About Rob Stimpson
I am originally from a small town in Quebec called Hudson which is about 50 km west of Montreal. It’s a place any kid would have wanted to spend their early years growing up. Rolling hills, forests, the Ottawa River and a town of five thousand added up to summers filled with canoeing and camping and winters that were deep with snow and hockey on open-air rinks. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Once I finished school I bounced around the country like a gypsy. I lived in Vancouver for a few years but left as the mountains kept blocking my view. I tried a few other great places including Switzerland, the Yukon and Baffin Island. Now I live in the wilds of Muskoka Ontario. How the heck I ended up here, I’m not really sure. One good thing about Muskoka is that the mountains have been worn down to little nubs; the view is a lot better! Muskoka is just a short hop skip and jump from Toronto (aka the Big Smoke) or as some people like to think; the centre of the Universe. I discovered that when you are outside the centre of the Universe you can actually see the stars!
My crazy life as a freelancer takes me to places like Polar Bear Provincial Park on the Hudson Bay coast, Antarctica, the Arctic and a few places in between. I have been known to sit behind sand dunes on the Hudson Bay Coast trying to get pictures of 800 pound polar bears. I still haven’t got one. That is, an image that doesn’t look like a small white blob on a beach. My native guide keeps me on a tight leash as he’s not sure if he can shoot straight enough if he lets me get too close to a bear. My colleagues joke that if the bear comes our way, there’s no need to worry. They know Stimpson is not leaving all that equipment. He can deal with Nanook!
I shoot for magazines, calendars and anybody who wants me to take a few snaps. This medium can be frustrating but only from the business end. The joy I get from creating with my camera and mind on a daily basis over shadows anything negative.
If I am not shooting images for clients or myself, I can be found chopping wood for the stove – or chasing black bears off the property.
Rob
