I bought my first camera, a Nikon D3600, about 5 years ago and that’s when my journey into the art, science and creativity of photography began.

I can’t remember making a conscious decision to start photography. I do know that I wanted a creative outlet. I did write poetry but that was personal and not for public consumption. I could not play a musical instrument despite owning a guitar for the last 20 plus years. I didn’t have the patience to sit at a canvas for days, weeks or months but I knew my creativity bent was going to be visual.

My camera arrived by courier and I remember ripping it from the packaging and rushing out to the back garden to start my photography adventure and been immediately disappointed and frustrated. My initial images were too dark, too bright or out of focus. I had not bothered learning even the basics about aperture, shutter speed or ISO.

As a profession I am an educator and am in my element standing in front of a class of students sharing my knowledge and experiences. I am a horrible, horrible student. I knew taking photography classes was not for me. I gave it a try and it just didn’t work out.

However the glory that is Youtube and the abundance of its photography tutorial videos became my university. Time spent soaking in the knowledge coupled with lots of trial and error led to where I am today. As an educator I believe in how important learning is. As a photographer I am still learning. I never want to stop learning