I first noticed photography as something special when i seen shots Mario Testino done of Lady Diana for vanity fair in 1997, clean, stylish and beautiful. Until then i was a snap happy mum, oblivious to the ‘art’ of photography, who would try and persuade my son to ‘perform’ for the (disposable) camera.
Then 5 years ago a friend of mine was married, she wanted her photographer to take natural shots of her day. when i saw her album i was blown away… They were like the Lady Diana shots. Beautiful, candid, clean and stylish and looked damn good in a frame. At that moment i thought, “I want to take photos like that” It wasn’t so much the wedding aspect of them but more the capturing the moment kind of shot, with the same sharpness and quality.
I purchased a little samsung point and shoot camera which i thought was great and would happily snap away at anything that moved, Then at 31 my husband bought me a sony a200 slr for christmas. I found a 6 week photography night class at my local university and sighed up. It was a very basic course but gave me the starting block i needed to be able to use my camera out of ‘auto’ and get a bit more creative. Needless to say i quickly became addicted to every aspect of photography and source new information anywhere i can get it.
I live on the edge of the beautiful Lake District in a small city that is bursting with history so cant help but be inspired by my surroundings but its the things that often get overlooked or taken for granted that inspire me the most. Pegs on a washingline in the warm glow of a summers evening sun, an abandoned cobweb in the rain, in fact, if it was socially accepable i would have my camera permanently stuck to my face.
I got into shooting bands by accident, while trying to find something new to photograph, a friend suggested i take some shots of a local band she knew… Well lets just say thats when i was introduced to ‘low light conditions’, they were mostly live shots but from that came other bands that wanted some promotional shots. I got inspiration from Gered Mankowitz, famous for his work with Rolling Stones and Jimmy Hendrix amongst others. There is something very cool and chilled out about his work, along with Mario Testino he is favorite of mine.
As with most, i would love to make a living out of what i love doing, i want to be a photographer people would recomend, i have a love for outdoor portraits and have endless ideas, and since ive started freelancing for a local studio have a new found love for weddings too.
To me, photography is about stirring the sences of the viewer and making their eyes tingle, if i ever achieve that with my work i will be very happy.
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