It’s been a long time since I sat down and wrote a musing post for the blog. The truth is the wedding season has completely sucked all of my time from me and October has appeared in a blink of an eye. I feel slightly panicked as I write this that I won’t get all my wedding planning done in time.

This you understand is not a moan, I love my job, i’m so fortunate that I get to do my absolute dream job every day. I see so many people struggling to make ends meet and they don’t get to pursue what they really want to do, they daren’t make the first step in the fragile economy we live in.

I was 21 when I started the studio and bless my heart I had no idea the hard work it was going to take. I am a grafter. It is probably my greatest quality. When the chips are down I will rise to the surface and keep going and going… From a very young age I could work hard, it didn’t matter what the job was I would do it and to the best of my ability. I was rarely the best but when the rest had given in I would be there plodding on, determined, stubborn to the end.

When I was younger I didn’t really see it was an advantage or anything to be honest. I couldn’t understand how other people couldn’t continue but now I understand that I have a strong mind and it is a gift to be cherished. This fact only dawned on me at university that when everyone gave in I would continue and in photography the rewards were reaped. I worked 7am until 10pm for a month on my project, every day I would walk to the darkroom and practise for hours on end, determined to be the best, determined not to fail.

It worked! I left uni with a first class honours in photography and ready to start work. But where?! When the studio came an option I knew it was the right decision.

At 21 I was ready to take on my own business. I didn’t think anything of it at the time but now looking back that was a brave and slightly stupid thing to do. My life changed instantly, I had clients, I had to sort accounts, I had to sell my photography, a skill that I had never been taught and it was all on my young shoulders. But I did it. When my friends wanted to go out, I couldn’t. When there was a festival in the summer I was inside editing pictures. Holidays? Forget them. I focused everything in to my work.

And through all this I had some very important constants by my side. The first my brother Liam who I work with every day and with whom I’m so lucky to share the same passion and love for photography. It really is a pleasure working with him  and after seven years I still enjoy it just as much (if not more!) as when we first began.

The second is my fiancé Matt.

I really am incredibly lucky to have a partner like Matt. I think it’s fair to say that most men would run a mile with a workaholic like myself!  😉 I have, since starting the business seven years ago, missed countless dinner dates, appointments, anniversaries, birthdays and celebrations and Matt has accepted and supported me through all of these and been with me every step of the way. I am fortunate that Matt is in fact a workaholic himself so does understand my way of thinking and I think that is why we make the team that we do. We’re both such busy people but we support each other 100% in everything we do and are understanding about our work/life balance.

The most fulfilling thing that has happened recently is that Matt and my younger brother Alex have joined forces under the umbrella of York Place Studios as York Place Films. We all drink lots of tea, have loads of fun and participate in the same work ethic. Why not when we all enjoy our work as much as we do. How can you better perfection?

Double the Fun!

It’s so extraordinary to think that all that hard work I put in at such a young age has resulted in the chance to work closely with the people I love, doing something that I am so incredibly passionate about. It may have been hard getting there (and we continue to have to push ourselves hard to be better every day), but it’s definitely worth it in the end.

So when the chips are down, never give in. Keep fighting, keep believing, keep the faith. Sometimes we don’t see it, but if you want it badly enough and you’re willing to put in the hours, things have a way of working out for the best.