In 2006 at 16 years old I took my first class in video production and instantly fell in love with the artform. My teacher Mr. Mancini saw how passionate I was, not only about the storytelling and creative aspects but the technical side of the pursuit as well. Shockingly, one day he handed me a brand new Sony FX1 HDV camera long before HD was standard and told me to figure it out, and teach him the workflow. I quickly called my friends, filled up my truck and we were off into the questionable streets of Lewiston/Auburn to figure out this cutting edge technology while setting up handrails and jumps anywhere we could find enough space for gravity to propel us towards them.
While instantly falling in love with the access to creativity that cameras gave me it made me fall deeper in love with exploration and the pursuit of the unknown. Maine's backroads became my go to place for my mind to wander as I sought out new landscapes and spots my youthful self believed, just maybe, no one had ever been to. This satiated my palate for adventure until the bug to go west finally bit hard enough and I embarked on a cross country trip to the bay area for a crash course on film school in one of the action sports Mecca's, over the next few years I spent my time studying film & running sales/Marketing for Two Hip Bikes in Santa Cruz while exploring central and northern California's coastal communities and mountain ranges.
California held my interest for a while but it never felt like home, which maybe is the draw to it in the first place. That western pilgrimage is as much a part of American history as the Colt, Wagons & beaver trap. I explored the west with passionate people by skateboard and bike, creating organic original content before the onset of YouTube films & social media clips. These fundamentals in action sports gave me an efficient set of skills moving through spaces quietly getting content.
After seeing what it took to get these projects rolling in California it just made me want to pull this passion from the west coast and inject it back into my home state of Vacationland. It was enough time to realize that the most important part of staying on the edge of creativity is staying stoked on it, that could happen anywhere and the things I always enjoyed pointing my cameras at were back in Maine in the quiet foothills and loud river valleys that create the north western region of the state.
Coming back to Maine from the Bay Area I felt the need to dig further into Maine's woods than the backroads could bring me. Enter my Dagger Axis 12.0 Kayak purchase! I switched from fast and close fisheye shots with skateboarders and snowboarders to chasing wildlife through Maine's dead water with a long lens in my little blue boat. This kayak changed how I see the world, slowed me down substantially, making me more methodical. This new approach allowed me to access area's I had only dreamed about by shifting the speed and agility of a skateboard for consistent effort to push further into the waterways that weave through Maine's dense forests creating our famous bogs. Finally I felt like I had the tool to truly reach those places people rarely traveled into and if they had the chance that they had a camera was slim to none. This was home.
While exploring the deeper parts of Maine's backwoods I found a new passion and fascination with Maine's emerging cannabis industry. I started to meet small business owners on the forefront of a new industry that I respected. I drew quick parallels to the freedom that the skateboard culture had, it was a hard working high risk environment where passion typically paid dividends. I quickly latched onto the culture and emersed myself in it as a way to be part of an emerging industry while keeping the freedom I needed to stay in the woods and seek out those wild moments I'd begun to spend the rest of my life perusing. The symbiosis of farming and a well rounded backcountry lifestyle is undeniable, it's the balance I was seeking between understanding and creating in the natural world around me while being an immersive part of this lands soil & waters.
These days I've taken a step back from the cannabis industry specifically to gain a broader understanding of Maine's tourism and what draws people here to spend money at our local business'. As Maine's cottage economies feel more pressure from corporations my life's work and focus has become one of advocacy for Maine's simple culture and heritage. The protection of not only our woods and waters, but the way of life that makes Mainer's tick. This place I call home is filled with a complexity of humans, from the backwoods multi-generational logging towns all the way to compounds of world elites peppered along our coasts premium destinations.
The beauty of Maine is the symbiosis of it all, the melding of culture; woods, waters, ocean and mountains. Maine truly is God's country and I'm happy to spend a lifetime exploring it.
