Peak District Photographer

The making of a Peak District Photographer…

Photography is something I had always taken an interest in, back in school I always carried my little compact camera around with me and between my friends I was known as the one to always have a camera on me on outings. Although my interest was just a minor hobby, I never really thought anything would come of it, not to mention building a business on it.

In April 2011 I was given my first DSLR camera, a Canon 450d. Having shot with an automatic compact camera for years, I had no idea how to use it but I knew I strived to have better quality images and that I must stick it out if I wanted to put it to it’s potential.

I started off by taking portrait photography of my friends from Buxton in areas around The Peak District to practice using the different settings on my camera. I soon knew portraiture was going to be a big passion of mine as I picked it up relatively quickly. After setting up a Facebook page and tagging my friends in photos, I started getting requests from other people for me to take their photo. Before I knew it I had several shoots booked and I decided to invest in some studio lights.
My first shoot with my studio lights was for one of my oldest friends, she kindly volunteered to model for me whilst I got to grips with using a new setting on my camera, Manual Mode.

Then what came next was unexpected… A friend asked (pretty much begged) me to do her wedding photography!!! I enjoyed photography, but was I really ready to take it a step further?! I was nervous, unsure if I was even capable of completing her request. The bride-to-be was pretty persistent with her request and eventually I agreed to shoot her wedding for her. After all I did have a year to prepare myself and brush up on my skills… or so I thought… Shortly after, I received a request to shoot a wedding in Buxton where the original photographer was unable to attend… With only a few months notice!!! Panic set in, but I knew if I put my mind to it, I could achieve anything I wanted. So that’s exactly what I did, put my mind to it, ordered myself a new camera which was a Canon 60d and set to work on capturing Heather and Matthew’s beautiful day!

My first year was a scary/crazy one but also a very exciting one. Since then I have gone on to photograph many more weddings, newborn babies, children and more recently landscapes in the Peak District and further afield.

So that’s me, the making of a Peak District Photographer!

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