Skip to main content

The city of Merritt and the surrounding landscape holds, what I believe is one of the key reasons for my becoming a professional photographer. I spent a tremendous amount of my childhood exploring, hunting and fishing, dirt bike riding, camping with my family and basically just hanging with the kids on my block. in short, it was a great place to grow up and just be a kid. As most of us know the roots we establish when we’re young might not have that draw to come back until you’ve been away for a while, and that certainly was the case for me. Now in Kamloops, which feels like ‘home’, in that I love the city, and the surroundings are so similar to Merritt. My Mom still resides in Merritt and my work takes me through to the lower mainland and the Okanagan so I’m no stranger to my home town.

Lately, I’ve been doing more work for Tourism Merritt, which holds a deep meaning for me in that I feel like I’m playing a vital role in setting a new tone for the marketing and promotional strategy for the area. I work and coordinate with Will George, the Economic Development & Tourism Manager at the city. Our focus during this early summer shoot was some key events like the ‘Epic 1000′ bike race starting one of stages in the down town core, a dog show, and the 100th year anniversary of the day the first airplane landed here. After that the next two days’ focus was on water sports, topography and camping; a pretty cool shot selection to work with, and for models and candids the long weekend was spot on. Enjoy some of the images from the beautiful Nicola Valley and to see more of my work, head to my portfolio page here. Have a good one! Kelly

1000 km bike race from Merritt, British Columbia, Thompson Okanagan region, Canada
1000 km bike race from Merritt, British Columbia, Thompson Okanagan region, Canada
1000 km bike race from Merritt, British Columbia, Thompson Okanagan region, Canada
Helicopter rides at the Merritt airport, British Columbia, Thompson Nicola region, Canada
Helicopter rides at the Merritt airport, British Columbia, Thompson Nicola region, Canada
Helicopter rides at the Merritt airport, British Columbia, Thompson Nicola region, Canada
World war 2 fighter plane on display at the Merritt, British Columbia airshow, Thompson Nicola region, Canada
Summer camping and lake activity at Allyne lake, near Merritt, Thompson Nicola region, British Columbia, Canada
Summer family and lake activity at Kentucky lake, near Merritt, Thompson Nicola region, British Columbia, Canada
Summer kayak and lake activity at Kentucky lake, near Merritt,  Thompson Nicola region, British Columbia, Canada
Summer kayak activity at Allyne lake, near Merritt, Thompson Nicola region, British Columbia, Canada
Summer kayak activity at Nicola lake, near Merritt, Thompson Nicola region, British Columbia, Canada
Summer activity at Nicola lake, near Merritt, British Columbia, Canada
The Coquihalla highway between Merritt and Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada
Kelly

From very early on, Kamloops-based photographer Kelly Funk has utilized the environment - both natural and urban - to accentuate the strengths of his professional photographic career, forming a unique, fresh perspective and high-end product.