The camera that's with you also wins on honesty. Some of my favourite shots of my grandmother exist because a phone was in reach and a 'real camera' would have made her pose.

The peas always come through on the prairies. Something in them understands the deal out here: grow fast, ask questions never.

There's a stretch of a Saskatchewan July where the light at 10 p.m. turns everything gold and even the grain elevators look like they're posing. I get it.

Try finding open shade in Saskatchewan. The nearest tree is in the next municipality. I've learned to just wait for clouds like some kind of weather sommelier.

Grasslands National Park. It's a dark sky preserve, so once the sun goes down the Milky Way just sits there over the prairie like it's got nowhere better to be. You hear coyotes and your own heartbeat and that's about it.

Prairie golden hour is long too but not THAT long. Midnight side light sounds unreal. The bugs, less so.