How do they do that?
From the age of 14 I was always fascinated with the science behind getting a print onto paper. I’m not talking about ink jet, I’m talking about that chemical process of exposing the paper correctly and seeing the image appear in front of you as the paper is bathed in developer.
When I was 15 I joined the Camera Club at my high school, I was hooked, the inner geek came out in me. Learning the skills was something that lit a spark, and from that age of 15 I said to myself, I want to have my own photography business, become a photographer. Not for the glamorous lifestyle, but for the love of making images.
My parents don’t have a creative bone in their bodies, but they encouraged me. They could see I loved it, they could see that passion abut photography in my eyes.
The following year I decided I wanted to do Art as my main subject in the 7th form, little did I know till after my portfolio was marked that my Art Teacher had given me the wrong syllabus and only half of my portfolio was marked. At the time I was so disappointed, but over time this actually gave me a different set of skills which I could apply to my photography.
We don’t always start in our dream job of choice, and I spent three years in retail and one as a graphic artist: those three retail years were brilliant for people skills and learning to deal with and read people, all skills that as photographers we use every day.
Now I have been a photographer for almost 25 years. I love it, the people you meet, the stories we share. As photographers, no matter what genre you’re into, we are all some kind of historian. But to make this even more effective we need to ensure that those memories don't stay on a hard drive, we need to get them printed. I guess I’ve always loved seeing images printed, they are more appeasing and much easier to access, especially if there are on show in your home. Print is king and will alway me in my mind.
One of the images I love was one of my most challenging. I was asked to photograph a photographer’s 12-week-old black Labrador. Now at the time I didn’t photograph pets, but when I was asked my reply was “Yes, of course , I’d love to”, while in my head I’m screaming “how on earth am I going to do this?”
I turned up the next day after a sleepless night, and I really wanted to knock this image out of the park and make it a photograph to be proud of. So I decided that rather than have a static puppy, which is hard enough, why not have the puppy running straight at me. It took me about 15 minutes, I used some technology that was very new at the time, and it worked a treat. This image lead me to win UK Pet Photographer of the Year, but more importantly it opened my eyes to Pet Photography and created some new and exciting products for my clients. So, never say never!
I like to think my story is always adding a new page, that’s life and we learn from it. I wonder what tomorrow’s page will be… and that’s the beauty of photography.
www.rossgrievephotography.com
When I was 15 I joined the Camera Club at my high school, I was hooked, the inner geek came out in me. Learning the skills was something that lit a spark, and from that age of 15 I said to myself, I want to have my own photography business, become a photographer. Not for the glamorous lifestyle, but for the love of making images.
My parents don’t have a creative bone in their bodies, but they encouraged me. They could see I loved it, they could see that passion abut photography in my eyes.
The following year I decided I wanted to do Art as my main subject in the 7th form, little did I know till after my portfolio was marked that my Art Teacher had given me the wrong syllabus and only half of my portfolio was marked. At the time I was so disappointed, but over time this actually gave me a different set of skills which I could apply to my photography.
We don’t always start in our dream job of choice, and I spent three years in retail and one as a graphic artist: those three retail years were brilliant for people skills and learning to deal with and read people, all skills that as photographers we use every day.
Now I have been a photographer for almost 25 years. I love it, the people you meet, the stories we share. As photographers, no matter what genre you’re into, we are all some kind of historian. But to make this even more effective we need to ensure that those memories don't stay on a hard drive, we need to get them printed. I guess I’ve always loved seeing images printed, they are more appeasing and much easier to access, especially if there are on show in your home. Print is king and will alway me in my mind.
One of the images I love was one of my most challenging. I was asked to photograph a photographer’s 12-week-old black Labrador. Now at the time I didn’t photograph pets, but when I was asked my reply was “Yes, of course , I’d love to”, while in my head I’m screaming “how on earth am I going to do this?”
I turned up the next day after a sleepless night, and I really wanted to knock this image out of the park and make it a photograph to be proud of. So I decided that rather than have a static puppy, which is hard enough, why not have the puppy running straight at me. It took me about 15 minutes, I used some technology that was very new at the time, and it worked a treat. This image lead me to win UK Pet Photographer of the Year, but more importantly it opened my eyes to Pet Photography and created some new and exciting products for my clients. So, never say never!
I like to think my story is always adding a new page, that’s life and we learn from it. I wonder what tomorrow’s page will be… and that’s the beauty of photography.
www.rossgrievephotography.com
|