How I Became a Professional Photographer

Hi, I’m Jayne and I am a Hampshire Photographer with a passion for marine life.

My life today as a professional photographer is about as far removed as it could be from where I once was!
I had a stressful IT job in London and spent years travelling from the South Coast of England up to London and around the country. It felt like I was constantly on a hamster wheel of wake up, travel, work, travel, work, repeat with very little sleep and a whole heap of stress.

Everything came to a head when my mental health nose-dived something had to change.  I was stressed, anxious, depressed, not eating or sleeping well. My sales targets were rising every quarter leading to too much stress in my life.

It seems so funny looking back now but it was actually a mouse that changed the course of my life.
A little tiny mouse lol!

I did not have time in my life for dealing with a mouse that had decided to live rent-free with me.

I didn’t have time for anything actually – so totally freaked out I called my mum in. We donned our gloves and cleaning products, literally disinfected everything in the house and packed it into plastic boxes.

We caught the mouse and peace was restored for about five minutes until…. my mum looked at me and said “now we’ve packed everything up why don’t you sell up? You don’t like living on this busy road, why not at least get a valuation and see what they say…”

So I went through the house with a fine-tooth comb writing my snag list. I contacted my uncle, big shout out to David! and got the house valued.
Within 10 minutes of the house being online I had 5 offers over the phone without viewing it and it had sold! I couldn’t believe it.

What happened next was one of the best decisions of my life.
I couldn’t rent anywhere in Portsmouth as I had my little love, Cookie – my border terrier – so I moved to a little chalet on the beach. The sense of calm that has brought me is immense. I’m still there now 5 years on and to see the sea every day when I wake up has been an absolute tonic.

Back then there was still one fairly big problem though – my stressful job, travelling to London and the sales job pressure was still making me anxious on a daily basis.

Another huge step in improving my mental health was working with a counsellor and as time went on and things came to a natural end in my job the last piece of the puzzle fitted neatly into place.

After 21 years of working in a high-pressure sales job, I finally left my job and decided that I would like to set up an animal care business, which I did.

I had to invest in a good camera to take pictures of the dogs, cats and small animals having fun.
Little did I know that buying the camera would send me down a completely different path.

Fast forward four years and heavy investment in my treasured camera and lenses I found myself on another path. I realised that while I loved working with animals I also loved photography and so I studied and built my business up to where I am today.

 

In the coming weeks and months, I will continue to blog about the Mental Health Charity Tonic Music I support, my customers and what to look for in a photographer.

For every wedding, family portrait and event you book with me I donate a percentage to Tonic, this important charity in Portsmouth. Having been in a bad place all those years ago with my mental health, I never forget the kindness and support I received. I know how important mental health services and support for those whose mental health is suffering is.

I am constantly working on my personal development and coaching to keep my mental health in a good place.

If you have any questions at all or would like me to blog on something particular around photography, mental health, improving your lifestyle I would love to hear from you.

I’ve got so much great content coming up from the requests I have had coming in, so please let me know if you have something specific you would like to have covered and we can have a virtual coffee over zoom.

I look forward to hearing from you x