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Buttery Visuals
@buttery.visuals
Visual creative based in Scotland
I never thought photography would ever be something I would take up. Throughout school I had the chance to study it and my dad is a photographer too, but I was never actually interested until one summer my dad introduced me to it. That first time I picked up a camera I had no idea what an aperture or what my shutter speed was, but I was out together with my dad and having an adventure like I was 10 again. All thanks to this black thing in my hand that took pictures. As I have a very addictive personality and a very creative mind, I was quickly hooked. I can say that this day in summer drastically changed my life. I was having one of the worst periods of my life back then; I had no job, was just out of high school and wasn’t enrolled at college or university and meanwhile I was dealing with anxiety and depression. While all my friends and family were out there achieving great things, I was doing nothing, week after week.
"Photography got me out of the house, helped me discover who I am and gave me a passion."
Focusing on photography literally got me back on track. It helped me improve my mental health and achieve things that I couldn’t have imaged before. I have always had a business mindset, but I never really did anything with that as I wasn’t able to due to the circumstances. After getting into photography and doing it as a hobby for about two years, I decided to give it a try and do it professionally. These years represent the biggest learning curve of my life and it taught me many lessons and skills.
"Without photography, I don’t think I would be where I am today: in my third year of a degree while working as a freelance wedding photographer and having a part time job next to that."
In the very beginning, I was mostly shooting outdoors, as where I started with my dad. Landscape photography resulted in a way to get away from daily life and relax. The ability to go out and discover a new place, get some exercise in and get my creative juices flowing is what I really like about it. Sometimes you will find yourself standing in the middle of nowhere, with no-one around, just watching the world go by in peace. Although I really enjoyed it, I started with wedding photography soon after that as well. In both situations you go somewhere to take images, but wedding photography is so different.
"If I had to compare the two to a sport, landscape photography would be a light jog whereas wedding photography is a full on sprint."
With wedding photography, in most cases, you don’t get time to think about composition, the moment happens and then it’s gone. Wedding photography is a bit of a workout, balancing composition, light, camera settings, flash settings, the couple’s expressions and poses, all within a matter of seconds. On the contrary, landscapes are usually largely peaceful, you can stand beside a waterfall for 20 minutes, enjoy the moment and then take the shot once you feel you have the right composition.
Since I started photography, I have been to different places in the UK to explore and shoot. One of the best experiences was in January 2018, when I decided to take a trip to Glen Etive (situated in Glen Coe, Scotland) which was about 2/3 hours away from my home. I had heard rumours that you were able to get within decent distances from red deer, which turned out to be true. I left the house early that morning and got there by 10am. I drove through Glen Etive for a few miles without seeing anything, beginning to think I had came 110 miles for no reason.
"As I turned one more corner, there it was, an impressive red deer just standing at the side of the road, 10 feet away from me."
I parked up, got out and just sat hoping the deer would get used to me being there, which it did. Eventually it got so comfortable that it came up to me in a calm manner, so close that I was able to clap it like a dog. For the next 2/3 hours I stood at that bit of road taking pictures of this deer. It was totally comfortable with me being there, just going about its daily business of eating and moving around.
I will never forget this experience; to be able to get so close with such a beautiful animal in such a beautiful location without anyone around was just amazing. I now have an A1 print of one of the photos I took that day hanging in my living room, my family has named him Dave the deer… Every day when I look at him, he reminds me of my spontaneous trip, the happiness I felt and how surprising each new day can be.
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