Although I am a family photographer, when I first started photography, it came out of a pure passion of wanting to learn how to take nice photos. I bought my first camera in 1999- a film camera.
My then boyfriend (now husband) and I did a trip around Zimbabwe, exploring the country he was born in. I absolutely fell in love with wildlife photography, but I realised I wasn’t very good at it, and I WANTED to be.
Russ had read the manual (he’s thorough like that), and when I’d take a pic he’d ramble off on some technical jargon, and I’d think “WHAT is he talking about??!”.
But what he seemed to gain quickly, and I lacked, in those first few months (the technical shit), was offset by the fact that, quite simply, I had a better eye for it. And while having a good eye is somewhat teachable, it’s definitely something that some people simply have more than others.
And so I pursued the art of photography. At first I did some small in person courses on how to even understand the camera and all it’s modes (and would still utter lots of WTF moments when the lecturer would go on about the technical jargon. And let me tell you- those days it was expensive to learn.. every photo you took, you would have to wait for the pictures to be developed before you could even see what you’d done wrong.. or right).
I studied every book I could find. I scoured the Internet (no such thing as Facebook or YouTube videos in those early days). I then decided to take it a little more seriously, and studied a Diploma in Photography. And all of this while working full time, and raising two small boys.
But it still felt like it wasn’t enough. So I did more stuff online, and I practiced, and I paid photographers in the US to teach me – I remember one occasion staying up til 1am so that I could do an online session with an American photographer. I joined online groups, and paid for more courses. It took me years to get where I am.
Now, maybe I’m just a slow learner… but I think its more that I just always feel I want to be better. Not than the guy down the road- just better than I am today. I believe we should always aim high, always pursue growth and knowledge and learning.
And rather than it being the pursuit of perfection, it’s more about the pursuit of improvement. It’s about valuing who you are as an artist, and investing in yourself and your future (that sounds like the beginning of me trying to sell you something… but I’m not!).
I love to look back and see how far I have come. I have also had the honour of teaching the basics of photography to other women. One of whom is this magic lady here. Becs first learnt some basic stuff from me, but, like me, she wanted more, and so she pursued her art, and she upgraded her camera, and she worked and worked and worked.
And she too now has a business as a photographer. And she’s talented, having found her own style and voice, and doing it the way she loves to do it. So not only is she a past and current client, but she is a friend, and a colleague.
Anyway, here are some pics of her lovely family, that I have had the privilege of photographing a few times over the year, and watching them grow.
