Photography
A camera, a habit, a way of paying attention.
Photography found me quietly, somewhere between technology, work, and the ordinary rhythm of my days. It never really left.
01 β 2012
First camera, first frame
In 2012, I had just finished university, with more curiosity than money. I started noticing photography everywhere: the way light hit a street, the way one photo could hold a feeling. I was already into IT, but this new interest stuck around too.
It took a while before I could actually buy a camera. I worked, saved some money, and finally got my first one: a second-hand Nikon D90 with a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens. It wasn't a great camera by today's standards, but it was mine, and that was enough to start.
02
Learning to see
With that camera, I started noticing things I used to just walk past β people going about their day, the streets and countryside back home, a kid laughing at nothing in particular. I had no training and no real technique. I just carried the camera around and used it whenever something looked worth keeping.
Looking back at those early photos, I could tell something was missing. They weren't what I had pictured, and a few times I thought about giving up the camera for good.
βA perfect photograph is the most natural one, the most real one β because simplicity and honesty are always the most beautiful things in life.β
That was my grandmother. She's gone now, but I still think about that line every time I pick up a camera.
03
Learning by doing, together
From there I started actually building skills β joining local photography groups, comparing notes with other people who were into it, and picking up my camera for friends. I shot weddings for people I knew, and portraits for whoever wanted one. Most of what I learned came from doing it, not reading about it: how to read a room, how to get someone to relax in front of the camera.
04 β 2018
A new horizon
In 2018, I moved to Australia for the first time, and it changed how I used a camera. I liked the open landscape and the people here, and I started going on trips just to take photos β not for anyone else, just for me. That was new. Up until then I'd mostly shot for other people.
05 β Adelaide
Memory Lane Photography
After I finished studying in Adelaide, I finally acted on an idea I'd had for years and started memorylaneadelaide.com with my friend Mark Lee. Our motto is simple: βPhotos that feel calm, real and personal.β We think about photography the same way β no forced poses, no rush. I run it alongside my IT work, and we also do free portrait sessions for the community sometimes.
06 β Ongoing
Still exploring: road trips around Adelaide
These days, when I need a break, I drive out of the city into the hills and farmland around Adelaide. I like that landscape β sheep in a paddock at golden hour, one tree standing on its own, a dirt road heading toward the hills at sunset. No client, no plan, just me and a camera before the light goes. It's the same reason I picked up a camera back in 2012: photography is mostly just paying attention.
07 β September 2026
Champion Wildlife Print
On 5 September, the first day of the Royal Adelaide Show, one of my photos won Champion Wildlife Print in Show. I called it Little Gull: a seagull standing on the sand at sunset, looking straight at the camera. I took it on an ordinary evening at the beach, the kind of photo where the light was good and the bird happened to hold still.
Seeing it framed on the exhibition wall with a ribbon next to it was a strange feeling. Fourteen years after I bought that second-hand Nikon D90, a photo of a bird on a beach reminded me why I started carrying a camera around in the first place.
Want to see more, or talk about a shoot?
Memory Lane