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My love of aviation began when I attended my first air show in my hometown of London, Ontario, Canada in 1976. I was only six at the time, sitting on my dad's shoulders watching a trio of F-4 Phantoms from the Michigan Six Pack open the show. That love for aviation that was kindled as a kid has since flourished into not just a career as an aviation photojournalist, but as the founder and publisher of one of the industry's leading helicopter magazines. Since 1991, I've specialized exclusively in aviation photography... and who wouldn't? If it flew, I photographed it. Initially, my focus was military aviation. From flying in the back seat of F/A-18 Hornets in Canada's north, to flying search and rescue missions off the country's east coast, to flying with Canada's famed air demonstration team, the Snowbirds, I captured the essence of flight all over Canada. But it didn't take long to see there was so much more happening when it came to the country's aircraft industry.

In 1994, I joined Corvus Publishing, which at the time was the publisher of Wings and Helicopters magazines, and I eventually took over the role of editor. I really knew nothing about civil aviation, and even less about the helicopter industry in Canada - which is second in size only to the United States' - but it soon became a central part of my focus.

My first taste for the civil helicopter industry came in 1996 with Helifor Industries (now Helifor Canada), and it happened quite by accident. I was flying in a Canadian Coast Guard DC-3 during a photo shoot near Vancouver, B.C., when we happened upon two Boeing-Vertol (now Columbia) 107-IIs lumbering along in loose formation. I spoke to the crews when we all landed at the airport in Vancouver and asked what they were doing with the helicopters (I had no idea these were civilian ships engaged in commercial operations). "We mostly use them for heli-logging," the crews told me.

"What the hell is heli-logging?" I asked incredulously. "You actually log with that thing? No way!" I had to see it for myself.

The following week, the chief pilot at the time, Jeff Briggs, made arrangements for me to fly out in a de Havilland Beaver floatplane that the company chartered to rotate crews into camp. The crews were logging with two 107-IIs and an MD 500D support ship from a barge along the rugged B.C. coastline, where they worked against the clock bringing logs from the mountainside down to the water. It was like watching a precision aerial ballet, and all the while I was freezing those moments in time with my camera. I was hooked.

It wasn't long before I started making regular trips out to see helicopter operators, learning something new with each trip. I'm sure everyone will agree that when they first got into this industry they did't realize just how diverse it really is. From heli-logging, heli-seismic operations, heli-skiing and fire fighting, to offshore oil and gas operations, law enforcement, air medical and heli-tourism, it's almost endless where and how helicopters are utilized. And I was able to tell their story with my words and my camera.

Capturing helicopters at work isn't as easy as you might think, though. Flying around hanging out of a helicopter and taking photos sounds like fun - and it is - but it's also a lot of work. You are continually challenged by the wind beating on you and your camera, as well as the helicopter's constant vibrations. Then there's the problem of being able to communicate efficiently and effectively with your pilot, so he or she knows where you need to be to get the shots you really want. Maybe most importantly, you need to ensure you're doing everything with the utmost safety, for everyone involved, at all times.

After eight years of this, by 2002, I wanted to expand and grow what I was doing with my photography and my writing. So that year my wife Linda and I quit our jobs and launched Vertical Magazine. This decision not only allowed me to continue my commitment to the helicopter industry in Canada, but it allowed me to turn the spotlight on the helicopter industry in the U.S. as well.

Since the launch of Vertical, though, while I have been able to continue to pursue my passion for aviation photography, it has not been nearly to the degree I was able to in the past, given the growth and expansion of the various Vertical brands. Instead, I now have the pleasure of reviewing and selecting from other great photographic work being submitted, from such well-known aviation photographers as Graham Lavery, Dan Megna and Skip Robinson (to name only a few). Each of them provide their own unique vision of helicopters at work - whether it's a corporate helicopter flying along the coastline in California or an oil and gas support ship flying offshore in Newfoundland - and carry forward the tradition of powerful, relevant, dynamic imagery that is Vertical's hallmark.