As a social photographer, I feel that part of my job is to find out about my clients ... what are their interests, how did they meet, that sort of thing. Over the years, I have encountered so many different people, all with stories to tell ... stories of cancer survivors, of funny first encounters, of sadness, of joy ... I remember them all (I'm a bit like that ... long memory ... just ask my husband !) and feel privileged at being allowed access into my client's lives, if only for a little while.
And so, on this very stormy Monday, I thought I'd give a little bit back to you all, to give you a little insight into my life, a little self-interview, so to speak ... so, here goes ... "25 random things you
oughta know about me" ... (updated to add some more randomness ... I promise I'm done now !)
1. I was born in Belfast in 1969, but left there for Scotland in 1997, before moving to England through various job moves in 2000. I have lived in Glasgow (and surrounding villages), Cheshire and
Staffordshire, where I am now. John and I have a dream of buying some land and designing and building our own home. We dither between doing this and moving to France.
2. My interest in photography started in high school ... I was the annoying kid with the SLR in
everyone's faces ... we had a darkroom in the art block and I lived in it ! I moved on to shooting motorcycle racing (road and track) before hanging up my cameras in 1995 for 8 years. My husband convinced me to buy a
DSLR in 2003 and I've never looked back ! I went full time as a pro photographer in 2007 and wish I had done it sooner.
3. I am a great communicator and don't have much time for people who don't communicate well ... other pet hates include: rudeness, bullies and arrogance. It costs nothing to be nice :)
4. As well as being a photographer, I am proud to be associated with
Jerry Ghionis, one of the top ten wedding photographers in the world, as UK Distributor for his training products ... I also get the chance to go help out at workshops, and get to hang out with some of the industry's established and up-and-coming photographers.
5. I love my job.
6. I am married to John, we've been together 13 years and married for 6. I planned and organised my own wedding in 7 weeks. I did not have a photographer, my biggest regret. We have 2 cats, almost 7 years old, brothers (
Tigger and Tom) and 1 dog, 8 months old, a beagle called Tess. But then, unless this is the first visit here, you know all that ... sorry, moving on ...
7. My most
embarassing mishap at a wedding was last year at
Crewe Hall, during Sara and James nuptials ... I was poised and ready, right behind the officiant, bum to the wall, sneaking across to get the best possible shot of the first kiss, when
BAAAAAAAAAAM, an almighty
ROOOOOAR rang through the room ... the officiant (not a young man)
almost died of a heart attack, the bride and groom looked around wildly, as did all the guests ... I jumped and, as I did, I released the cord that I had knocked which had triggered the drop of the massive wooden blind ... all eyes on me ... oh, for shame :(
8. I am addicted to
Twitter and
Facebook - go find me, you'll see what I mean.
9. I am a moderator on the top forum for professionals in my industry, the
DWF and through my association with the forum have met (virtually and in the flesh) some truly amazing people and have had some great experiences.
10. I have literally very few photos of me that I like (I can relate to many of my clients on this front, which is why making them look and feel great is part of the appeal of what I do!) but this is my favourite photo of, well, me. I was going through a pretty tough time when it was taken and had decided to head over to Florence to see Jerry and Georgina at one of Jerry's workshops. The change of scenery, the touch of sunshine, the beautiful vista around the villa and the chance to get down into Florence with some models and fellow photographers, not to mention the hour I spent in the photography-only bookshop (bliss) all made for a very special week.
Matt wanted to try out my new lens (the Canon 50mm 1.2) and so grabbed my 1D and directed me. This one just summed up how I felt at the end of that week ... at peace, calm and serene ...
(and, just to point out ... I get people saying "I love that photo of you with the short hair" ... it's not, it's visible down my back if you look closely enough LOL)
11. I can be the tiniest wee bit shallow and a little bit vain (it's a photographer thing!) ...
(see the end of 10 ...) :)
12. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2003. It sucks, but it could have been much worse.
13. John and I are a bit sad, so much so that we have matching rolex watches. I know, it'll be knitted cardigans next.
14. I am a great friend ... or so I'm told :)
15. I don't wear makeup, unless I'm going out all dressed up, and even then I hate the stuff.
16. I'll take savoury over sweet any day, which is handy considering point12, don't you think?
17. I live in Jeans.
18. I have more shoes than yer woman Marcos !
19. I have wanted a porsche since I was old enough to spell it.
20. I love to travel but equally love getting home again.
21. I'm an avid sci fi fan - Stargate, Star Wars, Star Trek, you name it. I own every single episode of Dr Who on DVD, and Torchwood. Can you see a trend here?
22. My favourite movies of all time (in no particular order) ... Shirley Velantine, Educating Rita, any Sandra Bullock movie, all the Oceans (11, 12, 13 ...), Notting Hill (in fact, I could act in pretty much any chick flick, I've seen them so often).
23. I cry when anything happens to an animal in a movie.
24. I rode a camel in the Sahara desert.
25. Hmmm, something interesting and profound to finish with ... oh, right, I still ride a motorbike, having passed my test when I was 21 (man, that's like ages ago *eek*) ... I currently have a gorgeous yellow Suzuki SV650 ... I wasn't able to ride at all last year as I broke 2 bones in my right hand (pretty crucial part of the body for riding, wouldn't you agree) but am looking forward to getting back in the saddle this year, now I'm fully healed !
There, I think that's fairly random enough :)
Tags:
Portraits
