About Me
OK, so this is the part where I tell you I was born with a camera in my hand, how passionate I am about photography and that my mantelpiece is creaking with photography awards…
Sorry to disappoint but I wasn’t born with a camera in my hand and my mantelpiece is actually creaking with jars of sea glass & polished pebbles we’ve collected from the beach (but I do love photography)!
I’ve been a professional photographer since 2005, constantly developing my craft and refining my style. I always knew that having a job you enjoy is one of the most valuable things in life, it’s not work if you love it! I spent nine years commuting to Norwich every day to work in an I.T. job – works for some people but not me. I need to have a creative outlet: the photography and filmmaking totally satisfies my craving for creativity, flexibility and freedom from the rat race, it’s a passion!
I was born & bred in Sheringham on the North Norfolk coast and absolutely love this area. After ten years at Gresham’s School in Holt I spent three years at the University of Hull reading Marine Biology (well, technically it was called Coastal, Estuarine & Wetland Biology but Marine Biology sounds cooler although still not hugely useful for a photographer), spent a year travelling & diving in Australia, ran a pub for 18 months and had a year in the USA, living & working in New York & Virginia.
I saw some stunning places on my travels (living on Hamilton Island and Lindeman Island in the Whitsundays, Queensland for 6 months was a highlight). My first ever paid photograph was taken in the Whitsundays – while on a humpback whale watching trip I got some shots of a curious whale coming right up to our boat, literally about 6 feet away. When I took the film to get it
processed at the shop in Airlie beach that evening they asked if they could give me a few dollars to have one of the shots turned into a postcard to sell. I was stoked and maybe the seed to one day become a professional photographer one was planted right there.
I have two children, Charlotte & Will, who enjoy life by the beach as much as I did as a kid. Whenever I can I grab a camera & get out along the coast with my partner Leanne or take our boat out to Blakeney Point to see the seals, do a spot of mackerel fishing or collect samphire. I love being on the water, so much so that I’ve been RNLI crew on Sheringham Lifeboat since 2000.
Anyway, back to the photography, I love the variety, from weddings to beautiful properties, commercial jobs to family portrait shoots on the coast. I’ve been lucky enough to photograph & meet Princess Anne, Steve Coogan, Stephen Fry, John Hurt, Michael Palin, Barry Norman, Ade Edmondson, and David Walliams amongst others. I’ve photographed a brand new £5 million yacht, stood on the top of a giant wind turbine, flown upside down over Southwold Pier in a stunt plane, driven a Lotus around the factory test track and had so many more bizarre & fun adventures all in the name of work. Never had that as a database programmer!
In recent years I’ve added filmmaking to the services I can provide. The drones got me into making videos and I’ve really enjoyed the learning process of this new discipline. Examples of my short films can be seen on my vimeo page here.
In summary…
I love: The sea, adventures, cool gadgets, boats, self-improvement books, storms, cooking, scuba diving, North Norfolk, single malt whisky, surfing, kittens, travel, BBC 6Music, making stuff, sharks, constantly ordering stuff on Amazon & beachcombing.
I dislike: Stilton, country music, raw tomatoes, wasting time, bad manners & stinging nettles.
My favourite films: Jaws, Stepbrothers, Whiplash, Withnail & I, Anchorman, Stand by Me, The Perfect Storm, The Talented Mr Ripley, Bohemian Rhapsody, Amélie, This is Spinal Tap.
Wow, are you still reading this?! Well thank you, I appreciate it, now you know a bit about me, hope it wasn’t too self-indulgent!
Chris.
