Hi, I’m Russell.

Growing up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada I spent time mountain biking, hiking and downhill skiing in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. My interest in outdoor pursuits has continually increased and now includes backcountry skiing and basic mountaineering. As my outdoor experience grew, I began to venture further into the backcountry and started bringing a camera to share my experiences in hard-to-reach places. This has become my preferred style of photography: finding awe-inspiring landscapes, frequently far and high in the mountains.

Similar to photography, graphic design—especially web design—requires a keen technical understanding. Coding has always come naturally to me, but it is the combination of the logic of coding and the creative side of design that makes the web a rewarding medium to design for. I cut my teeth back in the days of Internet Explorer 6 and have kept up with the evolution of the web over the years.

Photography and design are complementary skills. Design principles provide an expanded tool kit to use in photography. Similarly, being able to take photos allows me to readily incorporate them into my design work.

Professionally, I have had a few different careers. In 2011, I graduated from civil engineering at the University of Alberta and worked as a structural engineer-in-training for just over three years. In early 2019, I earned an MSc. in biomedical engineering from the University of Calgary. My thesis, “Intercellular Gap Junction Communication in the Bovine Annulus Fibrosus,” investigated cell-cell signaling in the intervertebral disc.

Wanting to further my coding skills, I took the Lighthouse Labs web development boot camp course from July to October 2019. I have now been working as a web developer, specializing in front-end work, out of Revelstoke, BC.