Ray Watkins has dabbled in photography since he was a kid. But it wasn’t until he had kids of his own that it really hooked him. 

“They started to play sports, and I was trying to get pictures of them,” Watkins recalls. “I was trying to use a crappy camera indoors to take pictures. […]  somebody told me to get a Canon Rebel.” 

It was that digital camera, plus an excellent lens, that gave him the action shots he wanted. It also awakened a passion for the medium. Now, countless photographs later, Watkins—a land developer and former St. Albert City Councillor—has gotten to travel the world shooting photos, attending workshops, festivals, and gigs from behind the lens. 

His portfolio ranges through sports, portraits, live performances and more niche subjects, like extreme close-up macro images of bugs, taken (with equally extreme patience!) in a botanical garden.

“I was more into photography for the art as I was into trying to make money,” he notes. “I wasn't trying to find a job out of this. I wasn't trying to look for work.” 

Still, it’s given him no shortage of that. Watkins currently frequents rodeos across Alberta, capturing the action. He’s had pictures featured in The Globe and Mail and Edify Magazine, and spent the summer as official photographer for Bull Riders Canada. 

“I go through these phases in photography where I feel like I’m taking pictures of a certain subject, and then I've kind of exhausted that subject, then I'll move on,” he says. “That's kinda how I got with the macro photography: For a while there, every morning I'd go to the botanical gardens […] and then I’d seen every bug in every flower in the garden. So then I was looking for something else.” 

Workshops with acclaimed celebrity photographer Greg Gorman have pushed Watkins further, taking him from Austria to LA in pursuit of honing his skills. 

“He's taught me a lot about photography,” Watkins says, of Gorman. “How to see light and how to see shadow—all sorts of interesting stuff about photography. He's also become a friend.” 

This era of digital cameras, Watkins notes, has let him explore the full range of photographic opportunities without worrying about the amount of physical film he can carry. 

“You shoot a roll of 32 [with an analog camera], you gotta go take it developed, it costs you $10 for every roll. It costs you $30 to get it developed,” he says. “You can go get a digital card for 100, 200 bucks. Four-thousand pictures on that card and go home and delete them all and put the card back in again. I'm a firm believer of shooting a lot of frames.” 

Ultimately, it’s the way that photography has let Watkins experience life that seems to keep him behind the camera. It’s given him no shortage of unique experiences—and souvenirs to remember them all, too. 

“I think photography is a great way to see the world, enjoy it, and bring home memories,” Watkins says.  

“I walk around my house—I hang all my art on the wall—and it's basically an expression of where I've been.” 

Article written by: Paul Blinov
Photos by: Ray Watkins

To see more of Watkins' photography, please visit his website by following this link. Or follow him on Instagram.

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