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Author Info - page 2 Egypt was a fascinating place also... My wife has absolutely no interest in computers or the Internet, although she uses a computer at work when necessary. When I moved here I wanted to do freelance photography for a living! What a joke now that I look back! Still, I was desperate to give it a try and luckily she was supportive in my ventures. In the mean-time, I got a part-time wedding agency job which introduced me to wedding photography of all things. I didn't really want to be a full-time social photographer, so I needed more training. I continued with weddings on the weekends and I also got a place on a short photo-journalism course in Sheffield. The course was a joke, but it gave me my 'first contact' for the freelance market. A business magazine wanted someone (cheap) to go to Eastern Europe to take some pictures of business and Western influences. I got the job and did it well. Eastern Europe was just waking up in the early 90's and there were a lot more photo opportunities there. One thing led to another and I started to sell 'stock photography' as it's called in the trade. I started to fund my own trips to Europe to take general stock photographs and then try to sell them later. This worked to a certain extent to my small client base. It went slowly, and I learned about the publishing world the hard way. They want their pictures "Now!," but they don't want to pay you "Now!" After a few years of freelancing I got sick of waiting for my money and the lack of stability in the publishing / photography world so I decided to do something completely different - computers! I don't regret my attempts at 'freelancing.' I got to travel and I had my work published in over 40 different magazines and newspapers. I even wrote some travel articles about my adventures and had a few of those published, along with my own photos. I did a few driving trips of my own in order to get to Eastern Europe for these self-funded photo trips. Once, I drove my Ford Escort banger from Sheffield, England all the way to Bucharest, Romania and back! Very scary in places! Driving in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania and the like (by myself) is not like driving down the Interstate/ motorway in a civilized country. There's no gas stations every 2 miles, or motels along the road, or McDonald's! (But to be fair - it is getting better in Eastern Europe by the minute, especially in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland). Currently I'm in the midst of a total career change - to the "wonderful world" of computing. In June of 2001, I completed my HND in Computing (roughly equal to an AA degree) at the University of Huddersfield. I now have a job for an engineering firm in Leeds as a Regional IT Officer, e.g. I get to travel around a bit. And now you know......the rest of the story... |
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My first magazine cover. |
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Or - if you've been interested enough to read this far, check out a few more pictures of me. |
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