Photographer, artist, philosopher….Terry is indeed a unique bird. Bucking every trend and resisting the mass migration and flow of everyone around him, he seeks to swim against the flow, much to his own peril, but in doing so, sets himself apart from everyone around him only adding to the enigma which is ‘Terry’…..
yeah, right…. 🙂
With over 25 years of being a professional photographic practitioner, Terry’s attraction for imaging and art began at a very early age. He still owns the very first box ‘Brownie’ camera owned by his Dad. With a strong history and background in art, graphic arts and photography, Terry excelled in many areas including silk screen printing, offset press printing, photo mechanical transfers, photographic silk screening, platen press and sign printing. His love affair with photography really manifested in the dark room, thanks to the magic of black and white photography and the fascination with seeing his first photo come to life in the developing tray. He was hooked. His experimentation with darkroom effects only fueled the creative fire, and he was one of the first in his school to silk screen actual photographs on t-shirts and sold them to his friends and fellow students. He was also one of the youngest presidents of the infamous ‘Graphic Arts Club’ in his middle school years. This passion continued through high school, where he covertly studied in advanced photographic methods right up until his graduating year, being one of the very few to attain this level of accreditation in his school division. He shared his creative palette with a fierce love of sports, which he continues to participate in to this day.
After graduation, Terry was mentored in an architectural drafting firm, utilizing his talents as a draftsman and was known for his very detailed and artistic renderings using scale and perspective of commercial, residential, and conceptual product development. He had seriously flirted with a career as an Architect, and was purposefully moving in that direction. With the 80’s recession well under way, and the shift to AutoCad systems, Terry began to migrate toward his original love of photography, spending almost every weekend apprenticing with his photographic Mentor in a commercial/portrait capacity learning the magic of light and technical process of commercial imaging. In 1984, he made the jump full-time into the professional photographic industry, and shortly thereafter becoming one of the youngest chain studio manager/photographers in his area, and eventually becoming one of the youngest members of the board of directors to serve two terms for the Professional Photographers Association of Manitoba (PPAM) and committee member of the Professional Photographers of Canada. He was also proficient in capturing many awards in Regional and National Print Salons, as well as having images accepted for exhibition in the National Loan Collections of the PPOC. In the early 90’s, diligently working toward his Masters Degree Certification and on the eve of his Photographic Craftsman Degree Certification, Terry abandoned committee politics and decided to focus on the continued business development of his newly-branded FINELIGHT business entity, leaving his original namesake behind.
With his newly acquired, ultra-modern Fort Garry warehouse ‘dream’ studio location renovated and complete, he began to carve out his niche in the photographic market, purposing to keep his venture totally hands-on and personalized. During those years he became involved with the inner workings of studio television production, and ultimately began to use his lighting prowess in the area of corporate video, music video and finally becoming involved with the motion picture industry as a unit stills photographer, adding to his expanding set of skills. Terry is currently working toward his IATSE Local 669 International Cinematographers Guild certification which will enable him to participate globally in the motion picture industry.
The ‘digital revolution’ of the new millennium added yet more excitement to his learning curve; harnessing the awesome power of the computer in the processing of his digital images and his extensive retouching and artistic skill set.
All of these composite fragments of experience complied have shaped Terry’s vision and perception of how and what he is able to see through his viewfinder, and ultimately the vision he is able to provide to his customers.
Well, thats the end of the pertinent history….the rest of the script is continually being written….stay tuned..!
