uncompromising lengths he’s gone to to get shots and he divulges a few of his secrets for getting
the best pictures possible. He also talks about a hilariously obscene animal video he shot and he
recounts a harrowing experience he filmed atop a remote mountain peak when his son Jessie was
seriously injured. Additionally, he tells us what he loves and hates about Powell River and he lets us
in on what he feels must happen immediately to save the quality of life for future generations.
Callum Houston: Can I ask what age you are?
Gary Slootweg: Fifty-three.
CH: Where are you from originally?
GS: Here. In Powell River. Well, I moved away and came back again.
CH: If I was to ask you to define yourself as an individual how would you describe yourself?
GS: Oh, just an average guy with a sense of adventure.
CH: Is there a generational category you’d put yourself into?
GS: Yeah, I’d say a baby boomer.
CH: You’re a businessman here in Powell River. What’s the name of your company and what
services do you provide?
GS: The company is called PR Carpet Cleaning and Heating Services and we mostly do heating,
like heat pumps, air conditioners, water heaters, fireplaces -- everything like that.
CH: I know one of your passions is photography and shooting videos and you’re very popular on
the web. How did you get into shooting photos and videos in the first place?
GS: It just started off as a hobby and I kind of bought a little bit better gear as I went along and
things started looking better and better so I just wanted to keep improving the hobby.
CH: What are your favorite things to photograph and film and why? What do you love
shooting?
GS: I like shooting portraits. I like shooting animals, of course. Like, bears are the best thing for
me. I love chasing after bears and have them chase after me, that’s kind of fun. I’m trying to get a
cougar, haven’t got one yet, right. But animals, uh you know, flowers, scenery, it’s all good.
CH: A cougar is on your wish list?
GS: Oh yeah, yeah. Well, there’s this old man that I saw -- where was I? -- I was in a store and he
said that he had every morning, or every second morning, there’s a cougar that walks in his back
yard there. So I’ve got his address and I’m allowed to go over there and hang out there if I have to.
CH: What is the most unusual thing you’ve ever photographed or videotaped?
GS: The most unusual thing? Boy, there’s some pretty disgusting stuff that I’ve videotaped.
[Gary laughs.]
"STUFF I'VE SEEN IN POWELL RIVER #28"
BY CALLUM HOUSTON
River City Q&A: Gary Slootweg
Breathtaking photos! Eye-catching videos! When Gary
Slootweg agreed to do a “River City Q&A” interview I was
thrilled. Gary’s a well-known individual in Powell River. He’s a
successful entrepreneur who’s operated his own business here,
PR Carpet Cleaning and Heating Services, for over two decades.
But a lot of folks also know him for the awe-inspiring photos and
videos he publishes on the web.
To me, the most striking thing about Gary’s camerawork is the
stunningly vivid detail and clarity he captures in his images. His
time-lapse videos are spectacularly awesome eye candy too.
Accordingly, a big topic of our conversation is his photography
and video work. In the interview he talks about the
Gary's hilarious pissing deer video.
GS: Oh yeah, definitely. Well, I’d been in a kayak once before but two summers ago I actually
borrowed a friend’s kayak that actually didn’t even have a keel underneath it so it was like a flat
bottom and every time you paddled you have to kinda twist sideways so you’re not really going fast
forward, kinda. And I paddled for six and a half hours up Powell Lake to go and do a video about
one of the Sunshine Coast Trail huts. Yeah, it’s called the Fiddlehead Landing Hut, that’s what it is,
yeah. That was crazy. That was eleven hours return!
CH: Did you camp up there?
GS: I didn’t camp. I started in Mowat Bay -- I wanted to go up and get the video of that hut
because I was doing a project on all the Sunshine Coast Trail cabins and huts, right. So that
summer I went into all ten or eleven of them, I don’t even know how many there are there.
CH: Has getting a shot ever put you in any danger of any kind? Like from a wild animal or
from being in a dangerous location?
GS: Oh yeah, hanging off of the edge of a cliff on your fingernails, basically. And then bears as
well. Bears -- you don’t know what they’re going to do. Ran into a mother bear with cubs on one
trail and it was -- it was a little iffy because the mother was sort of making a beeline toward me.
CH: Is it just black bears that you see or do you see any other kinds of bears?
GS: I haven’t seen any grizzlies. There’s supposed to be some up in the back but I haven’t seen
any yet.
CH: Like what?
GS: Well, I was at my brother’s house and there’s
these two deers walking across the lawn and one of
the deers stops to take a piss. So it’s pissing and
pissing and pissing and then it finishes and walks
off. The other deer behind goes down and sticks
its nose right down where the other deer was
pissing and it’s just munching on the grass and
comes up with its face all crinkled up-like. Oh it
was sick! Yeah! That was different! That’s on
YouTube!
CH: Have you gone to any extreme lengths to get
a shot?
