I must have started taking photographs and shooting video when I was about 10, helped along by the move from an industrial mining town in the North of England to the stunning Cumbrian Lake District. 

 

I was History mad at the time (still am to some extent!), so my best friend and I wandered the English countryside, hunting down interesting historical buildings and monuments to photograph. I soon learned a picture isn't just about the main subject, it's about the space surrounding it: trees, grass, rolling hills, that sort of thing and soon realised that composition is key: what surrounds, say, a building, is just as important as the building itself.

I'll never forget the Happy Little Accidents that followed... the sort of thing you get when you forget to alter the brightness settings, or leave the flash on at night when trying to abuse the moonlight, or you have your shutter speed set too fast or too slow: the results might not be what you're expecting, but they actually do make for some interesting photos. Oddly enough, a couple of these are still some of my personal favourites! 

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As a grew older, I needed to diversify. Not only was I now immortalising epic architecture, I ventured into the realms of Still Life, Wildlife, Landscapes and eventually Event Photography.
I was introduced to Event Photography (you guessed it) accidentally, when the Photographer for a Christening I was attending (purely as a guest, honest!) took ill at the last minute. I'd gotten into the habit of carrying my Camera everywhere, just in case I needed it... of course the official Photographer didn't appear, so I was asked to spontaneously take his place.

This was in no way a bad thing! I had no time to think about it, just plenty of time to join in, capture the moments and present some truly fantastic results to the little man's parents. I managed to capture the major events of the Christening, the line-up of guests and a few cheeky photos on the side as a fun optional little bonus. I even compiled them into a photo-book for the parents to keep... they were very grateful for my efforts that day.
 

I find we tend to treasure the unexpected more: it's always nice when the little man of the hour decides to wreck his christening cake... or when a perfectly timed breakdown truck appears out of nowhere as the Bride is on her way into church. Everybody involved remembers these events because they were there, and nobody could have predicted it.

This is why I love freestyle photography. Every event is unique, but it's your event, i'm perfectly content to help you preserve the good times and cherished moments, even the unexpected ones, for years to come.

I can take on smaller events on my own, but if you have your sights on anything larger in scale, still get in touch and we can discuss it!