"It is often said that before you die your life passes before your eyes. It is in fact true. It's called living."
Here's the industry mandated 'I first picked up a camera when...' section.
I'm one of those people who never knew what they wanted to do. My educational efforts were varied and zig zagged around, which is why I've ended up with several qualifications in the creative arts and topped them off with a degree in English, because why not? My journey to photography was slow and steady; I was unaware I was walking down that path, yet in hindsight it was so obvious. From being that introverted friend who always had her little camera in hand; posting millions of pictures to myspace and bebo (yes, pre-facebook), to unconsciously getting a thorough grounding in digital editing when I was supposed to be learning to draw comics, and then to running a modestly successful instagram for my cats (I got free cat food, that means some sort of success, right?), to finally picking up a real camera and feeling it all slot into place.
That's all very well, but why weddings? If I'm honest, I got married and found that I didn't want to leave the world of weddings behind. There's just so much to love! You'll have to drag me from the wedding industry kicking and screaming. As a photographer, I like capturing real moments, and with weddings you get a special kind of raw energy you can't find anywhere else. I'm in love with all parts of them, from the details to the rituals, both the ancient traditions that appear in many weddings and the ones made just for one unique day. It is truly a dream job for me, a dream I never dared to have when I was knee deep in academic theory and asking myself 'what do you do with a BA in English?'
Joey grew up without any pets; that all changed when he met me. We are now the proud owners of Yuna, Skye and Zuko, three gorgeous kitty cats with personalities which range from 'total princess' through to 'what an asshole'. We then added our rough collie, Mr Bingley, to the mix (he's a dopey gentleman as his name implies) and it all makes for quite a busy household. Nothing beats a cat on your face all night followed by a dog at your heel all day.
Give me a dramatic landscape (plenty of those in Scotland), a dog, and a brisk, bright day and I'm good to go.
There's a meme that Joey likes to send to me regularly which states: 'I don't "like", I OBSESS.' And it's true, I'm an all or nothing person. This is both good and bad; I can get very downhearted when I can't do something to 100%, but it also means that I reach 100% more often than not. I'm a big believer in aiming for the stars and you won't get there without passion.
While my business takes up a big chunk of my time and fulfils me in many ways, I still have a few things I like to do on the side to keep me sane. I have always had an 'active imagination', as my school teachers so kindly put it. This is fuelled by my love of books, movies, music and video games. If I wasn't a photographer, perhaps I'd be a concept artist, or a scriptwriter. Favourites include Terry Pratchett, Paul Simon, Lord of the Rings and basically every fantasy based RPG ever made (with the Dragon Age series particularly close to my heart.)