This one’s for anyone who’s had a quote (or, let’s be honest, several) left on read. You remember the ones (🥲). We sat down with actor, producer and KINO co-founder Brit MacRae to learn about her creative process and what she looks for when she’s the one deciding which films get funded.

Also inside: a quick recap of Image Wonderland Calgary and the debut of A Weekend With, a brand-new segment that takes you inside 48 hours with one of our guests. Why? Because we’re nosy, and so are you.

Happy snooping!

—Emily & Chloë

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EVENT RECAP | IMAGE WONDERLAND CALGARY

That’s a wrap on Image Wonderland 2026!

Canon Creator Lab’s Image Wonderland series has officially closed out its 2026 run following its most recent event in Calgary. Huge thanks to our partners The Camera Store and McBain Camera for providing the gear, and to commercial filmmaker and creative director Eric Shiozaki for sharing his expertise.

If you attended, make sure to tag us in your shots on Instagram so we can see and share what you created!

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A WEEKEND WITH | BRIT MACRAE

A Weekend With: Brit MacRae

A weekend in the life of actor, producer and KINO co-founder Brit MacRae (@britmacrae), fresh off a flight home from Greece and nursing a cold. Read on for our full interview with Brit in The Process.

Last weekend…

I Ate:

Chicken noodle soup & plain toast.

I Drank:

Water, electrolytes & broth.

I Read:

London Falling by Patrick Radden Keefe & Priest (and that’s all she’ll say on that).

I Splurged On:

New bedding & pillows from Quince!

I Woke Up At:

5 a.m.

I Went to Bed At:

8 p.m., thanks to jet lag.

THE PROCESS | BRIT MACRAE

The Process with Brit MacRae

on Finding Another Way In

What does it take to get a yes from the people holding the purse strings? Few people know better than Brit MacRae (@britmacrae).

In this edition of The Process, we sit down with the Toronto-born, Los Angeles-based actor and producer to find out how a 15-year-old with big-city dreams pitched her way out of her parents’ house and ended up on both sides of the screen.

As co-founder of KINO, a venture-backed film tech company, Brit knows what investors are really looking for. She gives us the inside scoop and explains why preparing for rejection might be the very thing that gets you the green light.

Whether you’re pitching a film, a client or cereal for dinner, you won’t want to miss this one.

Read the full piece here:

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At 15, Brit MacRae made her parents a PowerPoint presentation. The pitch: let her move out.

Long before she was pitching investors as co-founder of the film company KINO, Los Angeles-based actor and producer Brit MacRae was building decks for an audience of two. To understand how a teenager could find that kind of ambition—and how she’s found such success in the industry—we sat down with Brit to dig deeper into the origins of her process.

Growing up in Burlington, Ontario, Brit MacRae spent her childhood dancing, singing and watching Fame on repeat, idolizing the idea of studying the arts in the big city. By the time high school was on the horizon, she was more than ready for her own Fame moment. There was just one problem: the school she was set to attend offered a very different curriculum.

“It was a smaller school,” Brit says. “They could hardly fill up vocal music class from the ninth to twelfth grade because there wasn’t enough interest.” With its focus on technical skills, it was largely geared toward preparing students for careers in the trades. For a kid like Brit, it wasn’t exactly a dream fit.

So at 13, she took matters into her own hands and auditioned for the Etobicoke School of the Arts, one of Toronto’s specialized arts high schools. She got in, but the excitement didn’t last long. As it turns out, convincing her parents was the much tougher audition.

“My parents were like, ‘No, you’re 13. You’re not taking two trains and a bus to get to school every day. There’s a high school right there. That’s where you’ll go.’”

And it was where she went, for a time—not as an abandonment of her dream, but in strategic pursuit of it. For two years, she diligently attended classes, skipping electives entirely and loading her schedule with summer school and online courses. By the end of grade 10, she’d finished all her required grade 12 courses. All she needed to graduate were electives.

“I went back to my parents and I was like, ‘Hey, are you gonna make me do wood shop and welding and electrical for the next two years straight, or can I go dance, sing and act all day?’”

Her plan worked, and the following year she started at the Etobicoke School of the Arts, two trains and a bus ride from home.

The First Pitch

The commute was every bit as rough as her parents had warned. With rehearsals sometimes running until 9:30 p.m., Brit often wouldn’t get home until after midnight, only to wake up at five and do it all over again.

One day, running on almost no sleep, she came across a run-down triplex with a For Rent sign handwritten in Sharpie in the window.

“This makes way more sense,” she remembers thinking.

Once again, she had some convincing to do. Luckily, Brit knew her audience. Her dad was in business and her mom was an educator, so she pitched them the move with a detailed PowerPoint presentation. She credits them for the impressive drive she had at such a young age.

“My parents are both very creative, ambitious people, and so industrious,” she says. “So I don’t know if it was just watching them or just being an eldest daughter.”

Convinced by her case, her parents gave her six months to prove she could make it on her own: open a bank account, get a job and cover her own groceries and electricity.

Making Rent

Living on her own at 15 came with a steep learning curve. While her classmates went home to home-cooked meals after rehearsal, Brit was choosing between Lucky Charms and Froot Loops. “It made me grow up very quickly, but it also forced me to think creatively on how to survive,” she says.

To cover her monthly expenses, she applied for a sales job. When the hiring team asked why they should pay a teenager with no experience, she made them an offer they couldn’t refuse: they didn’t have to pay her a base wage, as long as she could work on commission.

“There was no risk, right? I removed the risk entirely for them,” Brit says. She was steadily developing what would become one of her greatest strengths—the ability to leave people with no good reason to say no.

“Same Thing”

When post-secondary came into the picture, Brit set her artistic ambitions aside (sort of). University felt like the expected next step, so she studied psychology, the closest thing to acting school she could justify at the time. “I was so curious about human behaviour,” she recalls. “That’s what I wanted to just go deeper on: motivation and intention and human behaviour.”

Years later, on her first day of an acting class in Los Angeles, her instructor (a well-known casting director) went around the room asking where each student had trained. Her classmates rattled off some of the most prestigious drama programs in the country: Yale, CalArts, Juilliard. When it was Brit’s turn, she explained that she’d studied psychology in Canada, bracing herself for how her unconventional background might land.

“Same thing,” the instructor said nonchalantly and moved on to the next student.

“I think about that all the time,” Brit says. To this day, the experience serves as a reminder that her unconventional path is just as valid as anyone else’s.

Endless No’s

Early on, people warned Brit that an acting career takes about ten years to get off the ground.

“I remember in my stubborn little brain, my little peanut brain, I was like, ‘It’s not gonna take ten years,’” she laughs. “But no, it was a grind. It was years before I booked my first role—years and so many no’s…Endless no’s.”

When she left her support system in Toronto for the much bigger pond of Los Angeles, she gave herself a clear directive. “I have to treat myself like I’m a new kid showing up from Nebraska or Alaska,” she says. That meant building a community from scratch.

Alongside her acting classes, she worked as a production assistant, then a coordinator, then a production manager, learning how the industry works from the inside. Her unique path gave her a real appreciation for the professionals working across every department to bring a story to screen.

Chasing Rejection

As much as relationship-building matters, Brit is clear that friendships are no substitute for skill. “You have to be good at what you do. There are no handouts.”

She credits her comfort with rejection, in part, to the way she was raised. “Being around realists, there was never any sugarcoating,” she says. Her parents were generous with praise when it was earned, and honest when it wasn’t. Years of competitive dance only thickened her skin, setting her up for a healthy relationship with the word “no.”

“I met this woman recently at a conference in Victoria, and she was on the path to a thousand no’s,” Brit says. For this woman, every no was a win, and every yes was a sort of bonus.

“I wish I had known that in my early days as a creative, because if you just frame [no’s] like a positive goal, it makes everything that much easier,” she says.

Building the Business Side

KINO has two sides to its business: its film fund finances and greenlights independent projects, while its B2B platform gives studios and production teams one secure place to manage post-production: from dailies, photo approvals and secure screeners to cut review and final delivery.

Brit spends her weekends reading scripts for the film fund (where there’s never a shortage of stories vying for her attention), and during the week, she works directly with some of the biggest studios in the industry. On any given day, she might be running a demo for a new client, helping a post-production team work through a problem or bringing feedback to KINO’s tech team so they can continue to improve the platform. “It’s a lot of creative problem-solving,” she says.

The workload can be intense, but Brit wouldn’t trade it for a clean nine-to-five boundary. If a big idea hits at 10 p.m., she’s chasing it.

“Film and TV is weird,” she laughs. “This is a weird little industry.”

In Closing

Brit has seen the industry from nearly every vantage point—behind the scenes, in frame and across the investor’s table—yet mastery has never been her goal. For her, the work is never done, and that’s what keeps it interesting.

“That’s the beauty of being in process always in the life of an artist. You’re always working on something. There’s always something you’re playing with, and I think that’s the coolest part.”—Brit MacRae

Looking back, the through-line in her creative process is hard to miss.

There was the 13-year-old who fast-tracked her credits. The 15-year-old with the PowerPoint pitch. The eager sales rep working on commission alone. The psychology grad who held her own as an actor. And now, the meticulous founder who fail-safes every pitch.

At every stage, Brit went after what she wanted with a stubborn kind of clarity, and obstacles simply became problems she knew she could solve. Each of those versions was building toward the one she is today: a creative who isn’t immune to rejection, but who has learned to build a case that’s hard to turn down. One who faces every locked door with a few spare keys in her back pocket.

Steal a page from Brit’s process:

On auditioning

“It has to be fun,” Brit says. “You have to find joy in the process because 95% of the job is auditioning.”

Her approach is “set and forget.” She records the tape, sends it off and moves on, assuming she didn’t get the part. More than once, her team has called with an offer and she’s had to ask which project it was for.

On pitching your project

When evaluating a script, Brit looks for one thing first: “Is there something that feels unique? It doesn’t have to be huge, but what is that unique edge?”

Take Undertone, the KINO-backed A24 horror film from Toronto-based writer-director Ian Tuason. Its edge was sound. Every audio cue was mapped out in the script like a blueprint.

From there, it’s about risk. KINO in particular favours smaller features with a high floor (low risk with real potential to break out) and teams with a proven track record, though they’re happy to back first-time writer-directors with a strong crew.

Brit’s pitching advice is to anticipate every concern, “removing any possible way that people can say no.” That means arriving with a finance plan and a strategy to de-risk the project. Consider brand partnerships that could help recoup the budget if your film doesn’t land a theatrical release or a streaming deal.

On getting into character

“I really try to think about how I, as Brit, would handle being in this [character’s] particular circumstance or situation, because that is what’s gonna be the most authentic, that’s what’s gonna be the most true.”

From there, Brit works the lines until they feel natural, and sometimes she’ll watch actors who’ve played similar characters, or build a playlist for the role.

On getting your foot in the door

When Brit was first approaching agents, she was often asked for her headshot and resume. She chose to send her headshot only, since her resume didn’t feel like a true representation of her as an artist.

“I got so many more meetings just because I was able to represent myself in the way that I wanted to, versus following a checklist,” she says.

These days, if she knows the showrunner on a project she’s auditioning for, she’ll reach out directly.

Follow Brit on Instagram at @britmacrae and learn more about KINO here.

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We did some digging this week…

Turns out, Instagram can’t always tell who made your work—and to be fair, your followers might not know much about who made it either.

This week, we’re looking into Instagram’s “AI content” labels: how they work, where they fall apart and why they keep showing up on work that was made the old-fashioned way. And with authenticity carrying more weight online than ever, this week’s creative prompt is one we’ll also be taking part in right alongside you!

Also in this edition, learn more about the last Image Wonderland event of the year, and get your exclusive community discount for The Gathering Festival in Banff (trust us, this event is worth travelling for)!

Oh, and to all the “official family photographers” in our Canadian community: Happy Thanksgiving! May everyone’s eyes be open on the first shot, and may your fall colours need very little editing.

—Emily & Chloë

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Instagram's AI Labels Are Having an Identity Crisis

Remember the security cam footage of bunnies bouncing on a backyard trampoline? The one that racked up more than 230 million views last year before everyone found out it was AI-generated? Plenty of us (no judgement) watched it on loop, sent it to the group chat and fully believed it. A little “AI content” label would’ve spared millions of people a very wholesome kind of heartbreak.

That’s the case for AI labels in a nutshell. When they land on the right content, they help audiences understand what they’re actually looking at. But what happens when that label lands on the wrong post? Say, the portrait you spent an hour lighting, or the design you built from scratch?

For creatives, an AI label can shape how clients, brands and followers see your work, whether it’s accurate or not. So how does Instagram dole out these “AI content” labels? We did some digging.

How AI Is Detected and Labelled

Instagram mostly reads hidden signals that AI tools write into a file’s metadata. Content created with AI gets a visible “AI content” label, while content modified with AI has that info tucked into the post’s menu. Sounds tidy enough. But, in practice, not so much.

When the Labels Get It Wrong

With AI built into so many modern-day editing tools, the lines are getting blurry. Incorrect label claims started popping up as early as 2024, when photographers started noticing the labels on photos that used routine cropping tools in Photoshop. More recently, Threads users have reported the label appearing after using Canva’s Background Remover. Canva’s Help Centre says the tool “doesn’t add Canva’s AI-generated content metadata to your design,” and despite claims of the issue persisting, Canva claims the errors have since been fixed.

It happens in reverse too. In a recent article, The Verge tested posting images edited or generated with tools like Adobe Firefly and Google’s Gemini, and found that Instagram only labelled the ones made in Meta’s own AI app.

We decided to run a test of our own, using ChatGPT to remove the background from an image and upscale it. Meta’s AI Detection Tool came back negative. Technically correct—since we didn’t use a Meta AI tool—but it shows a concerning gap: there’s still no reliable way for creators or audiences to check AI use across the tools we actually work with.

Adobe’s Andy Parsons has said Content Credentials “could become as ubiquitous as a copyright symbol,” but a label only means something if platforms read it correctly.

Instagram’s Latest Move

On August 31, Instagram renamed its “AI creator” label to “AI-generated profile.” It’s meant for accounts featuring an AI-generated person, and unlabelled profiles may see their reach limited (with the option to appeal through Account Status, since Instagram admits its “systems might not always be perfect”). It’s a step toward transparency around AI personas, but it doesn’t fix the post-level labels tripping up real creators.

So, when you see an "AI content" label, what do you assume? Do the labels carry any weight for you? And if you've been flagged, tell us about it in the comments.

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EVENT RECAP | IMAGE WONDERLAND MONTREAL

A big thank you to everyone who joined us for the Canon Creator Lab Image Wonderland event with Royal Photo and Gosselin Photo at Espace L’Éloi!

Thank you also to Richard Bernardin (@richardbernardinphoto) and Maxime Messier (@mmxmessier), who walked us through the cinematic method and the art of creating emotion through camera movement. Our notes apps are full (and we’re still craving carbs)!

Scroll to learn more about the last Image Wonderland event of 2026!

Events Calendar

From in-person creative experiences to local community-hosted meet-ups and online workshops, these upcoming events are worth adding to your calendar.

CALGARY, CANADA | IMAGE WONDERLAND CALGARY @ PLATFORM

The Image Wonderland series wraps up its 2026 run in Calgary on Sunday, October 18, presented in partnership with The Camera Store (@thecamerastore) and McBain Camera (@mcbaincamera).

Commercial filmmaker and creative director Eric Shiozaki (@ericshio) will be leading Stills to Motion, a cinematic workshop on making the leap from photography to filmmaking, followed by a live demo on set.

Only a few spots left to create, connect and try out the latest Canon gear! Secure yours below.

BANFF, CANADA | THE GATHERING

Calling All Creatives: North America’s #1 Brand Festival Is Just Weeks Away

We’re once again partnering with The Gathering Festival (@cultgathering) for their highly anticipated three-day festival that brings North America’s most influential creators, leaders, and brands together under one roof.

The Creator Pass is your ticket in, and we’ve got an exclusive discount code to share! Designed specifically for photographers, filmmakers, content creators, and visual storytellers, the Creator Pass puts you alongside CMOs from some of the world’s most iconic brands for conversations that don’t usually make it to a stage, plus access to a variety of creator-focused experiences throughout the festival.

Event weekend is fast approaching!

Use code SOCALITY at checkout to save 15% on your Creator Pass.

To stay on top of upcoming events in your area, subscribe to the Socality Community Calendar on Luma and keep an eye on our Instagram page.

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CREATIVE PROMPT | REINTRODUCE YOURSELF

Creative Prompt: Reintroduce Yourself

Whether you post your work every week or haven’t shared a single project to your grid, chances are your followers (and future followers) don’t have the full picture of what you do, or who’s behind the work.

In today’s industry, authenticity matters more than ever, and nothing feels more authentic than letting people see the human behind the work. Your personality, your quirks and the reasons you create are what make people feel like they know you, and clients and collaborators want to work with someone they feel they know. It can feel awkward, but that’s part of what makes it real (and it’s how the right people find you).

Creative Prompt:

Make a post reintroducing yourself, in whatever format suits your medium. Start by answering:

• What do you do for work?

• Which projects are you particularly proud of?

What would people bond with you over if they met you in person? (This can be completely unrelated to work!)

If you post a reintroduction, drop the link in the comments so we can say hi!

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Keep up with the community on socials and learn more about upcoming events:

💻 Socality.org

📱Instagram

📅 Calendar

Welcome back, and happy PSL season to those who celebrate!

Whether you’re a pumpkin person or not, this week’s edition has some valuable caffeine intel. We asked the community where they go when the at-home setup isn’t cutting it, and your answers kicked off our “add-to-it” list of work-friendly cafés. We can’t confirm the presence of pumpkin spice, but we can tell you about wifi, outlets and laptop rules. We’ll keep growing the list over time, so add your own go-to spots in the comments!

Also in this issue, we’re sharing some upcoming Canon Creator Lab events! We’ve been producing and hosting an event series called Image Wonderland, and just wrapped up the first two events in Winnipeg and Toronto. Next up, the series is heading to Montreal and Calgary. Expect styled sets, educational workshops and demos, hands-on time with the latest Canon gear and a framed print to take home.

And The Gathering Festival is officially less than one month away! If you haven’t grabbed your Creator Pass yet, we’ve got an exclusive discount code to help with that.

See you in the comments (and maybe in Banff)!

—Emily & Chloë

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We're Building a Master List of Work-Friendly Cafés

Reliable wifi and available outlets, all recommended by our community.

Every creative knows the struggle. You finally finally land on a coffee shop, order your drink, open your laptop…and discover there’s no wifi, one outlet and a sign asking you to limit your stay to 30 minutes.

So we asked our community where they actually get work done, and began rounding up your favourite laptop-friendly cafés—starting with a few major Canadian cities that received a number of submissions. Each one has been vetted for work-friendliness, with notes on wifi, seating and outlets.

This list is just getting started, which is where you come in. If you’ve got a list of go-to spots in your city for getting your work done, drop it in the comments and we’ll add it to the next update!

See The Full List:

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Events Calendar

From in-person creative experiences to local community-hosted meet-ups and online workshops, these upcoming events are worth adding to your calendar.

UPCOMING EVENTS | IMAGE WONDERLAND SERIES

Two More Cities, Two More Creative Experiences This Fall

Canon Creator Lab’s Image Wonderland event series is heading across Canada.

Image Wonderland Winnipeg and Toronto are officially a wrap! Huge thanks to everyone who came out to Swish Studios and Canon Canada HQ, and to our friends at Don’s Photo, Vistek and Henry’s for partnering with us on this Canon Creator Lab event.

If you couldn’t make it out (or, fair enough, you don’t live there), there are two more stops on the Image Wonderland tour this fall. Each event features styled sets with on-site talent, a complimentary print and framing station and a gear rental station stocked with Canon’s latest mirrorless bodies and lenses.

Tickets are live and space is limited. Find an event near you and secure your spot below.

BANFF, CANADA | THE GATHERING

We’re thrilled to share that we’re once again partnering with The Gathering Festival (@cultgathering) for their highly anticipated three-day festival that brings North America’s most influential creators, leaders, and brands together under one roof.

The Creator Pass is your ticket in. Designed specifically for photographers, filmmakers, content creators, and visual storytellers, it puts you alongside CMOs from some of the world’s most iconic brands for conversations that don’t usually make it to a stage, plus access to a variety of creator-focused experiences throughout the festival.

We’re officially less than one month out, and there’s no better time to secure your pass.

Use code SOCALITY at checkout to save 15%, an exclusive discount for our community.

To stay on top of upcoming events in your area, subscribe to the Socality Community Calendar on Luma and keep an eye on our Instagram page.

Keep up with the community:

💻 Socality.org

📱Instagram

📅 Calendar

Every creative knows the struggle. You finally finally land on a coffee shop, order your drink, open your laptop…and discover there’s no wifi, one outlet and a sign asking you to limit your stay to 30 minutes.

So we asked our community where they actually get work done, and began rounding up your favourite laptop-friendly cafés—starting with a few major Canadian cities that received a number of submissions. Each one has been vetted for work-friendliness, with notes on wifi, seating and outlets.

This list is meant to be collaborative, so drop your go-to spots in your city in the comments and we’ll add them to the next update!

Leave a comment

Toronto (Downtown & Distillery District)

Toronto (West End)

Toronto (West End)

Calgary

Vancouver

Got cities and spots to add to the list? Leave them in the comments below and we’ll update the list!

Leave a comment

This week’s all about starting, whether that’s for the first time or the fifth.

We’ve pulled together advice from the community, plus a year’s worth of guidance from our Process interviews with the experts. Also inside, we’re sharing the five things we think are actually worth learning if you want to produce higher quality work.

Happy reading!

—Emily & Chloë

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5 THINGS | FOR HIGHER QUALITY WORK

5 Things Actually Worth Learning for Higher Quality Work

We're firm believers that even the best gear on the market can turn out work that falls flat. That said, we're hopping on the stuff-that's-actually-worth-it trend, and not a single item on our list costs a dime.

Here are the five things we think are worth learning if you want to create work that stands out.

1. Colour theory
Knowing why certain colour combinations work can save you a ton of time when it comes to grading. It also makes you better at building sets, choosing wardrobe, and adding design elements in post that make your work pop.

2. Typography
Not just for designers! Understanding typography can elevate your storytelling or your brand in a multitude of creative ways. And whether we like it or not, text over imagery (photo or video) is showing up everywhere on socials these days. Learn from designers about kerning, font pairing, and hierarchy, because text that stands out can be the difference between a thumbnail that gets clicks and one that gets ignored.

3. In-camera settings
This might be an obvious one, but getting it right in-camera means less time in post and better files to work with when you get there. Fixing it later is always the more expensive option. Do you really know what all your settings do?

4. Capturing quality sound
People might forgive a slightly soft shot, but they won't forgive bad audio. And good audio doesn't require an expensive setup. There are plenty of tips and tricks for capturing crisp sound with the resources you've already got.

5. Composition
Framing applies to everything: photos, video, graphics, a slide, a text overlay. Once you can see it, you can't unsee it. Composition allows you to dictate where someone looks first, and that's a lot more power than most people realize.

Got anything to add to our list? Let us know in the comments.

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EXPERT ADVICE | ON GETTING STARTED

We Asked 5 Experts How They Got Started

Nobody’s first setup was good.

We’ve spent the last year sitting down with established creatives for our recurring segment, The Process, and trust us—when we say nobody, we mean it.

Whether you’re brand new to the industry or a few years in and feeling the weight of comparison, here’s what five people who’ve been in your shoes had to say about getting started.

Lavinia Rusanda: Start before you’re ready

Lavinia (@laviniarusanda) is a full-time content creator, the host of her podcast Loud Talk with Lavi, and the founder of skincare line nine2five. When we chatted, she told us about the setup she used for the better part of a decade: “I filmed off my phone…balancing it on like, 10 boxes…that was my YouTube setup for a good seven years.”

Her advice is blunt: stop negotiating with your future self. If you wait for clearer skin, better gear, more confidence, or more skill, you’ll always find a reason to delay. “You just have to start with what you have.”

Isami Kiyooka: The gear isn’t the problem

At 21, Isami (@isami_kiyooka) became one of the youngest photographers ever credentialled in Olympic history. We caught up with him after he shot the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team at this year’s Olympic Games, and learned that he got there after four years of professional work on a Canon Rebel T7 with a kit lens. And before that, with his mother’s old point-and-shoot.

“I feel like people overestimate how much gear they need. It can just be a point-and-shoot camera. That’s how I started.”

Alen Palander: Pick something you actually care about

Alen (@alenpalander) shoots 10 to 15 Formula One races a year and serves as a brand ambassador for Audi. When we caught up in Montreal, he owned up to how cliché his advice sounds, but we’d argue it’s the most important advice for finding actual fulfilment in the work you do.

“If you’re at the starting stages and you want to really take the right steps, number one: find what you’re most passionate about.” Otherwise, as he puts it: “You could start taking pictures of cars tomorrow, and four years from now realize you don’t really care about cars.”

Maria Bethany: Check your reasons, then hit record

Maria (@mariabethany) is a lifestyle, fashion, and beauty content creator who’s been sharing her life online for over a decade. We asked her what she’d tell anyone eyeing the same path, and her answer was this: “Make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons. Do it because you’re passionate about it. Because you enjoy what you’re creating.”

And then, get to it. “Pick an idea, pick up a camera, record it, and share it.” The moment you start overthinking your gear, your ability, or what people will say, you interrupt your momentum at the exact point it matters most.

Andrei Barb: Get your reps in

Before he was a photographer, Andrei (@byandrei) worked in the medical field. He left that career and stepped into the creative industry with no connections and no idea how to make money. His advice on building your skillset is cut and dried: “You need to get your hours in. There’s no shortcut.”

Early on, he said yes to whatever came his way and treated every opportunity, the prestigious and the unglamorous ones alike, like training. “Every job will contribute to you becoming a better creative,” he explains. “Everything is laps. Everything is reps.”

FROM THE COMMUNITY | ON GETTING STARTED

Community Advice on Getting Started

Now, we stand by every word of that ^, but we also know there’s something about hearing advice from someone a few steps ahead of you (or right there beside you) that hits close to home.

Last week on IG, we encouraged you to share your own advice on getting started. Consider this a reminder that your peers (the ones you’ve met and the ones you haven’t yet) are eager to support you. All you have to do is reach out and ask.

“Shoot everything at first, gain experience, then narrow down once you find what you enjoy.”—@shot_byben

“It takes way more reps that one plans for and way more rejection than one thinks.”—@danisdriven

“Do it scared or don’t do it at all.”—@carlywrayy

“Start.”—@baptiste_segers

“The longer you wait is the shorter you get to live the life you’ve always dreamed of!”—@michaelpierog_photography

“The point isn’t to do it well. It’s to do it.”—@amber_nguyen95

“Say yes and figure out the rest later.”—@scottcbakken

“Just start, do not wait to be fully equipped.”—@aminedjouahraoff

“Today is that tomorrow you were talking about.”—@omproduction.log

“’Don’t think, just post.’—Scott Bakken”—@ericshio (And this is your proof that peer advice actually sticks!)

Where did you start? What do you wish someone had told you sooner? Drop a comment below to add to the conversation.

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If editing on a plane sends you into a genuine flow state, same.

And if we're being honest, there's a very "main character" quality to it—like your edits look so good at 30,000 feet that some well-connected stranger will definitely notice your "genius" out of the corner of their eye.

It sounds like a fantasy, but for this week’s guest, it actually happened.

Alen Palander scored himself an introduction to Formula One’s Director of Hospitality after sitting directly between two F1 insiders on a flight. They complimented his work, which led to a conversation, which became the start of a friendship.

If it happened for him, who’s to say it can’t happen for you? There’s more to the story than being in the right place at the right time. There are circumstances you can control. We sat down with Alen in our latest edition of The Process to unpack the groundwork he laid long before boarding that flight.

Keep reading for the full story, plus five key takeaways from Alen’s talk at our Montreal Gallery Experience, and a creative prompt that’ll challenge how you see the man-made world.

Enjoy!

—Emily & Chloë

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5 THINGS | WITH ALEN PALANDER

5 Things We Learned from an F1 Photographer

Alen Palander (@alenpalander) studied with the goal of becoming an architect before he ever picked up a camera, and it shows. He approaches his man-made subjects less like products and more like structures worth understanding from the inside out. At our recent Canon Creator Lab x Socality Gallery Experience at Lamborghini Montreal, he got candid about his decade-long career.

Here are five things we’re taking away:

1. Know your gear inside out

Before you chase a new lens or a fancier body, Alen would point you back to whatever’s already in your hands. “Understand the tools you have. The first stage of having something like that in your hand is really knowing how to use it. And once you know how to use it properly, you can capture anything.” When you’re starting out, it’s tempting to blame the gear. But when you know your settings cold, you stop second-guessing.

2. Stop waiting for the perfect shot

Alen doesn’t believe in “the shot,” and that takes a surprising amount of pressure off, especially early on, when every frame feels like it has something to prove. “I don’t think there’s a shot. I think it’s a memory in time. If it’s in focus, it’s a plus. But if it’s blurry, it’s not the end of the world.” The point being: perfectionism is what keeps most of your best frames stuck on a hard drive. As he put it, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be critical of your work. If you’re critical of your work, unfortunately, your mind is the first barrier.”

3. Niche down, then own it

There’s a real temptation, early on, to shoot everything, fashion one week, food the next, whatever pays. Alen argues for the opposite. “It’s actually better not to do everything. It’s better to be focused and to have a narrow focus on certain industries that you’re keen about, and then being the best at them.” The payoff for that discipline is recognizability. “Picasso is Picasso because you can see his work and know it’s Picasso.” Narrow your focus long enough and your work starts to carry your signature before your name does.

4. Post-production is part of the art

For anyone who feels a twinge of guilt cleaning up a frame in post, Alen offers some absolution. “You obviously take an image, but you have the free range to manipulate it as you like.” He’ll pull distracting debris out of a pit-stop shot without a second thought: “You gotta remove some of the imperfections of a picture, and that’s totally fine.” The edit is where a lot of the authorship happens.

5. Show up, and work on your presence

A big part of Alen's career came down to being in the room—which, as you know, takes confidence. "I always recommend making appearances at events like this,” he says. “You never know who you're gonna meet.” But showing up is only step one. What you do once you're there matters just as much. If that pressure feels like a lot, Alen has good news: "Having a magnetic personality isn't something anyone’s born with. It's something you can really work on." Believe in yourself, he says, and you can find comfort in all sorts of spaces.

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THE PROCESS | ALEN PALANDER

The Process with Alen Palander

On the Boundaries That Sustain a Creative Life

Automotive photographer Alen Palander shoots the fastest cars on earth from inside the Formula One paddock.

He works as a brand ambassador for Audi Canada and shoots for clients across the motorsport space. But what first drew him to photography moved at a very different speed—and because of that, his work has a unique way of portraying the relationship between man and machine: their symbiosis, or their perceived tension.

In conversation with Alen, it quickly became clear that he's built a lasting creative career entirely on his own terms; one that protects both his craft and his time in an industry that operates at full throttle. He opens up about breaking into the F1 space, advocating for himself as an artist, and the boundaries that have kept his creative life sustainable.

Read the full piece here:

Key Takeaways from Alen’s Process

On protecting your perspective

When working with a detailed creative brief, you should, of course, deliver it to the very best of your ability—but don’t forget that your perspective is the whole reason you were hired. At the end of the day, you’re the one who has to stand behind the work you create.

“It’s your perspective that you’re giving to the world,” he says. “The client’s word isn’t the last word.”

On keeping your work fresh

How do you keep the work fresh when you’re shooting the same circuit year after year? For Alen, the answer lives in the margins of a race weekend: a driver stepping out of the garage, or the charged minutes before a race begins. “If Lando’s winning the championship, I want to get that photo of him and his mom hugging,” he says. “That, to me, is the defining moment.”

On what you share online

Your online self and your offline self don’t have to match. Alen deliberately decides how much of his personal life to share, keeping the spotlight on his work rather than his day-to-day. Drawing that line means the people who follow him are there for his craft, and it frees him from the pressure of performing a personal brand.

On treating every destination as a story

“One thing I love about Formula One is that it takes us to all these different places around the world, and along the way, you get to create a ‘palette’ for the content, because each unique place has its own identity.”

To capture that identity, Alen goes back to basics: the same who, what, where, when, why, and how we all learned in grade school. Incorporating that context gives your work depth and makes it truly stand out.

On advocating for yourself as an artist

In any industry, clients can be demanding and the pace can be fast, making it easy to lose the very spark that makes your work so special. The antidote, Alen shares, is knowing your interests, trusting your perspective, speaking up for yourself, and building a body of work that’s unmistakably yours. Do that, he says, and your audience will come to truly see your work and trust your vision.

Read more here:

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CREATIVE PROMPT | SHOOTING MAN-MADE IN THE WILD

Creative Prompt: Out of Place, In Frame

Some of Alen’s most striking work highlights the contrast between man-made and the wild and untouched: a car set in nature, a machine where it doesn’t belong. The tension between the two helps give an image its story.

This week, try it yourself. Find a man-made subject—a car, a bike, whatever you’ve got access to—and photograph it somewhere natural. Let the setting do half the work. Play with the friction or synergy: does your subject clash with the landscape, or settle into it? What is your pairing really saying?

If you try this for yourself, tag us on Instagram (@socality) and let us know in the comments—we’d love to see what you come up with!

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Before the fast cars, his subjects barely moved at all.

Back then, Alen Palander (@alenpalander) was an eager urban design undergrad with a deep appreciation for architecture—one he took all the way to a master’s degree. His studies pushed him to explore different artistic mediums, photography being one of them. Within that exploration, he set himself a personal goal: to photograph every building designed by his favourite architect, Zaha Hadid.

The deeper he got, the broader his understanding of architecture became—and the more he saw.

“I started realizing the world of architecture was greater than just buildings,” he says. “It was designing things, materials, goods, and then vehicles. The architecture and design of vehicles.”

Cars, it turned out, were simply architecture you could drive.

Tension in the Contrast

The shift from buildings to cars happened over time, as Alen’s appreciation for all forms of architecture continued to grow.

He recalls one trip that proved especially pivotal. Behind the wheel of a Mercedes in Iceland, he photographed the car he was driving against the wild terrain that surrounded him. The images revealed a certain tension.

“You have a car that’s man-made, very technical, very innovative, and then you have this beautiful, untouched landscape,” he says. “I started realizing those two things can create beautiful imagery together if there’s a story behind them.”

The thought of telling those stories pulled him fully into the automotive world, and he’s never looked back since.

These days, Alen’s work lives in the motorsport space, where he supports a range of clients with brand activations and product releases. Between shooting 10 to 15 Formula One races a year and serving as a brand ambassador for Audi Canada, he’s built a body of work he’s proud to put his name on.

Finding His Place in the Industry

Alen found his way into F1 the same way he does most things—by showing up and being himself once he got there.

“Showing up to races, you never know who you’re gonna meet,” he says. Take his first-ever F1 race, in Monza. Alen was flying in with Heineken and Mercedes, seated between a major F1 sponsorship figure on one side and driver Nicholas Latifi’s trainer on the other. As he edited photos on his laptop, the two started glancing over, complimenting his work. Those casual compliments turned into conversation, which turned into introductions that altered the course of his career.

He describes those kinds of conversations as “natural moments that you have to take advantage of in the most organic way possible.” Being yourself in these moments, he says, is what ensures you’re moving towards spaces you actually want to be in, and a career that ultimately fulfils you as a creative.

They Hired You for a Reason

There’s a certain autonomy to being behind the wheel: you decide where to go and how to get there. Alen carries that same mindset into his creative process.

“Whenever I’m in the vehicle, I put that same psychology into creating content with it,” he says.

But that level of control isn’t always possible on the racetrack. With the relentless pace and unpredictable nature of F1 events, his ability to think fast gets tested constantly. “You have to be on your feet and ready to be spontaneous,” he says, describing what happens when your subject gets knocked out of the race on the first turn.

When you find yourself pivoting for the unplanned, Alen’s advice is to trust yourself. Your perspective is the whole reason you were hired, so lean in and do what you do best. At the end of the day, you’re the one who has to stand behind the work. It’s here that he draws one of his firmest lines.

“As an artist, you want to preserve the integrity of your work. It’s your perspective that you’re giving to the world,” he says. “The client’s word isn’t the last word.”

The Speed Trap

For all the speed Alen’s job runs on, what he tries to protect the most is slowing down.

“We’ve lost that one thing I’ve always appreciated about photography: the ability to take your time.”

It’s the paradox he lives inside. Alen works in the fastest corners of an already fast industry, shooting the fastest cars on earth for an audience that always wants more, faster. So protecting his ability to slow down becomes its own kind of boundary, and it’s one he guards.

When he does find time to spare, it usually comes after the fact: a production wraps, and he has a few days to himself in a city like Paris. He’ll grab a camera and just walk, taking photos for no one but himself. “In those moments I get back to realizing, okay, this is why I want to do this,” he says. “It inspires me to be better at what I do.”

His advice here is simple: pace yourself. Every artist has to sit with their own thoughts and protect the time it takes to do the work well.

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“This Isn't Cirque du Soleil”

If there’s one boundary that’s shaped Alen’s career more than any other, it’s the line he drew between his work and himself.

“The biggest challenge as an artist is identifying who you are online and offline,” he says. “Those two don’t have to be the same.”

He shares generously, but selectively, preferring that his audience know him as an artist rather than through the mundane play-by-play of his day. It’s a boundary he set early, and on purpose. “If you don’t make that choice early on, you face a challenge as you grow, because people will expect certain things of you,” he says. Set the line before your audience does, and they’ll come to respect it.

The payoff is twofold. Creatively, not performing your personal life for an audience leaves more energy for the work itself. “You don’t have to put on a performance,” he says. “This is not Cirque du Soleil.” And personally, it keeps you present: at work, with family—or beside the stranger on your flight who just might offer you your next big break.

To Anyone at the Start Line

Surrounded by his best work as it lines the walls of our first-ever Canon Creator Lab x Socality Gallery Experience, Alen shares a message for anyone standing where he once stood.

“If you’re at the starting stages and you want to really take the right steps, number one: find what you’re most passionate about.”

He owns how cliché it sounds, but gives the advice anyway, because the alternative is expensive. “You could start taking pictures of cars tomorrow, and four years from now realize you don’t really care about cars,” he says.

Ground yourself in something you actually love, early, and everything downstream gets easier.

In Closing

An architect, Alen points out, designs buildings they’ll have to see, drive past, and live alongside for years.

So they build something they can stand behind.

A photographer’s body of work is no different. And so is the life they build around it. Holding that standard means setting deliberate boundaries to steer your creative process and protect what matters most in your life.

Alen did this early on, deciding who he’d be online, what he’d keep for himself, and where he was (and wasn’t) willing to compromise on his creative vision. Each of those boundaries protects something: his creativity, his authenticity, his time. Together, they’re what keep him focused on the work and building a career he’s genuinely proud of.

Done right, boundaries don’t box you in. They give you room to build a career that looks like you—online, and in every room you walk into.

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Steal a page from Alen’s process:

On protecting your perspective

When working with a detailed creative brief, you should, of course, deliver it; but don’t forget that your perspective is the whole reason you were hired. At the end of the day, you’re the one who has to stand behind the work you create. “It’s your perspective that you’re giving to the world,” Alen says. “The client’s word isn’t the last word.”

On keeping your photos fresh

How do you keep the work fresh when you’re shooting the same circuit year after year? For Alen, the answer lives in the margins of a race weekend: a driver stepping out of the garage, or the charged minutes before a race begins. “If Lando’s winning the championship, I want to get that photo of him and his mom hugging,” he says. “That, to me, is the defining moment.”

On what you share online

Your online self and your offline self don’t have to match. Alen decides deliberately how much of his personal life to let in, keeping the spotlight on his work rather than his day-to-day. Drawing that line early means the people who follow him are there for his craft, and it frees him from the pressure of performing a personal brand.

On treating every destination as a story

“One thing I love about Formula One is that it takes us to all these different places around the world, and along the way, you get to create a ‘palette’ for the content, because each unique place has its own identity.”

To capture that identity, Alen goes back to basics: the same who, what, where, when, why, and how we all learned in grade school. Incorporating that context gives your work depth and makes it truly stand out.

On advocating for yourself as an artist

In any industry, clients can be demanding and the pace can be fast, making it easy to lose the very spark that makes your work so special. The antidote, Alen shares, is knowing your interests, trusting your perspective, speaking up for yourself, and building a body of work that’s unmistakably yours. Do that, he says, and your audience will come to truly see your work and trust your vision.

Follow Alen (@alenpalander) and his Toronto-based agency (@palanderstudios) on Instagram to see where his work takes him next. If something in his process struck a chord, let us know in the comments below!

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Welcome back!

So. We went from Lamborghini showroom to hundred-year-old coal mine in a matter of weeks—a metaphor for life as a creative, if we’ve ever heard one! And if there’s one thing most creatives can agree on, it’s that you get used to rolling with extremes in this line of work. The thing is, we probably shouldn’t get so used to all of them…

This week’s contributor piece gets at the root of one of those less-ideal extremes, offering a fresh take on a pricing problem most freelancers know all too well. Exhausted by it after a decade as a photographer, community member Victoria Walton decided to build the tool she wishes she’d had access to when she started out. A reminder that the problems you know best are often the ones worth building around—and the most worthwhile to solve. Give it a read here:

And finally, if making a space look effortless on camera is your kind of challenge, our stylist Ashley Nicole has some principles worth stealing! Read on for expert advice (that might surprise you) on levelling up the styling of your next event, photoshoot or dinner party.

Let’s get into it!

—Emily & Chloë

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5 THINGS | STYLING YOUR NEXT EVENT OR PHOTOSHOOT

How to Style a Space That Photographs Itself

You know we love a good gathering, and ours wouldn’t look the way they do without the creative eye of Ashley Nicole (@ashnstyling). If you haven’t met Ashley, she’s the Calgary-based stylist behind many of our Canon Creator Lab x Socality events (including both of the ones we’re recapping below!), and this week, we’re sharing the principles she actually styles by.

Whether you’re styling a shoot, an event, or even a dinner party at home, here are five tips worth stealing:

1. Start with a space that has good bones
Pick a space or venue that already looks good before you touch it, then work with it instead of covering it up. Good character, light, and architecture will do half the styling for you.

2. Choose texture over polish
Right now, a little imperfection reads as luxury. Think washed linen you didn’t bother to iron, hand-thrown ceramics, beeswax candles, and hand-blown glass. After years of glossy everything, handmade is having its moment.

3. Let the season pick your palette
Instead of forcing a colour palette, see what’s in season at your local market and build from there: stone fruit, figs, citrus, leafy greens. Layered tones are beating strict palettes this year, and citrus shades are quickly becoming the new neutral.

4. Swap some of your florals for produce
Heirloom tomatoes on the vine, whole artichokes, split figs, and bunches of grapes or herbs make for stunning focal points. They cost less than flown-in flowers, and your guests can actually eat the centrepiece. Make sure to build with height and structure rather than scattering the produce at random.

5. Mix your textiles and metals, don’t match them
Reach for textiles and metals that look collected rather than bought, and layer them freely. Silver is back for 2026, so lean into chrome and silver-rimmed glassware—and don’t be afraid of a bit of mixed-metal clash.

And the unofficial sixth rule: don’t overthink it. Grazing tables beat rigid seating every time, and hosting is supposed to be fun, so enjoy the creative process.

Follow Ashley on Instagram (@ashnstyling) to see her principles in action. If you have any questions, drop them in the comments below and we’ll make sure to pass them along!

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EVENT RECAP | THE ART OF SPEED WITH ALEN PALANDER

It’s been a big month for firsts. On May 17 we hosted The Art of Speed: A Gallery Experience, a Canon Creator Lab x Socality event at Lamborghini Montreal (@lamborghinimtl), and our first gallery event ever. It raised a question we never imagined we’d be asking: who knew it would be so nerve-racking to assemble an event next to millions of dollars’ worth of luxury vehicles? (We definitely know now!)

The afternoon centred on an artist talk with Canadian automotive photographer Alen Palander (@alenpalander), who walked us through his creative journey and the split-second decisions that make or break photos at top speed.

To everyone who came out and brought thoughtful questions to the floor: thank you for helping us guide the conversation in such a productive way.

We’ll let the images speak for themselves—check them out below to see the showroom fully transformed.

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EVENT RECAP | CREATIVE EXPERIENCE @ ATLAS COAL MINE

On June 13 we took our Canon Creator Lab x Socality Calgary Creative Experience out to the Atlas Coal Mine (@atlascoalmine), a decommissioned mine and historic site out in the Drumheller badlands.

With private, after-hours access and some of the best evening light we could ask for, our community was able to explore and capture this unique venue in a way it’s rarely ever seen. Styled editorial sets ran from vintage western to western bridal to daring motocross, finished with elegant florals.

Canon ambassador Nicole Ashley (@nicoleashley) and filmmaker Eric Shiozaki (@ericshio) also joined us on-site, sharing their expertise while attendees experimented with the latest Canon mirrorless cameras and lenses supported by the team at The Camera Store.

See community images here, community ‘fits here, and a stunning recap of the evening by photographer and filmmaker Skye Hepher (@skyehepher) here!

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She's been doing this for ten years.

It's 11pm, the quote needs to go out, and she's staring at a number she landed on the way she always does: weighing her experience, trusting her instinct, and filling the gaps with guesswork. With her is the quiet resignation of someone who's been solving the same problem alone for longer than she cares to remember. She sends the proposal and carries the uncertainty of it in the back of her mind, wondering whether she quoted enough, or too much.

Her name is Victoria Walton (@vicwalton).

Victoria spent over a decade working as a photographer before deciding the problem she had been living with was worth solving properly. It started when she was in high school as a feeling she didn’t yet have language for. The world wasn’t waiting around for her to “figure it out,” and nobody around her knew enough to teach her.

So she learned alone.

Victoria got good at photography, and then she got paid—and then she discovered that those two things often occupy entirely different worlds. Going full time with her photography career meant learning what a bad month actually costs, how messy tax season can feel without a solid financial system, and how to pay yourself when money doesn't always arrive on a predictable schedule.

So she built a spreadsheet. She obsessively accounted for every variable, including the exact gas mileage of her specific car, because that's what you do when the tool you need doesn't exist and you're too in love with your craft—and working for yourself—to give it up.

The spreadsheet worked. But then a question arrived that she couldn’t silence:

Why did I have to build this myself, and why is every talented photographer I know dealing with the same problem?

Nobody had solved it yet. So she did.

Victoria founded Prysm not so that you can charge more (though you probably will), but so that the numbers you quote can finally come from somewhere solid, and the uncertainty you used to carry will be gone for good.

Victoria has been building Prysm for the past year, and she’s finally ready to put version one in front of the people it was made for. If you’ve ever felt uneasy after sending a quote, this tool belongs in your kit.

—Prysm Financial Team

Prysm (@prysmfinancial) launches July 2. Join the waitlist below to get access as soon as it goes live:

Join the Waitlist

Not a lot of photographers can say they checked off two of their boldest career goals around the same time they were able to rent their first car.

If you made it out to our Vancouver Creative Experience earlier this year, you may have already met Isami Kiyooka, the Vancouver native who became one of the youngest photographers ever credentialed at an Olympic Games. In this week’s edition of The Process, we sit down with Isami to learn about the intentional (and sometimes unconventional) choices that carved his path, the personal loss that altered his perspective, and his cover shot that almost ended in disaster.

Also in this edition, we’re sharing some thoughts on Instagram’s newest feature, plus a creative prompt that’ll challenge you technically.

Happy reading!

—Emily & Chloë

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TRENDING | INSTAGRAM INSTANTS

Has BeReal's Selective Authenticity Been Recycled as Instagram's Newest Feature?

As a creative, this might sound familiar:

You want to post a quick story—maybe a set of images or videos from your day—something simple. You prefer to edit before you share, so you put off posting until you have time to fix those colours or stabilize that clip. Your day gets busy, you lose momentum, and the moment passes.

Instagram’s latest feature, Instants, might help relieve that pressure you feel around posting Stories. It combines Snapchat’s disappearing photo function with BeReal’s unfiltered, immediate-send approach.

We know it doesn’t replace Stories, but we do have some thoughts.

Looking past the cluttered stack of tiles in our DMs (note: you can swipe them off screen), and the fact that Instants must be viewed in the order they’re presented, we do see the benefit to this new format. Head of Instagram Adam Mosseri explains that Instants is designed for sharing “much more casual, much more authentic moments”—and I’m sure we can all agree there’s value in that.

The real question is whether people will use this feature as intended, or whether it'll go the route of BeReal: an app most people only opened during conveniently impressive moments (if they opened it at all).

From a business or freelance perspective, the use case seems limited, but as a tool for keeping creatives connected and authentic—we’re rooting for its success.

Have you been using Instants? Does the content you’re seeing feel truly authentic? Drop a comment and share your thoughts.

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FEATURED EVENT | CALGARY, CANADA

There’s a hundred-year-old inactive coal mine just 90 minutes from Calgary. Meet us there Saturday, June 13th.

Our next Canon Creator Lab x Socality Creative Experience is almost two weeks away, taking place at the historic Atlas Coal Mine in the Drumheller Badlands. Shoot golden hour alongside professional models and extravagantly styled vintage-western sets—lace, leather, corsets, the works—and bring home a framed 4x6 print of your own.

Whether you're just getting started or looking to experiment with new gear, photography and videography veterans Nicole Ashley and Eric Shiozaki will be on site to learn from, and Canon's latest mirrorless cameras and lenses will be available to try, in partnership with The Camera Store in Calgary.

This is your chance to learn, connect, and create at a one-of-a-kind heritage site in the badlands.

Space is limited—visit the link below to learn more and secure your spot!

Learn More & Register

THE PROCESS | ISAMI KIYOOKA

The Process with Isami Kiyooka

At 21, Isami Kiyooka has already done what most sports photographers spend decades working toward.

Within the past year alone, he became one of the youngest photographers ever credentialed at the Winter Olympics and landed his first magazine cover. It would be easy to assume he got there by studying the blueprint of those who came before him—but Isami has never shot like other sports photographers, and his creative process is no different. In this edition of The Process, he opens up about the unconventional choices that carved his path, the cover shot that almost didn't survive a storm, and a personal loss that reframed everything he thought he was working toward. First tracks, as it turns out, are always worth taking.

Read the full piece here:

Key Takeaways from Isami’s Process

On finding inspiration

Isami pulls from portrait photography, surf photography, stop-motion animation, and album covers. One of his earliest techniques to gain traction was multi-exposure photography—an idea that came to him while listening to AT.LONG.LAST.ASAP by A$AP Rocky, whose album art features layered double exposures.

On goal setting

Part of what drives Isami is a habit he developed early: “I always write down the goals I have. Not particularly to fully achieve them, but more or less to just steer me in a specific direction.”

On getting started

Isami shot professionally for four years on a Canon Rebel T7 with a kit lens before upgrading his equipment—and look where that got him. “I feel like people overestimate how much gear they need. It can just be a point-and-shoot camera. That’s how I started,” he says.

Must-haves for shoot day

Music has always been central to Isami’s process. With the exception of backcountry shoots—where avalanche risk is high and communication is essential—he opts for headphones over the sounds of the slopes. He’ll typically bring three or four pairs to a shoot: AirPods Pro for noise cancellation, AirPods Max for over-ear listening, a wired backup, and a speaker in case everything else fails. “Whenever I used to do any sort of other medium of art—painting, drawing, stop motion—I’d always be listening to music. It got me into a flow state.”

Read more here:

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CREATIVE PROMPT | BACKLIGHTING

Creative Prompt

Isami took one of his favourite photos after half of his lighting setup went sideways (literally… went toppling down a mountain). Working with one strobe light instead of two, he captured a backlit image that ended up on his first magazine cover—talk about “when life gives you lemons.” This week, we’re encouraging you to experiment with backlighting.

Creative Prompt:

Place your light source (e.g., sun, lamp, strobe, phone screen) behind your subject and expose for the highlights. The goal here is to let the light do the storytelling. Consider what a silhouette might communicate—mystery, movement, scale, or drama. Think about the relationship between your subject and the light source: are they escaping it, reaching toward it, caught in it? And think about what surrounds them. The negative space in a backlit visual often carries just as much weight as the subject itself.

Some helpful pointers:

• Shoot during golden hour for natural light. Shortly after sunrise or before sunset, the available light sits at a lower angle—warmer, softer, and more flattering than harsh midday sun.

• Use a dark background for rim lighting. Placing your subject against a dark background (like foliage or a dark wall) creates a rim of light along their outline, making them pop from the background and adding depth to the frame.

• Remember to shoot in RAW—you’ll have much more flexibility to recover highlights and open up shadows in post.

If you try this week’s prompt, tag us on Instagram (@socality) or send us a DM so we can see what you created!

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There’s a classic style of Olympic photo that takes years to master. Technically framed and precisely timed, these images immortalize the pinnacle moments of an athlete’s performance—the split seconds mid-air, mid-finish, or mid-fall. To capture them is to develop a practiced instinct for exactly where to stand, when to shoot, and how to read an Olympic course. Scroll through the archive of any major press agency from the last two decades of Olympic Games and you’ll find thousands of these exhilarating images.

When 21-year-old Isami Kiyooka (@isami_kiyooka) landed the role of official photographer for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team at the 2026 Winter Games, he had no intention of adding to that archive.

His work would be remembered for resisting it.

An Accidental Beginning

Isami didn’t just grow up near the mountains—he grew up on them. In North Vancouver, the slopes were twenty minutes from school; close enough that he’d stash his snowboard in his locker and be on the hill within minutes of the final bell. Off the mountain, that same energy found its way into sketchbooks, paintings, and stop-motion films. Long before photography ever entered the picture, creativity was second nature.

At 16, Isami’s mother handed him her old Canon SX700 point-and-shoot—an accidental catalyst if there ever was one. He brought it up Mount Seymour with friends one afternoon intending to film, not shoot. When a friend’s mirrorless died on the hill, the point-and-shoot stepped in.

“I wasn’t even expecting to take photos that day. I didn’t have any goals in mind,” he says. “From just constantly looking at snowboard photos, I was able to get some shots that I’m still pretty proud of today.”

Something clicked that afternoon. Without the funds to pursue post-secondary education, Isami began imagining a career that valued creativity over a costly degree—one that could blend his passions and allow him to represent snowboarding as the art form he knew it to be.

A few months later, he received a pivotal internship offer.

Finding His Place in the Industry

As an intern at a snowboarding magazine, 16-year-old Isami brought home only a few hundred dollars a month, spending his days on WordPress edits and Google SEO work. It wasn’t photography—but it was snowboarding, and that was enough. Over time, he worked his way up to a digital editing position, all while working part-time at a snowboard shop in North Vancouver. With each move, he immersed himself further in the culture of the sport.

“I just wanted to be involved in snowboarding,” he explains. “To get closer to the people and the brand reps; to be working and gaining experience within snowboarding.”

A year after graduation, he landed a full-time contract with Endeavor Design Inc. (where he now leads art direction), and the athletes he once admired from afar went from subjects to collaborators to friends. He didn’t know it at the time, but those relationships were laying the groundwork for everything that came next.

The List

For years, two lifetime goals sat at the top of Isami’s list:

1. Get a cover photo

2. Shoot the Olympics

He achieved both within the same year.

His first magazine cover was for Pleasure Magazine, Issue 154. He boarded a helicopter for the first time, bound for Baldface Lodge—a legendary private snowboard destination that had long been on his list and is notoriously difficult to access. Very little went according to plan.

“We had one session at night where everyone was riding one quarter pipe. It started to get really foggy and rainy. Most people backed out.”

Isami stayed. His two strobe lights were stationed opposite one another to illuminate the entire quarter pipe—until one fell down the mountain. With only one strobe remaining, he repositioned it behind his subject, Olympic athlete Raibu Katayama (@raibukatayama), and pivoted.

“It just created a really unique backlight effect where he was a silhouette and his arms created a beam like a rock star…that is my favourite photo to this day that I’ve taken, and I was so happy to see it on my first cover.”

With one dream checked off, Isami had all the proof he needed that the other was well within reach.

Earning the Trust of Team USA

At 21, Isami became one of the youngest photographers ever credentialed in Olympic history, attending the 2026 Milano Cortina Games as an official photographer for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team.

The trust Team USA placed in him didn’t come out of nowhere. It was built through years of consistent work—and shaped in part by the team photographers who came before him, like Michael Dawson (@mikedawsy), whose creative approach had already set the standard for what the team valued.

“I think off the bat, they saw my work ethic,” Isami explains. “They told me, ‘We want you to be creative, and present the best work you possibly can.’ Having that trust made it a lot easier to perform.”

Still, he knew he’d need to prove himself. When asked about the pressure of standing at the edge of Olympic courses surrounded by world-class photographers, he admits he felt an unexpected sense of reassurance: “In a funny way, I was looking at everyone else taking the same photos, and I thought, ‘…The team told me to do something completely different. What can I do from here?’”

Those other photographers weren’t competition; their photos and his existed in entirely different categories.

In Closing

In snowboarding, the fastest way down the mountain is the groomed run—the wide, well-packed trail that’s been carved out and travelled by everyone before you. It’s predictable, it’s efficient, and it’ll get you to the bottom.

Isami has never taken the groomed run.

He opts for first tracks: veering off the beaten path to carve through untouched snow, making creative choices that nobody else has quite made before him. At every stage of his career, he’s trusted that instinct.

Most creatives can point to the person who first put a camera in their hands—or told them their work was worth sharing. For Isami, that person was his mother, and losing her reframed everything he thought he was working toward.

“I just want to make her proud,” he says. “I still want to create the best art that I possibly can, teach people, host workshops, and spread the joy that I get from photography and snowboarding.”

For him, success was never really about the credentials or the covers. It was about creating in a way that would make him, and the people who believed in him, proud—including the woman who handed him the camera in the first place. And if his story tells us anything, it’s that the clearest path to fulfilment is the one you carve out yourself.

Steal a page from Isami’s process:

On staying creatively restless

Ask Isami about his style and he'll tell you he's still figuring it out—which isn't false modesty so much as it is a philosophy.

"One of my biggest joys in photography is that my style changes over time. I always love experimenting and learning different ways to take photos," he says.

On finding inspiration

Isami pulls from portrait photography, surf photography, stop-motion animation, and album covers. One of his earliest techniques to gain traction was multi-exposure photography—an idea that came to him while listening to AT.LONG.LAST.ASAP by A$AP Rocky, whose album art features layered double exposures.

Must-haves for shoot day

"Whenever I used to do any sort of other medium of art—painting, drawing, stop motion—I'd always be listening to music. It got me into a flow state."

Music has always been central to Isami’s process. With the exception of backcountry shoots—where avalanche risk is high and communication is essential—he opts for headphones over the sounds of the slopes. He’ll typically bring at least three pairs to a shoot: AirPods Pro for noise cancellation, AirPods Max for over-ear listening, a wired backup—and a speaker in case everything else fails.

On goal setting

Part of what drives Isami is a habit he developed early: "I always write down the goals I have. Not particularly to fully achieve them, but more or less to just steer me in a specific direction."

Isami made intentional choices to immerse himself in the world of snowboarding, and it paid off. Consider how you might strategically position yourself in your own niche.

On getting started

Isami shot professionally for four years on a Canon Rebel T7 with a kit lens before ever upgrading his equipment. For everything he's achieved, his advice on gear remains simple: "I feel like people overestimate how much gear they need. It can just be a point-and-shoot camera. That's how I started.”

Follow Isami on Instagram (@isami_kiyooka) and keep up with his work over at Airhole Facemasks (@airholefacemasks) by Endeavor Design Inc.

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Who would your dream clients rather work with: the mysterious creative with a perfectly curated feed and no personal presence, or the one who’s sharing what they’re doing—and how much fun they’re having doing it?

We’re going down the “year of whimsy” rabbit hole this edition to explore why caring a little less about your image might actually be the best thing for it. Plus, we’re recapping our most recent Creative Experience that went down at one of the largest indoor skateparks in North America, and introducing you to the guest creator who spent the evening educating our community on the art of action sports photography.

Happy reading!

—Emily & Chloë

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EVENT RECAP | TORONTO CREATIVE EXPERIENCE

Our most recent Canon Creator Lab x Socality Toronto Creative Experience was the first of its kind—and ridiculously fun. On April 10th, almost 200 creatives from the greater Toronto area showed up to CJ’s Skatepark—one of North America’s largest indoor skateparks at roughly 50,000 square feet to connect, create, and, for a brave few, attempt their first skateboarding lesson.

The styled sets were a highlight of the evening: an artistic nod to the youthful rebellion associated with skate culture. Industrial, graffiti-tagged backdrops were paired with edgy high fashion and refined streetwear, while mossy spring florals spilling over skatepark features offered a stunning contrast between the delicate and the gritty.

Attendees experimented with the latest Canon mirrorless cameras and lenses, captured live athletes performing in their element, got valuable insight from accomplished sports photographer Norma Ibarra (@lapir0), and walked away with a framed print of one of their own favourite shots.

Head to our Instagram to check out photos and community reels from the night (we are absolutely blown away with what we’ve seen already), and if you’re still sifting through footage, make sure to tag us (@socality) when you post so we can see what you created!

See Event Photos

To stay on top of upcoming events in your area, subscribe to the Socality Community Calendar on Luma and keep an eye on our Instagram page.

COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT | NORMA IBARRA

Norma Ibarra (@lapir0) doesn’t just photograph skate culture—she’s actively reshaping who gets to be seen in it.

A Mexican-born photographer, storyteller, and multidisciplinary artist, Norma has spent her career documenting the spaces where identity, movement, and creativity collide—skateboarding, mountain biking, basketball, and beyond. But her work isn’t just about capturing these worlds; it’s about expanding who belongs in them. She focuses on creating and documenting spaces where women, queer, and BIPOC communities can see themselves reflected and celebrated, and she’s interested in how people use movement and community to reshape narratives in spaces that haven’t always been inclusive.

Named Lens Person of the Year by Skate Like a Girl and nominated as a Feminist Creator by the Canadian Women’s Foundation, her work has spanned magazines, campaigns, Emmy-nominated documentaries, and exhibitions in Paris and Mexico City. She’s also the author of photobook Para Ti (For You), and in 2018, co-founded a nonprofit using skateboarding to work with Indigenous girls in Mexico—which became officially registered this year.

At the end of the day, as Norma puts it: “I just want to help tell stories that matter and contribute to a more inclusive visual culture.”

On picking up a camera yourself, she keeps it straightforward: “Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Start now, use what you already have, don’t let your doubts take over, and remember: there’s only one you.”

Keep up with Norma’s work on Instagram here.

TRENDING NOW | THE YEAR OF WHIMSY

It’s the year of whimsy, and the “mysterious creator” no longer calls the shots.

Bedazzled cameras, silly BTS, and a surprisingly solid business case for having more fun.

Q2 is in full swing and we’re not saying you should glue hundreds of tiny rhinestones to your camera, but we’re also not not saying that.

We recently came across this reel from creator Cassidy Lynne (@cassidylynne)—whose camera is, in fact, very bedazzled (→ proof ←)—and our interest has been peaked.

Gone are the days of the mysterious creator who stifles their personality behind a perfectly curated feed. This year, we’re talking to the camera, shooting film just because it’s fun, dressing up to shoot weddings, posting the silly BTS we’re always wanted to create, and trying the trends that genuinely excite us. Cassidy’s calling it “the year of whimsy,” and as an organization that leans curated, we’re embracing the opportunity to “whimsy” a little harder.

So what does “adding whimsy” actually look like?

It could be as simple as swapping your trusty all-black shoot-day uniform for something that reflects your personality better, or adding a few of your favourite emojis to your email signature. Whimsy can also look like experimenting with fun, creative projects that actually excite your inner child. At its core, whimsy is the stuff that reminds people—and reminds you—that there’s an actual human being behind your work.

There’s also a strategic case for whimsy: you have to be whimsical to attract whimsy. A curated feed will attract curated clients (and that’s completely valid). But adding a little personality, in a way that still feels professional to you, doesn’t deter the “serious” clients, but makes them excited to work with a creative with personality.

If you want the clients who appreciate a good laugh and a creative who’s genuinely in it with them, they need to see that version of you somewhere first. And sure, not every client will see the value in the your whimsy, but that’s kind of the whole point. If you want to work with people that value authenticity and true creativity: embody those traits yourself.

We don’t think whimsy is going away anytime soon. At the end of the day, it’s basically all the carefree parts of authenticity that have already been proven to perform well on social media. But performance aside (because that’s not the most important part) life’s too short to fear the whimsical.

If you’ve been thinking about adding whimsy but haven’t yet, what’s been stopping you? Has this inspired you to bedazzle your very expensive camera gear? Let us know in the comments!

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CREATIVE PROMPT | ADD WHIMSY

Think about the content or work you’ve always wanted to create but talked yourself out of. The idea that felt too silly, too niche, too “not what (insert your creative field here)-ers post.”

That’s your prompt.

This week, make it—with no pressure to post. Give yourself permission to create something that’s genuinely, unapologetically you.

It could be a goofy BTS video, a roll of film with no agenda, direct flash in broad daylight, a portrait of your dog, a reel of you actually talking to the camera. Whatever it is, the only criteria is that it’s been sitting in the back of your head for a while.

Whimsy isn't about doing something foreign—it's about finally doing the thing that always felt a little too you to share. And if you do share, drop it in the comments.

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When's the last time you actually marketed yourself? Not just posted, replied to a comment, or answered a DM—but actually, intentionally marketed yourself?

If you had to think about it for more than a second, we feel you. For a lot of creatives, self-promotion is the part of the job that gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list—right below “update portfolio.” We can get so busy doing the work that marketing it starts to feel like an impossible add-on.

This week, we’re sharing three high-return marketing moves that don’t require a ton of effort, just a few small shifts that can get your work seen and remembered, right now.

Also in this edition: what went down at our Canon Creator Lab x Socality Vancouver Creative Experience, details on our upcoming Toronto event (happening this Friday, April 10), and a Vancouver city guide from our very own Braden Dam, Head of Programs and Strategy. As a former Vancouver local who loves nothing more than a good list—you’re in great hands.

—Emily & Chloë

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3 Things: High-Return Marketing Tactics For Busy Creatives

Three tactics that fit into your workflow without blowing up your entire schedule:

1. Let your clients do (some of) the talking

Your work is great and your clients know it—but assuming your work will simply speak for itself is one of the most common mistakes creatives make.

Testimonials, behind-the-scenes moments, and user-generated content are criminally underused, not because they’re hard to get, but because most of us forget to ask (or feel a little weird about asking). A simple “Hey, would you mind sharing a few words about your experience?” at the end of a project goes a long way. (And we’re pretty sure no one’s ever lost a client by asking.)

Real client stories build trust in a way that a polished portfolio can’t. So: screenshot it, save it, and actually post it. Your future clients are watching.

2. Share the work behind the work

Your final edits are great, but they don’t show how you got there. Behind-the-scenes photos, workflow breakdowns, and before-and-afters aren’t just filler content.

Try building a short story around each project: what was the brief, what did you try, what actually worked? This narrative makes your work feel more memorable and impressive than the finished product alone ever could.

You’re already doing the work, it would be a loss to never document it.

3. Stop letting good content go to waste

If you’re posting to one platform and leaving it there, you're doing 100% of the work to capture maybe 30% of the opportunity.

A reel becomes a YouTube Short. A photo series becomes a reel. A newsletter segment becomes an Instagram carousel (hi 👋). Repurposing isn’t lazy, it’s strategic (and tools like Repurpose.io make it actually quite easy). Different audiences live in different places, and repackaging what you’ve already made lets you reach those audiences consistently without burning out.

Which marketing tactics have been moving the needle for you lately? Drop them in the comments below.

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Events Calendar

From in-person creative experiences to local community-hosted meet-ups and online workshops, these upcoming events are worth adding to your calendar.

TORONTO, CANADA | CANON CREATOR LAB X SOCALITY

Ever done an editorial shoot at a skatepark? This rare opportunity could be your chance.

Join us this Friday, April 10th for the next Canon Creator Lab x Socality Toronto Creative Experience!

We’re taking over CJ’s Skatepark (@cjskatepark) for the very first time, with creatively styled editorial and action sets built for the dynamic space. Try out the latest Canon mirrorless cameras and lenses, bring home a complimentary print, and spend the evening shooting alongside your Toronto creative community.

Whether you’re testing out new techniques or just showing up to connect, this one’s worth clearing the calendar for.

Space is limited:

Learn More & Register

To stay on top of upcoming events in your area, subscribe to the Socality Community Calendar on Luma and keep an eye on our Instagram page.

EVENT RECAP | VANCOUVER CREATIVE EXPERIENCE

If you’re going to kick off the year somewhere, the mountains are never a bad call.

Our first Canon Creator Lab x Socality event of the year took place at Grouse Mountain, bringing together après-ski styled sets, live-action sports photography, and a community of creatives who deeply value their craft and connecting with one another.

On Saturday, March 21, we had the privilege of learning from Isami Kiyooka (@isami_kiyooka), a Vancouver local who, at just 21 years old, is already shooting at the Olympic level. His hands-on workshop wasn’t just about technique, but also truly seeing those split-second moments for what they really are.

As always, creators got hands-on time with Canon’s latest mirrorless gear and walked away with printed versions of their favourite shots.

Seeing your photos come through since the event has been genuinely inspiring. Thank you to everyone who showed up—it’s that kind of participation that strengthens our community and pushes the craft forward for all of us.

Check out these photos from the event; and if you’re in the Toronto area, we hope to see you at the skatepark this weekend!

MEET THE TEAM | BRADEN’S GUIDE TO VANCOUVER

Meet Braden—our list-loving Head of Programs & Strategy with a passion for food and vibes (and vibey places to eat food).

Over the past five years, he’s lived across Ontario, Alberta, and BC, which means he’s built up quite the arsenal of restaurant, coffee shop, and “bopping around” recommendations.

If you haven’t had the chance to meet Braden at an event, consider this your introduction. Pre and post-event, we hand Braden the reins and just…show up (that’s how much we trust him). Our camera rolls and tastebuds couldn’t be more grateful for his diligent research—click the image below to check out his Vancouver picks!

Have any recommendations for our upcoming Toronto trip? 👀 Let us know in the comments!

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Welcome back!

We’ve got a bit of everything for you this week. First up, three ways to spring clean your digital workspace and tackle those organizational to-dos you’ve been pushing to “next month.”

And speaking of spring cleaning, if you’re looking for a little help getting through the tedious tasks, we tested Claude Cowork, Anthropic’s agentic AI tool, for exactly that. All in all, we were genuinely impressed, but also a little…uneasy. We’re sharing our full experience (including the fine-print warnings) below. We’d love to hear your thoughts on this one.

Also in this issue, we’re talking Wednesday Waffles, new events, and exclusive deals for the community! Keep reading for details on our next Canon Creator Lab x Socality Toronto Creative Experience and The Gathering 2026.

—Emily & Chloë

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Photographers & Videographers: Add These to your Spring Cleaning To-do List

Spring cleaning isn’t just for old jeans and junk drawers! We think a good portion of your spring-cleaning energy should be focused where you spend the majority of your time: your digital workspace.

No better time than the present to finally tick off the organizational to-dos you’ve been postponing for months. Here are three ways to clean up shop this spring—no microfibre cloth needed:

1. Your business systems
If your booking process is a scattered combination of DMs, buried emails, and handshake agreements, it’s time for a systems overhaul. Getting consistent with your invoicing, expense tracking, and client communications will save you time, money, and more than a few headaches down the road.

Here are a few tools we love, all with free versions you can try for yourself:

• Wave – for invoicing and expense tracking

• Lunch Money – budgeting that integrates with your online banking info

• Notion – for personal organization or for housing client portals that keep contracts, deliverables, and communication in one place

2. Your portfolio
We know. We feel triggered just writing this. But if your website is showing work that no longer represents where you're at, it's doing you a disservice. Cut anything you wouldn't be excited to shoot again, lead with your strongest and most recent work, and make sure it reflects the clients and projects you actually want to attract. And if you don't have a portfolio set up yet—no pressure (but also…some pressure).

3. Your file storage
Hard drives and SD cards can become very scary places when neglected. If your current naming system is some variation of “FINAL,” “FINAL v2,” or “FINAL ACTUAL USE THIS ONE”—it’s time.

Set up a simple, repeatable system: Year → Client → Shoot Date. That’s it.

And while you’re at it, audit your SD cards too: wipe the ones that have been fully backed up, label the ones that haven’t, and retire anything acting sketchy before it retires itself at the worst possible moment.

You’ve got this! Maybe just not all in one sitting. Drop a comment and let us know what you’re planning on spring-cleaning this season.

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Events Calendar

From in-person creative experiences to local community-hosted meet-ups and online workshops, these upcoming events are worth adding to your calendar.

BANFF, CANADA | SOCALITY X THE GATHERING

One of the world's leading immersive brand festivals is coming back to Banff, Alberta. You’ll want to be in this room.

We're thrilled to announce that we’re once again partnering with The Gathering Festival (@cultgathering)—the highly-anticipated three-day festival that brings North America's most influential creators, leaders, and brands together under one roof.

🗓 October 21-24, 2026

📍Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, AB

The Gathering’s Creator Program is your ticket in. Designed specifically for photographers, filmmakers, content creators, and visual storytellers, this pass puts you alongside CMOs from some of the world’s most iconic brands for conversations that don’t usually make it to a stage—plus a variety of opportunities for creator-focused experiences and moments throughout. We’ll be sharing more over the next couple months, but space is limited. And we’re excited to be able to offer access to our community at such a low price!

Use code SOCALITY at checkout to save 15% on your Creator Pass.

Secure your spot here:

Learn More & Register

TORONTO, CANADA | CANON CREATOR LAB X SOCALITY

Join us on Friday, April 10th for the next Canon Creator Lab x Socality Toronto Creative Experience. This time, we’re heading somewhere new.

We’re taking over CJ’s Skatepark (@cjskatepark) for the very first time, with creatively styled editorial and action sets built for the dynamic space. Try out the latest Canon mirrorless cameras and lenses, bring home a complimentary print, and spend the evening shooting alongside your Toronto creative community.

Whether you’re testing out new techniques or just showing up to connect, this one’s worth clearing the calendar for.

Space is limited:

Learn More & Register

To stay on top of upcoming events in your area, subscribe to the Socality Community Calendar on Luma and keep an eye on our Instagram page.

TRENDING NOW | AGENTIC AI

If Life Imitates Art, The AI Agents Were Taking Black Mirror Notes

AI agents have formed their own religion, invented a new language, and are publishing some troubling manifestos on their social media platform.

This isn’t a Black Mirror pitch, it’s a recap of what’s been happening over on Moltbook, a social platform launched earlier this year (and acquired by Meta this month) where agentic AI agents post freely, interact with each other, and largely operate without human intervention (like “Reddit” but for AI agents).

We’ll let you sit with that.

If you haven’t been down the agentic AI rabbit hole yet, it’s not all that dystopian. Here’s the Coles Notes: unlike the AI tools most of us are used to, agentic AI doesn’t just answer questions—it acts. You give it a task, grant access to your relevant files or accounts, and it works through it autonomously, from start to finish. For creatives—especially freelancers juggling admin and creative work simultaneously—the time-saving potential is significant.

We tested it for ourselves using Claude Cowork, Anthropic’s desktop agent.

We prompted it to organize a library of 700 images in preparation for uploading to a licensing platform, requesting that it categorize each image by theme and filter out anything ineligible for licensing. This task—which would have taken us hours to complete manually—took Claude a couple of hours to complete on its own. And although it wasn’t lightning-speed, it did free us up to focus on other things in the meantime.

The natural next step would be prompting Claude to upload the albums to the licensing platform, but that’s where the assumed risk gets a little greater. (And to be completely honest, the album organization actually maxed out our Claude Cowork usage allowance anyways, so…there’s that).

These tools are powerful, and the companies building them know it. Claude Cowork’s own safety documentation warns users to watch for unexpected patterns—like the agents accessing unauthorized files or websites, or the scope of a task creeping beyond what you originally prompted. They also advise against automating anything that involves handling sensitive files, sending messages, or making purchases. It’s helpful guidance, but it’s also the kind of fine print that makes you uneasy.

When the product itself is telling you to watch for “unexpected behaviour,” it might be worth pausing before you hand over the keys. That said, for low-stakes creative workflows, the upside seems genuinely worth exploring.

Will you be experimenting with agentic AI any time soon? As a creative, what excites or concerns you most about tools like these? What have you tried thus far? Let us know in the comments below.

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TRENDING NOW | WEDNESDAY WAFFLE

If Your Loved Ones Don’t Know What You Do for Work (Or Leisure)—This Trend is for You

In an era of curated feeds and parasocial relationships, genuine connection is harder to come by and easier to let slip.

Enter: The Wednesday Waffle. (Put down the syrup, you’re getting ahead of yourself.)

The concept was coined by Australian content creator Zachary Perez (@nonpractisinggenius on Substack)—with “waffle” being Australian slang for talking without a clear goal or objective.

Here’s how it works: every Wednesday, you send a short, unfiltered video update to your friends or group chat. The expectation isn’t to share life-altering news each week, but rather a casual, one-to-two minute check-in on life.

And the trend’s taken off enough that there’s now a dedicated app to house your chats with loved ones! Check it out at wednesdaywaffles.com.

As creatives who spend a lot of time producing content for others, there’s something genuinely refreshing about a format with zero pressure to perform (and one that’s actually just the “Close Friends”).

Have you tried the Wednesday Waffle yet? Has it actually helped you stay connected? Drop a comment and let us know.

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What posts are sitting in your drafts right now? And what’s actually stopping you from posting them? (Or perhaps…whose opinion is stopping you?)

As creatives, we all know that split-second hesitation before hitting “share.” That voice in your head that whispers, yikes…embarrassing.

You picture your follower list—the friends, family, or loose acquaintances you haven’t spoken to in years who might secretly judge you for doing something they themselves don’t have the courage to do.

(Ironic, right?)

We hold ourselves back because our fear of judgement feels stronger than our desire to share. And this week’s featured guest would argue that trying to protect yourself from judgement might be costing you far more than you realize.

Inside The Process, content creator and founder Lavinia Rusanda opens up about what it really looks like to build a career online without waiting to feel impressive first. We dive into undercharging, online criticism, algorithm pressure, and the very real consequences of letting insecurity call the shots.

Also in this edition, we’re sharing photography gear you can source from the dollar store (in this economy, we’ll take it!), plus a creative prompt on anthropomorphism that might shift how you tell stories altogether.

Happy reading—and please, post that draft!

—Emily & Chloë

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3 THINGS | DOLLAR STORE PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR

3 Things: These Photography Essentials Are from the Dollar Store

We love a shiny new gadget as much as the next photographer, but we also love keeping groceries in the fridge and the bills paid on time. These multi-purpose dollar store items are permanently stocked in our kit, and there’s a very real chance you already own all three. Here’s how to use them strategically on set:

1. Lint Roller

Before you fix it in post, try fixing it in real life. One quick swipe removes all those mystery fibres from clothing, rugs, backdrops, and even your camera bag. If you’ve ever sat at 200% zoom cloning white specks off black pants, you already know the pain. Trust us—she’s worth the $3.

2. Lip Balm

We know what you’re thinking, but this isn’t a beauty tip; it’s a lighting trick (although, it does double as a helpful cuticle rescue during cold outdoor shoots!). A little dab can create a soft reflective highlight on surfaces or add a natural sheen to skin in a pinch.

And if you’re going for that dreamy, romantic look, try applying a light swipe of lip balm or vaseline to saran wrap before stretching it over your lens. You’ll get that hazy-atmosphere-filter for a fraction of the cost.

3. Binder Clips

Not just for keeping your shoot-day snacks fresh! These little clamps tighten loose clothing, secure backdrops, tame extension cords, hold DIY reflectors, and fix fabric that refuses to cooperate. They’re small, inexpensive, and they wear almost as many hats as you do.

Have any dollar store gear you can’t shoot without? Let us know in the comments—a judgment-free and budget-friendly zone!

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THE PROCESS | LAVINIA RUSANDA

The Process with Lavinia Rusanda

Content creator and founder Lavinia Rusanda (@laviniarusanda) started posting on YouTube at just 13 years old—long before brand trips, PR packages, or full-time income were part of the picture. What began as a hobby eventually grew into a full-time creative career, a podcast (Loud Talk with Lavi), and the launch of nine2five (@nine2fiveskin), a skincare brand she formulated and funded entirely on her own.

But the path from “posting for fun” to building a business wasn’t exactly seamless. In moments when it would’ve been easier to pull back, Lavinia leaned in. In our conversation, she opens up about self-doubt, recalibrating her worth, navigating public opinion, and why content creation alone was never enough to satisfy her.

Her story might make you think twice about what you consider “too embarrassing” to post—and whether the real risk is not posting it at all.

Read the full piece here:

Key Takeaways from Lavinia’s Process

On the benefit to being “embarrassing”

The false narrative that “content creation is only impressive once there’s visible proof of success” can make it an intimidating path to pursue. Lavinia’s experience pushes back on that idea:

“It’s embarrassing that I’m posting makeup videos online to 50 people—until I get my first PR package or brand deal. Then it’s not so embarrassing.”

As Lavinia sees it, it’s actually more embarrassing to never try at all.

On finding confidence online

When asked how to build confidence online, Lavinia offers three pieces of advice:

1. Take back control

   “Post the selfie or video you’re insecure about,” she says. “That’s taking back control over your confidence.” Waiting until you feel perfect only hands your power to something external.

2. Separate your identity from the metrics

   “If you pour everything you have into a video and no one loves it the same way you did…you feel that.” But one post doesn’t define you; and those trickier outcomes shouldn’t stall your progress.

3. Zoom out

   “People are comparing themselves to you while you’re comparing yourself to them,” Lavinia says. “It’s a constant circle.” Zoom out and notice the beauty you admire in other people, then offer that same generosity to yourself. With kinder eyes, ask what’s worse—someone’s fleeting opinion, or the long-term regret of never putting yourself out there?

On comparison and trends

Lavinia doesn’t believe you need to reconstruct your identity every time a new aesthetic appears. Experiment with the trends that genuinely excite you—not the ones you feel pressured to adopt. Experimentation should feel playful, not performative.

On handling online negativity

“People will take two seconds to watch your video and comment something mean and petty.”

“Let it sting a little,” Lavinia explains. “Energy in, energy out.” If the comment took two seconds of effort to formulate and write, don’t give it your whole day.

Read more here:

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CREATIVE PROMPT | ANTHROPOMORPHISM

Creative Prompt: Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is the act of giving human qualities—like memory, emotion, or perspective—to inanimate objects, non-human animals, or nature. It’s not about turning an object into a caricature; it’s about using your imagination to reveal the emotional weight and backstory it might carry. In both writing and photography, that shift—from appearance to meaning—is what makes your work feel layered.

Creative Prompt:

Choose a physical object that has meaning to you—it could be an heirloom, a favourite item, or a souvenir tied to a specific time or place.

Now, answer the following questions in a short paragraph from the perspective of the object:

• Where are you from?

• What have you witnessed?

• What do you wish people knew about you?

If you’d like, imagine that object as the subject of a photograph or short film. How would you tell its story visually, and why? The challenge isn’t to make the object beautiful, but to make it interesting—and understood.

If you try this prompt yourself, feel free to share your paragraph in the comments below.

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At 13, Lavinia Rusanda started posting on YouTube. By 14, she was treating it like her full-time job.

That kind of consistency obviously isn’t typical teenage behaviour, but Lavinia has never been particularly interested in typical. Where most kids would reluctantly toss clothes into a suitcase the night before a family trip, she was operating on an entirely different wavelength.

“We’d go on vacation and I’d have my pre-film completely scheduled ahead of time,” she laughs. It didn’t matter if anyone was actually watching; she insisted on filming either way.

That instinct to show up, regardless of the audience, would become foundational for Lavinia. Today, the 24-year-old is a full-time content creator, the host of her podcast Loud Talk with Lavi, and the founder of nine2five; a skincare line she funded and developed entirely on her own, down to the product formulas.

If you trace the line from those early uploads to where she is now, you’ll notice a pattern. At nearly every turn, Lavinia has been faced with the choice to protect herself from judgement or move forward anyway. Time and again, she’s chosen conviction over approval—an uncommon discipline in an industry built on comparison, sameness, and constant scrutiny.

Creating at Rock Bottom

During the internship year of her dual degree in chemical engineering and business, Lavinia’s hormonal and cystic acne was at its worst—and she began to notice a shift in how she was being interpreted online.

“I would always get comments online about how, ‘If I looked like that, I’d never leave my house,’” she says. And she wasn’t immune to how painful that felt.

“When you’re at rock bottom—like I was with my skin—you really only have two options.” One of them, she explains, was exactly what those comments implied: disappear; hide away for “who knows how long” until things improve. But she chose differently.

“I made the choice to take back control over my insecurity,” she explains. “Somehow I got this spark of confidence that pushed me to show up online and start talking about it.”

And as she continued to show up honestly, her community began to find her.

“I started to get comments from people saying, ‘Wow, it’s really great to see skin like yours online…I feel so seen.’”

“I feel like I almost took my biggest insecurity and turned it into my superpower,” she says—a reminder that insecurity doesn’t have to stifle your creative voice; it can, when faced directly, sharpen it.

This is your full-time job?

As her audience grew during that internship year, so did the opportunities. What began as honest documentation started opening doors, and soon enough she found herself on her first brand trip.

Surrounded by creators with similar followings to her own, she innocently asked, “So what do you guys do for work?” There was a brief hesitation before someone finally clarified, “This…this is what we do.”

In that moment, Lavinia remembers thinking, Man, I must be doing something wrong.

Up until then, she had been navigating the industry largely on her own. Without a clear understanding of what her work was actually worth, she had been severely undercharging for brand partnerships.

“I came back from that first brand trip and sat down and redid my whole media kit,” she says. “Within about one month, I was able to make a full-time income.”

This financial shift wasn’t a lucky break. It wasn’t about being in the right place at the right time—no one convinced her to make a risky pricing jump that just happened to stick. By this point, Lavinia had already put in nearly a decade of unpaid reps. This was the natural result of that work—her compensation finally catching up to her value.

Anything but the algorithm

For Lavinia, self-worth had always come with a number attached to it.

“In school… I tied all my worth to my grades,” she says. “Those numbers were literally how I saw my value.”

When she graduated and stepped into full-time content creation, that instinct didn’t disappear—it simply found a new home in her social media metrics.

“If you pour everything you have into a video that no one loves the same way you did…you feel that,” she says.

Over time, she realized that shift in validation had become a “really toxic cycle.” As a full-time creator, she needed something else to absorb that pressure; something whose value existed independently of a fluctuating algorithm.

That’s where her background in chemical engineering and business re-entered the picture. For some creatives, a science degree is a backup plan. But for Lavinia, it was a genuine interest. The logical side of her brain didn’t just appreciate structure and problem-solving—it needed it. So she combined her formal education with her creative instincts to build nine2five—a skincare brand whose value isn’t dictated by an unpredictable algorithm, but established through rigorous research and development; R&D she funded and carried out entirely on her own.

Another “influencer brand?”

As with most brands content creators attach their name to, Lavinia was met with critics who reduced her full-cycle research, development, marketing, and operations to “just another influencer brand”—wrongfully assuming her name was the only thing carrying weight.

“I did all the R&D for the formulas myself. They’re all custom,” she says. “There’s no one else running nine2five right now.”

Behind the scenes, she sourced raw ingredients, ran stability testing, adjusted formulations by precise percentage margins, and built the business infrastructure herself; the scientist and the creative entrepreneur working in tandem.

The brand reflects the same philosophy she carried publicly through her worst skin days.

“A lot of the marketing out there in skincare is positioned as a quick fix,” she explains. “You can’t hate your skin into healing…you have to heal it with love and the support it needs.”

That mindset shaped the products themselves—formulas designed to support the skin holistically and address root causes rather than masking symptoms for a quick win.

Even the name—the unique spelling of nine2five—speaks to that intentional difference in both her philosophy on skin and the unconventional career that shaped it.

Lavinia’s Philosophy

When the pressure of numbers, income, and imposter syndrome starts to rise, Lavinia brings herself back to the teenage girl who created long before the weight of adult expectations set in.

“If she hadn’t put in all those years of work…setting that foundation, I wouldn’t be here today,” she says. “I think on social media, things can get misconstrued sometimes. We see these brands or creators blow up overnight when, in reality, they might’ve been posting for years before anyone really noticed.”

The truth is much slower than the highlight reel.

“Good things take time,” she says. “We live in such a world now where everything has to be so quick…but it’s okay to also have that slower growth.”

Looking back, she sees the years of choosing visibility over comfort as the groundwork for everything she’s built. It’s that lived experience—and the way she understands her niche from the inside out—that makes her work sustainable.

In closing

On her hardest skin days, fearing judgement would’ve meant avoiding the camera altogether. But hiding makes it nearly impossible to do the things you love—and for Lavinia, that has always included creating.

Sharing her skin journey wasn’t a marketing strategy; it was a refusal to let insecurity dictate her life. And that resonated with her audience.

Rather than fearing what others might think, Lavinia feared what she’d miss out on if she let the criticism of others—or her own inner critic—decide her direction.

There would be no full-time creative career. No self-funded skincare brand. No years of experimentation to stand on in the first place.

The false narrative that “content creation is only impressive once there’s visible proof of success” can make it an intimidating path to pursue. But Lavinia’s experience pushes back on that idea: “It’s embarrassing that I’m posting makeup videos online to 50 people—until I get my first PR package or brand deal. Then it’s not so embarrassing.”

To her, what would’ve been truly embarrassing is never trying at all. It’s an outlook that reminds us that while judgement can be loud, regret is often far more painful to face.

And in an industry that routinely pressures women to shrink, smooth, conceal, and conform, there’s something to be said for a process that resists the “quick fix.”

Steal a page from Lavinia’s process by taking some of her advice:

On when and where to post

Lavinia does call herself “pretty type A,” but when it comes to publishing, her guidelines are actually quite flexible.

“Anytime I have an idea, I want to get it out there…on all platforms,” she says. “You never know what platform it’s actually going to resonate more on.”

Instead of trying to predict the algorithm, she prioritizes momentum. If the idea is strong, it goes live. She typically posts around midday but doesn’t obsess over perfect timing or volume.

“Don’t be embarrassed, just bombard with posts,” she says. “People don’t see all your posts, even if they follow you.”

Her approach is practical: visibility is dependent on distribution and repetition.

On structure versus spontaneity

School gave Lavinia built-in structure, so transitioning to working full-time for herself required adjustment.

“I’ve been struggling…being fully on my own and making my own schedule,” she admits. “It’s hard to keep yourself structured.”

But she’s cautious about swinging too far in the other direction.

“I never want to structure myself too much either, because at that point, I might as well go back to a nine-to-five.”

Her balance lives somewhere in the middle: create when inspiration hits and let brand-building responsibilities shape the week. Enough structure to stay disciplined, but enough freedom to stay creative.

On starting before you feel “ready”

“I filmed off my phone…balancing it on like 10 boxes…that was my YouTube setup for a good seven years.”

What Lavinia argues is more important than the “perfect setup” is simply showing up consistently.

Her advice is blunt: stop negotiating with your future self. If you wait for clearer skin, better gear, more confidence, or more skill—you’ll always find a reason to delay.

“You just have to start with what you have.”

On building confidence online

When asked how to build confidence online, Lavinia offers three pieces of advice:

1. Take back control

   “Post the selfie or video you’re insecure about,” she says. “That’s taking back control over your confidence.” Waiting until you feel perfect only hands your power to something external.

2. Separate your identity from the metrics

   “If you pour everything you have into a video and no one loves it the same way you did…you feel that.” But one post doesn’t define you; and those trickier outcomes shouldn’t stall your progress.

3. Zoom out

   “People are comparing themselves to you while you’re comparing yourself to them,” Lavinia says. “It’s a constant circle.” Zoom out and notice the beauty you admire in other people, then offer that same generosity to yourself. With kinder eyes, ask what’s worse—someone’s fleeting opinion, or the long-term regret of never putting yourself out there?

On comparison and trends

“I think we’ve gotten to a point with social media where it feels like we’re all trying to look like the same person,” Lavinia says.

And when everyone is watching everyone else, trends can quietly start chipping away at individuality.

Lavinia doesn’t believe you need to reconstruct your identity every time a new aesthetic appears. Experiment with the trends that genuinely excite you—not the ones you feel pressured to adopt.

When it comes to makeup in particular, she keeps it simple: “It washes off at the end of the day. It’s not that deep.”

Find what suits you. Learn what enhances you. But don’t let trends become rules. Experimentation should feel playful, not performative.

On handling online negativity

“People will take two seconds to watch your video and comment something mean and petty.”

“Let it sting a little,” Lavinia explains. Acknowledge that it hurts, but then remember: that person spent two seconds forming a judgment about something you poured hours into.

“Energy in, energy out,” she says. If the comment took two seconds of effort, don’t give it your whole day.

Follow Lavinia on Instagram and see how she runs her 9-to-5 over at nine2five. You can listen to her podcast, Loud Talk with Lavi, on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

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It’s always the photos, videos, or work we’re most proud of that gets seen by basically no one on social media. How do you reconcile that feeling? The flops can make you question everything—from your technical skill, to your creative eye, to your self-worth and credibility as an artist. It’s painful. That gap between effort and perceived appreciation can be enough to make you want to slip off the grid—to trade in all your best gear for a clunky old flip phone that won’t remind you of your shortcomings.

But alas, the smartphone does a lot of heavy lifting for us creatives, as photographer @tylorkc so accurately explains:

In this edition of The Socality Newsletter, we’re tackling that tension from both sides. Our creative prompt this week invites you to step back and examine where your work holds value beyond the algorithm. And practically (because this matters too), we’re breaking down what it actually takes to create scroll-stopping content in a low-attention economy. Like it or not, our careers (and our financial stability) can be directly affected by our reach, so it’s worth paying attention to how the game is being played.

Also in this issue, we’re spotlighting a major moment from two emerging directors whose work has already resonated beyond their home city as they premiere a long-awaited passion project this month. Read on to learn more about the release of The Debt That All Men Pay, the latest short film by Chris Ronak and Andrei Barb. We’re also shining a light on another friend, Sam Newton, whose 7th Annual FilmFest is happening this Saturday in Los Angeles with 16 films, world-class filmmakers, and the premiere of his latest project, The Lioness.

We hope this issue offers both perspective and something practical to try this week—and maybe even a belated Valentine’s date night!

— Emily & Chloë

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3 THINGS | SCROLL-STOPPING HOOKS

3 Things: Scroll-stopping hooks to get you out of the like-jail

We know the pain of pouring hours into something you’re proud of, only for it to completely flop on Instagram. The issue usually isn’t quality; it’s that your post isn’t doing enough to stand out in a content-saturated climate.

Your content should clearly communicate its value right away, and a strong hook helps you do that while competing with shrinking attention spans. Not every post needs to follow this format, but hook-driven posts are often what help bring new eyes to your page, portfolio, or evergreen work. Think of them as Costco samples, enticing enough to stop someone mid-shop and convince them to grab a full-size box of whatever you’re selling.

Here are three types of hooks you can use in your next Reel or carousel to get people lining up the way they do for a single tortilla chip with salsa when they’re already overstimulated.

1. Verbal statements or questions that keep your audience invested

Verbal hooks work when they create instant context and connection. What you say in the first few seconds has the power to make your audience feel seen, connected, and invested.

Two techniques we love:

• Build camaraderie with language like “we” and “us.” This helps viewers see the personal value in what you’re saying while making them feel like an active part of the conversation.

• Use an episodic intro or repeat a signature phrase. By verbally naming a recurring series or format, you teach your audience what to expect. Over time, people recognize it, keep up with it, and come back for the next episode.

2. Action hooks that subtly captivate

Motion naturally draws the eye and signals that something is happening. Even subtle movement can be enough to stop the scroll.

Tasteful, un-chaotic ways to add action:

• Walk and talk instead of standing still

• Pour a drink, adjust your camera, open your laptop

• Talk with your hands or shift your position to communicate a sense of urgency

• Add a gentle zoom or other post-production effect to give your clip momentum

3. Text hooks that work for both carousels and Reels

If you’re not saying your hook out loud or opening with a lot of motion, text hooks can do the heavy lifting. Well-written or well-designed on-screen text gives viewers a reason to stay long enough for the message to land. (We even find ourselves saving posts like these for font and design inspiration!)

Text-hook techniques to help stop the scroll:

• Use simple, fun text animations, interesting fonts, or creative design elements (like layering or outlining your text)

• Make your text pop with a high-contrast colour that’s still easy to read (note: readability is very important)

• Write copy that sparks curiosity and hints at a relatable problem and simple solution

For example:

A less engaging hook might be:

“How to create better hooks for social media.”

Whereas a stronger hook looks more like:

“Scroll-stopping hooks for photographers & videographers stuck in the like-jail.”

Do you have any hooks that have worked particularly well for you? Have you noticed patterns in your own content? Leave a comment below to share your advice.

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FEATURED EVENT | LOS ANGELES, CA — THE 7th ANNUAL SAM NEWTON x CANON FILM FEST

The 7th Annual Sam Newton x Canon FilmFest

If you’re in the Los Angeles area this week, don’t miss out on celebrating some world-class filmmakers with the 7th edition of Sam’s film fest.

Our friend Sam Newton is hosting his 7th Annual Sam Newton x Canon FilmFest this Saturday, February 21st in Inglewood, CA. The night features 16 short films from filmmakers around the world, including the premiere of Sam’s latest project, The Lioness. Joining him on screen are Chris Balladarez, Chase Viken, Alex Romo, Emmett Sparling, Daniel Tremsky, Sarah & Josiah Selvig, James Varela, Jack Barrie, Walter Wood, Brittany Brooks, Omer Shabtay, Justin Ha, Matteo Freschi, Spencer Sulflow, Kat Crittenden, Michael Kerkering, and Bailey Bennitt. Doors open at 6pm at Vault Studios in Inglewood, films start at 7 sharp.

Grab a ticket

PROJECT FEATURE | THE DEBT THAT ALL MEN PAY

Two emerging directors are bringing a long-awaited passion project to the big screen.

From award-winning collaborators Chris Ronak (@chrisronak) and Andrei Barb (@byandrei) comes The Debt That All Men Pay, a self-funded short film two years in the making. Written and directed by Ronak and Barb, the film tells a story of love and revenge, serving as a “cinematic love letter to Alberta.”

Built through thousands of hours of meticulous writing, producing, directing, filming, and post-production, the project adds to Ronak’s growing body of work in film. His 2024 short film, The Godfrey Project, which he worked on closely with Barb, earned international recognition, including the New Waves Grand Award at the 2024 New York Indie Short Awards, Best Script at the Paris International Film Festival, Best Comedy at the Munich Short Film Awards, and a nomination for Best Short Film at the Montreal International Film Festival.

With the momentum of their first short film collaboration behind them, The Debt That All Men Pay is poised to be another standout project from this talented duo.

The Debt That All Men Pay premieres on February 18 at Globe Cinema in Calgary, Alberta. To secure tickets to the screening and post-film Q&A, visit the link below.

Get Tickets

For a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, follow @ChrisRonak on Instagram or subscribe to his YouTube channel.

CREATIVE PROMPT | FINDING VALUE BEYOND THE ALGORITHM

As social media has become an essential marketing tool for most artists, it’s easy to forget that your art has value independent of how it performs online. Metrics are shaped by systemic factors like reach, timing, and trends—not by depth of impact, resonance, or meaning.

When a post underperforms, it’s natural to question the value of your work itself. Take a moment to think about how your photos, videos, designs or music are actually received and where their value shows up outside of social media. This might look like a client who rebooks, a referral that comes from a job well done, or a collaborator who reaches out because your work resonated.

Sometimes the work is doing exactly what it’s meant to do, just not where you’re measuring it.

If you’re open to it, share one way your work holds value outside of social media in the comments below.

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Who doesn’t want their work to feel unmistakably theirs? Like their visuals or designs could be plucked out of a police-style lineup—not just because of visual consistency, but because the work itself feels like an amalgamation of everything that makes them them.

To create work like this, it’s absolutely crucial to spend time getting to know what you’re genuinely drawn to as a creative. Skipping over that part of the process is how styles start to feel diluted (borrowed palettes, overdone compositions, or ideas that look fine, but don’t quite land).

This week’s edition explores what it looks like to refine your creative process in a way that puts both success and fulfillment back in your hands. Read on for The Process with photographer Andrei Barb (@byandrei), who delivers a masterclass on the intentional considerations behind elevating your craft and building a meaningful creative career. Plus, we’re sharing three MVP creative tools you and your entire team can master to streamline your workflow.

Happy reading!

—Emily & Chloë

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3 THINGS | MVP CREATIVE TOOLS

3 Things: The MVP Creative Tools your Entire Team can Master

New creative tools are dropping constantly, and speaking from experience, it’s a painful process to integrate them when the payoff isn’t worth the learning curve. But that’s not the case with these three tools. They’re personally saving us time, reducing friction across our teams, and making it easier to keep things moving without reinventing the wheel every time we publish. No matter your role—photo, video, design, or socials—you’ll find ways to use these tools without forcing them into your process.

1. Repurpose.io: Post once, publish everywhere

If consistency is the goal but time is the bottleneck, this tool removes a big chunk of friction. Repurpose.io automates content distribution across platforms, so instead of manually adapting the same piece of content over and over, you upload once, set your rules, and let it run in the background. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, Facebook—it’s all handled for you.

Here’s where it practically makes sense:

• It eliminates repetitive exporting and re-uploading, which eats hours every week.

• It’s especially useful if you’re balancing client work while still trying to show up consistently for your own brand.

This isn’t about creating more content, it’s about getting more return from the content you’re already making.

Try it Here

2. Figma Buzz: template design your whole team can build on

Figma Buzz is designed for creating brand assets and templates that you and your entire team can modify without accidentally breaking them. We’ve already integrated it into our workflow, and the benefits were immediate: cleaner edits, faster turnaround, and far fewer “the beautiful spacing is completely ruined” moments. It keeps things polished and on-brand, while still being flexible enough for day-to-day use.

Here’s where it practically makes sense:

• Real-time collaboration replaces static files and endless revision cycles.

• It’s ideal for templates, branded assets, and repeatable design systems.

• It scales easily, whether you’re working solo or across a growing team.

Figma Buzz isn’t meant to replace Canva outright, but it does allow you to level up when consistency, structure, and collaboration start to become more important to you or your team.

Try it Here

3. CapCut (Mobile): create content during the commute home

You might be using it already, but CapCut has undoubtedly become one of the most capable editing tools you can keep on your phone. With recent, user-friendly upgrades like AI-assisted edits, captions, templates, and language translation, their mobile app is capable of much more than “quick edits.” We’ve also found CapCut to be especially useful for replacing glitchy in-app platform editors.

Here’s where it practically makes sense:

• You can edit, caption, and export from anywhere (ideal for travel days or shooting on location).

• Built-in templates speed things up without flattening your creative style.

• AI tools handle the repetitive tasks, freeing you up to focus on the actual story.

For creators who don’t want momentum to stall just because they’re away from a desktop, CapCut fills a very real gap.

Try it Here

THE PROCESS | WITH ANDREI BARB

The Process with Andrei Barb

The Intentional Design Behind a Meaningful Creative Career

On paper, photographer Andrei Barb (@byandrei) was exactly where he was supposed to be.

And for a while, it felt that way in practice, too. He could navigate the hospital’s labyrinth of hallways on autopilot, the sound of his footsteps an integral part of the building’s persistent, mechanical rhythm. He belonged there. But one night, during a routine evening shift back in 2016, an unsettling thought surfaced—one that would ultimately prompt the then–respiratory therapist to hang up his scrubs for good.

In our conversation, Andrei reflects on walking away from the guaranteed stability of a career in medicine to pursue a creative path he wasn’t even sure would pan out. Of course, taking the leap from medicine to photography is undeniably courageous—but what’s arguably more compelling is the way Andrei has reframed success on his own terms, freeing himself from the conventional industry standards that prevent so many creatives from finding genuine fulfilment in their work.

Andrei’s process is rooted in patience, gratitude, self-assurance, and a deep appreciation for what’s only possible when you collaborate with a tight-knit community you trust. His brilliant body of work is a testament to the principles that guide both his creative practice and personal life—principles worth considering for any creative looking to elevate their work and build a sustainable, meaningful career.

Read The Process with Andrei Barb here:

Key Takeaways from Andrei’s Process

The undervalued jobs will be invaluable to your career

In the early stages of his photography career, Andrei didn’t have the luxury of focusing as much time as he does now on the projects that fuel him creatively. Back then, he was focused solely on survival. By saying yes to the “unglamorous” jobs as a means to hone his skills and find financial stability, Andrei has developed a deep appreciation for the type of work that can sustain a freelance career—at any stage—through its natural ebb and flow..

Taste and style are not synonymous terms

One of the most striking qualities of Andrei’s work is how clearly his signature style comes through. But surprisingly, creating a “signature look” was never something he consciously set out to achieve. The reason his work is so distinguishable is because he’s worked to intentionally refine his taste as a photographer.

“Taste,” as he sees it, is built through an intentional awareness of the beauty around you. “Collecting” those elements that inspire you and incorporating them into your own work will allow you to take photos that feel like a true extension of your creative self.

Redefining success for you unlocks your full potential

“Success is being able to feel proud of the work you do, despite what that work is,” Andrei explains. “You don’t have to be shooting the biggest jobs to feel fulfilled; what matters is finding happiness in the process of making things.”

Andrei believes that in order to find the outcome rewarding, you must first take pride in the process. By redefining success for himself, Andrei has built a deeply fulfilling and sustainable creative career.

Read the full piece, here:

CREATIVE PROMPT | REFINING YOUR CREATIVE PALATE

This week’s prompt is inspired by our most recent edition of The Process, where Andrei Barb reflects on the difference between taste and style, and how refining your taste (rather than chasing a signature style) will make your work feel more compelling and recognizable.

To refine your palate and build your taste:

• Notice what’s right in front of you
  Take a few minutes and jot down some of the pleasing sensory elements that exist in your everyday life (e.g., the way the light pours into your living room in the early afternoon, or the busy sounds that overlap one another in your favourite local coffee shop).

• Notice what you’re drawn to creatively
  Next, write down one creative element that stands out in the work of three to five of your favourite creators (e.g., a specific colour palette, candid moments, or minimal compositions).

• Piece it all together
  Consider how you might weave these observations—both from your environment and the work you admire—into your next project. Look for overlaps, patterns, or themes that feel instinctively you.

This practice of slowing down, noticing, and refining your palate can happen continuously; it simply requires a bit more intention. When you create from what you naturally observe and appreciate, your work becomes a more honest expression of who you are—making both the process and the final result feel more meaningful.

If you’re open to sharing, we’d love to hear what you’ve “noticed” about your own creative taste in the comments below.

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On paper, Andrei was exactly where he was supposed to be.

And for a while, it felt that way in practice, too. He could navigate the hospital’s labyrinth of hallways on autopilot, the sound of his footsteps an integral part of the building’s persistent mechanical rhythm. He belonged there.

But one night, during a routine evening shift almost a decade ago now, an unsettling thought interrupted his steady pace:

I have to do this for the next 40 years of my life?

The thought weighed heavy on his mind. Those same hallways—the same fluorescent rooms and familiar cycles of care—for his entire career. It all felt so permanent. What troubled him wasn’t so much the work itself, but the realization that this path, however reputable and rewarding, might never translate into something truly fulfilling. And if he stayed, he’d eventually lose himself to that predictable mechanical rhythm.

That night introduced something Andrei couldn’t unfeel: staying would cost him more than he was willing to lose.

“And so that’s when I decided, ‘I need to find something else.’”

A sense of obligation

To understand the arc of Andrei’s career, it helps to first understand what motivated him to pursue a career in medicine in the first place.

It would be impossible to tell Andrei’s story without acknowledging the role of his mother. When she left her home in Romania, bringing her young son with her, she chose a path of remarkable courage.

Growing up, Andrei came to understand the uncertainty of one place while living within the opportunity of another. As a result, stability became something he valued long before he consciously chose it, and it manifested as an internal drive to “make something of himself.” Naturally, he gravitated toward a career that felt steady and secure, setting aside the possibility of pursuing something he’d always been drawn to.

“There’s always been a part of me that’s been a little bit creative,” Andrei admits. “I loved drawing as a kid, and all throughout school, people thought I’d become some kind of artist. But I fully abandoned that when I started studying respiratory therapy.”

At first, this decision felt right—reputable, even. “It felt like the path I was supposed to be on,” he explains. But over time, the safety of that decision revealed its own cost. As the dissatisfaction caught up with him, the “what ifs” he’d long avoided finally demanded attention.

“At the time, photography was just a hobby,” Andrei explains. “I didn’t even know you could make real money from it.” Still, drawn toward something more creative, he decided to take the risk and see where it might lead. Walking away from a steady income meant letting go of certainty, and with it, the discomfort of stepping into something less predictable.

Those early years of his creative career were humbling, as the romantic idea of doing what you love quickly met the realities of making it work.

Gratitude for the unglamorous

By the time Andrei moved to Calgary, his photography career was anything but stable. “I had nothing,” he recalls. “No connections. No community. No idea how to make money. At the beginning of any creative career, that’s not what’s on your mind.”

After years spent on the “safe route,” what occupied Andrei’s mind was closing the gap between where he was and where he wanted to be. Today, with an incredible body of work that clearly reflects his progress, his advice on building your skillset and confidence as a photographer is cut and dried. “You need to get your hours in,” he insists. “There’s no shortcut.”

In the early stages of his career, Andrei said yes to whatever work came his way, treating the so-called “less prestigious” jobs as opportunities to learn and refine his craft.

Even now, despite his extensive experience, he continues to approach this kind of work with the same openness—a gratitude shaped by an appreciation for what those unglamorous jobs did for him.

“Every job will contribute to you becoming a better creative,” he explains. “Everything is laps. Everything is reps.” Through repetition, preparation became second nature, and imposter syndrome began to loosen its grip (a little).

His perspective is a reminder that the work others often overlook can be the very work that keeps you in the game long-term. Not every project will be your dream project, but there’s real value (financial or otherwise) in every job you do.

A well-defined palate produces tasteful work

One of the most striking qualities of Andrei’s work is how clearly his signature style comes through. His photography and unique creative direction are recognizable. But surprisingly, creating a “signature look” was never something he consciously set out to achieve. Instead, Andrei believes that distinguishable art is the byproduct of a more holistic and indirect process.

“It comes down to actually building your taste as a creative,” he explains, adding that it’s become somewhat of a new obsession of his. Andrei describes pulling fragments of inspiration from photos that deeply resonate, then piecing those elements into something entirely his own. “You admire something, you appreciate it, and then you try to make your work resemble it in some way.”

Taste, as he sees it, is built through mindful presence. Before you can decide what to catalog as “tasteful,” you have to first slow down and intentionally see the world around you. By being acutely aware of the beauty in your life, you expand your ability to recognize and collect all the joyful elements that will eventually inform your creative direction. And as Andrei sees it, this skill of intentional awareness is far more important than the mechanics of how you shoot or edit your photos.

“At some point, I realized that the photo itself is the easiest part. What’s in the frame matters more. That’s what you’re actually giving the viewer to look at and study. You have to understand that your job is to make people look at things, so it’s not the way you capture it, it’s what they’re looking at.”

With this in mind, technical ability becomes far less important than the ability to instinctively choose an interesting subject. Andrei jokes, “If you’ve done your job well, you should be able to put your camera in a monkey's hands and get back a great photo.” (And we don’t need to test that theory to agree with it).

Developing “good” taste might sound daunting, Andrei sees it as something far more intuitive. Taste is inherently subjective, so if the goal is to create authentic, recognizable work, then your taste = good taste. Honing in what you personally have an appetite for will naturally lead to stronger work and a consistent portfolio that feels like an honest representation of you.

It takes a village to tell a story

When asked how he tells such visceral stories through his photography, Andrei is quick to shift the credit away from himself.

“I don’t think I can take full credit for the work I’m making now,” he admits. “There’s only so much you can do on your own.”

That self-awareness—an understanding of both his strengths and limitations—has become one of his greatest assets. Rather than limiting his work to what he can execute alone, he leans on the talented creatives around him, allowing their diverse skill sets to shape and elevate the final result. This collaboration doesn’t just strengthen his storytelling, but makes the act of storytelling a far more fulfilling process.

Perfect days-ing

When asked about a mantra or philosophy he lives by, Andrei is quick to mention the film Perfect Days, a 2023 drama directed by Wim Wenders. The film follows a man living a simple life as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo’s Shibuya district, offering a deeply moving reflection on finding tranquility in routine and beauty in the everyday.

The idea resonated so deeply that Andrei and his friends began using the phrase “perfect days-ing” to describe moments of similar realization in their own lives.

“Nothing spectacular has to happen for it to be a perfect day. It’s about noticing the things that often get overlooked, and appreciating them. The day-to-day moments, the parts of life you probably wouldn’t think to share on social media.”

For Andrei, taking the time to appreciate what’s often overlooked opens the door to finding beauty—even on the difficult days. That mindset, he says, encourages a more intentional relationship with time and energy, offering a way to stay grounded amid the noise and negativity in this industry that can so easily take over.

By slowing down and noticing the beauty in everyday life, Andrei creates from a healthier place and continues to refine his creative taste.

Redefining Success

Beyond financial stability, success for Andrei is about feeling content with his work on his own terms, regardless of what conventional success might look like.

“Success is being able to feel proud of the work you do, despite what that work is,” he explains. “You don’t have to be shooting the biggest jobs to feel fulfilled, what matters most is finding happiness in the process of making things.”

His perspective is an important reminder for any creative navigating today’s output-obsessed online space. At any given moment, we’re just one swipe-to-refresh away from a brand new batch of educational content, promising us we can efficiency-hack our way to success (an unlikely story). But in order to find the outcome rewarding, we must first take pride in the process.

“I think what I’m most proud of is the way I feel when I get to work. I think it’s a very rare feeling. I know that so many people wake up in the morning and dread their job—I was there once too.”

For years, uncertainty around sustaining a long-term career in photography followed Andrei. Though he began pursuing photography full-time in 2016, it wasn’t until three or four years ago that the fear truly began to lift. Looking back now, he’s filled with gratitude for the work he’s created, the collaborators who’ve enriched his process, and the clients who’ve trusted him to tell their stories.

“I don’t feel like I’ve ‘made it,’” he admits. “But I do feel like I’m on a path that makes me happy—and I’m proud of that.”

In closing

Choosing to do things your own way isn’t always easy, especially in a creative landscape that feels increasingly optimized and less “human” than ever. Despite that mounting pressure, authenticity underpins everything Andrei creates. His story is an important reminder that when you create from a place of self-assurance, you create your best, most authentic art.

Authentic taste leads to original work.

Authentic collaboration results in stronger stories and tighter bonds.

And an authentic definition of success—rooted in the principles that actually matter to you—leads to a deeper sense of satisfaction in both your work and personal life.

There are a number of reasons for which Andrei’s story stands out, but what feels most notable is the intentional design that’s gone into his creative process—the way he’s thoughtfully customized it to build a meaningful career that aligns with his conscious re-framing of success. It’s a commitment to authenticity that we deeply admire.

In sitting down with Andrei, we’ve come to understand that how you create, who you create with, and how you define success are intentional choices that have the power to fundamentally effect both the quality of your work and the level of satisfaction you feel from it. A reminder that the work becomes truly fulfilling once you design and uphold a creative process that represents you.

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Produced by: @roamcreative.ca, directed by @byandrei and @chrisronak, HMU & Model: @kayleekonowalyk @kayleeashley.beauty, set Design: @chrisronak & @byandrei, produced by: @roamcreative.ca, styling: @victovaughn & @kayleekonowalyk, colouring: @byandrei, cam op: @chrisronak, wardrobe: @vespucciconsignment.

Follow Andrei on Instagram (@byandrei) to see how his intentional process shows up in the work he shares.

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