Why Photography?

I have always been an artistic person and when I was younger I loved drawing. As I got older I had less time to spend infront of an easel or sketch pad so I decided I could show my artisitc skills through photography. I discovered that photography has the the power to tell stories in a way that words can't.

I bought my first camera in 2012 whilst I was studying business and accounting in Sheffield Hallam University. I was only planning on doing photography as a hobby, but because I am the type of person that needs to make sure that I understand everything to the best of my ability, I enrolled myself in an online photography course. This allowed me to fully understand my camera and helped me look at everything as a piece of art that I wanted to capture. Living in the UK gave me the opportunity to love and enjoy landscape and animal photography, every chance I got I would visit parks or hop on a bus, or hike through trails to visit all the beautiful little villages in the Peak District. This is where my love for photography truly started, my camera came with me everywhere I went.

My university friends all knew how much I loved photography and they spread the word which lead to me being introduced to some makeup artists who wanted me to take photos of their work. Even though I had only dabbled in portrait photography I was up for the challenge and arranged to meet up with them. Little did I know that I was going to make great friends and grow a passion for portrait photography. I mainly got to photograph Asian bridal models which in itself was amazing, the makeup, henna, jewellery and outfits were so colourful and beautiful, a whole new culture experience for me. From this moment on I knew that I wanted to pursue my photography career and start my own business.

In 2014 I completed my degree, left university and returned to my beautiful home town of Gibraltar. Immediately I got myself a stable job as an accounts clerk and registered myself as a self employed photographer. I started marketing myself as a family photographer but in order to stand out from the other photographers out there, I wanted to offer something different. I spoke to my photographer friends online and found that in the UK, first birthday cake smash sessions were all the craze and everyone was loving them. Since it wasn’t really being offered here in Gibraltar I gave it a go. I bought some props, baked the cakes and used a couple of my friends children as model calls. I used their photos to advertise and it was a huge success. My business just started growing from there.

From then on I started taking on all types of sessions, family, maternity, model, corporate and even weddings. I just loved documenting special events for people and I had a huge passion for photography, I wanted to spend all my spare time doing what I loved but I knew that I still had a lot to learn. I joined the Gibraltar Digital Photography Club where I met so many amazing photographers. It was a place where they shared their secrets and helped each other out. They’d have weekly tutorials and arrange outings and model shoots so we could put our photography into practice. I loved every minute of it and when the opportunity arose for me to be part of the committee and help other photographers I took it and it was an amazing experience. I just loved sharing with others everything that I knew.

Throughout this time I also joined the Gibraltar Photographic Society, things were slightly different there. The atmosphere was slightly more competitive but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. I got to enter weekly competitions both digital and print and different judges would rate your work and give you feedback. This was an eye opener, I learnt so much and gained so much confidence in my work which was great for my business. In 2015 I also got to take part in their 50th anniversary portrait project where 40 local personalities were photographed by 29 photographers. I got to photograph both the Commissioner of Police and the head of the Special Olympics, and for the first time I had my photos published in a book and displayed in an exhibition.

Throughout my years in both clubs I earned several 1st, 2nd and 3rd place prizes for my photos, along with 1st place Monochrome Prints and photographer of the year , what an accomplishment that was.

As a photographer I have also taken part in several community events. I was one of the official photographers of the body painting association for several years and I also made it a point to donate my time to as many charity events as possible.

Here are my two favourite charity events:

The annual abseiling event organised by Cancer Research. Who would say that I’m terrified of heights.

The 2017 GBC openday Calendar. It was so much fun working with the Gibraltar Fire Department to capture the January photo.

There is one last major experience I want to mention, but I won’t go into too much detail as I think it deserves a blog post of its own.

In 2016 I was asked by GBC to take part in a television series called Wise Eyes where I was able to talk about my photography. Let me just say it was an amazing experience that really boosted my business and helped me get to where I am now.

By all means photography has been an adventure for me from the moment it all started. Throughout the years I have slowly grown to like some areas of photography more than others and that is why I have specialised in family, maternity and newborn photography. I couldn’t be happier with my business and how it has grown throughout the years. What started out as a hobby has ended in a passion to help others capture those special moments.