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27 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,N ovem ber 22,2018 insidehalton.com Thestar.com is your essential source of inspiring and empowering information, from topic-specificNewsletters to thought provoking opinion, to local & international news, business & politics from sources including TheWashington Post, Bloomberg, iPolitics andmore. A paid, online subscription is the key to unlocking your news experience. Get unlimited access to the change-making Star journalism you'll need in your day-to-day life. Go online now to subscribe and receive your firstmonth of digital access for just 99¢ + tax. Invest in journalism thatmakes a difference. SUBSCRIBENOW. SUBSCRIBE NOW THESTAR.COM/SUBSCRIBE Introductory offer open to newThe StarDigital Access subscriberswho create a Torstar Account and subscribe at thestar. com/subscribe. Limit of one introductory offer per person. After your first month, your subscription will continue at a higher rate as disclosed to you at time of purchase. Residents of Quebec must confirm their agreement to the higher rate separately in order to continue to receive their subscription. Your subscription fees will be charged on a monthly basis to the credit card you provide at the time of sign-up until you call us to cancel your subscription.Wemay revoke, terminate, cancel, ormodify this offer at any timewithout notice. This offer is voidwhere prohibited by law, is not redeemable for cash or credit, is not valid on past purchases andmay not be combinedwith any other discount, coupon or offer. GETYOURFIRSTMONTHOF FOR99¢+TAX DIGITALACCESS Christmas Songbook on the way! S O N G S O F 2 O 1 8 2018 Christmas Songbooks will be available after December 1st. Limited copies available, hurry to reserve your copy, just email: klondon@metroland.com Please include "Songbook" in the subject line It's about trust. Our re-It's about trust. Our re-I lationship with our read- ers is built on transparen- cy, honesty and integrity.cy, honesty and integrity.c As such, we have launched a trust initiative to tell you who we are and how and why we do what we do. This article is part of thatThis article is part of thatT project. When people ask what subjects I photograph I generally respond, "Ev- erything from football to fashion, politics to pop-fashion, politics to pop-f corn." Working for multiple publications under the Metroland banner allows me to get up close and per- sonal with varied subject matter - and this means every day is different. However, my favourite photography work is, by far, editorial.far, editorial.f One of my journalism teachers, Frank O'Con- nor, once said that as a photojournalist, you get a front-row seat on life. front-row seat on life. f That statement rings true as this perfectly de- scribes my experience working as a community photographer for more than a decade. While reporters can be difficult to pick out from a crowd as they demurely take notes just about any- where in a room, I am hap- pily in the thick of the ac- tion and can generally be spotted striding around with my camera gear making pictures. I have the privilege of standing in front of the crowd, directly under the lead singer at the Sound of Music Festival - and have the lesser honour of some- times catching some spit- tle, but I'm not complain- ing. I stand on the players' bench to shoot hockey games and have had the opportunity to tour the bowels of the hospital for a behind-the-scenes look of your local health-care facility. I've been invitedfacility. I've been invitedf into your homes, where families have celebratedfamilies have celebratedf milestones and, on more sombre occasions, mourned the loss of a loved one. My profession is an all- access pass. And with this extraordinary perspec- tive, I am able to capture moments in the life of our community, creating a vi- sual record of our history. This is a great honour and privilege. The advent of Photosh- op and various filtering software may have changed the photography landscape, but when it comes to editorial photo- graphs, it's important to remember that our work can't - and shouldn't - be altered. Editorial work, be it news or community sto- ries, is based on fact. And our photographs are treated as such. This is why editing beyond a sim- ple crop or enhancing the brightness of an image, for example, would befor example, would bef comparable to changing the facts in a story. We just don't do that. So, when the people I photograph ask me to edit the image in such a way as to trim 10 pounds off their waist or make them look 20 years younger, the an- swers is no. It wouldn't be a true representation of who you are in that mo- ment. But I can - and will - do you a solid: I will wait un- til you stop chewing be- fore pressing the shutterfore pressing the shutterf button, and I will act like your mother and straight- en your tie or adjust your collar before taking your headshot. I strive to take the best and most accurate photos that tell the story - your story. Our community's story. Nikki Wesley is a pho- tographer for Metroland's Halton group of newspa- pers. We welcome your questions and value your comments. Email our trust committee at trust@metroland.com. A PHOTOJOURNALIST'S PERSPECTIVE OPINION 'YOU GET A FRONT-ROW SEAT ON LIFE,' WRITES NIKKI WESLEY NIKKI WESLEY Column Meet the PeoPle in your neighbourhood. VISIT INSIDEHALTON.COM TO LEARN ABOUT LOCAL PEOPLE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR COMMUNITY