How it all (re) started...

Yoo hooo!

People often say to me or to others about themselves... 'oh, I'm not a real photographer, I'm not in business'. Well, a Photographer is a Photographer, business or no business. If you see photography as more than a snap shot and you think about the composition, the background, the lighting, the art of it...then YOU ARE A PHOTOGRAPHER!!! You may not claim it as your 'what do you do title', but you are a photographer none the less! You are one who takes photos!

I often get asked how I got into photography. It all started growing up, and my influence came mainly from my Dad...my Dad was (and is) a hobbyist photographer. There were always photography books lining the shelves and old secondhand cameras, like the rolliflex and old Nikons. The walls were lined with images like these...(bear with me on the quality, these are scanned photos of photos)...

They were taken at London's famed Portobello Market in the 1970's. This guy was always there with his parrot (apparently). My Dad says it's all commercialized there now? He's not really into photography too much these days.

There was never a doubt I would be a Nikon girl, it was just embedded in my brain! My Dad lent me his Nikon FM (he had a couple) and off I went...it was back in the days when you stuck a roll of 24 Ilford B&W film in the camera, shot on manual mode and made sure you pretty much got it right in the camera. A lot of street photography. Urban scenes. Homeless, graffiti, office workers, Portobello Market and Camden Town...We even made our own darkroom in a airing cupboard not big enough to swing a cat in (good job we didn't own one!) and I would spend lots of red light (of the darkroom kind!) late nights creating images and smelling of chemical fix.

I have had a couple of small gallery shows in London. I also sometimes shot as a freelance photographer for hiphop magazines in NYC. A few exhibitions of my images...nothing big...but great fun...if you know me, I'm a humble kind of person...

I took the camera on my travels.

Yep, that's me bang in the middle, age 21!...

India, Morocco, Israel...then came New York. The first place I moved to in the States. I had a Pentax SLR at that point (My Dad had reclaimed the Nikon, sold the others, he was always buying and selling used camera gear). Still, that Pentax was a great little camera and a sharp 50mm lens too.
That's when I got into Photographing Hip Hop events through a hook up with a co-worker...
It was 1998. I had some of my images in the Source and also (now no more) Rap Pages and a few smaller publications. The day I called the Source and they said to submit them an invoice for $180 for ONE image, I was so excited (I realize this is nothing to them, but to me it was the world!). I remember one day (on my birthday, actually) going to (I think) Def Jam records to photograph and interview Noreaga (one half of the hip hop duo Capone-N-Noreaga) and it was canceled because he had been arrested the night before, apparently. I was gutted. Oh well...Onwards...

After New York and marriage...that's my 'maid of honour' Miriam!...

...came moving to San Diego and kids and Full and PT Time jobs...My life changed abruptly. The SLR got put aside (coming out for special occasions) because I now had a DIGITAL point and shoot with zoom lens (of course introduced to me by my Dad). NO MORE FILM, no more expensive developing, it was instant gratification!!! Whooo Hooooo...
I mainly concentrated on taking snapshots of the kids between playdough and adventures.

Going forward a good few years...My Mum and Dad came to visit us in San Diego in 2006. My Dad brought his newish digital SLR camera (a Nikon D70). We went out for the afternoon to La Jolla, a beautiful seaside town slightly north of San Diego City. I borrowed Dad's camera to take some shots of the waves crashing. When I held it, it was like being thrown back in time. The sturdy body, resting the lens in my palm, looking through a viewfinder, the click of the shutter, the smell of it (is that weird? LOL)...brought everything back in an instant, like a wave crashing on a rock...and my love of photography returned! And that was it. This is (literally) the moment I again connected with the camera and I was re-HOOKED. And this is where it all RE-began.

Albert knows that when I am happy, I take photos. I feel content. He saw this passion in me and 3 days later presented me with a box. A Nikon D70s (my Dad tried to swap his for mine since I had the 's' and I can't even remember the difference nor do I care!) Of course, I tried to make him take it back because it WAS expensive and I don't deal with expensive stuff so well!

A maternity shoot is what really kick started the biz part of my photography back in San Diego, just before I came out here. Most of the images I did were in timeless black and white...That was over a year ago and then to Okinawa, where because of not having to work full time my love of photography has been able to flourish. From portraits to landscapes and everything in between.

The digital world is a different photography world. One that I am not always comfortable with...the post processing part anyway. I don't do much editing at all. Unless there is something I have to clone out, I try to get the image right in the camera, I rarely crop post production either. it's a film mindset thing I think. But, I will 'pop' my images, of course there is some post production! Funnily enough, I grew up into photography using a manual camera (since that is all there was really), but I mostly shot on Aperture Priority for the first few yrs of DSLR use...I dabbled in manual for some landscapes/flowers, etc...until finally not being so scared and shooting fully manual. The light is very important and if you can nail that in camera, then it's all good.

But remember, it's your art and art is subjective...

This photo was taken with my Dad's 45 year old 35mm lens. That thing is SHARP!

And before I go, here's a shot that I want to share. It's from one of my first shoots here on Okinawa from 2008. I have always loved this image, it was so hot and the kids got in the water and there was a storm looming in the sea. Look at that sky! I think about 10 mins later it was bucketing down! It's not perfect by any means, I was learning digital still. But, I captured a real moment, you can feel the joy, the energy, the life. And, that to me is what is most important, it's got to speak to you :)

If I had to describe my photographic style in one word, that word would be 'real'. I like to rely on my 'eye' for photography first and foremost. I have an edgy and unique style! Some call it eclectic. People intrigue me. I love to capture the personality and essence of a person and the soul in their eyes. Whether that is from street photography/a portrait/a candid. I want your shoot to be fun and free! I don't seek perfection, since life isn't perfect nor is it meant to be. I look for uniqueness: real moments that represent who you are...I keep my eyes open and keep inspired with personal street photography projects and art in general. It's all about connection: connection with self, each other, my camera lens...

You can also see more images on Flickr
So, that's my story, or part there of, for now (can you tell I also like to write LOL)...Cheers! :)

"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music" - Friedrich Nietzsche