I love bringing joy to others through photography & music.
I’ve been interested in all things photos since my dad gave me a half-frame Ricoh camera back in 1987. What started out as a hobby has become a passion to capture memories through photos. I love capturing the moment and telling stories through them.
I used that Ricoh camera for years (no batteries needed, just the film itself and click away). Around 1990 my dad gave he his old SLR camera (a Nikon) plus a few vintage lenses – again no batteries needed. He didn’t teach me any of the basics so I had to teach myself what aperture & shutter speed does. I’ll take photos and write down the settings on my notepad so when I pickup the photos after getting them developed, I can see what each setting does to the photo. Remember, this is before the internet & YouTube days so it is not the easiest finding information like these. I had fun learning like this though…
Fast forward to 2002 – I got my first digital camera – a Canon Powershot G3. What fun to be able to take a photo and see it right away on the back of the screen. Also got a Canon video camera around this time – back then they use miniDV tapes – so moving the footages to your computer is done in real-time (ie. if you have a one-hour footage to edit, it’ll take one-hour to load them to your computer). I got into both photos and video editing during this period – all self-taught.
My first move to digital SLR (dSLR) came in 2005 when I got the Canon EOS 350D. Took a lot of photos with this camera over the years capturing birthdays, weddings and other special occasions.
I got serious with photography around 2008 when I picked up a Canon EOS 50D and again in 2011 when I got my first full-frame dSLR (Canon EOS 5D Mark II). Did some paid photography jobs during those years – weddings, 21st birthdays, concerts, maternity, etc. Decided to stop doing it after we had our son in 2013.
Fast forward to now…. Got rid of my last dSLR (Canon EOS 5D Mark IV) in 2021 and replaced it with the Canon EOS R6 as I got fed up trying to take photos of animals from our recent farmstay 🙂 The people and animal eye-detection is a game-changer!!! That’s my reasoning anyway…
These days, I take more photos than ever – family events, capturing my son through the years, dog photography, landscape and I volunteer taking photos at my local church (Nations Church).
As far as music goes, we always had music playing at home since young but when I first started learning guitar back on the 2nd January 1991, I was hooked onto it immediately. Taught myself using books, magazines, VHS (remember those) and watching live concerts of my favourite players.
I got into the guitar after hearing bands like Van Halen, Guns N Roses & Bon Jovi in the late 80s. From the moment I started learning the guitar I start reading about what my favourite players (Slash & Eddie Van Halen) were listening to when they were growing up – this got me listening to Eric Clapton, Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin. It was by accident that I saw, in the sales bin of a record store, a cassette of Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble’s “Sky is Crying” album. I’ve heard of his passing in the year I started playing the guitar, but I haven’t heard of any of his music so I decided to buy that cassette. OH MY GOODNESSS!!! From the first note of that album to the last I was totally blown away – especially that instrumental version of “Little Wing”. From that moment on I got all of SRV’s albums and any of his concerts on VHS and started exploring more blues music from B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, etc.
Another turning point for me came from my craving for more “guitar” instrumental music and stumbled upon an album called “Determination” by an Australian artist, Tommy Emmanuel. I loved the songs on that album, but it was only when I went to this concert at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco back in 1991/92 that I was totally blown away by both his electric and acoustic guitar skills – and his general love for music. Since 1991, I’ve probably been to more than 15 of his concerts – whether with a full band, acoustic solo (can’t forget that night when he played at the Fly By Night Musicians Club in Freo) or with his brother, Phil Emmanuel. He is constantly improving and is always humble about his amazing skills on the guitar.
Been fortunate enough to witness a lot of amazing players live in concert – Eddie Van Halen, Slash, B.B. King, Tommy Emmanuel, Phil Emmanuel, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Joe Satriani. Just kinda sad that a lot of the players I listen to is no longer here with us.
For my own playing, I used to write and record a lot of songs back in my high school and uni days. Did so much of that to the point that my parents asked my friends to take me out of the house 🙂
Am very fortunate that I was able to be a part of the worship team for Riverview Church from 2005 to 2021 – learned so much from the team and leaders there. Since 2022, I am part of the Nations Church Worship team which is a real eye opener and I not only get to join this amazing team but am able grow personally in my Christian journey.
Check out my social media accounts below…
