Sam Torres Creative Design

Photographer

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It's been a while since I have really gone out to capture something.

We went on a family vacation recently out east to Nova Scotia. It's one of the most beautiful proivinces of Canada.

We had a lot of fun showing Ruby around the beach, and she quickly became a bit of a beach bum. It was a great time to see her enjoy the outdoors and capture a bit of that ocean aw that her mother and I got to experience as kids.

I recently started back at school and left my job. It was a big decision, but something that I had been wanted to do for some years now. I hope that I can continue to make great images through out my studies, but I will be a busy person!

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The world is fucked. So many experiences over the last two years have been hard. Friends and Family dying from Covid. Civil unrest, war, murder... you name it. Ruby was a good thing, wrapped up in a not so great experience. We spent a long and lonely month in the NICU. A year later, we are learning to live with Cerebral Palsy diagnosis. Life is weird and sometimes really doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

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I get asked about Canada a lot from my friends in the states. Usually I get asked “do you like it up in Canada?”, to which I always and promtply say “yes! I love it”. Now, I would say there’s no place on earth that’s like it, but to be honest there are, in some regards. But the Canadian Rockies have all of the impressive landscape elements that you might expect in a mountainous region. Crystal clear lake water, or beautifully blue saturated rivers, mountain walls that occupy your entire windshield as you try to look at the whole thing, waterfalls, evergreen trees, aspen, birch... like the list goes on. It’s just so very different than Colorado. like the younger, better looking son of a model. but the real deal about Canada is the people. As the weather cools off, and the winter sets in, the relationships and the people who are here make the winters worth the -40 degree temps. There’s really not a place like it that I’ve experienced. 

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If you’re ever in Canmore, there’s some decent bouldering out there. You just have to know where to look. The Old Goat glacier has brought down these beautiful boulders for adventurous climbers who don’t mind a bit of an approach. It was my first V7 ascent, pretty excited to have that under my belt.

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Leech Lake out in Jasper National Park back in July of this year. Geraldine Peak rises in the back, a sigh to see at dusk. The Canadian wilderness, I would be hard pressed to find a place that is more robust and beautiful than this place. 

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Flagstaff  Mountain, Boulder CO, USA. what a fun little outing this was. Bouldering with co workers (and my wife) was quite fun. Getting to see what people s comfort zones were, how they moved on the rock, and working moves out. It easily my favorite time to be outside. 

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Jasper National park has this feeling about it. Like it’s old and ancient. Like the mountains have stories upon stories to tell. It feels alive and wild.

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Lake Louise during the BC Fires.

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Make peace. Climb rocks.

Bouldering in The Old Goat in Kananaskis country and getting it at the Big Choss.

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It’s been a long bit since I’ve posted. I just got back from a trip to Banff National park and area climbing with some good friends from Colorado. It was one of the most eventful times I’ve had in a real long time. We climbed near Lake Louise, one of those super iconic Canadain locations. Climbed in Canmore and did some bouldering just south if Calgary. I managed to do a lot of first things, which made me feel pretty great about climbing. I brought Meeka with me. She was great. Turns out she is a fairly good crag dog as long as she has water.

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Struggle and Strain 11” x 14” acrylic on canvas.

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I spent the holiday in Nova Scotia. What a beautiful province. I didn’t get to spend as much time as I would liked to have taking photos as the first few days I spent nursing a cold I caught as we were getting in. The people were absolutely wonderfully friendly and warm. I couldn’t say the same about the weather, but beautiful none the less. It seemed like I could spend years photographing the areas we went to. Peggy’s Cove is one of those tourist traps in the summer and getting a decent shot of the lighthouse would have been a pain. the trick is to go when its -14° out and 70 kph winds. Greenfield Nova Scotia is a small little town 45 minutes from any real retail store. What they lack in convenience, they make up for in history and quaintness. The church is over a 100 years old and sits close to the Medway river. The area is scattered with logging roads that seem to have woken the beast inside me that I thought had been long gone; car sick. Luckily, it’s beautiful and the ride was always worth it. What a great time spent with my wife and visiting with family.

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It’s been cold. It’s gonna get worse. There is a solemn dreariness to this kind of weather. Drink coffee. Do stuff.

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Downtown Edmonton. Pretty typical of any downtown center. lots of character and characters, but soon it will be a freezing ice box. I love the Fuji cameras because of their size, most people don’t care if the see you taking a picture their way. 

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Canada has been an adjustment. It’s oddly familiar when you visit, but there are enough things different to know that you are in a different country. Edmonton is a beautiful city. I’ve known quite a few Canadians who have asked me why I’d move here. I think people just get jaded by monotony when you know a place. Here are a few shots from the last few weeks. Exploring Terwilligar park, downtown and watching Meeka in the backyard playing.