The Mentors

Dave Chidley

Dave is the founder and lead instructor at The Photo Mentor

Dave Chidley is a working professional photographer with over four-decades of experience in the business.  Dave has worked on-staff for newspapers in Toronto, Calgary and London and now operates his own freelance photography business based near Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Chidley produces photographic images and video for a wide range of editorial; corporate; sport organizations; public relations/marketing; commercial and advertising clients. He is a regular contract contributor to The Canadian Press news agency; National Post; Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.

Irreplaceable real-world photographic experience has come from covering unforgettable events like:  touring with Pope John Paul II to the Northwest Territories; covering hurricane aftermath and relief in Nicaragua; working as Canada’s host-photographer for the Toronto G20 summit; to social issues with orphans in Tanzania, Kenya and South Africa; working as a Photo Venue Manager at the Pan-American Games; to photographing arctic Polar Bears. Dave has experienced and enjoyed very diverse photographic situations.  

Chidley has won many awards in his career. He has won three National Newspaper Awards (NNA), Canada’s top journalism award.  And nominated two additional times.

He has also been recognized as the News Photographer of the Year, twice in Western Canada and also twice received the Eastern Canada, News Photographer of the Year award.

For two decades Dave has hosted Photography Travel journeys to some of the world’s most beautiful and captivating destinations. He has led and assisted guests photographing dozens of locations including wild Tigers in India; rare birds in Costa Rica; magnificent landscapes in the Grand Canyon; Monument Valley; Yosemite; Zion National Park; Yellowstone; Ireland, Polar Bears in the Arctic; and beyond.

Sharing, mentoring and teaching have always been a large part of his photography career. 

Chidley has been teaching in college photography programs since 2009. Dave has been on the faculty at three colleges in Canada, presently instructing at The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary.

The Photo Mentor concept now allows Dave to expand his instructional reach with participants from anywhere the internet is accessed. Learning and having fun has been a hallmark of his career and it now continues with The Photo Mentor experience.

Norm Cattoni

The Photo Mentor Navigator and Intro Class Instructor

Born and raised in Alberta, Norm’s passion for photography began when he used his first camera, a Kodak Instamatic 124, to capture family events. Along with countless hours spent behind the lens of his camera, Norm completed photography courses from the New York Institute of Photography as well as various online courses to hone his skills.

He has also become fluent in post-processing using Lightroom and Photoshop. Norm’s favourite photo subjects are night-scapes and astro,-landscapes, items in motion and antique vehicles using his Canon DSLR. Norm also loves the challenge of photographing sporting events.

Over the years, he has captured events such as baseball, kayaking, beach volleyball, BMX, and mountain bike racing. Norm loves to get involved and has volunteered for groups like the Alberta Games and the Canadian Red CrossHe has been recognized for his photo submissions in PhotoLife Magazine.

Norm believes that we should never stop learning. During his career, and in his spare time, Norm taught both young adults and older ones. In 2018 he became an instructor with a photography company so he could share his knowledge and love of the art of photography. He feels that every person should have the opportunity to understand their camera and have the ability to shoot their best photo every time.

Additional guest Mentors

Teaching specialized sessions on diverse subject matter from Studio Lighting; Software and Technical guidance; video; to finding inspirational subject matter; Sports; Concerts; Studio; Weddings; Portraits and beyond! Expect the unexpected from these Master Mentors.

Christian Ryan

Christina Ryan is an award-winning newspaper multimedia journalist with over 20 years of experience of telling people’s stories in Calgary and surrounding areas. Watching a person’s eyes light up with understanding as they learn to master their camera and learn to chase the light is why Christina teaches in the Journalism Program at SAIT. Recently, Christina went on a whirlwind journey to publish a travel guide called 111 Things You Must Not Miss in Calgary with a colleague. When not occupied with freelancing, and teaching, she can be found guiding people in Alberta’s pristine backcountry, paddle boarding and silversmithing. She lives with her incredibly understanding husband and has three beautiful daughters who have had to put up with midnight jaunts to fires and catastrophes as she covered the news.

Coming Soon: An introduction to Lightroom.

Richard Beland

Richard Beland is a music photographer based in Toronto, Canada. His extensive body of work, which dates back to 1993 and includes live performance photographs as well as studio portraits, celebrates popular music’s depth and eclectic breadth. From photographs of Coldplay to those of The Tragically Hip, Richard Beland’s images of international stars and Canadian icons reveal his passion for his craft, his keen sense of composition, and his steadfast commitment to detail.

http://richardbeland.com/: The Mentors

Kevin Udahl

For the past decade and a half, Kevin Udahl has been photojournalism instructor at one of Canada’s leading polytechnics, The Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. He has been a photojournalist since 1992, and spent much of his early career at the Calgary Sun (freelancing between 1995 and 2000, and then as a staff photographer between 2000 and 2007).

Kevin has worked for local, national, and international publications throughout his career. Like many photojournalists he considers himself a “Jack-of-all trades” as he has been required to photograph a wide range of diverse subject matter. Although sports is his favourite subject to shoot, he enjoys the diversity and privilege this profession has to offer through documenting the lives of others.

Although teaching has limited the amount of time he spends in the field, he has discovered the rewards of passing on his knowledge to up-and-coming photographers. Kevin is optimistic about the possibilities for visual communicators in this ever-changing media, and photographic landscape.

Tom Walker

Bio and background coming soon.