So, I figured it was time for things to get a bit personal on here. Besides, as a photographer it is generally my job to catch people’ getting personal’ during a wedding, at their most natural; relaxed and at home… (I much prefer a natural style of shooting!) …
Here we go: 10 things you didn’t know about me… (this was really hard, and I have actually realised how boring I am!)
1) ‘I have spent most of my career working in IT’
Despite being arty from the day I was born pretty much, and studying art and graphics at A-Level, and then Fine Art at University. I have always worked in the not so creative world of tech! I am highly organised and love admin, so I guess I naturally gravitated towards a Personal Administration Assistant role when I graduated. It was whilst I was working in London, as a PA, that I discovered I had an interest in computers, maybe because I was good at it? Maybe because I was a quick learner? Or maybe because I was half the average age of the rest of the workforce…? Any way I quickly ended up seconding for the IT department and fell into an IT career. Working my way up from an IT Administrator to Support Analyst and finally to a Helpdesk Operations Manager. Despite this though, photography, art, craft, painting, remained a huge part of my home life and when I wasn’t working (or exercising) I would probably be indulging in one of my creative passions – it’s fair to say, if I could sit and draw/ paint/make all day, I would. I would often come home from work and sit down to work on a drawing, stick some Bob Marley on my iPod get completely immersed in a piece. I would look at the clock four hours later and realise it was nearly midnight and I hadn’t even had dinner! I would be completely and utterly oblivious to absolutely everything else going on around me – my house could burn down, and I probably wouldn’t notice!
My creative streak never left (and I hope it never does) so I decided it was time to start embracing it on a more professional level – maybe I could be creative all day and get paid for it! Thus, I started up on my own in Photography.
2) ‘I definitely have psychic abilities!’
Believe it or not, (and most people don’t!) I do!
I have predicted many a natural/and not so natural disaster and have even gone as far as to predict on what day of a week I would be stuck in a broken lift! I have also foreseen what outfits people will wear and even the conversations we will go on to have.
-Okay so its not so clear that I could tell you exactly what was going to happen and when-nonetheless the dreams follow a certain theme which makes no sense at the time and then falls into place once the event has happened - confusing I know! And of course, no one would believe me even if I could interpret them! – No-one does. Maybe one day I will be able to harness the power of my fortune telling psyche – (queue epic music) to realise the power that I dream I have…to become so much more than I am…to hold so much power in the palm of my hand…but until then…(end epic music)
3) ‘If I couldn’t be arty, I would have been a marine biologist!’
This one is quite simple. When I was seven years old, I was sat watching a program with my Dad about life in the sea. As a true Piscean, I am obsessed with water. I drink it, swim in it, love to have it in my garden and just love to be near it. There was a lady on the TV who, I believed at the time had this amazing job working in the sea and with water and with sea life. I decided then – that if I couldn’t be an artist I would do her job and be a Marine Biologist. – simple!
4) ‘I have freckle's’
They are hidden most of the time until I go out in the sun, then they appear out of nowhere – on my nose, cheeks and arms! They are directly inherited from my Mum and I love them!
5) ‘I was a cat person growing up but now have two (soon to be three) dogs’
In my eyes there are two types of people in the world, cat people, and dog people. (I don’t speak to people who don’t like animals). I currently have two little dachshunds and if I can persuade my other half enough will eventually have four! Put simply, I love dogs. Their loyalty, their love, their gorgeous happy little faces…argh it makes me kind of broody (just for more dogs). My two are such characters. However, I actually grew up with cats. We had two beautiful cats, Suki and Allie, both rescues to a point and both lovely, well-loved, still very much missed family pets. I had asked for dogs, but my Mum and Dad, who also were cat people always said no. So, it never happened. Now though, both my parents and my sister (who has a cat called Scamp) love my dogs and do everything they can to embrace them and help us look after them. Bertie in particular has taken a shine to my Mum and he will literally be carried around by her all day. Dad too, isn’t content until he has chased them both around the garden at least twice by lunchtime. I guess I am lucky to come from family of animal lovers and they can be both cat and dog people!
6) ‘I still have no idea what I want to do or who I want to be never have) – only where I want to be…’
Now this one is honest… I still don’t really know what I want to do with my life, or how I am going to get to where I want to be…- but I do know where I want to be.
Basically, in a villa with a vineyard in the south of France! Or by the coast. Or in the mountains. Or in a lovely old country house! I want to travel a bit, see the world, enjoy life a bit more. I want to be happy ultimately – which I guess is what most people want. Not necessarily rich, just happy. Earning enough to allow me the lifestyle I want, without having to constantly worry about money or to constantly have to budget but doing something I enjoy.
I remember at school, when we were asked to pick our options. I panicked! I had no idea what I wanted to do. And then it was okay. We were sent to careers advisories who all tried t prepare us, and all remember is feeling angry and a little rebellious about the fact I was being asked to place the rest of my life on four school subjects at the age of 14! I wanted to do something creative. That’s all I new and to a point that is all I still know. I have never had any real career ambitions. Yes, I have always wanted to be the best I can be and if that meant exceeding in whichever job role I may have had at the time then that is what I would do. But I have never been able to say what I wanted to be. I have never had that direction, a path to follow, nothing clear cut like a lawyer or a doctor for example. – It has been chaotic and, in the moment, to say the least; which is actually a huge contrast to how I decide to live my normal everyday life. I have in effect, “winged it.”
7) ‘I have a massive Coke habit.’
Diet Coke.
I drink it with everything, all day, every day. I know it is filled with aspartame, but it is the only thing that keeps my sweet tooth cravings at bay. Without it I would be the size of house! It’s the one thing I cannot live without.
8) ‘I am a self-confessed feminist’
Anyone who knows me knows how true this is – especially work colleagues! Having worked in a male dominated environment my entire professional life (up until now), I have always felt as if I have had something to prove. This was undoubtedly not helped by the fact that I had quite a tempestuous environment at home. Me, my Dad and my sister are strong, feisty people and there is often a lot of shouting to be heard over one another. That being said my Dad never made me believe that I wasn’t just as capable; of doing anything than anyone else-and both my sister and I have thus grown up into feisty, independent young women. Therefore, when I started working in a male dominated team (I was the only girl in a team of 15 or so), things were bound to get messy.
Ok, so messy is a little bit of an exaggeration, but I did spend a lot of my time fighting to be heard and trying to get people to listen to my point of view. I would often be ignored in a team discussion or talked over and would more often have to raise my voice to get people to take notice. My perseverance, determination, drive and sheer stubbornness paid off though and I was promoted to team manager within two short years.
9) ‘I own over 100 pairs of shoes’
FACT.
Slightly embarrassing and grossly unnecessary. But it is what it is.
1) ‘I play Hockey 2-3 times a week but have never broken a bone’
I have come close – oh so many times! I have bumped and bruised and sprained and strained and dislocated. But never broken. I got smashed in the face by a hockey ball and still didn’t break anything. I swear I am part cyborg. This is good though because it means I can keep playing - being as active as I am, being laid up in cast would drive me absolutely insane!!!
So, there we have it! 10 things we can talk about when I see you next….!