Photo Profile: CJ5ive

For me, when somebody photographs something, they are allowing you to view the world through their eyes and that is exactly what I try and do. I believe anything can be used as a subject as the deeper meaning is to give people permission to see what you see, if only for 1000th of a second.

My introduction to photography just sort of happened. There wasn’t a conscious effort for it or any plan. Summer of 2000 and I was 13 years old at the time, I was working on a market stall for some pocket money. I can’t fully remember how it came about, but I ended up buying a 1.6 megapixel camcorder from a man who lived in the village. It was only after I bought the camcorder did I realised it could take stills. This opened up a whole new world to me. I proceeded to take stills of all my friends and family to the point of complete and utter irritation on their part. It was only a few months later that I decided to buy a small point and shoot camera, followed in 2005 by a SLR style bodied digital camera. I discovered I could play around with the camera shutter speed and aperture and even though I didn’t fully understand what it was, I messed about for years seeing what I could produce.

In 2007 my father bought a Nikon D200. He didn’t fully understand how to use it, and so left it in my hands and asked me to figure out how to use it so that I could then teach him. I fell in love with it! Suddenly everything became a photo opportunity and I wanted to capture every little moment I could. I make no exaggeration in estimating that I must have taken around 10,000 – 12,000 shots in 2 months. There wasn’t a day that went past that I didn’t go on a mass photography spree! My father saw the passion I had for photography and decided to give it me as a gift. During these few months I grew a relationship with the camera – photography became a two-way conversation between myself and it. The camera became an extension of my arm and eye where I could not only marvel at the beauty in the world, but I could capture it forever.

I mainly photograph nature and wildlife. I have a passion for the outdoors that stems from my childhood, growing up in fields and valleys I could explore for hours. I now do the same; the only difference is I have a camera in hand/to eye. I love to shoot with a shallow depth of field, pulling the eye to the subject. Another favourite of mine to photograph is the moon. I occasionally push this to shooting the stars and other astronomical subjects. I will also experiment with other styles of photography; nothing is out of bounds as long as I can hear the click of the shutter!

Links:

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cj5ive/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/cj5ive
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/CJ5iveClick