Speciality Course Instructors
Joel Gourley
Pat Morrow
is a photographer/writer/film maker, based in Wilmer, B.C. He and his wife Baiba are known for their documentation of mountain cultures and adventures through their photography, video and film work.
Their deep desire to explore wild places has led them on assignments and expeditions to all seven continents, averaging six months a year in the field for over 30 years. Between expeditions, they have crashed on the living room floors of many of the instructors on this page. Together they have won eight national magazine awards for their photography, mostly for photo spreads in Equinox and Harrowsmith magazines. Their books include Beyond Everest: Quest for the Seven Summits; Himalayan Passage; The Yukon; and Footsteps in the Clouds - Kangchenjunga a Century Later.
Pat’s formal education consists of a Diploma of Journalism from SAIT in Calgary, a Diploma of Visual Communications in Photography from the Banff Centre and a Diploma in Television Production from the Banff Centre.
In 1984, Pat co-founded the adventure travel company, Adventure Network International with mountain guide friends, in order for him to reach and climb the highest mountain in Antarctica. Pat remained in ANI as a partner for seven years, supplying logistics for all private expeditions to the heart of Antarctica.
In 1986, Pat co-founded First Light Associated Photographers, a stock photo agency based in Toronto. At one time First Light was the second biggest stock photography business in Canada, and currently houses 1.6 million images.
Pat has given video and photo workshops in diverse locations, from back country skiing in the Purcell wilderness (Ptarmigan Tours) to Banff National Park (University of Calgary Outdoor Pursuits Program), the mountains and valleys of the Interior Ranges (Thompson Rivers University), photographing breaching orcas onboard Island Roamer in Johnstone Strait (Emily Carr College), filming grizzlies in The Great Bear Rainforest (Mothership Adventures), and skiing in the Coast Range near Whistler, B.C. (Whistler Centre for the Arts). All workshops feature critiques of visuals on location, the quickest way to improve one’s understanding of the basics of photography.