Toronto Raptors Team Photographer Vaughn Ridley on Becoming a Professional Sports Photographer

In this episode, we chat with Vaughn Ridley (@vaughnridley), NBA team photographer for the Toronto Raptors and Getty Images photographer, about his journey into sports photography and what it takes to capture the raw emotion and intensity of professional basketball. Vaughn shares his process for balancing instinct with preparation during fast-paced events. He reflects on memorable moments with the Raptors and operating in high-pressure environments. Vaughn also reveals how his ultra running pursuits have shaped his mental fortitude, offering invaluable insights for aspiring photographers and creatives in any field.

Expect to Learn:

- How to harness resilience when making significant career shifts
- Strategies for balancing creativity and consistency in high-pressure situations
- How building strong professional relationships opens doors to new opportunities
- How setbacks can lead to personal and professional growth
- Techniques for managing lighting and equipment in tough settings

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Thanks for listening!
Go get shooting, go get editing, and stay focused.

@sethmacey
@mantis_photography
@thephotographermindset

Transcript

INTRO:

00:01.14
Seth Macey
Hey, you're listening to another episode of The Photographer Mindset Podcast. I'm your co-host Seth Macey.

00:05.64
Aaron
And I'm your co-host Aaron Mannes, and I have to say that I have a new stool set up where I can put my feet up while we record. And it's game it's a game changer.

00:13.47
Seth Macey
Ooh, an Ottoman?

00:15.66
Aaron
Yeah.

00:16.49
Seth Macey
This is the Ottoman Empire.

00:18.12
Aaron
Yeah. I'm sitting back. I'm relaxed. I'm ready to talk. And this is good.

00:24.02
Seth Macey
I'm jealous of you. I need to do something like that as well. My Ottomans way higher.

00:26.95
Aaron
Yeah.

00:27.53
Seth Macey
You just see my feet in the YouTube video the entire time, if you're into that.

00:30.56
Aaron
Straight up.

00:32.88
Seth Macey
Today, we had on Von Ridley, team photographer and MBA photographer for the Toronto Raptors. The only Canadian team in the MBA represent. I'm biased.

00:44.88
Seth Macey
That's why we had him on. I'm just kidding. No, Vaughn was awesome to have on. He shoots a lot more than ah just the Raptors. That's, I think what the bulk of his work is known for, but he does some work from Toronto Blue Jays. He shot some UFC events, golf. He does work for Getty images. And what should people listen out for today?

01:03.11
Aaron
I just think it was ah very interesting how technical ah the shooting of an NBA game is. um I played basketball growing up, so I have ah just an idea of the game and I was very curious and kind of interested in in how he's setting up, maybe more than usual in terms of the technical. ah My interests peaked with all the buttons and remotes and remote strobes and ah yeah ah remote cameras that he had going just to capture every part of the action that he possibly could each and every game.

01:38.84
Seth Macey
Yeah, and lots of different ways to be creative. And I think we talked about how to keep things fun and interesting and novel when you're in the same environment, same stadium day after day, right?

01:49.33
Seth Macey
And I think that's very applicable across all genres. And listen to the end where you get to hear if Aaron reveals if he can dunk or not.

01:59.07
Aaron
Yeah, take bets.

02:00.03
Seth Macey
If he can dunk a basketball, take your bets, he's 6'5", he hasn't shrunk yet.

02:02.07
Aaron
Take bets right now.

02:06.01
Aaron
Not yet.

02:07.76
Seth Macey
Listen to the end and also rate and review the show on Apple podcast, Spotify costs free effective way to support the show. We're always appreciative of that, but we will always do these for free with that. Let's get a word from the sponsor and then into today's episode with Vaughn Ridley.

INTERVIEW: 

00:55.97
Seth Macey
And I think a great place to start since ah you know I've already let the cat out of the bag is we want to know, I guess, your story from your beginnings. Young Vaughn's first time picking up a camera to team photographer of the Toronto Raptors.

01:10.31
Seth Macey
I know That could be a very long story, but I think it's a good idea maybe we get from point A to B and then we'll get some more get some more into our nuanced questions if that works with you.

01:21.23
Seth Macey
How's that sound?

01:21.34
Vaughn Ridley
OK, yeah, sounds good.

01:23.78
Seth Macey
Cool.

01:24.76
Vaughn Ridley
ah I'm originally from Canada. I was born here in Ontario. um After high school, i I moved over to the UK. My parents are English, so I had a British passport.

01:37.97
Vaughn Ridley
um I wasn't shooting professionally then. um i was I was a chef. um I was tre ah basically traveled around the world um working in bars and restaurants.

01:44.49
Seth Macey
Okay.

01:45.26
Aaron
Mm.

01:49.60
Vaughn Ridley
um ah i I couldn't see myself doing that for the rest of my life, so I always had an interest in photography.

01:59.42
Seth Macey
Okay.

01:59.69
Vaughn Ridley
and i um i ah It was my girlfriend at the time. We hadn't quite got married yet. We were living in Australia for a little while, and we moved back to the UK. And I ended up taking a two-year photo course at Leeds College of Art and Design.

02:22.17
Seth Macey
okay

02:22.49
Vaughn Ridley
um There was a small a small sports agency in in the town and I kind of knew those guys because I was kind i was interested in sports and and and and photography.

02:35.59
Vaughn Ridley
So ah i would I had one month left at to to graduate from this photo course and and I was offered a full-time job by this agency.

02:43.01
Seth Macey
Okay. Mm hmm.

02:46.13
Vaughn Ridley
and no It took me about five minutes or probably five seconds to figure out what my answer was going to be. I didn't finish the course, but I started ah started a full-time sports photo job. but um kind of I always tell people that it's kind of kind of lucky in the right place at the right time.

03:07.78
Vaughn Ridley
um ah my My boss there, the owner, his name is Simon. he great Great guy, i've really helped me along. I worked for him for, I can't remember how many years. um i've been doing I've been shooting sport for about 25 years.

03:24.98
Seth Macey
Okay.

03:25.39
Vaughn Ridley
um i Then when I started, we we did we did like ah like English sports, like soccer, rugby, cricket, that kind of thing.

03:35.04
Seth Macey
Cricket, you're there for five days, camped out.

03:35.23
Vaughn Ridley
a

03:37.91
Vaughn Ridley
yeah yeah yeah there's there's there well Yeah, there are five day matches and it's ah it can be quite tedious sometimes. Sometimes there's not there's like zero fans there and you're the only one in the stands. But but it it can be fun. it it's a it's ah It's an interesting sport to say the least. but ah yeah Then 2013, my wife and I decided to move to Canada. My wife's Irish.

04:07.13
Vaughn Ridley
um And we decided to move to Canada. So so i then I started the the freelance thing. i i It took me a couple of years to get in the swing of things and i've try to get regular work here. I knew a lot of people um ah in the industry and a lot of the guys in the UK helped me out over here. And I ended up sort of working working for Getty Images here in Toronto.

04:37.59
Vaughn Ridley
um And then I was shooting basketball. I was shooting the Raptors on a regular basis for them. And then COVID hit and the team photographer basically, i've he'd been shooting the Raptors since the very beginning and he was near near retirement time. So he decided to retire during COVID and i they they basically asked me if I wanted the job. um So I took it.

05:07.49
Vaughn Ridley
and

05:07.67
Seth Macey
Did that decision take five seconds as well?

05:10.40
Vaughn Ridley
um it It took a little bit longer just i've um yeah did like did like just thinking about ah like other other work that I might not be able to do because I'm doing that job and that sort of stuff. so but but i But I took the job and that was four years ago now. This is my fourth season shooting for the... I basically am the... the the end i I tell people I'm the NBA team photographer. I um i basically, team photography is all run through the NBA now. And so so i I work for the and NBA and and I also work for the Raptors too. so but um But yeah, the the four years since I've been doing this job for the NBA and the Raptors has been has been pretty pretty fun, pretty enjoyable.

05:58.68
Seth Macey
Yeah, no doubt. Wow. I have so many questions just that build off of your story. First of all, some people listening may be like, is this man crazy? He didn't say yes to an NBA Toronto Raptors job. um Why were you thinking maybe no, I mean, I respect the, the poise to sit back, get a lay of the land and assess why this may or may not be the best decision, even when it's clearly a very exciting opportunity.

06:30.61
Vaughn Ridley
ah probably like just just ah like i was kind of I wouldn't say I had full-time work with Getty here, but but I was working a lot for them. I was basically shooting...

06:42.50
Vaughn Ridley
pretty pretty much most sports here. and And it was just one of those things where um i was to in order to shoot for the for the and NBA and the Raptors, I ended up having to say no to Getty that I couldn't shoot the Raptors for them. So so um it's it was more along the lines of trying to figure out um how all how all those relationships were still going to work.

07:11.29
Seth Macey
Right.

07:11.55
Vaughn Ridley
with with ah with with current employers and um and and future employers like the NBA and the Raptors. so

07:19.76
Seth Macey
Right. And I guess you're trying to structure it in a way where it's the smartest financially for you, opportunity for management.

07:25.63
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, yeah. i Yeah, I don't I don't like to like, say things are about money, but but definitely that does come into it as well.

07:34.57
Seth Macey
Of course.

07:34.68
Vaughn Ridley
Like, ah like, ah um yeah, it it can be something that you definitely think about in those situations.

07:42.96
Seth Macey
Yeah, no doubt. you You have to. Another question you mentioned, you you came over from across the pond to Canada, you returned and you said you're you know you're going freelance. I'm curious what

07:59.77
Seth Macey
That process looks like, and a lot of people will be interested, I think, to hear this. ah As a freelance, how to just start? Is it a lot of leaning? You mentioned you had connections. How do you effectively lean on those connections to build some opportunities when you're essentially starting from scratch?

08:16.19
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, it's it's it's not easy, I can tell you that.

08:19.94
Seth Macey
yeah No doubt.

08:20.93
Vaughn Ridley
a lot a lot of There are a lot of freelance photographers in this industry and and we've probably all gone through the same sort of situation. so Some people start out as like graduate from college and end up being and decide to be a freelance photographer, but I kind of went the other way.

08:37.03
Vaughn Ridley
I i i had a full-time job. um Things were like like like I enjoyed the the job and who I was working for and the and the business over there. But we ended up moving back here just because my family was here. My wife's was in Ireland and we were living in England. We had two young kids and we were kind of like like ah We're living in a different country and we don't have our our are family support around us. ah it was easy so we it was either or it It was either Ireland or Canada. We decided to to come to Canada. Fortunately, when I did come here, um

09:16.47
Vaughn Ridley
A lot of guys that I knew in the UK put in a good word for me, spoke to their boss and said, hey, there's this guy. He's he's been shooting over here for a long time. He's just moved over here to back to Canada and Toronto. i If you guys are looking for anything in that area, he's your guy. So I do owe i do owe it i do ah owe a lot to i guys that I used to work with in the UK.

09:44.07
Vaughn Ridley
ah for like putting in a good good word for me over here and it didn't, it wasn't immediate, it took ah like the first year I pretty much did no work and we were like second guessing the decision and all that sort of stuff and then and then all of a sudden it just like the phone just started started ringing and it was like ah people knew I was here and and and i and yeah so that was basically, like like Getty was basically the main people who called and

09:52.88
Seth Macey
Mm hmm.

10:10.91
Seth Macey
Right.

10:11.55
Vaughn Ridley
and and said, i've um can you can you shoot sport in Toronto for us? You know, they they were looking into moving into smaller markets back then. It was kind of around I think it was 2014.

10:23.73
Vaughn Ridley
And it was two years before the Rio Olympics. And they were kind of looking into moving into smaller markets like like Brazil and I think Mexico with the same they said and and Canada. So so yeah, so it kind of kind of went from there.

10:36.36
Seth Macey
Yeah.

10:38.44
Vaughn Ridley
So

10:39.68
Seth Macey
Well, that story speaks testaments to making sure that you leave good impressions and you build relationships wherever you go and regardless of what you're doing.

10:51.05
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, for sure. For sure. Yeah, I like it. Like it's a small community in the UK and but but But there are a lot of photographers, there's a lot of sport, but everybody knows each other there. you know that like i yeah Everyone knows each other and and you see each other on ah on a on like a weekly basis at sporting events, similar to the way it is here. um but But yeah, those those those guys over there that that i were that I was friends with really help helped me out and I and i definitely um

11:24.87
Vaughn Ridley
I definitely note those guys as helping me be where I am in my career right now, you know.

11:31.58
Seth Macey
Right.

11:31.91
Aaron
I'm sure, I'm curious about the, uh, the week to week, like the, a little bit of the semantics of your job with the, the Raptors and the NBA, like what are the responsibilities throughout the week, um, during during the season, off season, uh, each game, home games, away games.

11:32.23
Seth Macey
and

11:49.31
Aaron
Are you flying with the team?

11:51.98
Vaughn Ridley
no

11:52.49
Aaron
What's, what's a general week kind of look like?

11:54.48
Vaughn Ridley
So but basically, it's ah it's a home it's a home thing contract. So I shoot every home game. So that there's a guy that does what I do in, say, New York or Phoenix or l LA.

12:08.02
Aaron
for the NBA.

12:08.33
Vaughn Ridley
so yeah yeah So if the Raptors go play in Phoenix, then they' they've got the the Phoenix NBA photographer there that that shoots both teams.

12:09.06
Aaron
Gotcha.

12:16.76
Vaughn Ridley
And then the Raptors would have access to to those images through through this NBA deal. um Sorry, I forget what the part.

12:27.66
Vaughn Ridley
Oh, yeah, like the day, week kind of thing.

12:30.19
Aaron
Yeah.

12:30.90
Vaughn Ridley
Um it's basically um on it's basically a game day thing right like uh like uh tomorrow the Raptors are playing in Chicago so uh I basically my day is I it's basically a 12-hour day I'll get there around ah I'll drive to the arena. um i ice I have eight cameras. So I have three three three cameras that I have with me that that are in my handheld cameras where I sit on the court. But then I have um yeah five other cameras that are all all remotes that that I set up around the arena um that that take remote pictures. Like I i have a button on my ah my handheld when the when the action is down the other end.

13:17.41
Vaughn Ridley
I hit that button and and all those five cameras go off and you just kind of keep your fingers crossed ah that they make a picture.

13:24.19
Aaron
That's cool.

13:25.14
Vaughn Ridley
um But yeah, it's basically just game day stuff. um I also do like media day and and the team pitcher at the end of the year. And if there's any any big trades or anything like that, the and NBA usually want headshots, like new fresh headshots of these guys.

13:43.11
Vaughn Ridley
But um Yeah, it's it's just generally ae like live match action most of the time.

13:51.26
Aaron
Now I watched a game or two and on the, on the baseline, there's a number of photographers. Uh, do you kind of get dibs of the best spot if there is one, uh, or is that a first come first serve or is it very assigned and what other agencies are there?

14:07.51
Aaron
Newspapers, uh, local.

14:08.80
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, ah I wouldn't necessarily say I get the best spot, but but because I'm shooting for the NBA, there's there's generally a spot on the floor that that most of the team photographers sit in. I sit like on the on the inside, like close to the basketball stanchion,

14:33.15
Vaughn Ridley
um Generally, that's like a cleaner area where where there isn't like like referees standing in front or anything like that. um But here here and here in to Toronto, there is um there's Canadian Press, Toronto Star, Getty Images, USA Today, i myself. I think that's it. And then there's other spots for like social. So like the our the Raptors have have ah have a social team, so they'll have a spot on the floor. And then there's usually, in a way,

15:06.23
Vaughn Ridley
like away video, away social um photographer um or video, they'll they'll generally have a spot on the floor as well.

15:13.47
Seth Macey
Thank you.

15:14.88
Vaughn Ridley
And then the other spots are taken up by TV and and like floor cleaners and stuff like that.

15:21.71
Aaron
Yeah, I've always, I've always watched and just imagine sitting crisscross applesauce for that long and we're on the hard hard, hard floor is, uh, it's gotta be difficult and you gotta get a little squirmy down there.

15:28.11
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

15:33.48
Aaron
I would imagine,

15:34.57
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, it' it's not easy, I'll tell you. It's it's ah it's not it's not but it's not comfortable. But um a yeah, it's it's but the first few games of the season.

15:46.36
Vaughn Ridley
it it takes what It takes a little while to get used to. But but yeah, during the breaks in play, like and we stretch our legs out and stuff like that, because we're in a little box.

15:49.18
Aaron
Yeah.

15:54.95
Vaughn Ridley
We have to stay in the box. so But yeah, during breaks in play, we can stretch our legs out and stuff.

16:01.00
Aaron
Yeah that makes sense.

16:01.83
Seth Macey
Serious question. Have you been landed on?

16:06.61
Vaughn Ridley
I'm not like fully landed on, ah ah but I've had my foot stepped on before. i've Players have landed in our in my area and and you kind of like the play carries on. You kind of look around and you're kind of like, geez, I'm glad that wasn't like LeBron James or like a real big guy. you know

16:30.04
Aaron
Yeah.

16:30.31
Seth Macey
Yeah.

16:31.15
Vaughn Ridley
because it because it could hurt. But yeah, it even hurts when when you get your foot stepped on.

16:33.38
Seth Macey
Yeah,

16:36.36
Vaughn Ridley
you know It's ah part of the game, right?

16:39.24
Aaron
Yeah.

16:39.54
Seth Macey
yeah no doubt. So you have eight cameras. There's a lot going on. Basketball is a quick game. It's fast paced.

16:45.28
Aaron
Yeah.

16:45.31
Seth Macey
It's fluid. How do you cue in on what's essential and what isn't necessary, even though it may be awesome?

16:56.34
Seth Macey
In other words, how are you prioritizing that deserves a shutter click. That doesn't.

17:05.39
Vaughn Ridley
um It's, it's basically the way sports photography works. um When the place coming towards you, you're basically focused on the guy with the ball all the time. um It's not really a picture if the guy doesn't have the ball right or if he's not shooting the ball.

17:24.30
Vaughn Ridley
um Generally, yeah, we're we're we're focused on the guy with the ball. It's it's tough to, there's there's a lot going on, there's referees in the way, there's other players in the way, and you don't always get a picture of the guy, a great picture of the guy shooting the ball. or But yeah, it's it's it is it can be hit and miss like a lot of sports. And then down the other end is where I have all my remote cameras. so so And they're all generally um angled towards the basket. So they so when the when the play is in that area, like in the and the key, is is when I would hit the button.

18:03.24
Vaughn Ridley
And again, again it's it's it's hit and miss. it's like It's like any remote camera. You keep your fingers crossed that you got a nice picture. you know you like you From my end, something might happen.

18:14.36
Vaughn Ridley
And I'll be like, oh, that that might be nice on that remote camera or or or or that one. But you'll never know until you have a have a look at at the pictures and after the game.

18:20.72
Aaron
yeah

18:23.78
Vaughn Ridley
you know

18:24.23
Aaron
Now, is there one remote for every, for all all five cameras over there?

18:29.91
Vaughn Ridley
ah No.

18:30.55
Aaron
Or does each one have a different thing?

18:32.90
Vaughn Ridley
i basic I don't want to get too technical but we use Pocket Wizards to fire these cameras and and my number is 27 so I have a Pocket Wizard on my on top of my handheld camera

18:38.03
Aaron
yeah

18:50.91
Vaughn Ridley
So when i hit when I hit the button on my camera, um ah it it it base the all the other the other five cameras have the same number, 27. So they'll they basically all fire at the same time when I hit that button.

19:05.65
Aaron
Gotcha. Okay.

19:07.58
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, it's it's, to be honest, it's ah it's a it's very it's a very technical sort of, um it's kind of hard to understand if you're not, if you don't actually see it in front of you.

19:07.61
Aaron
All right.

19:19.08
Vaughn Ridley
I'm the kind of guy that's like, I i know guys do this.

19:19.36
Aaron
Yeah.

19:23.06
Vaughn Ridley
And like before I started doing it, I knew guys in in other arenas and stuff like that would would'd have all these remote cameras everywhere. but But until you're actually doing it yourself, you don't really understand how it how it all works.

19:35.61
Vaughn Ridley
so

19:35.99
Aaron
Yeah.

19:36.22
Vaughn Ridley
it's it's a It's kind of hard, but but yeah it even took me like a couple of months to remember everything and where all my cables go and where everything plugs in and where all my remotes go and all this sort of stuff. so

19:50.58
Seth Macey
What if I asked you the same question about picking out what's essential for non-action moments? You know, team huddles, things where there's maybe more of an opportunity to tell an artistic still story that's not full of action where someone has the ball.

20:08.29
Vaughn Ridley
um Generally, when the when the game's on, it's like it's it's basically full-on action. um There are breaks in play when there's um timeouts and like injuries and stuff like that. um i i wouldn't like I don't usually get up during the game and go over to the bench and photograph like a huddle or anything like that.

20:31.58
Seth Macey
Okay.

20:31.96
Vaughn Ridley
um A lot of that sort of stuff that we that we that we look for is kind of pregame um I have access to the tunnel and and where the players run out where they all gather they come out of the dressing room like 15 minutes before the game starts and they all do a huddle and a prayer and stuff like that and I have access to that and and the lights really different down there it's dark and and um and There's a few spotlights and things like that. So that were The way I get sort of sort of creative is is basically that pregame stuff where where where I can use like a prime lens and um shallow depth of field.

21:04.30
Seth Macey
Right.

21:09.48
Vaughn Ridley
And and yeah, it's that's the that's where you make make this sort of nice picture is that thatll look that most people don't see because they're obviously not allowed down there.

21:20.04
Vaughn Ridley
So it's kind of nice if to try and try and get creative in those sort of instances.

21:26.23
Seth Macey
Yeah, that's nice. That is nice that you can fill two buckets. It kind of builds on a question I had, which was about how you approach obviously photography. We all hear this phrase a lot. It's about telling a story, right? And my question was, how are you telling the story of a game that moves so fast or when it's action packed, is it mostly just about freezing time?

21:49.58
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, it's it is basic it is basically it's it is basically covering the game from your from where you're sitting. Do you know what I mean? like

21:58.52
Seth Macey
Right.

21:59.28
Vaughn Ridley
um

22:00.30
Seth Macey
So is there much room to quote, tell a story, that buzz phrase we always hear, or is it just more of a journalistic, I'm documenting what's happening, right? Again, saying kind of different ways of looking at it.

22:09.54
Vaughn Ridley
ae Yeah. Yeah, it like it is it is basically just documenting what's happening in front of you. But as a player might be might might be playing really well throughout the game, and they they they could be getting close to setting ah like a point record for for a game for for ah for the Raptors. So knowing that sort of stuff, the comms team at the Raptors are really good. They always send out text messages and things like that.

22:42.78
Vaughn Ridley
or or or post stuff on their on their twitter

22:48.48
Vaughn Ridley
put or yeah post stuff on their Twitter about so-and-so just set a team record or something like that. So so we kind of know um if there's a story developing where a player is is is doing something special, um we we can sort of concentrate on on um on him or like make sure we get pictures of him i shooting the ball, dribbling the ball, general general things like that.

23:15.67
Seth Macey
Right. No, that makes total sense. ah On that note, you mentioned points records. What's been your most memorable time photographing with the Raptors, either were either on court or off?

23:28.07
Vaughn Ridley
ah probably the like i was in and in When they won the championship, i yeah i I wasn't shooting for the NBA at that point, but but I was there shooting for Getty and that that hole that whole season and that whole um ah Yeah, it was just it was it was pretty crazy it was it was it was good that that playoff run was crazy I I still always feel a little Disappointed that they didn't win it in Toronto.

23:34.74
Seth Macey
Right on.

23:36.47
Aaron
Hmm.

23:58.87
Vaughn Ridley
It still kind of feels like for for me because I didn't see it happen um Not Golden State Yeah, yeah, so so it

24:05.50
Seth Macey
It's against Cleveland, right?

24:08.60
Seth Macey
Golden State.

24:08.91
Aaron
I want to say, yeah.

24:12.68
Vaughn Ridley
I still kind of feel disappointed that that that I didn't get to see them win it at home, but but still the fact that they won was was pretty special. you know

24:22.21
Seth Macey
Yeah, that is awesome. Aaron, you want to hop in?

24:25.71
Aaron
Yeah, ah you might've answered this, but I'm just thinking of big arenas and even like concert photography, there's, there's,

24:36.98
Aaron
there's taking photos of the musicians or the athletes or what have you, but there's also the entire environment and what's special about, you know, the the arena. So how often are you running around and getting like a giant widescreen of the crowd and the court and trying to get some of those assets as well? Or is that not the priority or is that for someone else? Just curious about like all the other stuff beyond the action to create um As Seth was saying, I guess like the narrative of the season or the narrative of the place or the feel of the environment.

25:12.08
Vaughn Ridley
Generally, it's it's you're you're concentrating on the game. um there There are instances of ah that that I would go up high and take a general view of the arena. ah every Every season, we have different floors and different jerseys. um We have our three main jerseys, the black, red, and white. And then this year, we have two other ones, ah another black one and and a purple one.

25:38.49
Vaughn Ridley
um but And there's ah there's generally like ah like a like a matching floor with those jerseys. um So it when we have a new floor, um we i'll I'll generally go up at some point when the arena is full and and and take pictures of the floor.

25:58.79
Vaughn Ridley
um Yeah, just anything different that's that's that's that's not normal i've will will i

26:02.75
Aaron
Mm hmm. Yeah.

26:07.81
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, like like i've the NBA and the Raptors want stuff like that, stuff that that that the team hasn't used before or done before.

26:12.95
Aaron
yeah

26:18.02
Vaughn Ridley
And yeah, that that's when i would I would sort of move around a little bit. But generally, I'd say ninety probably 99% of the time i'm I'm in my spot on the floor. because Because the main the main ah gist of it is is is is getting that action.

26:34.16
Vaughn Ridley
like ae i Admittedly, I don't get everything, but i but if somebody makes ah makes a great dunk or something like that and you got a picture of it, it's it's like people are happy, right?

26:40.87
Aaron
Mm hmm.

26:46.34
Vaughn Ridley
so

26:46.70
Aaron
Yeah, yeah, for sure.

26:47.67
Seth Macey
Yeah.

26:48.41
Aaron
What is your go to go to lens?

26:48.78
Seth Macey
Here's...

26:50.83
Aaron
Like what's I would imagine like a 24 to 70 is a, is a, or are you more wide than that?

26:54.81
Vaughn Ridley
ah Yeah, the the great thing about basketball is is we're like, you couldn't be closer for ah for a big, big major world sport and and and it's generally wider angle lenses like for the stuff down my end close up. um i do I do use i use a cheaper cheaper lens as a 24 to 240.

27:19.41
Vaughn Ridley
um But I shoot on strobes there. So there's arena strobes in the in the in the roof of the arena. So I'm basically shooting like one shot every time.

27:30.12
Vaughn Ridley
So I'm not blat i'm not blasting away. So so this this lens lets me cover the full length of the court ah with one lens.

27:32.46
Aaron
Uh-huh.

27:36.10
Aaron
Mm

27:38.45
Vaughn Ridley
So I'm not switching bodies or lenses during the game.

27:40.88
Aaron
-hm.

27:42.01
Vaughn Ridley
And and it's and it's good on strobes. It's a good strobe lens.

27:48.15
Aaron
So you're connected to strobes as well.

27:48.26
Vaughn Ridley
so

27:50.57
Vaughn Ridley
yeah that Yeah, so so when what i what I said before, like there's a lot of like technicalities.

27:50.93
Aaron
Yeah, yeah yeah that's cool.

27:56.14
Vaughn Ridley
And it and it and and to see how all this it's better to see how all this stuff works and than somebody telling you. But yeah, that whole strobe thing is a whole other level of what of what we do um shooting the basketball there.

28:08.94
Vaughn Ridley
you know Yeah, it's it's pretty crazy.

28:11.10
Seth Macey
So then you obviously then have to credit a lot of your success on game day to good planning and double checking.

28:22.37
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, they like ah i'm i'm not I wouldn't say personally, I'm not like a 24-7 photo guy. I'm not i'm not like constantly thinking about my job or or or what's next or or that sort of stuff. But um with regards to what I do on a daily basis, there's a lot of planning and a lot of thinking that goes into it. um I kind of have it down pat now. um another Another photographer, that the Leafs photographer, Mark Blinch, he's been shooting in the arena for a few years, mor more than me. And he shoots on strobes too. So he he told, he I learned a lot from him about shooting on strobes and planning the day and that sort of stuff. and but But now, since I've been doing it for about four years, ah it's quite easy.

29:13.32
Vaughn Ridley
Like every year we try and make things as easy for us as possible It's like it can be quite stressful sometimes like the first few years. It was quite stressful trying to remember everything that I wanted to do but but yeah, we've Like trying trying to make this job as easy as possible is is definitely one thing that we that we try and do there at the Scotia Bank Arena Yeah, yeah

29:37.52
Seth Macey
Trying to make it as easy as possible is hard.

29:40.39
Aaron
Yeah.

29:42.17
Seth Macey
This may be a strange question. How do you know you're doing a good job? Is it feedback from the MBA? Is it seeing your photos used?

29:54.43
Vaughn Ridley
That's an interesting question. um I think in this industry, i think I think we all would agree that no news is good news.

30:03.85
Seth Macey
Okay.

30:05.47
Vaughn Ridley
um if If you screw up, somebody's probably going to let you know.

30:10.43
Seth Macey
Okay.

30:11.17
Vaughn Ridley
But if you're doing the job right, um Yeah, I wouldn't say people aren't interested in giving you praise, but um yeah, it's as long as you're doing the right thing, then then people just let you get on with your job, right?

30:30.35
Aaron
Mm hmm.

30:30.57
Seth Macey
Yeah. Aaron and I talk about this a lot. It's interesting that often maybe, maybe this is more prevalent in different and genres, but there's almost this eagerness to be praised for a job well done.

30:47.98
Seth Macey
Look at how awesome these are. How come no one's saying that?

30:51.96
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

30:51.95
Seth Macey
And often you only hear when there's an issue.

30:56.15
Vaughn Ridley
yeah

30:56.24
Seth Macey
Does that bother you?

30:59.24
Vaughn Ridley
ah I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me, but I think I've im um um been doing this for enough to know that that's the way the industry works.

31:13.53
Seth Macey
Right.

31:14.30
Vaughn Ridley
you know um

31:14.47
Seth Macey
it's like getting to a place where We got to get to a place where silence is validation.

31:20.75
Aaron
yeah

31:20.99
Vaughn Ridley
yeah Yeah, but but i I think for a lot of people, unless you don't realize that, then your career is kind of going to be tough for a little while. you know it's um yeah It's the way it is really.

31:31.07
Seth Macey
Yeah.

31:36.50
Vaughn Ridley
like ive as long as you're if you're If you're doing well, then then yeah no one's no one generally says anything. but

31:46.50
Seth Macey
yeah

31:46.60
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, yeah, yeah, i it is kind of annoying, but but that's the way it is, right? That's the way that's the way this industry works. So you're doing a good job.

31:54.28
Seth Macey
Yeah, I'm going to, I'm going to offer that piece of advice out to listeners. If nobody said anything, be like, Oh yeah, they love it.

32:00.24
Vaughn Ridley
ha Yeah, yeah.

32:02.05
Aaron
Yeah. If they hire you again, even better.

32:03.40
Seth Macey
ah

32:06.17
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, that that too, you know.

32:06.40
Seth Macey
Yeah.

32:06.66
Aaron
You keep paying your paycheck, even better.

32:09.18
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, yeah, that too.

32:09.25
Seth Macey
Right. Right. And, uh, here's another question. You're in this, you do home games, so you're in the same court, the same team all year.

32:21.89
Seth Macey
How do you keep the game, photographing the game, fun and interesting and novel. I think a lot of people who listen to the show across all genres tend to deal with this sometimes where you feel like you get to a point where there's not many more ways that you feel you can be original. Of course, the same size. The rim is still at the same height. You're still in the same spot. How are you dealing with this to fill that creative bucket, or is it not about that? Is it about just doing a job, a duty? Well done.

32:57.28
Vaughn Ridley
No, ah this this is definitely a creative sport to shoot. And the fact that we ah we have access to setting up remotes to shooting on strobes adds a whole other element to just showing up with your 70-200 and shooting a sport.

33:20.96
Vaughn Ridley
um That's how we get creative, like ah like using different strobes on different remote cameras and lighting lighting the event differently.

33:32.13
Vaughn Ridley
um ah yeah it's it basically yeah in In that arena, ah late like even there's even the start of the game, they turn the lights down and there's spotlights on the players and they announce all the players and they like the starting lineup. and just just playing around with all that different light that's going on.

33:51.58
Vaughn Ridley
And it's that's how we get creative.

33:53.47
Seth Macey
Got it.

33:53.94
Vaughn Ridley
you know like ah you You get to a point where it's like kind of same old, but then you're kind of like, oh, well, maybe i should maybe I could light this remote with this strobe from over here in this corner and see what that kind of looks like.

34:09.91
Vaughn Ridley
It might cast a long shadow or something like that. you know and yeah

34:13.78
Seth Macey
Being okay with taking that chance, right?

34:16.01
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, be because it's I'm shooting 41 home games a season, it's like you you you you get to the point throughout the season where you're where where you you you think about different pitchers and you think about, oh, I wonder what this will look like.

34:30.29
Vaughn Ridley
And and and and we have the opportunity to try it, right? like i've Yeah, it's it's a it it is quite a creative sport.

34:33.73
Seth Macey
one

34:38.76
Vaughn Ridley
you know

34:41.47
Seth Macey
Yeah, no doubt. Is there anything, I don't know how close you actually get to be to the professional athletes. If so, is there anything you've kind of picked up on being around them attitude wise, principles wise that you're allowed to say?

34:58.72
Vaughn Ridley
um and i ah I find personally that a when I'm there and like when everybody's there on a game day Everybody's there doing their job, right?

35:17.19
Seth Macey
Mm hmm.

35:17.41
Vaughn Ridley
um Whether it be a coach or or somebody in the media or or us photographers or players, everybody's there doing the thing that they're supposed to be doing on that day.

35:29.52
Vaughn Ridley
ah we all We all generally talk, um like like if I was to pass a player in the hallway, i like we would probably say hello. um I have sort of better relationships with some other players than other ones.

35:44.39
Vaughn Ridley
um a that like With regards to like like the like the social guys and and media, they they travel to away games, so so so they would they would have even better relationships with with players and coaches.

36:01.97
Vaughn Ridley
um I generally see all these guys like on media day um away from the court is media day and and that's generally it. so So the first sort of time we get together at the beginning of the season, I i i have um like ah like a few studio setups where where they all come in and and we do all these different pictures and their official headshot and stuff like that. And we and we and we talk and it's more it's It's more friendly then, but ah on game day, it's I just find it's um the the players are there to do their job.

36:41.15
Vaughn Ridley
the The coaches are doing their job. I'm doing my job. And everybody does their thing. And everybody is generally successful at that. I'm not sure if that makes sense.

36:52.46
Seth Macey
Yeah, i mean that that answers the question in an indirect way. right it's ah You guys are all part of a team and it's the sum of the parts focused on what needs to be achieved, right free of distraction.

37:01.48
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, yeah, yeah

37:06.90
Seth Macey
Is there any pieces of advice you have? i mean You've been doing this, you said, since COVID. I'm sure you've gotten into a flow and you feel you know a certain level of calm in knowing that you have the ability to do what's required of you.

37:21.67
Seth Macey
I wonder if it was that case when it was your first day on the job. I'm sure that's can be that was probably likely stressful.

37:31.38
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, yeah.

37:31.57
Seth Macey
and The rest of my question is how do you keep relaxed and calm when there's a lot of pressure on you to deliver and execute?

37:41.99
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, definitely when I when I, four years ago, when I when I so um just after COVID. a And I started this this job. It was stressful. I made it doubly stressful for for myself, because at that point, I switched to mirrorless.

38:00.75
Vaughn Ridley
so So I was basically learning a new camera system i and also learning how to shoot on strobes and learning how to by shoot basketball from a different position on the floor, um a different role there.

38:11.03
Seth Macey
Yeah.

38:17.09
Vaughn Ridley
So there was a lot of pressure on myself for the first, I'd say, two or three months just trying to put all the pieces together. But um yeah, it's it's it's much easier now because I basically know what I'm doing now. I'm much more comfortable with my cameras. Obviously, I've been shooting with them for, for like, I've been shooting with mirrorless for four years. And um yeah, I i wouldn't,

38:45.32
Vaughn Ridley
I would never go back. I would never switch to digital SLRs. um yeah It's it's ah it's just a it's but just experience, I guess. you know like i've um i've been there I've been in this role for four years, and and as every see every basketball season goes on, it's ah much more comfortable. like i I remember being stressed when when it started just trying to get all this stuff in my head, how it all works together. and and but But now it's it's quite comfortable. i can I get to work and I know exactly where everything is. Like like I said previously, we we try and make

39:26.51
Vaughn Ridley
doing this job as easy for ourselves as possible.

39:30.21
Seth Macey
Right.

39:30.52
Vaughn Ridley
And and every season, there's there's little things that that we figure out that that, oh, this might work in this instance.

39:37.76
Aaron
Mm hmm.

39:38.39
Vaughn Ridley
or Or if I try this or use that kind of thing, it'll it's it's easier. you know So it's it's it's ah better as the season goes on, because it's just ah it just all makes more sense.

39:50.29
Vaughn Ridley
you know

39:51.19
Seth Macey
No doubt.

39:51.37
Aaron
When you, when you have a creative idea, uh, is it on you to try it out or is there someone that you, you run it by and maybe set up strobes in a different way or purchase some sort of piece of equipment that you want to try for a different look? How does that process work if you want to get out of the comfort, like you said, and, and move into like, I want to, I want to challenge this a little bit further.

40:17.49
Vaughn Ridley
i Basically, again, this is a great thing about the job is is we basically general generally have have free reign to do what we want to do there. um the all the All the arena strobes in the roof are all positioned in a specific spot, but there's a lot of them. And we and we it's basically, no one's really saying, hey, why don't you do this or try that? And and I don't have to tell anyone, um hey, I'm going to try this or do that. It's just ah you know getting an idea in your head and and executing it, really. it and And sometimes it doesn't work. ah Sometimes it does work.

40:58.31
Vaughn Ridley
ah But but it's it is one of the nice things about the job where where you don't really have to run anything by anyone or or ask what somebody thinks. You just kind of do it and if it works, um great, you know.

41:14.98
Aaron
You've been doing this a long time. Um, similar, you know, day after day, a basketball game, a basketball game. Uh, what do you like to shoot? If you had free time to go use your camera or do you just put it down and do something else? Is there a, is there a passion project you're working on that takes you away from sports?

41:35.25
Vaughn Ridley
Uh, not, not really. Um, like, like part, like when I'm not working, I do run or I do try to run. I used to run a lot more than, uh, uh, before COVID and, and during COVID, but like I wasn't working for like a year and a half.

41:50.70
Vaughn Ridley
So all, all my runner friends and I, we were basically pro runners. It's all we, do all we, all we did and, and, and raced, uh, like in Ontario and, uh,

42:02.14
Seth Macey
You ran a race that I want to run this year.

42:04.63
Vaughn Ridley
which one?

42:05.56
Seth Macey
It's a bad thing.

42:07.06
Vaughn Ridley
Oh, the bad thing. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah, if you can get it, get it, that sells out immediately as soon as soon as it goes on sale, the 50K. But yeah, that's fun. That's fun up there.

42:16.84
Seth Macey
Well, I'll pick your brain got it offline.

42:17.23
Vaughn Ridley
Sorry.

42:18.98
Seth Macey
I'm sorry.

42:19.13
Vaughn Ridley
Okay.

42:19.18
Seth Macey
I just had to do, but you said that and I saw on your profile that you had run it and it it would be my first ultra, which I'm so nervous about, but I saw that you ran it.

42:19.77
Vaughn Ridley
Okay.

42:24.66
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

42:27.23
Seth Macey
So.

42:28.56
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, it's it's ah it's ah it's a fun run. The guys who organized that are really good. It's ah it's a fun weekend um up. I think it's up in up near Godrich, I think.

42:37.12
Seth Macey
Yeah, it's God or Shin Auburn.

42:37.84
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

42:38.92
Seth Macey
All our American listeners were like, what?

42:39.12
Vaughn Ridley
That's right. Yeah.

42:41.76
Aaron
What? Yawning.

42:44.46
Vaughn Ridley
Sorry, Aaron.

42:44.59
Seth Macey
Yeah.

42:45.58
Vaughn Ridley
what I forget what your question was.

42:47.85
Aaron
I was just curious, uh, you know, as, as an analogy, I'm, I'm photographing a financial firm right now.

42:54.28
Vaughn Ridley
Oh, yeah.

42:54.92
Aaron
Uh, it's great. It's fun. It's interesting. It's different. But, uh, if I had my free time, that's, I wouldn't be like, I'm going to go photograph a financial firm, wildlife nature, um, maybe a project, what have you.

43:01.91
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

43:06.79
Aaron
But I was curious if there's, if there's other avenues of photography that you're into.

43:11.95
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, personally, I don't like it. It's it's my day job. And um I ah like I don't take my camera with me when I when i go to um like a friend's barbecue or if we go on holiday. like My iPhone is my camera pretty much when I'm not working.

43:33.14
Vaughn Ridley
um ah yeah i don't really Yeah, I don't really have the desire to to to shoot all the time.

43:36.21
Aaron
Which makes sense?

43:41.76
Vaughn Ridley
um I like to put my camera down sometimes. um it's Yeah. i yeah

43:48.93
Seth Macey
Do you think that serves you like well taking a break?

43:51.52
Vaughn Ridley
What's that?

43:52.24
Seth Macey
Do you think that serves you well taking a break and stepping away from it and not having that desire to constantly be using it? Do you think that helps you at your job?

44:01.03
Vaughn Ridley
i I think so. Yeah, I've never really thought about it, to be honest. um Yeah, I would i would agree. like i i just like I enjoy my job. like I basically do my hobby for a living, which which which is quite nice. but I don't like to do it all the time.

44:21.53
Vaughn Ridley
i don't I don't like to shoot all the time. So it's nice to just ah um yeah put my camera down and and do other do other things.

44:27.37
Aaron
Yeah.

44:28.32
Seth Macey
Yeah.

44:29.61
Vaughn Ridley
you know

44:30.52
Aaron
Are you in charge of all the editing as well?

44:30.58
Seth Macey
Yeah.

44:32.52
Aaron
Or do you hand over your lot from the night?

44:35.00
Vaughn Ridley
ah it It depends on who I'm working for and i've and and what I'm shooting. like ah i wait with with With regards to the Raptors and the NBA, I have an editor. So so basically, all of our images go to new to their offices in New Jersey and they're edited by by people there and in real time.

44:55.91
Seth Macey
Yeah, I was going to say it's probably done very fast.

44:58.43
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, because that's kind of part of the part of the deal. live um Teams want pitchers immediately, right? So ah so that's that's why that system's in place. um but But if I'm shooting baseball in the summertime, it's up to me. I'm i'm doing my own edit. I'm basically picking 20 images to that sort of represent what the story was in the baseball game. And then I do it like a second edit it afterwards, like the next day of another few hundred images.

45:28.11
Aaron
Bye.

45:29.88
Seth Macey
We just had a CEO of Topaz on. We talked a lot about AI, and this is the question I want to start getting in the habit of asking photographers as they come on the show, just to make it more relatable to listeners.

45:35.30
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

45:42.43
Seth Macey
You can feel feel free to say, no, is there any way that you're integrating AI in your daily life, photography or not?

45:49.92
Vaughn Ridley
i wouldn't I wouldn't say so. Definitely not with with regards to to photography. um Like my iPhone, they just did that AI update. And pretty much all I've done is just play around with like silly stuff on that.

46:04.30
Vaughn Ridley
But i i would I wouldn't say anything to do with my job. I'm i'm ah i'm not i'm not using AI. um It's kind of at that sort of that sort of mentality at the moment where um it's I wouldn't say it's not really allowed, but it's generally not allowed within within our our industry.

46:28.28
Seth Macey
Yeah.

46:28.54
Vaughn Ridley
um Although, you know, everybody's sort of getting and getting there theirre their hands into AI and what it can do for their business. um Currently right now, i like I said, i'm i I don't use any sort of AI at all.

46:44.90
Seth Macey
No, that answer is equally as valuable to listeners.

46:46.97
Aaron
Yeah.

46:47.16
Seth Macey
I feel like as if you had said, yes, it's just something I want to start probing people with as they come on the show. And I realized I mentioned that we did that episode with, uh, the topaz lab CEO, but that's after you just recorded it before you, but it's airing after you.

46:57.77
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

47:01.32
Vaughn Ridley
All right.

47:02.76
Seth Macey
So let's need to be on the lookout for that. Is there any mistakes you've made that you can remember that have served you well, moving forward with a valuable lesson or lessons?

47:10.80
Vaughn Ridley
Um, mistakes.

47:15.92
Seth Macey
Photography wise or not, just something where at the time you thought really wished that didn't happen. And then five years later, five years later, you're like, you know what? The lesson from that was very helpful.

47:30.24
Vaughn Ridley
ah I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but i but I can definitely say that there has been instance instances in my life where where yeah there's been mistakes made and lessons learned for sure.

47:44.29
Vaughn Ridley
You kind of put me on the spot.

47:45.21
Seth Macey
Any on the trail?

47:47.47
Vaughn Ridley
What's that?

47:48.12
Seth Macey
Any on the trail on the ultra circuit?

47:50.96
Vaughn Ridley
uh yeah probably like like fueling fueling the wrong way or i've run i've run races where i where i felt like a million bucks at the start and then i'm like i don't i'm not one of those guys that like puke stirred a race but i did once and i and i'll never forget it but like i i couldn't quite understand what was wrong with me but uh but uh yeah it was kind of kind of bizarre but

47:54.27
Seth Macey
Well, I mean, ultra running game.

48:07.47
Seth Macey
Oof.

48:12.84
Aaron
Well.

48:17.88
Vaughn Ridley
But those things yeah are like within the rate like running world. It's generally put down to to ae like ah not fueling properly or or yeah just not preparing yourself ay for for for the race, really. you know That's kind of what I put put it put it down to. I just think that I wasn't i probably I can't quite remember how fit I was then, but maybe I wasn't fit enough.

48:44.68
Vaughn Ridley
and I remember there were these ive my my my my buddy was in it was in the lead and i was I knew I wasn't going to catch him, but there were a couple of people behind me that were just like breathing down my neck and I was probably running too hard throughout the middle of that race to to keep those guys away.

49:02.49
Vaughn Ridley
and um yeah and Then I ended up just crashing at the end and those guys blew by me.

49:06.69
Aaron
Hmm.

49:09.27
Seth Macey
Right. Didn't end up running your own race. I guess that's applicable across all areas of life for sure.

49:12.32
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, exactly.

49:12.63
Aaron
Yeah.

49:13.92
Vaughn Ridley
i yeah i'm ah yeah know i'm I'm always one of those guys that's like, yeah like I don't don't take notice of anybody.

49:18.15
Aaron
Hmm.

49:23.33
Vaughn Ridley
I try and run my own race. But but yeah, those guys I remember those guys were pushing me, and I was just trying to keep them behind me, and it just didn't work that day.

49:32.06
Aaron
Well.

49:32.09
Seth Macey
Yeah. People make you not run your own race. You'll puke. I guess that's the lesson.

49:36.32
Vaughn Ridley
Pretty much, yeah.

49:36.33
Aaron
Yeah.

49:37.35
Seth Macey
Uh, this, you know, this podcast isn't about, uh, running, but we take an interest in the photographer's hobbies.

49:37.44
Aaron
yeah

49:38.44
Vaughn Ridley
but

49:44.51
Seth Macey
Uh, why don't you get into ultra distance running is very intense.

49:44.73
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

49:48.74
Seth Macey
It's anything over a marathon that's far. And, uh, personally I've been trying to dig deeper into everything I've been doing with intent and asking myself, okay, like why am I doing this?

50:00.89
Seth Macey
What's the reason? What am I trying to get out of this? And then continuing to ask why, why, why until I get to the root cause. My long-winded question is, what's your intent behind something like that?

50:11.39
Vaughn Ridley
um uh i don't know i i think it's like running stuff like that or or doing those sort of things is uh yeah i don't know it's it's not it's not like crazy in my head it just feels good when you're when you're done i guess i don't know if that makes any sense

50:35.31
Seth Macey
Yeah. You know, i use this it feel if your hand feels so good when you stop hitting it with a hammer, you don't need to have anything profound.

50:36.86
Vaughn Ridley
right

50:40.87
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

50:41.32
Aaron
Yeah.

50:42.64
Vaughn Ridley
it's like great like ah i don't want to like I haven't got anything profound to say, unfortunately. But but but it's but for me, it's just like...

50:50.05
Seth Macey
No.

50:52.39
Vaughn Ridley
um Like the like the like for running for me was like a social sort of aspect. Like I loved meeting up with my running friends and my running group and and running and just talking while we're running.

51:04.52
Vaughn Ridley
And and and just and just working hard together and and like, like ah yeah, just just just ah like if there's a big hill coming up and we all tackle it and everyone's everyone's doing it together, you know?

51:05.04
Seth Macey
It's a great wine.

51:20.56
Vaughn Ridley
and yeah ah just ah Yeah, I would say the social aspect and and the fact that it's like when you've completed something big like that, it feels good. You know what I mean? It's hard when you're doing it and you and you when you want to give up so many times but but when you're done, it's it's ah it's quite it's it's quite a quite a good feeling.

51:46.89
Aaron
Yeah.

51:47.04
Seth Macey
Yeah, like I like your answer, the the social aspect. And i'm I'm trying to get better at, and I invite people listening to do the same thing, is kind of audit your intent with every daily action you're doing.

51:59.10
Seth Macey
And I'm trying to personally eliminate doing things without a deliberate reason behind them. Does that make sense? I'm trying to get rid of just doing things and not understanding or identifying the reason why I'm doing this, even if it's something minor.

52:08.51
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

52:17.64
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, yeah, I completely agree. i With regards to running, I don't do it because I need to impress anybody or or or anything. it's just and At the end of the day, it's it's a it's probably a health thing too. like I know that that running and eating well and that that sort of stuff is is good for me.

52:41.51
Vaughn Ridley
so it's um yeah it's It's it's more of a more of more of that for me. like ah You know, I, yeah, I, yeah, you know.

52:54.46
Seth Macey
Yeah. Aaron, do you ever think about this cutting out things that don't have intent or deciding to build intent behind them before getting in motion?

53:07.77
Aaron
Yeah, I think you mentioned it ah a little while back, but it's it's easy for our brains, I feel like, to just get out of control with thinking sometimes. Too much of why is this happening?

53:17.76
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

53:19.40
Aaron
What what should I be doing? Why am I doing this instead of doing that? Like sometimes I think it's okay to just be a bit. ah But to answer your question, i yeah, i mean I mean all the time, constantly. we're We're spending tons of time with the podcast. We're spending tons of time editing photos. We're traveling, ah exercising, trying to eat well, ah research things about what foods are best or what foods are not the best. or

53:51.55
Aaron
You know, you can constantly just I think be trying to figure out exactly what you are doing and what you should be doing or shouldn't be doing. Uh, sometimes I think it can be a little tiring, you know, I have the conversation all the time. If I sit down, I'm not a big TV guy, but I got into a series recently, uh, and I got hooked on it. And like, I want to watch this story. And every time I go to press play, I'm like, I should be doing something else.

54:20.66
Aaron
And it kind of ruins the whole thing and like, the Y.

54:20.73
Seth Macey
Yeah. I guess I'm not really suggesting that the thought process be, should I or should I not be doing this or should I or should I not be doing something else, but rather what is the purpose of what I am active in right now?

54:36.46
Aaron
Yeah.

54:37.68
Seth Macey
That's more the question. And I was curious if you had thought, if that thought ever routinely pops into your head or if I'm a psychopath and need help.

54:49.36
Aaron
I think it does. I think the, am I enjoying this? Right? Like that's, that's the big one.

54:53.60
Seth Macey
Yeah, that's a good question too. Am I enjoying this?

54:55.65
Aaron
That's the big one. I think for me, like, is this, is this still fun? Is it not even fun necessarily, but like, is there purpose behind it that, that makes me feel good? You know, like running in the moment for me is not fun at all, but trying to keep a certain level of like cardio and exercise and just fitness.

55:04.76
Seth Macey
Yeah.

55:15.00
Aaron
And the idea, if there's a zombie apocalypse, I could run two miles straight. Like I want to know that I want to have that checklist, ah like off. So.

55:22.48
Seth Macey
Yeah, it's hobbies are capped at one mile.

55:24.97
Aaron
I feel like they're slow and I like two miles. I can get to where I got to get, but, uh, yeah. So sometimes there's just those things of like, this isn't necessarily fun or I'm not necessarily happy doing it, but the overall, if I zoom out, it feels good.

55:40.71
Aaron
And I feel good about the experience.

55:41.45
Seth Macey
Right. Right. It's a net positive.

55:45.79
Aaron
Yeah.

55:46.41
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah, i I agree with that. like at the At the end, it's like it feels it feels good to know that you accomplished that or or you've put a few things down.

55:58.04
Vaughn Ridley
And and kind of kind of like going back to photography, like get an idea in your head of a picture and do this, this, this, and this. And sometimes it doesn't work. Sometimes it does.

56:08.08
Vaughn Ridley
And when it does, it feels great. You know what I mean?

56:11.67
Aaron
yeah And then we can still do it.

56:12.23
Vaughn Ridley
Kind of like crossing kind like crossing the finish line.

56:12.26
Seth Macey
yeah

56:14.43
Vaughn Ridley
you know

56:15.25
Aaron
ah Seth, we travel together, you know, at least once a year. And there's usually a big hike involved in in that travel that's somewhat strenuous. not Nothing crazy, but a big hike.

56:26.40
Aaron
You're carrying a lot of gear and you get a photo. And part of part of that is like, oh, I'm still able to do this.

56:33.00
Seth Macey
I get to do this.

56:33.69
Aaron
Like, I want to be able to do this for a long time.

56:36.63
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

56:36.83
Aaron
and I get to do this and I'm able to and, uh, staying in shape and like allowing yourself to do those things and and having those check marks.

56:40.06
Seth Macey
Yeah.

56:47.16
Aaron
I like, I used to play basketball. I'm six, five. I used to be able to dunk. I can't anymore. I'm 44, but there, there was it.

56:53.01
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

56:53.91
Seth Macey
You still a dunk?

56:55.81
Aaron
Yeah.

56:55.84
Seth Macey
We need to get that on the socials page.

56:57.93
Vaughn Ridley
hu

56:58.23
Aaron
Yeah, but the only thing I'm just so sad at what the situation of video and photography was when I was in high school, it was like VHS video and garbage.

57:07.63
Vaughn Ridley
Yeah.

57:08.53
Aaron
I do have one video of me dunking in a game, which I'll i'll dig up.

57:12.50
Seth Macey
Oh, got it.

57:12.81
Aaron
But, but the point being like year after year, I would test it right until about like, 26, 27, like it started to fade away.

57:23.77
Aaron
And And that's aging a bit. And it's like, those are those little sad moments where you're like, I used to be able to do that. And it's now not quite there.

57:35.04
Aaron
So keeping as many of those at bay as possible. I i know i don't want to get to a point where like I used to be able to run two miles, but now I cannot. You know, so I think, I think that's, that's part of that equation for me.

57:43.97
Seth Macey
right

57:49.30
Aaron
Um, but just, just keep going and whether it feels great or not, like, is there a bigger purpose to it?

57:55.43
Seth Macey
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Vaughn, what's one piece of advice you'd give your former photographer self when you're just starting out? If you could speak to him right now.

58:04.09
Vaughn Ridley
um I would say

58:09.82
Vaughn Ridley
every everything everything worked ah kind of sounds silly Everything works out in the end, but there's ah there's a lot of things that happen. not but Probably just in life, I guess, really. like like ah for For example, my wife and I weren't sure if moving back to Canada was the right thing, but we did it anyway. And we kept our fingers crossed that it was going to work. And the first couple of years for me, it was a struggle.

58:34.00
Vaughn Ridley
and but i'm i'm a I'm a firm believer of ah of ah like ah things all tend to work out in the end. you know like ah you might not you at the At the moment, you might not understand or or agree with a decision or the way things are happening or working at that point. But i I'm a firm believer in generally things work out in the end for you. you know So there can be a big so big struggle in this industry for people, um you know, trying to work, get work, trying to get the right clients, that kind of thing. um But but i I tend to think, you know, if somebody says no, then, you know, down the line, someone's probably going to say yes, you know what I mean? You just got to keep on battling, keep on keep on

59:25.69
Vaughn Ridley
going hard at it and and sooner rather than later, you know things things do tend to work out in the end, I feel. you know

59:35.57
Seth Macey
Von Ridley, ladies and gentlemen, thanks for your time today, man.

59:38.51
Vaughn Ridley
No problem. Thank you very much for having me.