Growing up in southern Quebec, surrounded by nature, Jesse’s biggest playground was Canada, until he started to travel internationally to create for a variety of clients. His deep interest in the technical aspects of photography together with his desire to promote nature conservation through his work drives him to create impactful images in different genres of photography.
In 2017, while visiting Sint Maarten, we had to evacuate the island due to the imminent threat of Hurricane Irma. Although the locals fought against Mother Nature, 96% of the island was destroyed by this hurricane.
Growing up in southern Quebec, Canada, I have always been surrounded by nature and wildlife and loved exploring new trails in the forest of my backyard. The experience in Sint Maarten deeply impacted me. As a result, I felt a compelling desire to delve into photography, capturing and immortalizing landscapes and the diverse wonders our beautiful planet has to offer. Given the constant changes in nature, each photograph becomes a unique moment, impossible to replicate the same way twice.
The technical aspects of photography, coupled with my initial fascination for the art, drew me into this field. I have always been fascinated by the science aspect of photography. I read so many articles about how photography works before buying or even trying my first camera. After months of reading, I finally decided to grab an entry-level camera kit. On the first day out on the field, I switched the camera to manual as I turned it on, and focused on long exposures for waterfalls and astrophotography. From that day, I knew this hobby would eventually evolve into both a lifestyle and a career.
I was practicing different techniques to better understand the effects of the shutter speed. I also remember understanding that night how perfect the blue hour is for landscape photography and long exposures. What is special about these two images too is that they are different perspectives from the classical Niagara Falls, Canada photos we are used to seeing. Both photos ended up being part of the first selection of Fine Art limited prints I released.
Canada is a huge country and every province has something special to offer. This helped me develop my skills. I do like the East Coast of Canada for fishermen’s vibes and moody sceneries.
At the same time, I highly recommend visiting the Canadian Rockies coming in from Calgary, Alberta to get the most impressive views of Canada. I am sure the northern part of the country is probably more impressive but it is so remote and I did not get the chance to explore yet so I can only recommend Alberta as of now. The abundance of wildlife, the unique lakes, and landscapes from Canmore to Jasper is a region to be seen.
Luckily I have been able to visit a lot more beyond Canada, and having a huge love for island living and going back to what happened in 2017, I try to prioritize visiting islands as much as possible before it’s too late. When I went to Europe for the first time for my 30th birthday, I decided to aim for Lanzarote, an island that did not disappoint (just like the rest of this birthday adventure!). It was also my first time seeing volcanoes, a black sand beach, vineyards in volcanic lands and so much more. In addition, it was my first time using a drone. It was also then that I realized I would need a better drone to match the quality of my camera.
Another island I visited was Santorini, Greece. There is something about visiting one of the most photographed locations in the world and trying to aim for something different. I had one specific goal; to get a unique and less classical shot of the blue domes and backdrop. I spotted a place during a scouting mission in Oia that had high potential to serve as the canvas for this shot I was aiming for. The next morning I walked the 278 stairs from Ammoudi Bay to this church to look for compositions. That day, I took many different perspectives with many lenses to see what would be best. By the time I found what I was looking for, the known crowd from Santorini was up. I came back to this spot, three mornings in a row, walking the 278 stairs every time. It was the 3rd morning when I saw it lined up; the boats were forming the perfect leading line, the sky was minimalistic and the blue hour lighting was perfect. As soon as the sun crossed the horizon, it was time for me to pose and create the shot I had been looking for.
In a landscape photo, I am generally looking for the following elements:
Avoiding harsh lighting by prioritizing the blue hour will definitely increase the quality of the photograph. On the technical side, I prefer to shoot landscapes between F8 and F11 in general while not limiting my creativity to those settings.
I personally love clear skies or foggy days to give a minimalistic aspect to my landscape photography. When water with movement is involved in the composition, I often aim for a long exposure for the same reasons.
There is something special about capturing landscapes with a longer focal length. The compression gives a very different aspect from classic wide-angle lenses. Having a mountain that is 50 kilometers away in the background looking massive behind the main subject gives a strong and different personality to the image.
Take the time to try different perspectives. If you have a specific vision, find your composition, locate where the sun is, and wait for the proper lighting that enlightens your vision. Don’t just shoot at any time of the day just because you are there now. A single outstanding shot surpasses the value of 10 mediocre frames that lack the inspiration to be edited.
What I value in images has also influenced the way I travel. Since I started photography, my road trips have been very different from back when I was simply exploring, camping, and hiking with my rooftop tent. My road trip itineraries are primarily crafted around the landscapes I intend to photograph. Occasionally, the requirements of a client for a product shoot influence my choice of scenery, while at other times, my focus shifts to wildlife and landscapes. I am often working with car rental and automotive companies as well which leads me to great adventures on wheels. It is a true challenge to be on the road and adapt to new sceneries while having the task of creating unique content. Nevertheless, there is so much freedom related to this task. I also love road trips as they are – for me – a great time to brainstorm.
Over time, I have developed a routine in which I travel and work internationally one week every month at different locations around the world to be able to create professional content for my partners in the commercial and tourism spheres. Having to deal with new landscapes, unpredictable weather and constantly changing lighting all week long while having to create a mixture of lifestyle, landscape, and product photography outdoors has its challenges. I think these weeks are the most important times of my career as that is when I evolve the most, whatever kind of gig it is. I don’t like to judge the importance of a gig by the prestige of my partners. I find it as rewarding to create content for start-up brands as it is for renowned partners. There is something very special about being part of the first steps of a company no matter whether it’s an airline, car rental company, clothing brand, or else.
Through my work, whether for myself or clients, I acquire valuable lessons that contribute to performing my tasks well and which I can use every day and with every new gig. I few of them would be:
Perseverance – No matter if referring to wildlife, landscape, or photography in general, know that failure is part of the process, and it happens more often than you would love it to. Try to spot 1 element that affects your success and see if you can help it. One step at a time, you will be more and more successful, both on the field and behind the screen.
Physical vs Digital – Printing my photos played a huge role in my editing process. There are some details that you often miss when looking at a digital file, no matter the screen you have or the time you spend editing a photo. I think that the difference between a printed photo and one that is backlit by the screen light is great to observe for learning the impact of lighting.
Preparation – Having half custody of my precious son, I normally travel for 7-8 days at a time. To ensure I get the best out of this short period, I started to do more and more preparation before going on the field. The weather and lighting conditions are already so hard to predict, I can’t risk being unprepared for these short trips.
Investment – Like most passions we have, I have learned to not count the hours invested in photography. I want to ensure the best details, quality, and unique storytelling for every single photo. This is why I edit all my photos from scratch without using presets and by taking the time to relive the scene before starting the editing process.
When editing, I do love to use the light as a guiding line. Darking the areas I do not want the eye to be caught by and highlighting the desired areas. As I evolve, I find myself less and less in need of removing distracting objects in my photos. I create very minimalistic images straight on the field to speed up the editing process. This helps me save a lot of time behind the screen. When you are taking photos, think about the final results you are looking for and what normally makes you lose time on the editing part.
Giving an example of my editing with a before and after, I can take one of my wildlife images. For this photograph, I started by bringing down the whites and the highlights to give it an earthy tone. Boosting the luminance of the blues was a bullet point to get the focus on the subject while keeping it as natural as possible. I then darkened the body of the Pacific green turtle by dropping the shadows and highlights a bit more to make sure the head stood out.
British Columbia offers so many great opportunities for wildlife sightings if you are a wildlife photographer. From orcas, seals, whales, sea birds, wolves, and grizzlies to eagles and more. BC is also part of the Canadian Rockies, offering access to many creeks where you end up being on the same level or above the birds. This gives great opportunities for unique wildlife photography.
After years of photographing wildlife, I know for a fact that raptors are out and hunting during rainy days or snowstorms. They have better physical abilities which gives them an enormous advantage under these conditions. If I wanted to take a captivating shot of this animal, I knew I had to go on the field when I heard about a huge snowstorm that was coming. Even though an intense snowfall makes it very hard to nail the focus, snow does give a much more minimalistic result as well as great lighting. The clouds act like a natural softbox while the snow reflects the bit of light that comes from above, which makes it perfect to capture the details. When editing this photograph, I decided to aim for a cold and contrasted edit which reminded me of the 5 hours fighting the snowstorm that day. This minimal portrait of the majestic golden eagle will probably be one of my favorite wildlife shots for the years to come.
Thinking about the future of my career, there are many things I would love to do. I hope to be able to build a circle of partners that are invested in the nature conservancy. I think these companies should shine above others. I am already very proud of the values of many of my partners who aim for sustainable and ecological options. Also, having a photography gallery in Canada is one thing I would love to be able to achieve in the next ten years. Many people already came back to me with feedback telling me how much my photos were touching their friends and families when they visited their homes. The more I can get people to love wildlife and nature with my photography, the more they will respect it. That is the power of photography.
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