Becoming A Photographer Wasn’t Part Of The Plan…

It’s true, and it’s a classic case of plans changing when you least expect (if you missed my last post on this, you can read it here).

Back when I was studying my A-Levels, I wanted to work closely with horses. I wasn’t really sure what, I toyed with the idea of working towards being a vet (then undiagnosed ADHD reared its head, meaning I didn’t get the grades I wanted) and that was when I found Hartpury’s Equestrian Sports Science Degree. Which seemed like the perfect solution. A scientific degree, dedicated to learning about horse AND rider, and would provide opportunities to work with horses in new and interesting ways. So a passion for horse and rider performance was born, and that was where I was headed.

Before my degree, came my gap year. As part of this I was going to work in a wildlife sanctuary in Bolivia for a month, and wanted a camera to capture my time there. Which led to me purchasing my first DSLR, my trusty Nikon D3200 and kit lens. I captured some photos there which are still some of my favourites, and a love of photography was born there.

I then took my camera with me to University. Whilst I loved the course, and learnt SO much, I found myself filling my spare time with predominantly equine shoots. This continued to build until I came to finishing my degree where I decided not to pursue a Masters Degree, which was the original plan, and instead pursue a career in equine photography.

Jump forward to 2022, this has, of course, since changed. I now photograph more than just horses and their owners, and have now added families, dogs and weddings into the mix. I’ve also got plans to write more on here, and produce more of my own content alongside the shoots I do. Meaning “equine and country photographer” doesn’t seem quite like the right job title anymore, and instead “photographer and content creator” seems a little more apt. I also see myself experimenting with a little bit of video going forwards as well.

It just goes to show that nothing is every set in stone!