How did your photography journey start?
My journey has definitely seen a few twists and turns. I got my first DSLR back in 2011, aiming to capture family moments when my kids were little (they’re 15 and 12 now!). We were living in Wellington at the time, and as my kids grew, this transitioned to shooting more landscape scenes including long exposure seascapes around the Wellington bays. The goal to be able to print larger images led to my first full-frame camera purchase, a Nikon D800, in late 2014.
After we moved to Cambridge in 2015, I had a bit of an internal tantrum wondering what on earth I could shoot as we were now an hour from the beach in either direction. But I quickly realised that Cambridge is central to many great locations, and after a family trip to Rotorua in 2016 where I took my first ever astrophotography shot, I found enjoyment capturing the many lakes and rolling hill countryside in the Waikato.
In 2017, I switched to a Sony A7RII and loved shooting with a lighter kit that had much better technology. The more trips I took around New Zealand sharing these images on Instagram, the more opportunities came my way which has eventually enabled me to turn my passion into more than just a hobby.
I decided to pursue photography full-time in 2019, and since then I have gradually transitioned away from my role as a corporate accountant. Being selected as a Sony NZ advocate in early 2020 was a great boost, enabling me to run workshops and events as a brand ambassador. Although becoming fully self-employed last year wasn’t the most ideal timing with COVID hitting, I have been able to run most of my photography workshops in between the various lockdowns over the past two years so I’m very grateful for that. "I had previously entered a competition run by Nokia, Rubber Monkey - where I had either got some positive feedback or managed top 10. I also won an expert judging competition on the Photo Crowd platform.
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