All about Anne-Maree.
Hi, my name is Anne-Maree Lloyd I have had a passion for photography for many years. I am a professional photographer working in Western Queensland. I started taking photos when I was at school with the little throw away cameras you could buy back then as I could not afford a camera. When I started work, I was able to buy a compact Nikon camera duty free when I went on a overseas holiday and boy did it open up my eyes to what I had been missing. I soon realised I wanted to do more and was lucky enough to receive my first SLR (big) camera with kit lenses for my 18th birthday. I took so many photos mainly of horse events etc when I was competing but the down side was I had to wait until pay day to get them developed. I can remember being so excited waiting at the counter of the local chemist to see what treasures I had in that envelope. Most of the time I was pleased with what I had captured, sometimes my experimenting with settings was disappointing but I took it all on board and tried to learn from those experiences. Hopefully, I have!
When my kids were small I realised I needed to capture their lives and events and that’s about the same time that digital cameras came onto the scene. My first digital SLR was a big heavy camera with a little 2cm x 2cm screen on the back, lucky my eyes were better back then to be able to see what I had captured. I have since progressively improved my cameras and skills.
I shoot with professional quality full frame Nikon cameras and lenses and I love them! Why Nikon? I remember when I was buying my first camera, a professional photographer that I so admired told me that Nikon was the best. Of course that was his personal opinion and possibly if I had asked someone else they would have told me Canon is the best. Anyway, that set me on the Nikon path and I have never been sorry.
I have educated myself by doing online diplomas, face to face mentoring, travelling many miles to do workshops with photographers I admire and I can honestly say that I have learnt from every single photographer I have ever spoken with and I am still learning. I became an accredited AIPP Professional Photographer about 5 years ago. I live my life with the assumption that you are never too old to learn and use it or lose it! Well, use it, I do. I am still learning online, face to face and via zoom. Sometimes it’s all a bit overwhelming, I am not very technical but I know if I persist I will get there. I have found that there is always someone who will help and in return I love helping others with their photography.
My style of photography has morphed into more of a documentary style. I love documenting families and lifestyles in our beautiful part of the world. The colours, the landscape, the people all tell a story and my mission is to tell that story authentically. I do minimal editing to my photos because I want to tell the true story of people and places not the photoshopped magazine images that is are unrealistic. The photos of me in this blog are unedited straight from camera. Yes, I have wrinkles but they show I have laughed, frowned and lived. Yes, I have grey roots, a few too many kilos and sun damage but that is me and that is how I want people to remember me when I am no longer around. I am proud of who I am and what I have done to get here.
In conclusion, I love life, family, friends and photography and I am doing my best to capture them all with my camera for generations to appreciate and love.
Keep smiling and taking photos!
Anne-Maree x