Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 Okay, good morning, everybody. Thank you for tuning in. My name is Elliot Pierre. This is the Mac city morning show, and we're going to start it off the same way we do every time. Thank you so much for taking the time to watch this. May it be live or any of the clips or the prerecorded episodes? I just want to say thank you. It means the world to me that you chose to spend your time here with us today. So on that note, Tanner hit him with the intro.
Speaker 1 00:00:29 Welcome to the Mac city morning show.
Speaker 0 00:00:37 All right, well, I'm pumped about the guests today. I've got to say, I have never met this individual before. Um, everybody else who's come on the show up until this point. I have somewhat of a relationship with that I've met before, worked with before, grew up with this guy is brand new. So we're going to learn about a brand new person from me and you're going to see it. So this is actually like, this is my dream episode right now. So as you guys know, I don't introduce my guests. I let them do that because they can do a better job. So sir, tell the people who you are, what you're about.
Speaker 2 00:01:08 Hi, I'm Robert copper from Robert copper pet photography. I'm also a control room operator at lb in San CNRL and yeah, that's me. I live in Fort McMurray and I love it.
Speaker 0 00:01:19 There we go. Now you leaned into that pet photography, very hard there. So let's talk about that first and foremost. Why did you lean so hard into the pet photography in regards to that wording and photography?
Speaker 2 00:01:32 Okay. Well, on 2018 I started a business. It was my photography business and I was doing everything like as a, I was doing like portraitures, you name it, like I had this camera and I was just ready to take on the photography world. And it wasn't until like probably a few months in, I found my niche was pets. So that's where I want to be at is shoot pets. And, um, I love it, like what COVID happened and, uh, yeah, when COVID happened, I actually had to put away my camera and start being a little bit more dedicated on my full-time job at CNRL and people would call in sick and I was the go-to man. So I had to work 12 and two, and I just like the dream kind of fell down a little and now I'm on works of like rebranding myself. This was actually my first interview. And for my followers on Facebook, I am definitely going to share this Lincoln. Yeah. I want to definitely come back to pet photography.
Speaker 0 00:02:33 That's awesome. I think that's a, it's super smart in regards to like myself like this Mac city morning show is just a component of what I do. I own a digital marketing agency as well. And, uh, I think we talked about it just briefly before the show started, when you first start a company and you get excited and you get that camera or whatever your niche is, you say yes to everything and it's the quickest way to burn out and you start making big mistakes cause well, you can't be a professional at everything. So really smart of you for reaching out and like just focusing on the one attribute or the one person Pat pets. That's really smart. Cool. So why pets
Speaker 2 00:03:13 Love them? I own a miniature Australian shepherd. He's well-documented on my Instagram. Everyone knows him. That's Gabe. And I did a little bit of work with the SPCA for non-profit stuff too. I had to stop that because of COVID. I just didn't want to put myself at risk and then, you know, so, but I will probably continue on doing that relationship with them moving forward. But, um, I just like how a dog can sit in front of you and right before you throw that treat or you have their squeak toy seeing the innocence in their eyes. And it's like, I love creating like puppy passports. I call them. Okay. So, you know, like that awkward, like you sit in front and a lot of people are not models. They go get their passport taken and they sit down and they always have a stunned look. And then, then that's your profile picture for years and years and years. That's what I want to capture with that's okay. And I love it.
Speaker 0 00:04:03 Awesome, man. No, that's great. And you know what? People love their pets. Yeah. And I I've been fortunate enough, like I'm born and raised here in Fort McMurray. And I spent most of my time here, I've done a lot of traveling. Um, and I lived in Edmonton for little bit, but the one thing I've really recognized with all my travels that Fort McMurray has, is a love for pets. Oh, absolutely. Like I think globally people love pets, but people in McMurry love their pets. Another level. It really is.
Speaker 2 00:04:31 Right. If a dog gets escapes, it's on the pet network. And literally I had a friend lose her dog and they had like 50 people on a search and rescue for it. Oh yeah. It was insane. And a person even take the word ward, they're like donate it to the SPCA. Like the guy had cash in hand, he's like donate it. So that just shows Fort McMurray. And in a nutshell how giving they are. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:04:52 Yeah. That's exactly it. Now. They love their pets. And like, um, I, I don't own a dog myself, but I follow a bunch of different companies in town that are geared towards pets. And for a while before, COVID you had an overwhelming amount of pet stores for such a small community. So yeah. Pets here are, I think he reached out into the right industry.
Speaker 2 00:05:12 Yeah. Yeah. And I, and like, I, I can't wait to move forward on it. Like my new rebranding, it is, I'm going to have people come to my house. So right now I'm going to work with the city, trying to get my business license changed over. It's like a work out of my house. So there's no more days than me traveling with thousands of dollars a year in my little car. And then like, and the other thing is too, I'm going to have control of the light control this situation. You'll bring your dog, sit down and I'll know what's going on. And there'll be bang, bang, bang, and I'll actually have product that I'm very happy with. Not like before, when you shoot in different locations, you have so much to deal with. You got small spaces and my product, or I shouldn't say probably my photos suffered.
Speaker 2 00:05:56 Right. Like there's some stuff that I brought out that I was like, Oh, you know, like, man, that strobe was in tight, but that's my only option because that's what I was dealt with. Right. So to actually have that control in the studio, it's going to be awesome. And it's awesome. Yeah. So, so yeah. And I'm working on Photoshop, um, doing, um, a joint POC. I don't know if you ever heard of POC, professional photographers of Canada, newcomers people have been shooting for a while. What they are is as an organization of professional photographers, you pay a monthly fee, but they have webinars. You can learn from other photographers in the industry. I just did a pet photography one yesterday. Cool. They do a light matters. So they have speakers from all over from the States and everything. And they just talk about photography. It's actually like a game changer for me personally. Yeah. So I'm working towards accreditation through them. So what it is is you send in 10 photos and then they get judged by a panelist and then they accredit you as a professional photographer or not. And then they also give you notes so you can learn. So like, if your shots are all under exposed or rule of thirds or stuff like that, it's so it's a technical side of photography. So it's kind of cool.
Speaker 0 00:07:04 That's awesome, man. I think that's huge in regards to finding a community to help you get better metal sharpens metal. Absolutely. And I find, especially in this community, like most people like yourself have a full-time job and it's usually out at site. Yeah. And so when you do want to do something a little bit more creative or not, site-based usually, you're like the only one doing it. And so to find like a community or resources, sometimes it's a little bit tough when there's limited resources of people doing it here. So that's awesome that there's an Avenue for you to go and like talk to other professionals in your field to, like you said, get better at what you're doing.
Speaker 2 00:07:46 Yeah, exactly. And the nice thing is like, when I joined in October, I actually met one of your guests, crystal mercury. So I always followed her through her social media, but we never really chatted. And then Ray, when I joined that we just, we celebrated cause she won like a national award or, and you know, so it was kind of cool. So I got to meet, you know, a very talented photographer, but it opened up the doors. So we have like our chats and it's not a mentorship, but it's like, we help each other. Right. Like if I have a question I have her to reach out to and we have telegram. I don't know if you ever heard of telegram, but there's four other of us. And if you have a question, you shoot a text and boom, you have answers. It's awesome.
Speaker 0 00:08:24 That's phenomenal. That's what it's about man having that community. And I feel like what you said, uh, cause I'm pretty present on social media. I think most people see my face because of this and other things that I've done in the past. There's so many people that you see and follow online, but actually getting the opportunity to like sit down and meet them face to face. That's the game changer in itself. So hence the Mac city morning show, like now I get to actually like meet people that I follow or that follow me and I gotta make that connection. Cause uh, well, because of the world we live in, not just because of COVID but social media as well. Yeah. You don't have a lot of like face-to-face interaction all the time. No, you don't know. So except for the guys at work. Yeah. Pretty cool. Now speaking of, not necessarily guys on work, totally getting off topic. Um, I like shoes. I don't like socks, but I like shoes. And so, uh, we were talking about your shoes when you came in, you're a bit of a sneakerhead, so I don't want to put you on blast with what you're currently wearing, but let's talk about, uh, your love for sneakers.
Speaker 2 00:09:28 Yeah. Well I had a friend in town and um, I used to always wear like air maxes back in the nineties and air force ones. And then they started this retro thing that came out. Right. And then it's a slow, slowly snowballed into something big. Now it's a billion dollar market. Right. And uh, yeah, so right before the fire, I was scooping up J fours, you name it like I was just like buying shoes, buying body. It was like a total addiction. Never wore some of them. I just bought them for the sake of buying them and maybe reselling them and then May 3rd happen and I lost my house. So, so I lost my house off the novice sign at Hillview and legit lost my sneaker collection and all that. And that's pretty much how I got into photography. So I did my claim and um, got all my money back for all my materialistic things.
Speaker 2 00:10:27 And then what I did was, um, I had some friends in social media, um, kindness, ward, fire photographer, she's sports photographer. Amazing. And I started chatting with her and my friend, Leslie Bridger, and a bunch of photographers I knew before. And my Instagram was all cell phone. Right. And I had people say, Hey, you take nice shots. So I thought to myself, let's pick up a camera because I was stress upon stress. Like you lose your house, you lose everything. It's life is over. But when it comes down to it, it wasn't, it was just the beginning. And that's how I got into photography. And then I walked in to a camera store and then there was this guy named Tanner. I got me on a D 7,100 and then we went to Markwell Lake and he was actually one of our very first people to teach me. So yeah. So it's kind of cool, like full circle. Tanner's behind the camera and
Speaker 0 00:11:19 Awesome man. Well, big shout out to Tanner the man behind the camera for putting you on the right path. This gentlemen also put me on the right path in regards to his doing videography on a cell phone. And then I pinched the microphone intake. I needed to buy a new phone and they were just like, Oh, the new iPhone is 1800 bucks. I'm like what? And I was at Telus and I was like, no. And I was trying to barter with them. Obviously you can't and I was threatening. I'll just go buy a camera. And the guy was like, I think you should do that. I'm like, I'm not joking. I'm going to leave. I'm going to get a camera. And he's like, okay, go. And I did. And I met up with Tanner and talk about a game changer. Like from that point on, well, everything you see here today started with meeting Tanner. Yeah, man. I'm real good at spending.
Speaker 2 00:12:10 Yeah, he's definitely good on it. He saw me coming, but no, but the thing is though I had a relationship with them and it was great and he taught me and uh, I had a couple coworkers to took me under her wing and had a little, not real mentorships, but like just people that people I could reach out to the community because photography for me was how should I say like a stress relief? Right. It was living life through a lens. And I loved it. I could beat someone who I'm not, you know, like, I don't know. It's kinda weird. Like I love freezing memories and it was just great. And then yeah. And I want to get into travel photography. Ultimately that's what I want to do is to be in the streets. Yeah. Portraiture, you know, just, I would love to do that. That's like my ultimate dream.
Speaker 0 00:12:54 Very cool, man. Very cool. Now we're going to go back to your sneaker adapter for a second. So there's a certain sneaker that I want. And I'm assuming if you were buying them, like you might have plugs here and there that's hookups for me here. So these are the shoes. Have you heard about the Nike Ben and Jerry dunks? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. They're the sickest shoes. After impossible to get though. They really are. And the price point is absurd
Speaker 2 00:13:24 Or like 400 American or something like that around there. Yeah. But stock X item for like 10 grand or something stupid.
Speaker 0 00:13:29 Yeah. I don't, I don't mind draw. Uh, I could, I could drop 400 bucks on a pair of shoes. Like that's to me reasonable. But yeah, like the last time I went online on eBay, it was 5,000 American dollars was basically like the set price, which is crazy. So it came down though, I guess. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:13:52 Before they released it was insane. Those snakes, because I saw those two and I was like, that could be my game, like come back. Right. But I had no idea how to do it. Those guys use bots. They, they website have different IP address. There's ways to sneak them into Canada. But I'm not that big into the game. I'm kind of like raffle on the Adidas network. And like, if I get a pair of three fifties, it's like a win, but three fifties or so out of fashion, but Hey, they're my dad's shoes now.
Speaker 0 00:14:19 Yeah. Well the other component with me is like, I don't buy anything to put it on a shelf or in a box I'm going to wear it. Like I'm going to wear it. So anybody listening out there, if you can get a pair of those Ben and Jerry dunks, like I'm gonna wear them and I'll wear them on this show. And I know the sneaker heads around the world and be like, what are you doing, man? That's blocking me. That is where I'm on a range star man puddles. Yeah. I, uh, I have the classic car. I have, um, a 1979 mg midget. It's a British sports car. Exactly what they are really small. And uh, I bought it to two summers ago and I draw, if it's sunny outside, I drive it every day. It's every day I drive it. And I have a lot of old school guys in town who are like classic car collectors. And they see me driving it once and he be, even we talk like, Hey, nice car. Then they that's on Monday. Then they see me Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, like, dude, you're not supposed to drive it like that. Like, this is just like, you bring it out for car shows. I'm like, Oh no, I'm going to drive it to the wheels. Fall off. I bought it to drive it. So that's my thought process with the shoes. If I'm fortunate enough to ever get these, uh, Ben and Jerry dunks, I'm going to wear them.
Speaker 2 00:15:38 Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I don't know. Actually, I, I don't even know why I'm agreeing with you. I probably won't wear them. There'll be on a pedestal over top of my fireplace. Like, Hey look. Yeah, I'll wear them. So
Speaker 0 00:15:52 We came to the part of the show where come, we've come to the part of the show. I should say where Tanner, the man who hooked us both up with our cameras. He, uh, has a segment called the Mac city minute. He's going to ask you five quick questions. Try to answer them as honestly and quickly as you can. Okay. Tanner hit him with the Mac city minute.
Speaker 3 00:16:09 First question for you. What is the most essential piece of gear you use?
Speaker 2 00:16:14 Oh man, I'd say strobe scope for sure. Um, light. I need it to make sharp images because pets move mad. Fast
Speaker 3 00:16:24 Question number two. What's your favorite place to drive around in your beautiful Evo?
Speaker 2 00:16:28 Um, man, I don't want the cops to know 63 up North by St. Crew corner. Love that corner.
Speaker 3 00:16:37 And of course doing the speed limit.
Speaker 2 00:16:40 Yes. Yes. 10 under,
Speaker 3 00:16:42 Okay. Question number three. What's your favorite place to take a picture?
Speaker 2 00:16:47 Aw dude, that's a hard one. I like birds for trails right now. I'm into birding right now. I'm turning. I'm older now. That's all my appreciating burden. So anywhere in the Bertrand trails is where I go.
Speaker 3 00:16:59 Question number four. What is your favorite way to spend time with Gabe?
Speaker 2 00:17:06 Well, in the studio, man, I literally shoot that dog or I don't shoot him, but I take photos of them at least seven days on my days off. I love he's so good. Like he's the perfect photography. Dog sits, stays weights. And I hope all my future clients that come in may have the exact same dog.
Speaker 3 00:17:27 And the last question, when you eat out, what's your go-to order?
Speaker 2 00:17:31 Oh, look at me. Mad burgers burgers all day. And those have been your five questions. Thanks buddy.
Speaker 0 00:17:40 Love it. Okay. Let's uh, this topic keeps coming up on the show and I'm okay with it. My, uh, my family's like, are you going to really talk about burgers? I'm just like, listen, if the top keeps coming up, I'm going to keep talking about it. I love burgers. Always have loved burgers. My favorite food hands down. So we got to make this a segment maybe, but uh, where's your there's two types of burgers. You've got restaurant burgers and then you got fast food burgers and obviously home burgers too. But where is, we'll start off with fast food burger in town. Where is your favorite fast food burger?
Speaker 2 00:18:16 I'm old fashioned money. And w and DOB. I mean, w sometimes I'll even be healthy. I do like with the lettuce wrap and then eat a bun when I go home. But no, I just like the team burger with onion rings. That's my go-to
Speaker 0 00:18:33 Nice. Uh, what are you drinking with that? Do you get into root periods?
Speaker 2 00:18:36 Oh, root beer all day, man. Yeah. Yeah. Well, you could get there. They have changed their coffee. Their coffee is better. Okay. But yeah. Root beer Hunter.
Speaker 0 00:18:45 All right, so now let's flip it up now. Restaurant quality burger. Where's the best restaurant quality burger for you in town.
Speaker 2 00:18:53 Oh, in town, man. Flipping it on me. Oh dude. It's a local show. We will talk. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, man. You're putting me on the spot because I even think the place is closed down. Where was it? If it was closed down, it was the one underneath, um, uh, right across from the provincial building next or not next lounge. It was a lounge right by Earl's dad had done my burger there. Oh yeah. The one in the hotel. Yeah. The hotel life. Yes. Live. I enjoyed their burgers down there, my spot. And like, I don't mind fat burger, you know, but they're kind of in the fast food area and um, yeah, I guess so I would say, you know, honestly, Oh, geez. Oh geez. Oh geez. Yes. But there, unfortunately with the flood and stuff, but they had that cheeseburger burger or the grilled cheese follow Jay's food is just killer, but their burger was good.
Speaker 0 00:19:52 Okay. All right. OJ is there we
Speaker 2 00:19:55 Go. Can I do a plug for outside? Yeah. Let's do a plug. Yeah. Next lounge. Wide game changer. Dame changer. Game changer.
Speaker 0 00:20:04 Okay. This is, this is a, this is a segment right now that we're going to clip up. Let's talk about this place. Yeah. Unbelievable. Yeah. The poutine not poutine. Sorry. The, um, don't air that they have unreal cheese, unbelievable. Mac and cheese. Like this place. Unreal for their food. Yeah man. Yeah. Their burger is Epic. Same. Say the name of the place again for them please.
Speaker 2 00:20:29 Next lounge on white AF right next door to meet. Right, right. And I think they get their food from me.
Speaker 0 00:20:36 The brisket that they put in there don't air comes from meat and I've been told it's the same owners. So they don't share a kitchen, but they can, you know, but yeah, that place is unreal. Their burger. It's funny. You said it. Cause I was going to say, I was saying next category, we'll go out of town burgers. That's who I was going to say.
Speaker 2 00:20:54 Yeah, that's my spot. So we are, you know,
Speaker 0 00:20:57 Kindred spirits, man. Boom. So anyways, it's 20 minutes has flown. I think we went overtime, man. So listen, you got to come back again. Thank you for coming. This has been not a word of a lie. My favorite episode so far. I don't say that lightly. I say it with true sincerity. So thanks mom. Before I cut you off though. And before we cut off the show, one more time. Please give a plug for your business and who you are so that people can reach out and get in contact with you.
Speaker 2 00:21:24 Okay. Well in may, I'm going to be doing my business again. It's RD coppers at Instagram. You can follow me on there or my Facebook page, Robert copper, pet photography on Facebook. And I'll be working on a website here probably after may.
Speaker 0 00:21:40 There we go. Awesome. Well, everybody at home or on their phones, wherever you're watching the show. Once again from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much. Uh, I'm blown away with the people who watch that comment, that like it, um, truly means the world to me, it's heartwarming and I appreciate every single person that engages with the show. So thank you so much. So on that note, hope you're having a great day and I'll see you tomorrow. Peace.
