Curtis Matwishyn’s first official foray into photography didn’t go the way he’d planned.

The long-time Prince Albert resident began dabbling in the medium after high school, and he liked it enough to make it one of his electives while enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan. The experience was … surprising.

“I thought that it was going to be a marks-booster course for me,” Matwishyn said while chuckling at the memory. “My first assignment that I handed in was three prints and I got a 53 per cent, a 56 per cent and a 57 per cent, so that kind of brought me down to earth. I realized that I had a lot to learn.”

Despite the rocky start, his skill improved, and what began as a fun diversion turned into a much-loved passion. In the years since then he’s held a number of exhibits, with the most recent starting on Dec. 23 in Prince Albert.

His photography focuses on another passion: the outdoors. As a trained wildland fire fighter, Matwishyn has developed a love and appreciation for the Canadian landscape, and that love shows up in his work.

“It’s taken me to a lot of amazing places,” he explained. “I’ve travelled to New Zealand, Iceland, Australia and India, and photography was a big part of that. I find that it gives me inspiration and motivation to go and see new things.”

For the rest of this story, please see the Dec. 29 online or print edition of the Daily Herald.