Castleguard caving expedition

On the 8th of April, I'll be heading with 26 other cavers to Banff National Park in Alberta to photograph a caving expedition in Canada's longest cave. The goal of the expedition is to bring 2 British cave divers and their equipment to a sump in order to dive and explore it. This year, if the divers reach the other side of the 900m flooded gallery, they will be able to explore a new dry passage and hopefully add a few kilometres to the 21km of already explored galleries. This would make the longest cave of canada even longer. This cave is just about the most fascinating of all canadian caves. Pretty stoked! A huge thanks to Light & Motion for providing awesome headlamps. I'll let you know when to head to the newsstands (sometime during the summer).  Caving photos on Vancouver Island here

Atwell Peak this weekend

Finally got out after one month of staying away from the rain and high avy risk. DUDE! That was long... Climbed Atwell Peak in 2 days. Can't find the words... Sometimes, the light is so good it makes it too easy to take photos, you know, like not challenging. Thanks Colin and Skyler, you rock! Photos of Atwell Peak ascent here.

Hello world!

Ok this is my first post ever so I figured I should begin with a few words of presentation:

– My name is written above… I bet you can’t pronounce it! At first I thought this name was a pain but now that am freelance I think having a weird name can help. “Do you remember this photog? You know something like… Frac@#$%- Xav$%^ De Ruyidtsyiu” – “Ooooh yeah, the guy with the weird name!”

– But my foreignerness has more advantages. How about that: I suck at English! That’s just another way to attract prospective client’s attention. “Ooooh yeah, the guy who can’t talk! Now I see… Great photog by the way!”

–  I live in Vancouver, BC but I am from Belgium. Why did I move? Check Belgium in Google images, what do you see? A bunch of photos of the Grand Place. Why? Because it’s all we have.

– I am an adventure photographer. I shoot just about anything related to adventure: climbing, ski, paddling, hiking, caving, canyoneering,…

– My wife is wonderful. She’s my best asset! I’d love to show a photo but the guys out there would be jealous. Don’t worry, she’s also my favourite model.

– How to make me happy: HIRE ME!