It began with portraits, weddings and bar mitzvahs, evolving to include commercial/product and aerial photography, and later years to include nature and wildlife photography. While out west in British Columbia in the early 1990's and living in the small town of Lake Cowichan on Vancouver Island, I was asked by the municipality to do a cover shot from the air for the town's 50th anniversary book. As fate would have it, about 15% of the town's 3200 population requested a print of the final aerial view that was chosen for the book. Realizing that small towns were often neglected by aerial photographers in favour of the larger metropolitan cities, I began to focus on aerial town photography for the next few years... initially from a Maxair Drifter ultralight and later with a Cessna 150, which incidentally, is now owned by another Oak Hills Flying Club member. Combining photography and flying became a large focus for me, often along with my father, which later included work for various real estate companies, townships and private land owners, especially farmers. Eventually, my business included a colour and black and white darkroom until that was phased out by the digital era. Currently, I continue to freelance with my still photography but I am also in the process of learning more about video photography and editing.
My work has been published in various print and on-line newspapers/magazines over the years such as National Geographic, Reader's Digest, Our Canada and freelance clientele that includes various commercial, corporate and private clients. Equipment used varies and currently I am using Canon professional series lenses and camera bodies. Most of my work is shot in RAW format with post processing completed in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Future goals include increased video skills and inclusion of my own print making and framing.
Being asked to do a photography workshop for Oak Hills Flying Club members is an exciting and new opportunity whereas I am looking forward to sharing what I have learned over the years regarding my photography, to focus this workshop on aviation photography and to help others achieve better photographic results for themselves.
Dave Carnahan
Professional Photographer
Photography has been an enjoyable experience for me since 1987, both commercially and as a hobby. Although many aspects of my photographic work have remained a constant, a few subject matter chapters have come and gone over the years.