Everywhere I look I see pictures, the magic of a moment, pockets in time to be captured but it was fate that led me to take up photography as a career. A fateful encounter in a shop store would transform my hobby into my career. After my third child was born I decided to take a step away from my job as legal secretary to spend time with my children. I found myself diving
into photography full time, spending my days capturing my little ones, capturing their essence, smiles and mischievous endeavors. I found myself learning and exploring how emotion and photography intertwine and how for me one can not happen with the other.
Had it not been for a simple tap on the shoulder in a grocery store I don’t know that I ever would have made the leap to make my hobby my career. But the persistence of a friend of a friend led to my first paying job as a photographer. From that first photography session in the woods I have never looked back and have grabbed every opportunity that has arisen with both hands. What started as a hobby has led me to an amazing career that has given me the opportunity to document the Premier of China, members of the Royal Family, to meet people from all over the world and become the preferred photographer for the prestigious Ashford Castle.
While I am truly blessed and totally and utterly in love with what I do it has not come without sacrifices and challenges. I did not learn my craft within the walls of art school. My classroom has been the world around me. While I have not had to make any difficult decisions regarding my career, I have sacrificed time, hours and hours, to teach myself. Many hours have been
spent teaching myself the intricacies of Photoshop and Lightroom. I have spent countless hours learning to use light even in the most challenging of situations and to use it to my advantage. There is not always the luxury of waiting for the light to be ideal to capture that memory or perfect moment.
Every time I pick up my camera I want to get the best photo that I can whether it be capturing a couples first kiss or capturing the way the light is filtering through the treetops of the woods. The goal for me is not to simply capture the way a moment looks but rather how it feels, the emotion behind that moment. One of the challenges I face is overthinking all possible scenarios that I may face during a photoshoot. But once I feel the weight of the camera in my hand and feel the give of the shutter release everything melts into the background and I am lost in the heavenly space of the moment in front of me.
I am blessed to do what I love for a for a living and have never had the desire to quit. There are difficult days but my passion for what I do drives me. For me there have been no mistakes but rather learning opportunities. I still learn daily. No two sessions are the same, no two weddings are the same and each come with their own unique set of challenges. The most
important thing, I feel is to focus on your client, talk to them. When a client books me whether it be for a family session or a wedding they are booking me. I am the experience and to simply be me is enough. Perhaps when I first started, when I felt I had something to prove, I may have tried too hard to tease out an emotion or response. I have found over the years that you can not force emotions or a moment. I now know that stillness and a quiet kindness illicit all I need from my clients.
While it sounds cliche I was born to be a photographer, to capture and store memories. With every fibre of my being, I believe it to be so. Every day I am surrounded by pictures begging to be captured. My camera has brought me into peoples homes and lives to document their precious newborn or that special life milestone. With my camera in my hand, I have stood in cathedrals while two become one. I have had the privilege of documenting some of the most poignant moments in people’s lives. Photography has led me to moments where I find myself in awe of the world, at what I see before me. I was born with a need to take pictures every day. This need to chronicle the world around me is how my love of landscapes evolved. For me a perfect day off is to go off with my camera chasing the light before me, just her and I, watching the world.
It is with great excitement that I unveil my new website and logo. Both have been a long time in the making. Seven years ago when I launched my previous website and logo I was a different photographer and woman. This new website and logo reflect my growth as both, a reflection of strength and femininity. I am so proud to unveil them to you, along with my online
gallery where I have a selection of prints available for purchase. Thank you for taking the time to stop by – it is so lovely to have you here xxx