My photography journey began when I was at school and got given a 110 camera. I loved art, and was quite good at it, but photography was more immediate – an art project took several hours, but a film could be developed in one!
An 18th birthday present was a Praktica 35mm SLR and a couple of lenses and I just loved it. I was serving in the Royal Air Force and knowing my love of both photography and airplanes, my Commanding Officer would send me out to photograph a wide range of aircraft visiting the base, and ultimately I had a Vulcan bomber positioned exactly where I wanted it to produce a set of a publicity photos for an airshow
Still while serving I started submitting photos to magazines for both competitions and to accompany features as well as a few photo libraries, and that’s when I realised that I could make some money from photography!
Upon leaving the RAF in 1989 and settling in Lynn I was asked by a photographer friend of my wifes to assist at weddings and also got recommended to a photography company to take portraits of graduates at universities
I had been working at a local company but decide to leave and try my hand at full time photography. Within 18 months I was shooting my own weddings bookings, as well as portraits and took over the studio that had trained me, and a year after that I was employing four other photographers! It was during this period of my career that I was awarded a Licentiateship by both the Master Photographers Association and Society of Wedding Photographers for my wedding photography. We were also the first studio in Norfolk to go fully digital
However, the real game-changer for me was when doing working in Southampton at a graduation I saw several coach loads of students in black tie or ball gowns and asked where they were going, and I learnt two things. They were going to their graduation ball and almost no universities had photographers attend their balls. After a lot of sales calls and presentations I had contracts with over half of all the universities in the country – and I was employing eleven photographers as well as half a dozen sales people!! On top of all this I was still doing weddings and family portraits, although I had given up my premises in town and had a studio built at home
This went on for about seven years until business suffered a massive set back when mobile phones with cameras were released and students started taking their own photos! Business dropped by about 90% in less than a year, so it was time to look for a new market to go alongside the social photography
What I did was to look at event photography as a whole, not just students, and started doing social events such as masonic and charity balls, kids sports and photo booths and anything that I thought people might want to purchase a photography memento of. What was started as a way of filling a gap by the loss of the student market ended up being one of only three national event photography companies! Its common now, but our USP at the time was being able to shoot and have a dry glossy print in the clients hand in less than a minute. The events business also led me to meeting and photographing Queen Elizabeth II, many household names from the entertainment and sports world and getting the chance to go places I would never have been able to otherwise
During 2010 I was made an Associate of The British Institute of Photographers, the first event photographer ever to achieve this, so I guess my photos were OK! I’m no longer a member so cannot use the letters after my name, but I still have a very nice certificate
In 2011 I added a schools photography side to the business, nothing creative just “look at me, smile *flash*, thanks. Next!!” but work is work!
In 2012 I was diagnosed with Cancer and decided the time was right to sell my wedding and portrait photography business, and in 2024 sold the schools business as well. I still do a handful events but only for long standing clients in and around the Lynn area
And now my photography has come full circle, I love shooting what I want to shoot, no client to please, and doing it on film! I have a few different film cameras ranging from the 110 size I originally started with, a 35mm Rangefinder, a couple of SLR’s and a 6×6 Medium Format TLR
What I haven’t done since those school days is draw or paint – I love photography too much!!
