Today we’d like to introduce you to Brendan Mcloughlin

Hi Brendan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?

What got me to where I am today you ask? I was so unhappy with my current work situation, going from dead end job to job after college for 6 years, when a friend of mine, Gareth, who had been in the military since he was 18 told me all of the benefits of having a career with the military and the places it will take you. So, I applied online and after going in for interviews and waiting for the background screening, I was sworn in to the Canadian Armed Forces in January 2017. Commencing my basic military training in Quebec a week later. Upon completion of basic training, I was posted to Victoria, British Columbia to start my trade training for Marine technician.

After some time awaiting for my course loading, I completed a 9 month basic level introduction to all of the mechanical and electrical systems that I would be maintaining on the ship. I was posted to a sea going vessel to learn more on-the-job training and complete another hands-on skills package. This package needed signatures for each area of expertise that I was to master. This took a year to complete, while being at sea.

In 2019, I picked up a used Nikon and started taking photos. I took it on short trips, and weekends camping; I took photos of people, birds and landscapes. They were not great photos, but everyone has to start somewhere. In August 2019, I deployed to the Asia-Pacific region with the ship and was exposed to new countries, cultures and landscapes, broadening my world views and horizons for what I could do with my camera.

Then, 2020 arrived. Like a silent thief of time, just about everything stopped. I was determined not to waste it away. In between frequent work Zoom meetings, I took some online photography lessons from an award-winning landscape photographer, taking each lesson outside to hone each skill. I learned more than just the buttons on the camera; I learned how compositions make for a photo that tells a compelling story. Consistency is important in any field of study, thus the more you practise, the easier it becomes.

In November 2020, I was loaded onto a helicopter crash rescue firefighting course, or ‘HCRFF’, as the military likes to abbreviate everything. I brought my camera along to take photos of the course, as we cut cars apart with the “Jaws-of-life” to simulate cutting into the cockpit to extract the crew. The base has a full scale mock-up of a Sea King helicopter that would light on fire with the assistance of propane from below, simulating a fully engulfed crash. When I wasn’t involved in the exercise, I would take photos of my classmates using the hoses to put out the fire. This was my own interest in how to integrate photography into my own work life.

In 2021 I began my longest marine engineering course, at one year-and-a-half, it was mind numbing days of maths, physics and death by Power-point. The fun stuff was machine shop and small engines class, taking apart a Volvo Penta engine, putting it all back together, then testing it with the Dynamometer (this measures the horsepower output of the engine without being in the vessel).

After graduating this course, I returned back to a seagoing unit in August 2022 to train once more on a new-to-me platform, and learn the vessel specific systems. I remember hating doing engineering space rounds, like a caged mouse running in a wheel; the same circuit, every hour, for 8 hours, then off for 12 hours, then starting my shift over again.

My saving grace came in the form of… another marine engineering course! A one month ships console course in Quebec city, during peak fall season of October 2022 to mid November. Everyday after class ended, I would hit the gym, eat dinner and then head out into the city with my camera. With the Chateau Frontenac a few minutes away from the base, I was working on how to capture the essence of the city, with its cobbled stone walkways, idyllic fall colours, the city became my canvas. I could eventually navigate the city without using my phone, knowing what spots I wanted to revisit. Consistency is the key to mastering anything, as I began to notice the improvement of my photos each week. These are still some of my favourite photos to this day, hanging in my apartment, reminding me of my time there.

Back to the ship, I must go. After returning from my work trip, I was with the ship – back to sea again. We stopped in north Vancouver for an open-ship event for the public to tour the vessel. I took some photos of the ship with the skyline in the background and sent them to the Commanding Officer (CO), who liked sharing what the ship was doing on social media. Big thumbs up from the Captain.

In April of 2023, the ship was doing some training with the Navy’s advanced boarding party teams, practising vessel board, search and seizure, or VBSS for Navy speak. I was asked by the CO to take photos of the exercise. The following day, the ship was working with the maritime helicopter squadron, to practise hoisting personnel from the deck of the ship, while underway. Imagine there is a 29,300 lb (13,290 kg) helicopter hovering above you, its rotorwash pushing against you, as you are crouched underneath, while a flight crew-person puts a ‘horse collar’ over your head and underneath your arms, a steel line overhead, able to lift thousands of pounds, it picks you up like a small toy, as you spin around in circles from the downdraft, you watch the deck of the ship below you, quickly it gets farther away. Another Air crew-person hauls you inside the helicopter and straps you into a seat. I snapped another few photos of the ship from the open doorway. This is just a taste of what is to come in my future.

When I showed up to the base Imaging unit to print some of my work photos, the Sergeant noticed my eye for details and how to tell a compelling story. He offered me three months of on-the-job training in the trade. I couldn’t believe my luck, I mentioned this to my section head and also to the CO. They were on board with this. After a trip to Alaska for a month training, I was temporarily posted to the photography unit. Three months was extended into six months, when I officially put in my application for military photographer. I had six months of experience and had been up in another helicopter since the last time. The interviewing Captain was very impressed. In May of 2024, I was accepted into the trade. I get to take photos of military life and get paid to travel the world. I was ecstatic.

The people I met along the way were instrumental in helping me get to where I am today. Not to be confused with using people but, giving what YOU have to share with others. No one is a one-person winner. Whether it is Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker or Frodo Baggins, they all have people helping each other along.

Who can YOU share your gifts with?

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?

Has it been a smooth road? Absolutely not. With lots of twists and turns, as I described to get to where I am today, I had to intentionally set myself on a new course of action, to decide that I didn’t want to settle for mediocrity in Ontario. Applying for the military gave me opportunities that I had not considered before. The struggles are what made me who I am, as does each person have their own struggles in life, “The mind adapts and converts to its own purposes the obstacle to our acting. The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way. – Marcus Aurelius.

What roadblocks are you facing in your life? How can you navigate these to advance in your own life?

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

I specialize in military photography. I have deployed on ships with the Navy, flown in helicopters with the Air force and worked with Army combat divers.

What sets me apart from others? Consistency. Showing up every day and learning something new. Recently taking a SCUBA diving certification so I can eventually take underwater photos of our Navy divers. With an eye for detail, light, shadow and telling a captivating story through each photo. My experience with landscapes and eventually portraits, I try to incorporate the environment in the photo.

What am I most proud of? I recently was deployed to Hawaii with one of the Navy’s replenishment vessels, for exercise Rim Of The Pacific, or RIMPAC.
I really worked on getting to know the crew of the ship, I learned each sailors name and took portraits of them during each re-fuelling evolution. Showing them a photo, seeing their reactions, I felt like I captured who they are when they are just being themselves at work. The fact that I was technically not qualified, but deploying as such, proved to me that my unit trusted my abilities.

The people matter. Even though I only needed to capture 5 to 10 photos of the day, I always went above and beyond because I knew I could.

Who can you lift up in your life?

Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?

Skip.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brendanmcloughlin.photography/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brendanmcloughlin.photography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brendanmcloughlin.photography
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendanmcloughlin-photography/
• Twitter: https://x.com/brendansphotos_
• Other: https://brendanmcloughlinart.etsy.com

Image Credits

All photos taken with personal camera. Copyright Brendan McLoughlin photography.