Hey! I’m Joel.

I love shooting sports

Here’s where I’ve worked before:

Videographer – Tenth Church March 2018 – July 2024

I produced videos and managed livestreams for one of Vancouver’s largest churches by conceptualizing, storyboarding, shooting, and editing video projects. I planned shoots, interviewed subjects, shot b-roll, and gathered stock videos to bring a video from concept to reality. Once a week I would direct a team of volunteers to produce the Sunday morning service livestream. During my time at Tenth, I helped build the livestream and Youtube channel from the ground up, starting from scratch and seeing it grow to thousands of views per week.

Photographer – Yukon News March 2015 – September 2017

As the staff photographer for a twice-weekly publication, I worked alongside the editorial team to illustrate the stories that impacted Yukoners. With a finger on the pulse of the territory, I sought out both the major events and the often-overlooked stories. I operated on a mix of assigned shoots and self-directed work to deliver compelling pictures for daily deadlines. While at the paper, I won a handful of local and national awards, and helped the News rank as the top newspaper of its size in the country.

Communications – UrbanPromise Vancouver November 2012 – April 2014

I was originally contracted to build and maintain the organization’s website, but the position grew to creating monthly newsletters and bi-weekly web updates to engage with donors. I both wrote and collected stories and photos from on-the-ground colleagues.

I graduated at the top of my class

Vanarts Digital Photography Grad Class 2012

Cringey grad photo hidden here:

And won a handful of awards:

BC/Yukon Community Newspaper Awards: Feature Colour Photo (2016)

BC/Yukon Community Newspaper Awards: Portrait (2016)

Canadian Community Newspaper Awards: Sports Photography (2016)

BC/Yukon Community Newspaper Awards: Portrait (2017)

BC/Yukon Community Newspaper Awards: Feature Photo (2018)

BC/Yukon Community Newspaper Awards: Photo Essay (2018)

Canadian Community Newspaper Awards: Spot News (2018)

Canadian Community Newspaper Awards: Sports Photo (2018)

Why do I want to work with the Blue Jays?

There have been a couple of times in my life where I’ve felt a voice inside telling me “This is where you’re meant to be.”

I remember them both clearly. Back in 2008, during my first day as a volunteer photographer at summer camp teenage me felt the warm June sun beaming down the message that photography was in my future.

The second time was just a couple of months ago at the 2024 Grey Cup in Vancouver. After a long break from photojournalism, I was assigned by CP Images to shoot ad activations during the game. In between activations I had a couple of chances to capture game play, and on one sequence I nailed some peak action of a touchdown. As I was walking down the sideline and getting into position for the next ad, I had the feeling come back—this was something that I could be really good at.

In between that first moment and today is a winding road: photography school in Vancouver; working for a non-profit in communications; moving to the Yukon to work as a photojournalist for a couple of years; making my way back to Vancouver for personal reasons and getting into video work; and now finding myself in southern Ontario looking to dive fully into my photography.

I’m not going to say that the role of Photographer Associate is now “where I’m meant to be,” but I do feel strongly that I would excel at it. I have all the qualifications you’re looking for, both the hard and soft skills. During my stint at the newspaper I gained a love for shooting and editing under pressure and familiarity with Photoshop and Photo Mechanic. Working in live video production I found I thrived in high-pressure scenarios that required quick problem-solving and a cool head. I would be a valuable team member and would be able to not only contribute immediate to the goals of the organization, but also learn quickly and evolve to become an integral asset. I am immensely excited to be considered for this role.

But am I still “early-career”?

That’s definitely up for you to decide. I graduated a while ago, but have only had 2.5 years of working directly in photography at a community newspaper. Here’s my timeline: