Embrace Impact | Collective2026

The last time I had attended this event was back in 2009, it was then known as Canada Youth, and it was the second time I had attended the event, but the third Presbyterian Youth Conference I had ever attended. The first one I attended was in 2001 as the Presbyterian Youth Triennium at Purdue University in Indiana. The event was interesting. Looking back at my vague memories of the event, I was happy that I never went back. The event began to clamp down on the number of Canadians who could attend, and the Canada Youth events focused on Canadian Presbyterians and lacked some aspects of Triennium that, looking back now, should have given me pause then, but certainly do now. I attended my first CY in 2003 on the mission track and had a blast, mainly because we didn’t spend much time on campus but instead put in hours helping out with missions in Toronto, Hamilton, and Crieff. If you’ve been to Crieff Hills Retreat Centre and been in the outdoor amphitheatre, I was part of the crew that helped build it. In 2009, I was officially part of the youth leadership track; unofficially, I was one of two official photographers for the event for the Presbyterian Record. And I had a blast, I got to put seven years of experience photographing PYPS events into practice and came back with an amazing body of work. This was also the early days of social media and Web 2.0 content, so I was uploading daily photos to Flickr and writing blog posts. And now in 2026, I can put all my new experience, some new gear, and leverage modern social media as the official photographer for Collective2026!

Late last year, I got an email on a Saturday morning asking if I was willing to do a photography workshop at the Collective2026 event. The committee had been looking for workshop leaders, and my name had floated to the top. Then, a few months later, I got a message from Jess, who was the PCC side’s leader for the entire event, asking if I was willing to be the official event photographer. After confirming with Heather that it would be okay for me to take the gig, I agreed. This wouldn’t be the first time in the role; I was one of the official photographers at the 2009 Canada Youth Event, although I was attached to the Presbyterian Record (the national magazine) rather than directly to the PCC. One of the first things I did was look back at my PYPS photos, the CY09 photos, and some recent work I had done for the church to get an idea of my kit. For cameras, I ended up going with my Nikon D750, Nikon F5, and Rolleiflex 2.8F; all three I trust and know how they perform. While the Rollei wasn’t really needed, I wanted to have a bit of fun. For film to feed the F5, I went with four rolls: two of Kentmere 200 and two of Kentmere 400, which I ended up exposing at ASA-1600. Budget films, yes, but I wanted to see how they performed in a professional setting. I also rolled with Efke 25, Acros 100, and Pro 400H to feed the Rollei. To keep things simple I ended up developing all my B&W films in Ilford Microphen and the colour processing went through Burlington Camera. Lenses, I went with a big kit to make sure I had something for every situation. Ultra wide was covered by a Nikkor 14-24mm, then my Sigma 28-70 made a great knock-about lens. I couldn’t go wrong with the 35mm f/2 and 50mm f/1.4 as good fast primes. Then my secret sauce as a documentary photographer are the 85mm f/1.8 and 105mm f/2. And finally, for long work, the 70-200 f/2.8 is a great low-light camera with stabilisation and another over-kill option, but still handy, the 300mm f/4.5. And to make sure I could always get the image, I added the SB-910 flash, it could only be used on the D750, but that was okay.

While technically the event didn’t start until Wednesday, being involved as part of the leadership team, I had to be at Brock on Tuesday. I mean, it wasn’t that big of a deal, and it meant that I could get my gear sorted out and my temporary workspace setup. Plus I could get some nice behind the scenes photos taken of the people who were more front facing and running this amazing event. I figured I should give them some publicity through photography plus lend an extra set of hands. Computer wise I just brought my laptop, an external drive to store the photos along with an external keyboard and mouse. I also brought along my recording kit as I wanted to record a live daily check in for a Classic Camera Revival podcast. Sadly I wasn’t going to lug by good mics, but a Behringer 58A does just as good a job but rejects a bit of room noise. And while the room I was in what a small cinderblock box, the acoustics were not too bad. It wasn’t the best setup but it is better than what I was using back in 2009, a little netbook. Now, a full on laptop, external drive, keyboard, mouse, the works. Plus with needing to post stuff daily having access to my usual suite of tool is always handy.

I got in the day before the event started, which let me do a bit of behind-the-scenes work with the more front-facing people running the event. Plus, being the photographer, I wasn’t tied down too much. I ended up running around to get a feel for the campus, get familiar, and navigate quickly. I ended up just using my D750 with the 28-70 and my Rolleiflex with a roll of Ektar 100 since the weather was perfect for that film. Honestly, I spent most of the rest of the day on my feet moving between groups, catching people in meetings (getting kicked out of one that was sensitive and confidential (I didn’t know that when I walked in)). And more importantly, getting to know everyone who was there. There were plenty of folks who I knew from PYPS or my past work with the PCC, but also lots of new people. It was also hot, humid, and my feet were tired from all that walking. And that’s even with taking breaks in the various areas around campus and drinking plenty of water. The joys of being the photographer: my job is to just be present and take photos.

One thing I always like to do when I’m an official photographer is get a feel for the space in all conditions, so I made sure I was up early enough to wake up, shower, and get out before breakfast to see how the campus looked in early light. There was hardly anyone around as I wandered through the space, and I was struck by the campus’s liminality. I mostly photographed around the big tower on campus, a building that I am oddly drawn to; I guess I’m a sucker for brutalist architecture, especially when done right. Then it was on to breakfast, getting coffee and continuing to be the one photographing the team as they put the finishing touches on the event before the participants arrived. So the liminality was the right feeling, the empty space that was at a moment of transition between nothing and being filled with the shouts of friends old and new gathering.

And then they arrived. It started off with a small number, but that quickly grew as more and more people arrived. Then a pair of buses showed up, along with the rain. It wasn’t too bad; the city had suffered two back-to-back rainstorms earlier in the month that overwhelmed the infrastructure. But man, it was amazing to look out and see a ton of youth, young adults, and leaders all excited to be here. And the best part is the mix of people of different ages all laughing together. It got busy fast, as I tried my best to be everywhere all at once. From photographing the arrivals to bouncing over to where rec was happening. It was a lot, and I’m glad I picked a far lighter kit that could do what I needed while also staying portable. And despite the poor weather, I was still able to work through the whole roll in Rolleiflex. Then it was out to Worship, where I pushed my camera to the limit: ISO 12800, no problems, getting shutter speeds of 1/60″. Thank you, image stabilisation; I was able to catch all the action. I even found a nice little perch where I could get good clean lines to the stage, almost as if it was made for that purpose (and a good chance it is). Either way, it was a long day, and I crashed out after the evening recreation.

Day two was the first full day for Collective, and it all seemed very familiar; the event schedule is basically what I was used to from CY and PYPS. Breakfast first; the coffee isn’t that bad at the cafeteria, then it was off to energisers. If you didn’t grow up in the church and attending youth events like this, energisers are basically dancing to music with set movements. There has even been a book written on this, called Holy Motion, and while there are more songs being used these days, there was at least one song I remember from my time as a participant. Then it was off to the first keynote address. Now Collective did not think small with their choice of keynote speaker. The speaker, J.R. LaRose, a championship-level CFL player who was part of the 2011 BC Lions’ Grey Cup championship team, was the speaker. Now I’ll fully admit, I had no idea who J.R. LaRose was, I’m not a sports guy. But he is an amazing speaker who isn’t afraid to tell his hard story, growing up with a single mom who had suffered through the residential school system, a father who wanted nothing to do with him or his mom (he was already married to someone), and how his mom struggled with the hidden scars of her treatment at the hands of the Church during her time in the Residential system. How he also struggled with the same addictions that often cost him chances to play in the NFL, but ultimately led him to be a CFL player, get right with God (multiple times), and come back from two possible career-ending injuries. It was powerful. And all the while, he is a down-to-earth, super humble, and friendly guy. I had the chance to talk to a large group of youth, young adults, and adults on photography and how I have improved my work. I was nervous the entire time, but eventually hit my groove. And apparently it went over well; I got lots of great questions and was able to help out others with their work and photography. Worship was…wild. There was supposed to be a live DJ, Austin Penner from UpperLVL Worship, to lead a rather unique expression of worship, but sadly he was unable to make it. So he the mix for Collective, as he leads a church service in a club. Now it doesn’t surprise me that EDM makes for great worship expression; I am still a fan of Andy Hunter, but hearing the old praise songs remixed was amazing. Plus, I got even more out of my comfort zone, threw on the 14-24mm, got in wide and close, and, well, the images worked.

That was another wild ride. The day was pretty much the same as Thursday’s schedule, because these events are usually pretty consistent, though with some changes. We had a second keynote address where J.R’s son, Alozie, took centre stage and spoke about his life story, how he wanted to be a pro football player (NFL) at four, but then things didn’t go exactly the way he wanted or planned. It was also interesting to hear about the trouble patch in the family that J.R. mentioned yesterday, from his son’s perspective and how it affected him, and how he nearly went down the same path as his father. But with God, he also turned his life around and instead has gone into acting. I had another photography workshop with a smaller group this time, which was far nicer. The questions I was asked were far more technical this time around, which was a lot of fun, although there were a couple of personal ones. Also, some participants were willing to share their work with me. One young guy had an absolutely brilliant photo from his home city after a rainstorm that hit me just right. Leading lines, some reflections, it was in colour, but it probably wouldn’t have had the same impact if it had been in B&W. Although one guy there wasn’t too happy with my anti-AI stance, but that’s on him. Although the best part was the evening recreation: a glow-stick dance party, it was still humid out, so it made it all the more fun. I ended up doing something I normally would shy away from: using slow-rear flash sync to capture instants along with movement; oh, and I also moved the camera intentionally. Not something I do on the regular, and I find always using ICM (intentional camera movement) an overused technique, but here, perfect. The right music, the right people, and the right conditions. It just worked, and I proved that I can still get out of my comfort zone with my photography and try things on my own terms. The right tool for the job, which several folks from the workshops were surprised to see me use such a technique.

The last days are always the hardest, after spending two full days and struggling to wake up after last night’s dance party. We were all a little bleary-eyed and cotton-minded in the morning. But who needs sleep? Anyways, for many of the youth and their leaders, today was not going to be a short day, as bags had to be packed and travel would take a couple of days for some who decided to drive. But I’ll be honest, the fondest memories of Triennium were the bus ride to the event, rather than the event itself. I did not sleep well, but still managed to drag myself up, pack up most of my gear and run with a light camera kit for the morning. I had saved my last roll of 120 for today, a roll of Pro 400H, which I used mainly for portraits of people, because that’s what the film is designed for. I did get one or two urbanscape shots. Then it was breakfast, energisers, and hanging around, getting a few last group photos for those who wanted them before heading back up to my room and posting these last photos. I did consider sticking around for the worship, but my knee and head hurt, and I just wanted to get home. So I did. I ended up napping that afternoon, spending lots of time with my son and wife, and going to sleep at 9:30 that night.

One of the more interesting things was needing to do quick turnarounds on photos. I was posting at least two, and sometimes three, times a day whenever I had the chance to get back to my room to import, edit, export, and upload photos. I moved a lot faster with my digital work than I am used to. It was a pace I was a little uncomfortable with at first but soon got in the swing of things. Thankfully, given my general style of photography, I don’t capture many images and can easily sort through smaller batches. Plus, pushing through my digital work in this manner removed the need to do so afterwards, allowing me to focus on my film and get it uploaded in a timely manner. It was a learning experience for me and leveraged the modern technology we have access to, plus it allowed the congregations to see how the youth they commissioned and sent were doing. And just to let you know, every piece of kit I bought got used at least once. And ended up with 1,000+ digital images, four rolls of 35mm and four rolls of 120. Not too shabby. While I would usually upload all my photos to my personal Flickr account, because I was working for the PCC/UCC on this trip, you can still check them out over on the PCC’s Flickr Account! I also put a few location centered photos over on my personal Flickr Account in the Random Niagara Album.