had taken step out to see the students who are graduating and showcasing their exit films from the Toronto Film School. And that is because they are finally students that I was a stepping stone in their growth to this point. 

It was wonderful to see how well they did and how the venue worked out for the students.

I will be pushing to go more now that my first set of students have finally showcased. And look forward to seeing more of my students showcase some wonderful work in the future.

DAY 083

Lighting Diagram with Gaffer

I had a sit down digital chat with my gaffer (my lighting technician) for an upcoming small project to go over the lighting plan and an adjustments before our shoot coming up. 

I love doing these clean diagrams so that once my gaffer and I  have finished making our plan of action, the team assisting and our director and producers know where we are going with the builds.

These diagrams and our pre-producation discussions help us be much smoother on film days and jump day hurdle issues much easier.

DAY 082

Elevate Easy Dinner

Having just returned from Spring Break, we had not replenished groceries or want to spend any dinner money.

But with these in our pantry, my wife had the idea of let’s try to elevate Ramen.

Honestly looking up recipes and techniques, we like this first attempt at elevating Ramen. From adding chicken to seperating the egg yolk, we are game to do that again for an easy but elevated dinner.

DAY 081

Leaving Texas and Family

Our spring break trip is over and we are leaving the heat of TX to head back to the colder air of Toronto.

Bittersweet for sure. In one hand, a bit too much heat, but will miss the family and wathcing out daughter enjoy her cousins hang. In the other hand, back to the bitter cold but can’t wait to get back to work and our own beds.

Travel is a great time and a wonderful enjoyment for our kids to experience.

DAY 080

Merging Families

Yes this is an array of trays with Filipino and Southern cuisines. But it is also a celebration of merging of families.

Here we are celebrating the merge of my youngest sister and her man taking the next step in merging families with their engagement party.

It was a good time learning more about his family background and connecting with others.

Lots of laughs and full bellies.

DAY 079

Searching for Bluebonnets

The family is all together from all parts of the continent and we had this idea of taking photos with the Texas Bluebonnets, flowers that begin to bloom during this time.

Unfortunately didn’t really find a large patch of them, but did run into this tree which had a label on it.

Zanthoxylum Clava-Herculis (Toothache Tree). Amazing what you find on a hike in nature and ways to create interesting natural designs.

The hike was just a nice outside mini adventure for the family, regardless of our original goal.

DAY 078

Bday number 5

My neice Sofia had her 5th bday. Wonderful to finally be in the city with the whole family and celebrate her actual bday with her.

Not all of the time we are able to sit and have these bday moments with family and the growing neices and nephews since we all live in different parts of the continent. 

These moments are wonderful to be apart of the history of their growth and see the young cousins enjoy their fun child life together.

DAY 077

Fort Worth Stock Yards

This place in Dallas Texas is the epitome of the old west and southern historical blimpse of life.

The whole family is back together from the corners of the continent and we collectively visited the historical area.

The heat started to kick in and so did all of the hoofs and cobblestones.

Taking these group hangouts area is a wonderful way of bonding with the family along with some educational history learning for the kids.

Love visiting places and showing our kiddos new experiences outside of the screens and in person.

DAY 076

Weather to play ball

The weather in the southern states have begun to come into a good space of good weather to get out and play some ball.

Here my daughter playing some soccer with her cousins.

Wonderful to see our daughter playing soccer with her cousins and enjoying her spring break.

To the Texans, it’s cold, but to us northerners … its a beautiful time to be outside.

DAY 075

Visiting my pops

So the family here took a more relaxed day, and went to visit our pops.

It’s been 17 years since we lost my parents, and visiting his burial space, I always think about how much life has changed. 

I of course miss my parents, but have come to cope and accept life where we all have landed. 

Visiting family burials is a reminder that life isn’t a space to let pass, to enjoy the life you are on and take the right risks for your personal happiness when you can.

DAY 074

Merge of True Family Meals

Yes its just a plain photo of food. But to me, this is a plate of just merge of families. From my Filipino family dish, Palabok, Mexican family dish, Guisado, and fresh tortillas and rice, this is the food of heart and home.

It’s really the simpliest things that brings back the hard hits to the heart and biggest smiles.

Never look beyond the simple things, as they don’t always last and brings some of the best memories.

DAY 073

Balloon Build for family Bdays

We are in Texas celebrating my neice and nephew’s joint bday. Alot of work the family put together to make the party a success, from the decor to the food.

Working as a team is always a great way to make little time turn into major progress. 

And good times with family is a great refueling of the mind and soul.

First day visiting family down with a good bang.

DAY 072

Lincs First Flight

Flight out of Toronto to visit family in Texas. And also first flight for our son Linc.

It was a trialing day, not because of the kiddos getting on flight, but because our flight had electrical issues that stranded the whole plan on the runway for additional 3 hours before finally heading out. 

Proud of our kiddos handling the long hangout in this packed plane and also thankfully for my wife for packing all of our snacks that came in clutch.

Just to show, always great to be just a bit over prepared. Never know.

DAY 071

Final studio days

The final test day for the students as well as the final days of the school at this campus before moving. 

It’s a new beginning and step for everyone, from the students moving forward and a fresh start move for the school.

I enjoy putting these students through the paces and creating situations where they put their skills into more test to lock in the learnings. 

Ready to move forward.

DAY 070

Toronto Aquarium Adventure

My daughter likes to call them adventures. And why not, we get out as a family, do a day trip and get into some fun. It was also the first time our son took the train in with us to Toronto.

I’ve been looking forward to this little family day trip to see the underwater creatures. Museums are great, but for a child under 5, moving animals are much more exciting. The Toronto Aquarium did not disappoint.

Some days you just have to enjoy the city you are in and explore.

DAY 069

Cam Lock Connects

High end power. When it comes to looking at these components safety is the first thing that comes to mind.

Today was the last day with our first term students and I am proud that we pushed safety throughout the whole term and pushed so hard that the students started to repeat our words and even do the “we know” look and laughs. That shows it slowly becoming second nature.

In our field, power and safety are things that we need at the front. Power for our lights and cameras, and safety around protecting those components to do our work is very important to keep moving and keep from anyone getting hurt.

Safety first.

DAY 068

Warm Touch

The warmth is finally kicking in here in Toronto and my son’s has yet to feel that warmth. But he is ready.

What new opportunities will come as the Spring and Summer start to kick in. That’s what I am thinking of these days. The cold months were okay, but time to find the grind for the warmer days to come. Both for family and for projects.

Time to shift the wardrobe around.

DAY 067

Hello Friends Chalk

It’s finally getting warm out, the snow has melted and the family wanted to go for a walk around our neighbourhood. 

On our long walk, we came across this nicely written message. It put a smile on my face to know we have a neighbourhood that exudes positivity. Giving a good sense of safety and security in among the neighbours.

Thanks to the ones who wrote this message and had our family pause to reflect on the deeper meaning of this simple phrase.

Hello friends.

 DAY 066

Christmas Lights Finally Down

Toronto’s cold air and shovels of snow really took out removing lights for quite sometime. 

But now that weather has warmed up above 5C for longer than a day, we finally had the opportunity to take down the lights.

A new change in the air offers a mindset of things looking clear and good for the next month.

DAY 065

Filipino Festival Opening

This is the SineFest, creative showcases of Filipino stories by filmmakers.

Coming into my filipino heritage more is great. I have been so far apart from the heritage since my parents have passed, that Ive longed for being part, being filipino and having the culture in my life.

The SineFest events, groups, mix/mingle and participants have all been great to connect with and feel like I am among my tribe.

Thank you SineFest for bringing culture back in my life.

DAY 064

Filipino Cinematographers Panel

Being invited to be apart of a panel of Filipino visual creators is definitely a great feeling of accomplishment. Having others respect our work and being among our fellow cultural creatives is something I never thought we be a space I would be apart of.

Yet here I am sitting next to other Filipino creatives respecting each others work and enjoying understanding each others journey and values as creative BIPOC filmmakers.

Just proud to be among them in this space giving back knowledge to other creators in the room.

DAY 063

First Grill of Year

Great to get the weather coming up to zero, which open the opportunity to grill finally. 

Weather changes have been quite intense in the negatives here and this moment of deciding to grill in the descent bearable cold means things are turning up.

I need to remember that with warmer months, comes more hard work. So I need to also prep myself more now that we are almost a quarter into the year.

DAY 062

Students falling into Film

Here one of my students, Gabrielle, wanted to take my camera to test and play with. She took a photo of another student holding her film photo camera here, the Minolta XG-1, a common starter 35mm film camera for students and beginners.

Watching my students step back into the old style of 35mm film cameras, is as well inspiring myself to dust off my old film camera and start getting back into the system of processing and thoughtful imagery.

Though I have grown to be very thoughtful in my images as a director of photography, stepping back into the film end would open a new dynamic of think before record.

DAY 061

Purple Lite Bridge Builds

Here my daughter wanted to build bridges with marshmellows and toothpicks, and knows I have coloured lights and asked for a purple light.

Her creativity can be boundless at this age and it’s amazing her ideas she has with taking some of the materials at home to create. 

Building a bridge is interesting, has more than just fun underststanding of bridges, but also showcases balance thinking and geometry. 

She inspires me often with her ideas and creative pushes at times and this is one of those times.

DAY 060

Scouting Tools and Importance

I love scouting on new projects. Really get to put the pre-production chats into motion and see what is practically feasible. 

Also opens up the creative angles and what other avenues we didn’t see in our discussion in preproduction for a project.

Aside from seeing the angles and what would work for the story and creativity, I bring along a few tools. 

Yes I still write down my notes, and then I utilize many apps from SunSeeker to Cadrage to see how the angles and lens choices would work for the directors vision. Also include my light meter for some moments to see how the light flies into a room practically.

Scouting is a great way to see how it all would come together before the film day. Less stress and pushes around the creativity ball more. 

DAY 058

Colour In the Lines Dad

So my daughter wanted me to sit with her and have some colour time. Honestly one of the things we both enjoy. 

It’s both creative and connecting with her. 

She has so much passion for colouring and crafts, that she taught me to step back and enjoy the creative process from the basics. To get back in the lines and stretch even the simple creative world of colours and make them pop on paper.

Plus, it’s time with my little girl.

DAY 057

Slide Focus Limits

As we come close to the end of the term with these students, I start to really open up the floor for creative builds.

Here we are learning about focus pulling and I added in a track dolly to give the students a bit more of a challenge learning how to follow a subject and keep them in focus.

It’s wonderful to see these students take the lessons we have taught them and keep pushing the limits with me.

DAY 056

In the cave editing

Having done a few projects in the past couple of weeks and then being slow. I have opted to get back to editing for some projects.

So here I am doing some standard post editing and some colour adjustments.

Understanding the field from many different angles, makes me respect the different ways we go about our work in this industry. I have bounced around from being a cam op, to a bit of producing pre-pro and then post work. 

It opens my mind more creatively on what I can achieve and what is achievalbe when you have had experiences that stretch.

DAY 055

Lane Testing Lights

So I like these lane layouts for multiple testing of lighting with the students. It really teaches each of them to work in small spaces.

These are the challenges and tests I like to push the students into. Practical testing is something I feel really solidifies all of the learnings into the mind.

These are the first term students, and into the fire they went and honestly though a few frustrated moments, they all did a good job finishing the test. For sure more to learn, but now those bits of frustration will start to lock in their minds.

DAY 054

Ride the Snow

So the snow is still here and my daughter wanted to enjoy it still with her friends after school.

Taking this moment with the family, my wife, son and dog also came along, gives us a sense of just living life.

Something I forget sometimes. With all of the busy things we do as adults and the many things we do to support our careers and our families … I forget that sometimes, you just have to go and ride the snow.

These are the moments of memories that last a long time and just fill your mental cup with the joy of life and simplicity.

DAY 053

Workshop Cinematography Teaching

Here I am another workshop lesson for indie filmmakers at the Toronto LIFT facility. 

This workshop is honestly one of my favs to facilitate. Because I am able to yes talk about tech, but to deep dive into a new mindset of psychology. Something many people who are in filmaking and cameras tend to forget.

Yes there is some thought behind it, but when you really dive into the why, you can find other potentials that you didn’t see before. Stepping away from the tech creates that world and its beautiful to share that mindset avenue to other filmmakers to think about.

DAY 052

Steadi Practice Hang

Here I met with one of my students to go over learning about the steadicam basics. And though I am not a full steadicam operator myself, I have the tools to provide learnings for us all.

Sharing gear and knowledge is a great way for helping everyone level up in their own pathway.

For myself a good time to practice the steadicam more and to help others reach new levels that also help myself try out new levels.

Its a receprical learning for all and makes it fun for everyone.

DAY 051

Paint Needs Prep

So I was tasked to paint our front entry closet, and I went to work.

Now be it, just to paint our project we haven’t had the time to finish. 

But I jumped right in with out getting back into the prep. It looks okay, but without the pre-prep, has a few bumps and points that need some additional cleanup.

Time for details are important and ensuring the base of any project is solid is more key then getting the finishing the task. And at times I forget that and add more work for myself later.

So I’ll be back at the task, but will work on my pre-prep even more in the future.

DAY 050

Focus In, Lock In

Today was a busy hands on test day for my Cinematography2 classes. I push all 3 of them hard, and today was a big push.

The groups had the struggles, but did eventually find their way. 

Giving these full on, build set in the scene practical hands on tests, really give the students an opportunity feel the real world style of filmmaking. 

And though we all love to joke, locking in is a trait that needs to run parellel with the fun.

DAY 049

Icey Rain Fall

Though it wasn’t as cold as it has been, we had some wonderful icey rain fall. 

Watching it fall and land is like seeing sky beads hit the floor and then form this texture on everything it hits. I am a fan of texture in my images and nature never fails on offering that.

The beauty and marvel of treacherous ice.

It kept the family inside and offered me time to really take care of work and meetings that didn’t have me distracted of missing the outside. 

DAY 048

Dolly In

Here we have a basic doorway dolly. No real mechanics just straight easy moving.

Teaching students how to level and create a dolly track is quite simple hands-on building, but funny enough, every time we teach this, we get a few cuts on fingers and hands. 

Safety comes first and anxious students who just want to jump in without thinking is what creates these little incidents.

Thankfully, this round, was the first time the students took in the learnings to be mindful of their own safety.

DAY 047

Snow Melt Walk

The days are finally warming up. And for a family walk down our street, it was wonderful to get out as a family on Family Day here in Canada.

The imperfect snow melts and comfortable stroll, had me walking around looking at everything slightly differently. I wanted to see beauty in all of that mush and dirt. And what I saw was reflections of the clear blue sky, birds flying past and my families reflection of enjoyment.

It was a very reflective moment, physically and mentally.

DAY 046

Lesson Plans and Olympics

Well the winter Olympics are happening, never hurts to do a bit of work while enjoying some world wide athletics.

Here I am also working on my next lesson plan for the students. When putting together docs, like lesson plans or pitch decks, I like to have a bit of noise to help me think. Wether that be music or an event that has a re-curring action to just help be a drone in my ear as I deep think into some of my work.

Internal brain chaos in motion.

DAY 045

Love in Pizza

For Valentines, my kiddos, wife and I hunkered for a laid back home hang and my kiddo created a heart pizza.

We have other things layout around our house that represents the day of love. And honestly with as busy as we have been, taking a moment to just be with our family is all the love we needed and a simple meal with a small gesture is always welcome.

Gotta love the small moments while we have em.

DAY 044

Heart Pancakes

When my 4yr old daughter comes to me and says “Daddy, can you make me heart pancakes?” you obviously say yes.

We both love pancakes, and it was great that my wife had heart shaped cupcake holders that we utilized to make my little girls request come true.

Moments like this make all of the hard work and challenges raising kiddos, all worth it.

DAY 043

Push to the Limit

I tend to give the students a bit more than what is requested from the curriculum. Not becuase I don’t believe or follow the system, but becuase I feel the students can learn more from a bit more push. 

When anyone is pushed to the limit, then one tends to retain more, especially when they feel they have been failed in a system they enjoy being apart of.

So here I am pushing the students. And its a joy to see them strive into new creative heights for the push.

DAY 042

Moving Equipment

Letting go of gear can be bitter sweet. Yes you gain back some funds, but sometimes you also remember the good times with the gear and how well it has taken care of you.

I had upped my gear to the latest version, so moving from the older setup meant sending it off to a good new home.

DAY 041

Lighting Focused

Here the students came together to best understand controlled lighting and not over thinking the lighting diagrams.

Many students I meet and guide, I have found they feel they should fulfill their scenes with lots of light, but then I teach them how to pull back on their actors and not overlight a scene.

As the usual saying, less is more.

 DAY 040

Church Ratio Lighting

We filmed in this wonderful updated church and found moments of working with the sun and creating both beauty and contrast in the frames. 

It’s great when things go as plan with working with natural sun light and adjusting to it. We did have a back up plan on standy and ready to go.

But when that perfect moment comes together, you don’t fight it, you thank the universe for it.

But as usual always prepare for the worst. 

DAY 039

Shine on Camera Training

Here I have yet another group of people learning about become better camera operators at LIFT.

This group gave me more tests of questions and had me thinking of new ways to explain cam training and how they can achieve their own goals as operators.

Always great to be challenged by the participants at workshops. Keeping myself on my toes.

DAY 038

Singing Event Coverage

Capturing events hasn’t been in my media capture world in quite sometime. Ive forgotten how enjoyable to just watch performances can be on stage.

I was a bit rusty on the set up, but the capture came together quite well.

Sometimes jumping into old career habits can be a fun rememberance of where you have come to appreciate the steps you are in currently.

DAY 037

Evening Prep

Many times with juggling projects and family, you find yourself not at a rental house or storage but at home late night prepping for the next day project.

And so here I am, a place I have been many times before. But honestly I have to be thankful for the network I have built to pick up gear last minute for last minute requests and make a quick prep to make the day possible for the projets.

And for that, I say thank you to my network of good peeps for helping when I need it.

DAY 036

Cove Light Learning

Today created with the students a cove light wrap around scene.

Teaching students about how light moves and can be controlled is loads of fun, especially when they haven’t seen some setups and also when they question why not go easier.

Creates some wonderful discussions between myself and the students and pushes the philosophy behind lighting even more.

DAY 035

Scouting Locations

When projects have the opportunity to scout some interesting spaces, it’s fun.

I haven’t filmed in a church in a long time, so to have this time to figure a way to work with the available light to also be able to make some added components of lighting work in the space is a good challenge.

Indie projects really can push that creative needle pretty descent with the right producing team.

DAY 034

Green Out

Today was teaching the students about understanding the reading of light and utilizing light to illuminate a greenscreen.

It’s great to dive into these deep base level understanding of how light moves and is read, and then share to learning filmmakers.

Provides me with deeper connection to the base understanding and the students themselves help keep me on my filmmaking toes.

DAY 033

Digital Pedagogy

To keep assisting as an instructor at Yorkville U | Toronto Film School, I need to take these teacher courses.

We just finished our several week course and most of it came down to pedagogies.

I honestly have never heard of the word but was great to deep dive into the word of merging digital learning concepts into new teaching formulas.

Giving the brain some word and thought provoking exercises.

DAY 032

On a Scavenger Hunt

My daughter wanted our whole family to go to the library and what she wanted to dive into first was their in house scavenger hunt.

It’s always great to step away from our usual day to day activities and add this change reset and a chance to be with our kids who growing smarter, stronger and faster each day.

So here we are on the hunt for a bit of family fun.

DAY 030

Cookies while I work

My wife created these wonderful oatmeal, white chocolate with cranberries cookies.

Sometimes I get so submerged into my edits, emails and creativity that I forget to stock and snack and refuel. The smell of fresh cookies out of the oven can for sure do that.

We stare at screens so often that refueling is usually a quick snack, be it chips or popcorn. But when a fresh, made from scratch item comes around, you cherish the taste of the food, the enjoyment and the relax of your own retinas.

And yes, the cookies were great.

DAY 029

Pushing Lesson Boundaries

Today was the classes first hands-on tests. But instead of just going with the paperwork and doing a small thing of knowledge testing, I decided to really push the boundaries.

I added more components to the test to give the students more push and really have them step out of their comfort zones. Which tends to bring out the best creativity and collaboration between the students.

No need to ease up, learning thrives on pushing limits.

DAY 028

Counting the Days of Cuts

As I get older, I fall into my genetic doom of baldness. So I look at this trimmer and remember back when my dad use to cut my hair more military style and then actually got quite good at fades and such.

Later I started going to barbers that had style and even provided a glass of whiskey as I sat in those chairs.

But now, my wife does the little bit of cuts that are needed and left and as it comes down to the lowest setting, I can only wait for the day to eventually say. Just shave it all.

DAY 027

Student Reachout Assistance

More teaching reachouts. It’s honestly rewarding to see students take my lessons and come back with new ideas to show me. 

I had several students who have new lighting diagrams and ideas and give back by sharing some thoughts of small adjustments to level up their productions just a bit more as well. Becomes a mutual respect of knowledge passed and knolwedged learned.

Helping building others up, fills my own soul and helps build up myself knowing I can provide worth to others.

DAY 026

Snowed In

Today the city of Toronto was hit with quite a bit of snow. Here we see our candy cane decor that stands 3ft tall, and almost fully covered on our front lawn that also sits a bit above ground level.

Though it was a day of stay home, shoveling and hot beverages, the way nature drops the snow and wraps all of the objects it hits just looks like such clean beauty at the beginning. 

An un-disturbed new layer of snow just transitions and flows so effortlessly you just want to admire it’s organic shape, have that hot beverage and relax.

DAY 025

Snowed In Puzzles

Well, today was an intense snow day here, with snow getting over our cars. 

So my daughter pulled out the puzzles to enjoy a mental challenge. 

Great to have these non-screen actitivites to keep up the mental challeges and save our eyes from the strain. And also amazing to see how far my daughter has gotten into the speed to do these puzzles. 

Time to up the puzzling challenges.

DAY 024

Brisk Filmmaking

Here this team is filming one of the coldest days in Toronto, -20C, and still getting the shot.

This is McFesty, whom I DOP mentored, and did a wonderful job taking my notes and running the team through the cold. 

There was a lot of pressure on both the DOP and Director, but they got a hold of the vision they wanted and pushed through.

Wonderful providing my experience, history and knowledge to these growing filmmakers and seeing their production come to gether.

DAY 023

Getting Prepped

I enjoy doing prep days and going through gear at a rental house. Gives the team to get a low rush opportunity to collaborate, get into a groove with each other and understand the tools for the project coming up.

This team is ready for the creative visual battle to come and look forward to assisting and seeing them succeed.

Good team building and good builds, all a great combo to make a great start to a project. 

DAY 022

Learning the Why

Here I have my students building a scene and understanding the meaning behind their choices beyond the tools that we teach.

Creating a scene with more why builds a more fulfilling stories for visual creators. Why move the camera, why put a light in a certain space, why does the shadow or light play in a world of visual dimensions.

Beyond the tools we use in this field, there are connections to a story that create a new world for an intended audience to see more meaning and build more connection.

Give why+tools a chance in your next project, see a new angle.

DAY 021

Part of the Gig.

Freelancing has it’s rewards and it’s challenges. Gear is one of those needed challenges.

And not about having the right gear, but pick up and drop off of gear. It’s an industry workout really.

When you do it for small projects, it’s all you. Many productions don’t recognize or see that. And many people will burn out just from the gear alone.

If you love your career, not the job. Then these heavy challenges, are just part of the life and you still smile through it.

DAY 020

Guidance Appreciation

Today I got to see a students product of some lighting guidance we went over as well as another student coming back to talk about their project and lighting and compositions. 

I am honoured for the students wanting my guidance and proud of my students taking the notes and making it their own.

I haven’t fully made my own strides in the industry just yet, but it fills my career loving heart that I do have the experience and capability to give back and witness progress.

My students are apart of my own journey as much as I am theirs.

DAY 019

Cute Early Risers

So my kiddos decided today was a great day to start at 530am.

Though it’s really early, and yes the weekend was busy and yes a long day ahead, these are the moments you cherish. One day it will stop, be very quiet and then one day, I will oddly and sadly miss the early rising call outs to just sit on a mat and play little games.

I work in a field with a crazy schedule and still find little snippets of time to enjoy the ones that keep me pushing through. I love what I do, and appreciate my spouse who supports my career and our family.

And when I do get these snippets of moments, I jump in for them.

DAY 018

Sweet Production Meeting

Meeting directors, producers and writers over great quality desserts is always a treat in many ways.

It’s amazing the connections you make over food for collaborations. I use to do meetings at an office or over coffee. When you do it over food, it slows down the conversation and nurishes the possible acceptance to a new project.

You sit there and better understand the person you are meeting, as well you have to wait for your food, which opens up the silence if this collaboration is awkward or can we talk more about things outside of the project.

Food is always a wonderful meeting topic, easily a great ice breaker and a little more laid back to be more yourself, how I feel all collaborators want to see, The Real You.

DAY 017

Deep Story DOP Mentoring 

Here we have Gebel, a participant of the OYA Black Arts Coalition – Emerging Filmmakers Program. 

I was offered an opportunity to give back to this community and mentor a growing DOP. 

This set had a very strong and deep story and it felt great to provide guidance to not only Gebel, but the other participants who were part of the camera team, DIT, grip and electrics.

Programs like this are great to find where young filmmakers of different programs have the opportunity to shine and level up in their skills sets and spring board their career. 

And I am now apart of their wonderful journey. 

DAY 016

Camera Presentation to Young Filmmakers

I was invited by Sony reps to join in with a presentation of the Sony Venice to the Toronto in film study students.

Having the opportunity to use these higher end cameras on my own personal projects and be able to share my experience with young filmmakers always puts a smile on my face.

Not because I got to play with tech but because I have more to give to growing filmmakers than what online gear chats represent. Experience and set challenge feedback. 

That to me is what makes a person a pro, not the knowledge of the tools but experience of the journey of the craft with higher tools and pivoting techniques.

DAY 015

Push on a Snow Day

Today Toronto was hit hard by a dump of snowy weather. But pushed through, dug out my car, went to transit and hit the day.

Snow makes several challenges but looking out my quite lit backyard at 6am; I found myself just sitting there, enjoying the untouched blanket of white. 

A beautiful moment of stepping back and letting the day, even the start, slow down and enjoy life and all of its wonders.

Talk about a zen start of the day.

DAY 014

Going Live

Creating small live events for clients can seem fairly basic in a world around creative video. But you can find little ways to still put a touch of your own style into them.

A little bit of lighting adjustments, some camera adjustments even the angles can play a role for corporate clients live events to look basic to looking just a touch better.

Every little project, be it small or big has something to offer. Or something to practice at. And corporate shoots like these mini live event ones are no exception to the learn something new a day mindset. 

DAY 013

Lessons on Bulbs

With many new products always coming out, it never hurts to see the power of the old tools still be relevant today.

My students are beginning to understand that utilizing the old tools still make a impact, even today with all of these new tools populating the market.

Never hurts to understand the new, but recognize it’s on the shoulders of the old that the new can thank for their own progress.

DAY 012

Be versatile.

Though my main world revolves around video, digital cinematography, being versatile also help clients meet their visual goals.

Here I am setting up a simple headshot photoshoot for one of my corporate clients, but followed my style of lighting steps I go through for cinematography.

Not everytime will I have the full creative control. But I have control of how my lights do what others need for the task at hand. And that’s versatility.

DAY 011

Flexibility of Technology and Time

Here I am meeting with a client we filmed an indie docuseries and need to go over colour and vfx for the post work.

I’ve been in the media game just over 20 years and it’s amazing what we could do over laptops now vs booking an edit suite. 

New things are always popping up, and I still need to understand the capabilities of new technology to keep myself relevent and useful in my career.

But can’t deny good ol years of experience either. Balance is key.

DAY 010

Strategy is the Game

My daughter pulled out chess from our game cabinet and wanted to learn how to play. Amazing how a little 4.5 year old wants to dive into chess.

Chess reminds me of looking at every decision I make and step back to review the outcomes and strategize the pros and cons. Something I am still working on personally.

Practicing on figuring out what avenue best benefits my day goal and personal beliefs will help me better focus on the path ahead. Even with all of the bumps to come.

DAY 009

Eye Opening Stats

I am a co-chair of the Diversity Committee of the CSC (Canadian Society of Cinematographers) and was given the opportunity years ago to create a data sheet of member DEI.

As an Asian, many of us are grown to respect others be humble as we find our way in life and silently fight through strategically.

What stats do is make me think hard about being more aggressive, outside my upbringings … yet it’s hard, because its not me.

I will stand up for BIPOC equity and with all of my creative peers, regardless of background and let my push and positive attitude open the opportunities where they land.

DAY 008

The Start of the Long Haul

Teaching classes for a full 12-14hours straight can be a brutal battle to some, but I’ve come to accept this time frame as a standard.

Accepting challenges that pushes you mentally over a single day can show how resilient your spirit can be. Your life journey in general should have some form of resilience.

A jolt of motivation to keep you pushing through is what can keep up the energy to battle through the long haul. For me, I love this industry so much, that I enjoy these long hauls and welcome the time to mental challenge that comes with it.

DAY 007

Just reach for it

Here is my young son reaching for an ornament on the tree we are finally taking down. There is this determination and focus to reach for this item.

Think about all of the times you wanted to reach for something but didn’t because you felt you missed that “right time”. Be a toddler, don’t think about doing it, but instead just reach for it regardless of the outcome or “right time”.

Going for it, will put you in perspective to push harder or know you have reached that level and can reach beyond.

DAY 006

Sharing Knowledge ReFuels the Base

Starting the new year back to teaching new minds. I am incredibly greatful for my career where it has come to and be able to give back my experience.

I’ve learned from sharing my experience and knowledge with young minds is that it humbles me back to my original beginnings. Refueling the gaps, I may have lost along the way, pieces that I skipped over to jump ahead over the years. 

So I thank the opportunity to offer my experience to students and thank my students for providing a new avenue of refueling my own original base in this industry.

I am a stronger DP for this time of mental refuel.

DAY 005

Producers Meeting

Sitting down to talk about projects is not always in an office. Met producers who wanted this more intimate setting.

Over food and some drinks, discussing a passionate project brings a closer connection among the filmmakers.

The creative chat is less rigid and lets a flow of ideas come to the table when the enjoyment of company can handle a good meal.

A preview of how the dynamic collaboration will come together on set.

DAY 004

Lighting Assist

Taking a moment off the DOP role to assist with a fellow filmmaker as a lighting assist. Gave me a moment to reflect on lighting style and seeing how DOPs work from the crew perspective.

Taking opportunities to step back into other roles from the leadership role puts a perspective to respect the crew and value of team work to help the overall image.

A look through a different lens towards image creativity.

DAY 003

My daughter’s ballet shoes.

She has gone back to ballet for 2026 and her little excitement, determination and focus had me inspired.

When I started my own career I had that same spark 20+ years ago stepping into the world of media. And I am reflecting on a time when I had that spark, when I was eager to learn, anxious to dive right in and focused on getting the right step in line to move on to the next.

Her little dancing ballet shoes represent this moment to step back and get back the basics of mental eagerness to push new learnings and new steps forward.

DAY 002

Getting back in and reset.

A reset for the new year. As I look outside at this cold and wintery snow filled day, I think about how my self brand reset will effect this years outcome for me.

I believe a reset is something we all need to do to get back into a groove that works for your lifestyle and movement. Professionally, I have yet to find that right opportunity stride, so diving in early into my reset will put me on track sooner this year and I look forward to the challenges that 2026 will bring.

Pushing for at the least a step forward which is a leap in self progress.

DAY 001

Morning Coffee After Holiday

After a trialing year and 2025 holiday full of sickness and bed ridden days, it was good to be home and just take a breather and have a nice home ground coffee.

The beginning of the year has begun and now I am in a moment of wanting to reinvent myself by reflecting each day of 2026. A tall order, but one I am wanting to challenge myself.

Today’s reflection, just breath and be prepare to shift when needed in the day.