Three years ago I didn’t even know what tournament paintball or “speedball” was. Having been introduced to it by my girlfriend and former Destiny player Kim Ma, I can now honestly say that my life will never be the same.
From the very first moment I saw it, at the CPPL Nationals event back in 2010, I was constantly thinking about when I was going to get to photograph it. Now, only two seasons later, I am very proud to say that my work is being featured alongside some of the very best paintball photographers in the sport today. Photographers like Gary Baum, Meagan Foster, and John Amodea. All who have been in the paintball industry for many many years and have been my inspiration since the first day I stepped onto a field.
It’s incredibly humbling to know that I have been able to make a name for myself in such a short amount of time. I am also proud to be one of the few Canadian paintball photographers in the sport today. Paintball isn’t as popular here in Canada as it is in other countries like the United States, but we have some incredibly talented players up here and an amazing community of people who enjoy the sport. It is very exciting to be a part of such an amazing group of people and I thank each and every one of them who have helped me get my paintball photography to where it is today, from the field owners, to the players, to everyone in between.
When I heard about the relaunch of Paintball 2Xtremes Magazine, which is published by PaintballX3 LLC, I finally made the decision to submit some of my work. I had never submitted work to a paintball publication before, because I wanted to make sure that I had a portfolio of images that would be good enough before I did. When the Paintball 2Xtremes Re-Launch Special Photo Edition finally came out, I was blown away to see my face on the front cover, right smack between Gary and Meagan. A line of copy at the bottom of the cover reads, “From the best photographers in paintball”.
I couldn’t believe it. I thought I would have been lucky to get one or two of my images accepted, but in this historic issue I have seven and I still don’t know how to describe how happy I am and what this means to me as a paintball photographer.
The special photo edition is available to read at www.PB2X.com for a cost of $2.99 and is also available as a print-on-demand paper issue.
