Photo Live Magazine First Issue Photo live - cat's add in 2017 versioin | Page 135

We photograph around 100 Portrait
sessions per year plus engagement
shoots. The portrait sessions are
mainly centred around families and
kids with some pet shoots. I realised how much I loved photogra-
phy, I had a friend who was shooting
weddings and I asked if I could carry
his bags and learn the ropes to see
if this was something I could do and
pursue for money.
Tell us a bit more about weddings,
what got you started shooting wed-
dings and maybe tell us about your
first few... I was already thinking, could it really
be possible to do photography for a
living?
I was working full-time and discov-
ered photography through fishing. I
was a mad keen fisho and a couple
of my mates were getting published
in fishing magazines. I wanted a slice
of that action to help offset the cost
of my fishing gear but to get pub-
lished, the magazines required pho-
tography plus articles. I was all good
with writing, but had never taken a
photo in my life.
I purchased a Nikon F601 film cam-
era in 1996 and started shooting
transiency film right away - the mag-
azines only accepted slide film for
publication. It was a steep learning
curve and one I thrived on. I was like
a sponge!
I found my way after reading any-
thing and everything I could on pho-
tography and was getting published
pretty quickly. Shooting slide film
made for quick learning with almost
no exposure latitude and the ability
to see my mistakes without a lab
making any corrections as with print
film.
Shooting slide film was the equiva-
lent of shooting digital but having to
wait to see your exposures. Oh... and
I had to pay to s