Proudly Local Business: Killam's Coldstream Photography & Film

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a good photographer must also be a really great storyteller. One of the most important elements of a story is the setting. Among the pale yellow fields of grain, aging barnyards and expansive prairie skies, Killam’s Shaina George found her inspiration to pick up a camera. Now, Shaina and her partner Nick are defining what it means to tell stories through photography and videography as young entrepreneurs in a rural community.

Shaina started taking photos at a young age as something to do around her family’s historic farm outside of Killam, Alberta. At around the age of fourteen, she began snapping photos of her family and her love of photographing people blossomed from there.

Shaina’s partner, Nick Dunn, has always been passionate about technology. This, combined with his creativity, ultimately led him to explore drone photography and videography. Photography was an interest the couple shared, and both had ambitions to pursue it professionally.

“I already had a [photography] platform going and he was actually going to branch off and do his own with drone photography and videography,” says Shaina, “But then we were thinking, why don't we join them?”

That’s how Coldstream Photography & Film came to be. Like all great partnerships, Shaina and Nick complement each other in their skill sets and their love for the craft. “It’s so convenient and so much fun being on the same wavelength and knowing how each other works,” says Shaina. “With both of us being so passionate about it, it works really well.”

Coldstream Photography & Film offers both photography and videography but the team believe it’s their drone services that really sets their business apart. “It just adds a whole new perspective to everything,” Shaina says.

Technology isn’t the only thing that makes their business special. Both photographers have a passion for learning about people and a genuine desire to capture moments to remember. For Shaina, it doesn’t get any better than that as a photographer. “My favourite parts are the stories I get to tell and the people I get to meet and…how powerful a photo is. It's something that you can look back on forever…And I love that I get to create that.”

Shaina has plans to travel for her craft, but she says photography will always bring her back to the place where it all started. She has strong roots in Killam and the local support holds special significance for Shaina. “I’m inspired by people, by my community. I think that drives a lot,” she says.

In the early 1900s, Shaina George’s great-grandfather and his brother came from Washington to settle on a farm in Killam, Alberta. Shaina’s grandfather, Lloyd George, eventually took over the family’s Coldstream Farm. Lloyd converted a barn on the property to a dance hall in 1947 and it’s been a legendary landmark of Flagstaff County since. Growing up, the farm and Coldstream Barn were Shaina’s main subjects as a budding photographer. Later, her partner Nick worked for years alongside Shaina’s father on the Coldstream Farm. When it came time to name their photography and videography business, it was an honour to carry on the historic Coldstream name. It represents something that is so special to them and powerfully connects them with their community’s past, present and future.

Coldstream Photography & Film
Website: www.coldstreamphotofilm.ca
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coldstreamphotofilm/
Instagram: @coldstreamphotofilm

Photos courtesy of Shaina George