NZPhotographer Issue 53, March 2022

connection they share. Personally, I love receiving
meaningful and artistic photos that capture the love
I have for my pets and hope I can share that with
others. I also enjoy taking photos of flowers, insects
and other often missed aspects of nature as I love the
colour and details I can play with.
As well as photography, I am working to improve my
skills in the digital art space - I create custom digital
portraits from a photo as another way to appreciate
the importance of animals in life. I believe the
connection we create with the animals we meet is
an extremely important part of our lives. I think we
should celebrate this bond that enriches the human
experience. My goal through my art is to be able to
create something that will serve as a reminder for an
individual of a current or past meaningful creature
that played a part in their life. I hope to improve my
skills in this area and eventually offer framed prints.
TELL US ABOUT A COUPLE OF YOUR FAVOURITE
PHOTOS…
Some of my recent favourite shoots have been
with local equestrians and their horses. I have
especially enjoyed playing with the environment and
background of the image by shooting in the autumn
leaves or spring flowers. I think these unique settings
create results that are more original and eye-catching
than a cliche photo.
Most of my work with riders and horses is done incamera
– I’ll spend between 30-60minutes with
them, playing with different angles and focusing on
capturing their partnership. For the double exposure
shot on the previous page, I used Photoshop to create
the effect which took about 1 hour to create and play
around with until I was happy with the result.
HOW HAVE YOU BEEN LEARNING
PHOTOGRAPHY?
I’ve mostly been learning through practise as well as
picking up skills and inspiration online. Having another
photographer in the household has taught me a lot
as well as having incredible role models in our local
community. I have especially taken inspiration from
local horse event photographers in the ways they have
framed shots of riders and their horses and the editing
styles used to best produce a clear and clean shot. I
find a lot of inspiration from other young photographers
who are trying new and original ideas and taking
images their own creative way too but a lot of my
learning has been behind the camera as I have played
around with settings and the results I get from that.
WHAT HAVE YOU STRUGGLED WITH THE
MOST IN PHOTOGRAPHY AND HOW DID YOU
OVERCOME THAT?
I have struggled with finding my unique style for shooting
and editing - It’s easy to get inspired by people with very
niche styles when they don’t reflect the photography
you want to achieve. It has also taken me a long
time to pick up editing and I am still very new to this. I
have overcome this by spending lots of time playing
around with new ideas and styles before committing to
any particular one. I make sure I limit the time I spend
comparing my work with others online. When I do look
at other people’s work I make sure to assess what it is
that I like about their image and what I can take into my
own work. Slowly, I am discovering the different tools in
Photoshop and the results I can get from them to create
a certain feel to my work.
I also struggle with the accessibility of photography as
I know many young people do. It can be extremely
hard to get the use of suitable equipment and
software. I have been extremely lucky to have the use
of equipment recently but feel the accessibility held
me back originally and made photography feel more
daunting.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU - WHAT ARE YOUR
AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE AND DO YOU
THINK PHOTOGRAPHY WILL PLAY A ROLE IN
YOUR CAREER CHOICES?
In the future, I hope to develop my skills and become
more creative with shoots and post-processing with
Photoshop. I aim to gain more experience and
knowledge whilst having fun with this creative outlet.
I would love to create a broader repertoire and
capture new locations as I go to new places.
I would hope my future career is creative and ideally
includes aspects of photography or the skills I have
learned from it. Even if my career is not photography
based, I’m sure I will continue it as a hobby.
10 March 2022 NZPhotographer