WHO I AM
I always loved making pictures.
After High School I studied art before entering the world of advertising where, over the next thirty years, I built a successful career as a marketing strategist across print and digital media.
I’ve worked with every kind of enterprise, from local estate agents and butchers, to the BBC and global pharmaceutical brands. I have a reputation for reliability and problem-solving, a strong work ethic, as well as the ability to humanise every project, turning strategies into creative stories that everyone understands.
But in 2011, a series of life-changing events saw me turn to the thing that brought me the greatest peace - my camera - and gradually I built a new world.
Now, from my home in the Wiltshire countryside I experience the simple beauty of light, colour and texture that surrounds me every day, in all weathers, and this affinity for what happens naturally is reflected in my work. To humanise others you must first experience the wonder and pain of being human. This I can do….
In 2017 I started Headgirl Photography.
More on my life and being he4dgirl on the BLOG
Other mind and body parts on... Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest
Also Thank You…
Mike Browne: YouTube legend, inspiration, mentor and friend. Whether you're a keen enthusiast or experienced photographer, there will be something for you in his incredible mix of tutorials, courses, workshops and travel breaks.
Seamus A Ryan: my first adult education tutor, and he's the absolute best by a country mile. His images are incredible and he was the first to teach me to see.
WHAT I DO
I specialise in creative portrait and environmental photography for businesses, families and children, working on location, using natural light to create beautiful, authentic images to treasure.
I treat every commission as a unique story. I like to push boundaries to create images that are true to life and full of personality. Working in natural environments as I do, my clients – you! - are more relaxed, having fun and just being yourself.
It’s a style that's perfectly suited to personal and family portraiture, but it really comes into its own for business portraits, environmental and documentary photography, editorial, and events, where true professional edge is needed to capture the real people behind the brand, stay on message, and set you apart.
A portrait, whether for business or family, is more than a snapshot and it takes skill. To create an image that humanises you, at ease with yourself and your surroundings – that’s a specialism and it takes a professional with experience to deliver.
PERSONAL and professional growth
During my time at Salisbury College 2015-16, I realised I wanted to specialise in photographing people - that feeling when you know you’ve captured a ‘moment’ in the life of a human was what I’d been looking for. And as my love of working with natural light grew, I realised I had found a style of photography I could combine with my love of the countryside and being outdoors, not confined to or limited by the artifice of a studio.
So in 2016 I applied and was accepted for mentorship by the acclaimed portrait photographer Bella West FBIPP ARPS, exhibited in Salisbury, and gained my Licentiate (LRPS) distinction from the Royal Photographic Society. My Associateship (ARPS) followed just over a year later.
Professional accreditation is also important to me. In late 2017 I was accepted into the British Institute of Professional Photography, becoming a fully qualified Licentiate in April 2018. Later that year I was awarded two Merits, a Gold, and Photographer of the Year 2018 at the BIPP Cotswold regional awards.
I speak regularly at events for the Royal Photographic Society, and in 2020 I became part of the Distinctions Panel team as a Licentiate Assessor and Advisor. I joined the Council and Board of Trustees in 2021 and sit on the Critical Friends group, a thinktank for promoting the values of inclusivity and diversity within the RPS
Here’s a talk I did with Peter Hayes FRPS in June 2020 as part of the incredibly successful DISTINCTIONS TALK LIVE series the RPS Distinctions team launched during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“This panel shows someone who really knows what they are doing, someone who is not afraid to take risks... These are pictures that would grace any wall.”
“This is a beautiful, powerful body of work. An outstanding statement with emotive images fulfilling the brief. There is a real sense of aloneness, loneliness and loss. A very strong submission with a difficult message. The quiet simplicity of the images creates a cohesive and successful panel.”
