I first became interested in photography around the year 2000 when I started my own company making custom stainless-steel motorcycle exhausts. I knew a professional photographer, John Brandwood, who photographed my work and helped get it published in various motorcycle magazines. I was instantly drawn to the whole studio setup — the lights, the atmosphere, the craft — and that’s when I bought my first professional camera, the Nikon D700.
I learned the basics online through Kelby Training, and I rarely put the camera down. I spent every spare moment trying techniques and experimenting. When I next met up with John, I showed him some of my images, asked a load of questions, and shared the spark I felt. He invited me along to a wedding to “take a few snaps.”
On the day, I was anxious and shy, but John told me, “Just take snaps — no pressure, just enjoy it.” During the meal he asked for my memory card, loaded the images onto his laptop, flicked through them quietly, and didn’t say much. The next day he rang me and asked if I wanted to join him at his next wedding. I accepted without hesitation.
Over the next year I assisted John regularly, eventually getting paid for my time. He would critique my work, which helped me develop my own natural style — candid head-and-shoulder portraits of guests and unposed, authentic images of the couple. John once told me, “The hardest thing to photograph is a human being.” I never forgot that, and it’s shaped everything I still do, especially my street and portrait work. Landscapes never appealed to me in the same way; I’ve always been drawn to people, expression, and emotion.
A few years later, John was involved in a car crash. I got a call asking if I could cover a wedding the very next day. I went from being the “second photographer with no pressure” to being the only photographer — 120 guests relying on me. No worries, eh? One year and 52 weddings later, John was back working again, and together we moved into regular commercial photography, including event and product work.
Working on flood-lit stages in front of 600 people — capturing speakers, reflective awards, fast-moving moments and natural expressions — quickly sharpened my confidence and technical skill. Learning from someone who trained in the film era gave me a solid foundation, and I’ve always carried that forward.
Today, I’m still passionate about learning new techniques and technology. At the moment, I’m really into 360-degree video, content creation, timecode syncing, and VR-style presentations. For the past two years, I’ve been doing photowalks using DJI and Insta360 action cameras alongside my still photography. I also edit video for YouTube, which I genuinely enjoy learning and refining:
https://www.youtube.com/@TheStreetPhotographers
https://www.youtube.com/@TheStreetPhotographers
I love taking both formal and candid portraits, group shots, and event photography. I enjoy editing photos in Lightroom, editing video in DaVinci Resolve Studio, and creating fine-art black-and-white prints on my Epson P900. I’m not much of a landscape photographer, but I do enjoy photographing animals and pets.
Teaching comes naturally to me. My background in welding and fabrication meant I trained many apprentices over the years. I’m currently helping a friend who joins me on my photowalks, and I find teaching beginners incredibly rewarding — especially because I learned the hard way through trial and error.
The technical explanations in books never made sense to me at first — ISO, shutter, aperture all affecting exposure simultaneously… it felt impossible. Eventually I understood it in my own way, which is why my teaching method is simple:
Take a picture, see what you get, then talk about what you expected to get.
That’s when everything clicks.
Take a picture, see what you get, then talk about what you expected to get.
That’s when everything clicks.
Curious about my street portrait work? Come and join us on a photowalk.