The Viewfinder Sessions | S1E1 | From Breakdown to Breakthrough

In this conversation, Shaun opens up about the power of vulnerability and authenticity in tackling mental health.

He explores how genuine connection, built through honest conversations about anxiety, depression, and toxic environments, can lead to understanding and healing. 

Shaun also reflects on how creative outlets such as photography have become vital tools for coping, expression, and rediscovering balance.

Key Takeaways:

It’s okay to not be okay.

People crave real, unfiltered connection.

Sharing personal experiences can inspire and comfort others.

Talking about mental health is more important than ever.

Creative outlets can be powerful forms of therapy.

Travel often brings clarity and new perspective.

Toxic work environments can deeply affect mental well-being.

Authenticity builds stronger, more meaningful relationships.

Vulnerability opens the door to healing.

Confronting past trauma is key to personal growth.

Thanks so much for tuning in to The Viewfinder Sessions! I truly appreciate you being part of this growing community of storytellers, travelers, photographers, and those just trying to live life a little more intentionally.

If you enjoyed today’s episode, please take a moment to subscribe to the channel or podcast wherever you’re listening or watching. Hit that like button, leave a comment, and share it with someone who might need a little inspiration or perspective today.

Your engagement, whether it’s a like, a question, or sharing an episode, really helps this project grow and reach more people who care about the same things we do.

You can also connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, and Threads at @ohmenervesphotography, or visit the website at www.ohmenervesphotography.ca

 for updates on upcoming expeditions, workshops, and new content.

And if you ever want to reach out directly, whether it’s to share your story, ask a question, or just say hi, send me an email at oh.me.nerves.photography@gmail.com


Until next time, keep chasing what sets your soul on fire, stay curious, and never stop seeing the world through your own viewfinder.

Transcript

0:21

Good afternoon, everybody. Sean here from Omniverse Photography coming at you with episode one of TVS, the viewfinder sessions. um We're gonna get into things here real quickly, shortly I guess. um Bear with me, I'm trying to record the video and the audio. I'm trying out my very first ever. I guess platform, recording platform through Riverside FM. So we're gonna see how this goes. We're gonna do our best and uh kind of the purpose of this episode is more just to um kind of give you a look into my life, eh where I come from, where I grew up, uh all the way down through to where we are today. I hope you'll stick with me and and we'll see where things go. So, you know, the joke that I always say with folks is I was technically born in Sarnia, Ontario. Mom and dad got married December 23rd, 1981, and they went home to Newfoundland for their honeymoon. Dad's from Newfoundland. I believe mom was actually born in Leamington. and then found her way with her family up to uh Petrolia and then eventually Sarnia. uh But when they were home in Newfoundland on their honeymoon, uh when they came back, they found out they were having me in nine months. So September 17th, 1982, I came along. so the kind of joke is that uh I'm as close to a Newfoundlander you can be conceived there, born in Ontario. ah But really my heart is Newfoundland, home is Newfoundland. That is absolutely ah my heartbeats. And you can tell that from the name of ah my business, Ominervs Photography. Ominervs is something you say sort of when your wife is getting on your nerves. Ominervs, got me drove. That's kind of the way we utilize it there. um I was raised in Sarnia, Ontario. um Grew up when I was quite young. Dad was on the ships in the Great Lakes. um And then eventually both him and mom ended up janitors at Bethel Pentecostal Church in Sarnia. um I had a great childhood. um I went to, I believe JK and SK in grade one were at, my goodness, it's escaping me now. Grade two I know is at Confederation High Park. SK and JK were at High Park and then I ended up, because we moved to the house behind Bethel Church, um then I ended up in the area zone for Confederation School. And then uh partly the way through grade two, m some of the folks from different uh churches around town decided to start a kind of conglomerate um homeschool with an organization called PACE. And we ended up, they would host that up in the second level of Bethel Church. So then I was homeschooled from basically part of grade two all the way up through grade eight. and then graduated there and moved on to public school for grade nine, which was St. Clair Secondary, go Colts. Now it's the Great Lakes Secondary School. I believe it was Skits and St. Clair joined together. yeah, that's kind of the short version of my childhood in school wise, but um summers, were always an exciting time for me. We would find our way up or over to Newfoundland almost every summer. I got to spend my summers there anywhere from, I think it was four or five, maybe even six weeks. can't remember. Mom and dad would correct me on that, but at least a month we would typically spend home in Newfoundland. And some of my first girlfriends were there. Some of my, if not a bunch of my favorite memories. come from being home in Newfoundland in the summer. It's where I fell in love with the outdoors and nature. And even as a kid growing up in Lambton County, when I was around in the summer or the fall, the spring, whatever, you'd always find me, I'd have a tent pitched in the backyard, be out there reading Hardy Boy books, or I'd have a Davy Crockett coonskin hat on, or I would have uh a bowie knife or a BB gun, shooting targets and just out having an imagination back in the days when we, you know, you come in when the lights turned on. That was kind of the way I was raised. I hate the fact that I'm a millennial. I consider myself uh Gen X simply because I was born in that kind of overlapping era. And no offense to the millennials, just, my upbringing was more of the Gen X side of things. but yeah, growing up, had a mom and dad who loved me and loved each other immensely. uh Brother and sister that came from my mom's first marriage, but they have always been my full brother and sister. My dad raised them. That's just how it was growing up. I had kind of once I got to high school, things kind of got a little icky for me. mean, before before high school, kind of go back a bit. suffered sexual abuse from three different individuals and one happened off and on basically from the age of 12 to 13, give or take. And I was also at that time diagnosed with ADD, was on Rillin' Pills, and I think at one point up to three of those a day, and it just grew up, you know, always in the crowd, trying to, I don't know, just trying to fit in is kind of what I would go at it from. It was a tough upbringing in that sense. You know, everybody looked down on me and the job that my parents had as janitors. I tend to think of it as the opposite. They were hard workers and uh taught me work ethic and taught me how to give more than I take. uh That's just, that was who I am, who I was. you know, we all have a story. We all have a... our individual ups and downs in life. And for me, sexual abuse was something I suffered. Bullying was something I suffered in a major way. But at the same time, I had a family that was loving and loved me um and spent a lot of time, like I said, in nature. And so that kind of set the foundation for where I would go. in the rest of my life. um And that to me is something I'm extremely grateful for is no matter what I went through as a child and a teenager and young adult life, um my parents especially have always been there for me and have always loved me no matter what good or bad decision I made at the time. that's... ah I think that's what really truly made me who I am today. um I think back over the years, mean, once I got into high school, um being in homeschool for the better part of my elementary education, it was a rude awakening. And as you can tell, I grew up in a Christian home, um lots of religious values. There are things that I still hold today from that, but then there are things that I absolutely disagree with today from my upbringing. And we'll probably get into that in this podcast at some point. But like I said, today is just about introducing me, ah where I come from, who I am, kind of the things that led to ah the viewfinder sessions, Omniverse Photography, and kind of where I am today. um Back in 2003, ah I was at the local beach, Canter Park, and if you're from Southwestern Ontario, representing Canter Park. Back in the early 2000s, was the hopping place to be. Right around the time that Fast and Furious came out, we had our own kind Fast and Furious crew. Everybody had their cars and vehicles souped up. It was just... uh a fun time to be a teenager slash young adult. And uh one day, June 2003, I was with a friend, Ida, shout out to Ida. um And I saw this, this girl crossing through the park. Come on. looked at her and I was just like, I'm going to marry that girl. She was like, who? Tara? And I was like, yeah. She's like, I know Tara. And uh One thing led to another, she introduced us and shortly thereafter, July 3rd, 2003, we began dating. then March of 2006, we ended up in New Orleans, New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina had just come through in, was it 2005? think it was December of 2005. And we went down for hurricane relief work on the way back. I had the diamond with me and I proposed and what was it? That was March 2006. So in September, 23rd, 2006, we tied the knot and left the next day, flew off to Panama for our honeymoon. And then once we got back, we filled a 26 foot U-Haul truck and moved out west where I had taken a position as executive director of a Youth Drop-in Center. So yeah, was kind of a, those years were some of the best years, I think, in my life. Around the time that I met my wife, I was playing with fire. 2001, I had been living in Kitchener, rolling with a very legit, fast and furious kind of crew. got myself involved in some crazy stuff that ended up having me hiding in bushes after I'd been stabbed in the face. shortly after that, I moved home and tried to start to kind of pull my life together a bit. And it was around that time that I met Tara. And I say to this day that if I had not met her, I'd either be dead or be in jail. And so that was kind of a... I guess a life altering moment in my life at that time. So I love you, babe. You did save my life and you were the best thing that happened to me. So yeah, and we got married, moved to West. We were at West for about three years. People always ask me as a photographer, but also as someone who likes to travel. I think it was 2019 just before COVID. I had hit my 30th country. I never started traveling until 2001. 2001, I went to England for two weeks and then got the bug, ended up with the same organization that I went to England with. I ended up in what's called a STEP program through Operation Mobilization. Over in Africa, West Africa, I spent two months there. I think I hit seven African countries who basically did. from Gabon all the way up through to Ghana and every country along the way. Again, this was kind of like a missionary's trip. We worked with orphans. We worked with uh orphanages, uh homeless folks, lots of different programs in the community through the local churches. But that kind of gave me the bug for travel. And then after that, I mean, things just kind of kicked in and Like I say, 2019, hit my 29th or 30th, I think it was the 30th country. And what a ride I've had from then. But people always ask, what's your favorite place that you've traveled to? And to this day, there are lots of amazing places. I've been to the Arctic Circle. Lapland, Finland, I've been to Sweden, I've been to uh Tallinn, Estonia, I've been to Italy, France, um Theranais 10th year anniversary, spent three weeks basically backpacking, taken the trains and whatnot from Venice all the way down to basically the Amalfi coast. um I've been to, like I said, seven or eight African countries, Cuba, Mexico, Belize, Honduras. um 44 of the 48 lower states, all 10 provinces and the Northwest Territories. So I've been kind of all over the place. And to this day, when we moved back from Alberta, we kind of made the decision that look, you know, we're moving home, we're going to start a family. We don't know kind of what's going to happen career wise, family wise. um Are we ever going to get back out west? So we're here. Let's make the best of it. So we took every dollar that we had saved, um hired movers to move our stuff back to Sarnia, Ontario, and loaded up our 2008 Honda Civic to the Lego block and decided to kind of vagabond-ish, um nomad-ish, make our way back home to Ontario. We kind of somewhat planned, um kind of drove every day. as we got close to the evening, we looked for a campsite near us. was the only thing we kind of really planned was we're going to camp as much as we can. So we... Made our way through Alberta, we crossed over to the US um in Montana at Glacier National Park. Still to this day, one of my favorite uh parks that I've ever been to uh in the world. Just a beautiful, stunning park. And mind you, I still haven't been to Yellowstone or Moab or Joshua Tree. Those are three that I never made it to, but... um The ones that I've been to, I really, really enjoyed Glacier. It was an incredible place. But then we kind of headed west from there, went through Idaho, passed through Washington State, and then connected to Oregon at Pacific City. And from there, we traveled along the coast on the 101 Highway, then into Northern California, where we caught the PCH-1, which is the coastal highway. You see it in all of the commercials, all of the movies. And we took that all the way down to Laguna Beach. uh Sidebar, I went to Laguna Beach for a work trip a few years ago and rented a car and went all the way down to San Diego. So just to, I still got a little portion there from um Washington up to, no, actually we did Washington up to Vancouver. So I've got this San Diego to the border uh of Mexico is where I've got to get to, to complete the entire Western seaboard. of the US, along the way we stopped whenever we wanted, went to everything that was there. And then when we were done in LA, we drove to the Santa Monica Pier and a dream I'd had up until that time, I think it was about 24, 25, up until that time I really wanted to do Route 66. And that's what we did. We started at Santa Monica Pier. finished in Chicago. Aside from one little piece where I said, there's no way that we're going to come do Route 66 and be out this way and not see the Grand Canyon because that was top three of my bucket list places I wanted to see as a kid. So we left Route 66 and went up to uh Rice Canyon, Zion and Grand Canyon. and then reconnected with Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona. And then all the way from there to Chicago. And we did everything. I mean, we went up the arch to St. Louis, we saw Cadillac Ranch. I almost had the 72 on stake at the Big Texan, but knowing that I was going to be staying in a car for the next foreseeable future, it didn't seem like a smart idea to take down a 72 on stake plus all the other food they have. I do want to go back at some point and try to take that on. yeah, it was just an incredible trip to see Alberta back across to Oregon down the coast and then all the way through the United States of America. And on the way out when we moved out in 06 with that 26 foot U-Haul truck, We went the Canadian way. So essentially we had gone from, know, Sarnia, Toronto area, all the way up through Northern Ontario, through Manitoba, Saskatchewan, uh Alberta. And then when we came home, right down through over to Oregon and then down the coast and then all the way through the United States. you know, our kids hate it, but every time we watch a movie or see a show or a commercial, We were there, we were there, we saw that. It's just one of those trips that was epic. Like it was 12,000 kilometers. I think it was just under four weeks and we spent about under $5,000 at the time in 09 and we slept in a tent 14 nights, slept in the car for four nights and stayed in hotels for eight nights. Just an epic, epic. Epic road trip. ah So to this day, it's, one of my favorite. Now with that trip, um, one of the things that, kind of came with that, that kind of leads us to where we are with this podcast, um, and where I am with photography, knowing where I was going to go and the things that I was going to see, I knew I had to buy like a legit camera. Cause when I went to, um Africa, actually, one second. This is the camera that I took to Africa with me. uh The Olympus D550 Zoom, three megapixels, folks. ah That was my first digital camera. And at that time, when we were gonna make this trip home, I knew I needed to get something. So I ended up with a DSLR. It was a Canon Rebel XT. I had the 18 to 55 kit set. Then I also got, I think I got the Canon 75 to 300. I can't remember if I had it on that trip or not. But I did buy the 70 to 200 L Series F4. And that was the gear I basically brought with me on that trip. So that was, I had already been taking pictures, right? I mean, I photography. When I went home to Newfoundland, I had the old film cameras. I think I've got two totes or at least one tote that is full of uh printed pictures. I've still got uh negatives from stuff that I had printed. I've even got rules, I think, that I haven't even had um processed yet. That, that when we went to Newfoundland, I would take photos when I was with friends and family and you know, we'd go out whale watching and take a photo with my, my film camera. I loved it. Kind of just the motto of Ominar's photography is capturing moments, creating memories. And that was kind of in the back of my head why I had a camera. But when, when we decided on this trip home, I knew I needed something a little bit better because I where I was going. I knew I was going to see some stuff. uh looking back now, mean, it was pretty good gear for your first real kind of setup. yeah, that's where it really started to kind of really pay attention to what I was doing back then. I was shooting in JPEG. I was shooting in uh auto. Again, I'll interrupt right here. If you're a photographer watching or listening to this and you're new, you're a beginner, um no matter what anybody says, you shoot in what you're comfortable in shooting. If you want to get better, if you want to go the professional route, yeah, you got to learn how to shoot manual and you got to shoot in raw, but it doesn't have to define who you are. You're not some schmuck just because you don't shoot in uh manual and raw. And any photographer out there, uh with any kind of heart and any grain of salt would never say, you must shoot raw and manual. um Yeah, you're limited if you don't, but you don't have to unless your goal is to print your work, get into galleries, go into contests and go down that road. Then you definitely at some point are going to have to learn uh post-processing. You're going to have to learn how to shoot in raw. and I was shooting manual. um But back then I didn't know my hand from my feet. And so I shot in auto and I shot in JPEG. um But kind of fast forward to um we moved home, 09, kind of got our feet under us, uh started careers. um Tara had had a career in the insurance industry out West. When she moved home, she had a couple of connections and kind of moved right into an insurance job here in Sarnia, Lambton. um I kind of was in between not knowing really what I wanted to do with my life. And I had a couple of different jobs at that time. read the wealthy barber shadow to my father-in-law. gave that the wealthy barber book ah to me ah when we got married. I read it. ah And David Chilton is an amazing guy. ah got to meet him a couple of times through my own journey. But that book was a real good kind of, it was good for our marriage and for my understanding of finances and married life with finances. But long story short, I got a job with State Farm in 2010. I'm a go getter. Anybody who's watching this, anybody who knows me. You give me an inch and I'll take a mile and in the best way, not in a bad way. And so that first job, the owner, two months in, I was like, you know, how do I get this license and how do I do that? And how do I get to a position where I can own my own agency? And long story short, he fired me two months in because he was basically worried that I was going to use him. get all the training, get all the licenses, and then go out and do whatever I wanted. And I could say a lot about that. I'll leave it there. um But the funny thing was, the, well, I guess not funny at the time, but the day he let me go, he said, I'm gonna let you go today. I was gonna let you go tomorrow, but I know you pick up the keys to your new home and I wanted you to have the time to be able to do that. So this guy fires me on the day that I'm taking keys. to the very first home that my wife and I have ever purchased. um Stress? ah Yeah, it was a trying time. We lived off credit cards for the first two months of owning a home. I spent the next 10 years trying to recover from that. um But hey, like everything else I faced in my life, um one of the things I'm learning is to not dwell on it. I'm really trying to kind of focus on the fact that it made me who I am. Everything that I've gone through has made me who I am today. And that's what is most important. um So sucked at the time, but is what it is. I ended up uh getting a job not too long after and spent 15 years um in that career. We'll get to that second. But in 2011, we welcomed our first child, Ethan. He is now 14. Holy smokes, where does the time go? I always say to people, you don't know the value of time until you have a child. Then all of a sudden you're like, 14 years has flown by. And then 2014, three years later in August, we had her daughter. Funny story, when Tara and I were talking about kids, she wanted like, four or five or six kids and I want to like 10. I know hold on. Hold on a second. Dad has 13 brothers and sisters. I grew up around a lot of family, aunts, uncles. had I think it's 41 first cousins on dad's side alone. So I loved the big family aspect. We got married. We had our first kid and I was like, I think I'm good. I think I'm good with what I've got. um Obviously not totally true, but once we had her daughter, we had the million dollar family and we just said, you know what, we're good. think my wife would have, I'll not think, I know she probably would have went three, just where we were in our careers and life, uh it just didn't kind of make sense or fit the lifestyle that we had at the time. And so we, we kind of capped it at two. um But at the same time, we, got our first uh pet when we were out west, uh Tucker, um passed away in 2019 at 11 or 12 years of age. And then in 2020, about a month before COVID hit, we got Nash, our border door, which is a border collie lab mix, um from Texas via Tennessee and Mississauga through fetch and release. And that's kind of been the last, you know, 2010 to 2025, two kids, cat and then a dog. And then we bought our first home in 2010 on Padgett Street here in Corona. And then 2017, we sold and bought the house that we're currently in. And that's kind of brings us to today. 2024. spent nearly 15 years in the insurance and finance industry as a professional financial advisor. I was a designated PFA. A lot of good came from that career. The house I have, the life I've lived definitely came from that career. But a lot of the mental health and physical health issues that I've had come from that career and the place that I was employed at. And so in 2024, April of last year, I took a leave of absence due to stress, kind of mental breakdown. because of the toxic environment that I was in and spent the last year and half uh in therapy, but also uh using that time to get out in nature. And of course I would bring my camera with me, but I think the real healing therapy that I've had has been photography and being out in nature. I swear to it this day that if it weren't for my wife, if it weren't for photography, and if it weren't for all things nature, I wouldn't be here speaking on this podcast today. I'd be dead. um That's blunt, frank, to the point. um Yeah, I mean, the stress and the toxicity of the environment I was in drove me many times almost off that cliff. And I knew that I had to take my power back I needed to focus on me, ah my mental health, my physical health. And so that's what I've done for the last year and a half and currently now involved in a... kind of in a transition period right now. I can't speak much to it because there is some legal stuff that is going on, but um the focus has really been on what makes me happy uh and photography and nature. m And um speaking and doing this kind of stuff has really been so extremely healing for me. um It's grounded me. It's allowed me the opportunity to kind of look past, like to the past, not necessarily dwell on it, but like deal with the underlying issues. I never got professional and proper counseling when I was sexually abused, um the bullying that I went through. And so it's just really been a great year and a half to focus on myself, focus on my mental and physical health. It's been trying. I mean, I left a six figure income. uh And now this is kind of all I have. I was paid on disability 50 % of my wages up until February 28th of this year. And from then until now, I've been on my own and that's kind of where we're at. ah But in this time off, taking that deep dive into my therapy, diving that much deeper. into photography over the last five, six, seven years. I've upgraded my cameras. I now have a Canon R7 mirrorless. This year, I bought the, this year or last, no, last year, I bought the Canon R5 Mark II, RF 100-500, RF 16, and then a bunch of other little lenses and DJI drone and actions and GoPros and different things and again, thanks to getting that stuff while I was working. And so now that I've been through this kind of healing process and that I've kind of dove head first into all things photography, it's kind of exploded for me over the last, let's say, four or five years. I sold my first print in 2021, I think it was. um Not last week, the week before last. um I took a group of six up to Churchill, Manitoba on a photography expedition um in partnership with North Star Tours. out to Remi Allen and his crew and stayed at the White Whale Lodge and saw 61 bears with them and uh Got to show them Churchill, the people of Churchill, the history of Churchill. And we'll talk a lot about my work in the Arctic so far and how much I love Churchill, um the ecosystems that collide up there, the incredible history with the indigenous communities up there. uh Just so much up there and a lot like Newfoundland for me. um But yeah, over the last five years, I've gone from this hobby to now selling prints. have a speaking tour. I have a book that I'm in the process, two books actually, one's my life story and one's tied to my project, Arctic Frontiers, Life at the Edge of a Changing World. And that project alone has a 2026 calendar. I'm writing a book for it. uh I'm trying to take the footage that I've filmed and create a documentary. with it. have a speaking tour. uh Last night I did a Zoom presentation to the uh Ontario Field Orthonologist, OFO for short, ah their Northern group. did a presentation to them. um I've spoken all over Southwestern Ontario so far. have bookings far away as Ireland. I'm doing a Zoom presentation to Ireland next year. uh camera group in uh Galway, think, um traveling to the GTA. And then I also have a gallery tour where I'm right now just in Southwestern Ontario. um But next year I have bookings out in the GTA and I hope to take this across the country eventually, as well as my speaking tour. um It's all kind of sharing. this, not the lengthy version of this, but my journey um as a person, my struggles with mental health, uh travel, my love and passion for nature and photography and using my platforms to shine a spotlight on conservation, um mental health and creative outlets ah and all of those things kind of intertwining together. So yeah, that's kind of where we're at today. um anyone listening or watching, I do have six spots open for October 20th to the 26th of 2026 to go up to Churchill. And I'm looking at opening in 2026, hopefully, if anything goes right, one or two more trips up to Churchill at different seasons for the Beluga whales in the summer. And I'm also looking at starting expeditions to Newfoundland, my down home expedition. So stay tuned. You can find all that stuff on the website, www.Ominerphotography.ca um and continuing to work on this Arctic Frontier project, the book, the documentary. I'm hoping to work with uh Frameworks Media. Corey Leckie over there has got all the the video from my first trip, got to send them some more and then we're trying to secure funding. It cost a lot to do the editing and to publish it, produce it. So if you're out there looking to sponsor, if you're out there looking to be a part of something amazing, shout out, give me a shout out and DM me, email me, whatever way you can get a hold of me and let's chat because Once we have the funding, can start the actual production of it and producing of it. And uh once it's done, our plan, if we're happy with the end result, um we are going to put it into as many film festivals as we can. And the goal of Arctic Frontiers is, yeah, to shine a spotlight on conservation with the polar bears, especially in the melting sea ice, but it's also to focus on the ecosystems, the marine ecosystem, the boreal forest ecosystem, and the Arctic tundra that all collide up in Churchill. um But one of the main features that I'm still really wanting to focus on, and it takes time, you need to build connections and relationships, but I really want to focus on the indigenous community up there um that sometimes just kind of gets left behind. And that's a path that I've been on over the last year or two is reconciliation. uh I've always had an interest in Indigenous culture. uh Over the past year, I got a certificate, of a equivalent of a college certificate for Canadian Indigenous history and cultural sensitivity. um I've also got my certificate as a wilderness uh survival instructor, which had a a good healthy basis in um indigenous culture and ways to approach survival in the wilderness. um So it's something you'll hear me talk a lot about. uh I really have a heart for uh reconciliation and learning and growing uh as a privileged white man and how I can be an ally to our Indigenous community. So yeah, that's kind of all where we are right now. I have some copies of the 2026 calendar left. So if you're interested, hit me up. can e-transfer is the preferred way, simply because there's no fees that way. But it is available on my website, along with all kinds of other stuff. And if you're listening to this podcast or watching and you're looking for art, you want to buy a print of some sort, ask me. I've got thousands of images. It isn't just what you see on my online shop. I'm continually trying to add things to the shop, but I have OMNP merch, hopefully at some point soon here. you can see here's one of my hats. um I've got shirts, hoodies, hats, whiskey glasses, wine glasses, uh toques. You name it, I've got it on the OMNP side, but I also want to get some TVS, the viewfinder sessions, merch as well. I'm also looking for help um to create art for the, kind of the, not just the episodes, but like I want to artwork that I can use um kind of like OMNP for... merchant stuff using TVS or the viewfinder sessions. So if you're out there and you're looking to partner um and you want to work with me, hit me up and let's chat. I'd love to find something really unique and cool uh and different. um But yeah, that's coming along and we're coming to the close here. I did want to talk about a couple of other things, kind of the future of this podcast. um This is 40 three minutes I think we're at right now. um Just kind of introducing me ah from childhood to now, just surface level. This is who I am. This is what I've kind of gone through. ah This is what led me to photography. This is what has led me to this podcast. And what's the future of the podcast? So ah if you've watched the trailer that I put out a few weeks ago, If you've been paying attention on social media, I think the long and short of it is this is a photography podcast, first and foremost. m But as a photographer, I do a lot of traveling. um I'm in nature a lot. as a photographer myself, photography being a major point of life saving healing and therapy for me. um I feel that that fits. feel that I need to talk about mental health um and travel. it's gonna be kind of photography meets travel meets mental health. And that's kind of the goal. The themes of each episode are gonna be surrounding these days. Sometimes it might just be all about uh an expedition, right? I wanna do... a series here or a series, an episode and try and get all of the folks that came with me on the first inaugural uh expedition with OMMP Polar Expeditions. I'd love to get them on and just chat with them about their experience and kind of why they chose me, but also why they wanted to go up, et cetera. But we're also going to get into having uh guests like Sarah Gallo, uh the five foot traveler. You can look her up on Instagram and most social media. uh She's a travel guru. She also does shoot photos when she's out and her and I kind of connected over socials and uh I thought she'd be a great guest to have on this podcast. So she's committed to being on at some point. We've got Brett Blakely, Ian Jones. Those are two guys that I met and uh have become friends slash acquaintances with who helped me out a lot in my um personal journey as a photographer and even in the podcasts side of things, uh both incredible photographers and huge shout out to the photographer mindset podcast run by Seth Macy and Aaron Mantis. um Incredible guys who had Brett and Ian on and And someday maybe I can have Seth and Aaron on as well. But um that's something else you're going to see from me. It's not a competition. um The photographer mindset TPM, I listen to as religiously as I can. I've learned so much from their podcast and what they do over there is completely amazing. And I think if you're listening to this or watching this, get over there, follow, like, subscribe, same thing with here. um Everybody has a different take. Everybody has a different story. And I really, enjoyed listening to their podcast and I'm not going to lie, I'm probably trying to steal some of the stuff that they've done because they're so successful with it and they've helped me along this journey. So big shout out to Seth, TPM. But yeah, we're going to have Brett and Ian on. Incredible guys. Ian has actually worked with, oh my goodness, what's his name? MrBeast, Brad has done some ridiculously incredible photography, does a lot of work with Airbnb's uh and other amazing things. So I'm excited to have those guys on at some point. Rebecca Clark, AKA, Izzy Collective, um she's a phenomenal photographer on Instagram, again, all the socials. Kayla Walton, I believe, Kayla correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you're based out of Yellowknife. uh We're gonna have Maxime on, PolarBears International on. Big shout out to Vanguard Photo. They are kind of the unofficial sponsor of this episode. uh Jay Hathaway has been incredible to me. I've worked with him on behalf of Vanguard Photo. They approached me. uh couple of years back to be a brand ambassador. When you hear me talk about Vanguard gear, it's not because I'm an ambassador, it's not because I have discount codes and I can make a percentage back. uh The main pieces of gear, you can kind of see it over there, I have my photography bag and my original tripod. um I bought their gear long before they asked me to be a brand ambassador. um So I love the fact that we have that relationship that was based not in becoming an ambassador and then giving me all kinds of free gear, which they have, and I am super grateful for that. ah But their product is amazing. It's economically good from a price point. ah It is top notch when it comes to, mean, I'm in the Arctic. I'm at waterfalls. I'm a drag around in the mud, freezing cold for seven hours in the middle of a ditch. This gear is impeccable and uh anytime I've had a problem, which I think is like once, um they sent me a replacement. Their customer service is top notch, the gear is top notch. A huge shout out to Vanguard Photo um and the support they've given me in my career. ah They were also a part in helping me get up to the Arctic for my very first time. yeah, you're going to hear from Vanguard and hear a lot about Vanguard on this podcast. um I do have a discount code. I will mention that it's O-M-N-P 15. That gets you 15 % off your gear there. You have to make sure that you're shopping the American site. They do have a Canadian site, but it only applies to the American site. They do ship to Canada. It's kind of conglomerate, the Canadian and US in one, but just make sure you're on the US site and you can get that. And at certain events, I also have a code for 40 % off. So if you ever come to one of my events, which you should, you might be able to have access to that as well. I've also partnered like in my last trip up to the Arctic. with the camera store and through them with Sony Alpha. They sent me up with an FX3 and the 24-105 f4 was incredible opportunity to get my hands on Sony. I'm a Canon guy, probably will be for life simply because of the glass. But when it comes to video and film, I feel like Sony's really got a great edge in that market. so eventually my hope is to get uh kind of a secondary camera to use Sony for any of my filming. Eventually, I hope right now I'm just using my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Because it's easy, simple, um but I eventually hope to have a Sony camera for even just this alone. So I'm hoping to have them on. We're going to have Tegan's Adventures, AKA Tegan from the Halliburton Forest and the Halliburton Forest Wolf Center. Just to hear from them, Jean-Simon, an incredible photographer. Him and I have talked and we're going to try to get him on. That's going to be an interesting one if we can because we both agreed like he, his English is quite broken. He's from Quebec. ah But I really believe in having guys like him on and if we could find a way around that, that sort of language barrier. This guy is one of the most talented photographers I think I've ever seen. So I'm excited to try to make that work. We also have Lydia, AKA Lightbug Photography. She is also on Instagram. So these are just some of the guests that I'm looking at having. I'm just excited. I'm excited for the journey. I have a lot to say. I love talking. I'm not ashamed of saying it. It's why I can speak to thousands of people in a room. um And so I just believe with... kind of the traveling that I've ah my success with photography, my kind of dance with ah all things mental health related ah from depression and anxiety ah to creative outlets, right? I've started to try to write with these two books that I'm writing. A, to kind of and moralize them in a book. But the one about my life story is also kind of another therapeutic aspect. I might sell one copy, I might sell millions, I don't know. But I do believe that we need more people, and no offense to the ladies, but more men using their platforms to speak about mental health, to speak about their journey um to share with folks that it's the new kind of theme that we've been seeing emerge, especially with guys like Jelly Roll. um It's okay to not be okay. And uh I believe that I have a lot that I can say, um a lot of different things that I can teach, a lot of things that might resonate with folks, again, from sexual abuse to... uh toxic work environment to uh dealing with uh anxiety and depression, mental health, creative outlets, uh travel, all of these things. um I think people are wanting real raw access to real raw people. And I hope that's that's what I'm going to give on this podcast. So um stay tuned. Stay in touch. Basically just search up OmeNerves photography, uh O-H-M-E-Nerves-N-E-R-V-E-S photography on any social media platform and I'm likely there, but just to name a few. Facebook, Instagram, threads, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn. I'm on all of those. You can search me by that. You can also find me by searching Sean Antle. ah But yeah, the other thing is please uh follow and subscribe and like and share TVS, the viewfinder sessions. We have a Facebook page now. um You're going to see it on my Ominous Photography YouTube channel. That's where the video will be uploaded to. The podcast is going to be available on all major podcasts, Apple, Amazon, slash Audible, Spotify. Just make sure you like, subscribe, comment and share. You hear all of us say it on social media, on YouTube channels and on podcasts. It's not because I give a two craps about likes and follows. It really isn't about the likes and follows. To me. to the algorithms? It is. And in order to get my message out there, to get my content out there, and to even remotely begin to think about making this a quote unquote career, um I need followers, I need folks to like and share. Don't just like and share it, obviously you have to actually like it and share it and comment, engage. um I can't. If I had one complaint as a professional photographer or a content creator, engage with us. We want to talk with you. We want to hear your questions. We want to answer your questions. We want to inspire you. We want to motivate you. um No question is a bad question. Nothing's stupid. Just engage with us. And I say that for all content creators and for all photographers, videographers, everybody that's out there right now, hustling to earn a living doing this. so, yeah, that is what I would ask of you. um And you can find, like I said, find me on most socials, hit up the website. I'm trying to stay on top of if I'm gonna be speaking or at a vendor show. or something like that, I try to put it up on the events aspect, but the online store is there. I have events there. You can book me for speaking uh right from the website. yeah, stay tuned. I can't wait for what's to come and uh hope you guys enjoy it and have a wonderful day. Chat soon. Cheers.