I wanted to take a moment to share with you, a little bit about myself, and the journey I took to get to where I am at now.
No one really saw it coming…not even me. When I was a teenager I was not the artsy type at all, I was obsessed with cars, sports and girls like every other teenage male. Honestly, I grew up a typical jock. Playing soccer was my passion and as far as I was concerned that was going to be my future, but injuries killed that idea.
I mean I always enjoyed taking the camera out while me and my boys went snowboarding and it seemed to be with me whenever I was on vacation, but it never developed into anything more…
…At that point in my life…
Looking back, I started to become more creative around the age of 18 or 19 when sports had taken a backseat in my life.
I recall my first real creative indulgence taken place when I worked as a 3D Draftsman. I had played around, modeling 3D houses during my lunch breaks and after work, and realized “hey, I’m not half bad at this.”
Though I started to become fond of building the homes, I was getting sick of sitting in a cubical each and every day.
I felt confined, cramped and trapped.
I started to consider my opportunities and the possibilities. I asked myself “what are my real passions” and right away hip-hop popped into my head.
Wanting to mix business and pleasure, I decide to look into what was involved in the actual production of the music. While doing some research, I came across a private course at a local Calgary recording studio, which I enrolled in and attained everything technical I needed to know about creating music.
Feeling good about where things were headed, I stuck to it, and all that stood in my way was a final exam.
Which tested us on our hearing.
And harshly provided me with a dose of reality.
I found out that there was some frequencies I just couldn’t hear and that alone, was enough to cut my career short.
Before it even started.
Another“physical” hurdle.
Even though making music had proved to be a bit more of a dream that an occupation option, the owner of the studio kept me around for six months and let me help out here and there.
While working the studio, I got to work on a made for TV movie, that required me to create sound effects from scratch. One night, the film actually held a shoot in the studio and what I witnessed behind the scenes, had an appeal to me.
Shortly after the film wrapped, I needed to start making some money and was faced with a hard decision, which resulted in me having to leave my intern position at the studio, and begin to work again in the real world.
But the film I worked on definitely planted a seed.
I was 20.
And went to Cancun to turn 21.
I had gone there with every intention of partying, which I did, but what I hadn’t planned on was the soul searching. I sat on the beach late one night just listening to music and the ocean. It had inspired me to ask myself one of the most difficult questions to answer…
"What the hell am I doing with my life?"
As soon as my plane hit the tarmac, returning me back to Canada, I started looking into film schools.
I enrolled in the Toronto Film School, went to Toronto knowing nothing about the city, not a single person and having no idea what I would find, but I had a dream.
Over the next couple years, I studied; I worked hard; I learned absolutely everything about the film business I needed to know, from the production process to the history.
While in Toronto, I picked up my camera and started to shoot more and more frequently, which made it a regular thing. Shooting nature, shooting friends, shooting anything in front of my lens.
The more I learned in class about motion picture the more I could apply to still photography. I started to book some jobs as a photographer, which led to paying off some bills.
I decided to stick with photography, because logistically it’s like film, only much more simplified…in some ways…
I spent almost 6 years in Toronto trying to "go pro." The problem is that anyone with any real artistic talent in Canada, eventually ends up in Toronto making it difficult to find work.
In other words, there is no shortage of photographers in Toronto.
In 2007/2008 I landed Managerial job at a family portrait studio, which allowed me to make a little cash, for taking photos.
However after staying there over a year, I decided that if I was going to be a real photographer I needed to do it myself and start up my own business.
So mid 2009 I made a very, very difficult choice to move back to Calgary.
I love Calgary. I was raised here and my family is here.
But…
When you live on your own for the first time in a new city and experience new things, like I did over the past 6 years, you fall in love with that place.
The hardest part was leaving Toronto with nothing except the feeling that I had failed.
Not reaching my goals and having to face my family and friends was going to be rough.
When I arrived back in Calgary I was given the opportunity to pursue my photography career, so I started David Wilder Photography.
My plan is to open a studio and shoot for the rest of my life.
It’s just a matter of timing and prospect.
The road to success has been a long and winding one for me, full of many, many different approaches and to be honest I not there just yet.
But I believe in my "Plan Q."
Ciao
David Wilder
www.davidwilder.ca
www.twitter.com/david_wilder
