If you consider the business that I am in, the following statement may come as a surprise; photography was not my first love or passion. I have not been a photographer for as long as I can remember; it is not something that I have always wanted to do; I did not grow up with a camera in my hand taking photos of everything that I could; in fact, if you had told me 10 years ago that I would have a photography studio and business I would have laughed at you, because at that stage I did not even own a camera. Despite that, over the past 11 years photography has become one of my greatest loves and I find so much joy and peace in the creation of beautiful pictures.
For as long as I can remember I actually wanted to be a veterinarian, I spent hours with my nose buried in James Herriot books and attaching my stuffed toys to paper drips and "life saving devices". I worked hard all the way through school and first year and realised my dream when I was accepted to study at the faculty of Veterinary Science at Onderstepoort in Pretoria. Interestingly, this is also where my love of photography was born. My best friend was a photography fanatic and I distinctly remember her standing in my room at our faculty residence trying to convince me to help her revive the faculty's ailing photography club (even though I had no interest in photography); she can be pretty persuasive, so eventually I reluctantly agreed. I dug out my mom's old Pentax film camera and attended the workshop that we had managed to organise in an attempt to boost the club and from that moment I knew I had a new love in my life. A year later I completed my Veterinary degree and 2 years after that I went back to further my studies in Diagnostic Imaging. I guess my love of photography and pictures had a deeper influence than I thought.
After I graduated I moved to Johannesburg where I started work as a vet and got married. I joined a local photography club where I managed to advance to a 4 star level (this requires certain achievements in national as well as local competitions) within 2 years. Although I never formally studied photography, I was fascinated by it and started trawling books and Google for as many resources as I could find. There is an astounding amount of knowledge to be found on the internet if you have time to sift through it all. I spent hours, camera in hand, twiddling buttons, trying out all the techniques I had read about and honing my skills.
In 2011 my life as I knew it turned upside down, my amazing daughter was born. I had done reasonably well with photography as a hobby up to that point with some photos doing well in local competitions and even being published in magazines and online; but once again scouring the internet for any information that could be gleaned, this time on parenting (it doesn't help, the kids don't read it), I discovered a whole new world of newborn and family photography, which, up until that point had not even crossed my mind. I spent my days trying to capture every fleeting moment of my little one's growth and development and sharing the photos with family and friends. Friends began asking me to photograph their babies and when I reached a point that strangers were contacting me, my husband suggested I look deeper into the idea of opening a studio. Our outside room was remodeled and converted at the end of 2012. Around the same time I got a job doing the formal photos for a local matric dance, which gave me the capital to purchase my first set of basic studio equipment. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
In 2011 my life as I knew it turned upside down, my amazing daughter was born. I had done reasonably well with photography as a hobby up to that point with some photos doing well in local competitions and even being published in magazines and online; but once again scouring the internet for any information that could be gleaned, this time on parenting (it doesn't help, the kids don't read it), I discovered a whole new world of newborn and family photography, which, up until that point had not even crossed my mind. I spent my days trying to capture every fleeting moment of my little one's growth and development and sharing the photos with family and friends. Friends began asking me to photograph their babies and when I reached a point that strangers were contacting me, my husband suggested I look deeper into the idea of opening a studio. Our outside room was remodeled and converted at the end of 2012. Around the same time I got a job doing the formal photos for a local matric dance, which gave me the capital to purchase my first set of basic studio equipment. As the saying goes, the rest is history.
Sometimes our path in life is not obvious, it took me 2 veterinary qualifications and starting a family to discover what I truly enjoy doing. In a roundabout way, the thing that I thought was my dream career and passion was actually what lead me to a totally unrelated vocation which I adore. I still have a small Veterinary Imaging business which I also love and run in tandem with my studio, which is probably why I find photographing animals and children so appealing. While helping and saving animals may seem far more heroic than taking pictures, it does not come without drawbacks and a heavy emotional toll. Creating and saving people's memories has become my escapism and my passion. I guess life is what happens when you are making other plans. When I look through our own family photo albums I am transported back to childhood memories and events, I remember my lost friends and relatives and see the bigger picture of my life for a change. I am blessed to be able to help others create and preserve their own memories in this crazy world we live in. My photography journey has taught me to be flexible, open to new ideas and to embrace every moment because you never know where it may lead. But most of all, make sure you take lots of pictures along the way, even if they are just cell phone photos, because memories are fleeting and will fade if they are not captured!
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