From Creative Curiosity to Capturing Perth: My Journey as a Photographer

If you had told me years ago that I would go from every creative passion in my teens, to finally landing on photography where I would be shooting festivals to well-known figures in the Perth scene, I would be laughing at you. My path into photography was something that came naturally by inspiration from others. I didn’t take courses to learn at the start, but I did have industry connections to get my foot in the door and that was all I needed.

Finding My Creative Voice

Finding all my creative voices was easy, however finding the right creative voice for me to channel was a challenge. I have always been a creative person, and I have explored so many areas of work from music, painting, game development, animation, content creation etc. but nothing quite landed or felt as fulfilling as I would have liked it to be. Photography was a passion I discovered from a good friend of mine learning about the type of photoshoots he had taken and what results he got from them; I was hooked. After borrowing one of his cameras for an hour or two, I decided to purchase my first camera; the Canon 1500D. I still have this camera today and I love learning and using it. The more I used this camera, the more I learnt about my style and what niche I wanted to land myself in and I truly found my creative voice through photography because of this.

Breaking Into the Industry and Life Behind the Camera Today

Breaking into the industry wasn’t too difficult for me as due to my passions in creative fields such as music, I already had a network of people who may be interested in taking work from me. My first opportunity was about May 2024, when I took photos and videos of a local DJ at a bar playing Drum and Bass. I did awful, my ISO was too high, and I did not know how to use the flash I had at the time. However, this lit a fire under me to reach out to different venues that have events happening, and to see if any of them were interested in me taking photos of their events for free. As I continued to take photos for events that gave me a chance, I would receive more notoriety from the Perth scene. Once I grew my skills and base network to an extent where I was getting photo/video gigs every so often and I knew what I was doing, I expanded into portrait shoots for DJs. Once I got my first client doing portrait photography, I did a collaboration post on Instagram with my work, and then the everything snowballed from there and now the more involved I am with my shoots and people around me in the scene, the more opportunities I have been getting. Currently I am shooting multiple times a week for musicians, events, and commercial shoots whilst studying full-time. I am very fortunate to create this into a career already and I am excited to see where my work takes me.

From my first major event shoot (definitely wasn’t the best shots)*

Conclusion and Closing Thoughts

Looking back on every creative detour, all those creative voices had led me to this point – a place where my passion, skill and community all intertwine with each other. Photography has become more than just a career and instead, it has become a way to socialise, learn people’s stories and add them onto my own canvas. From messing up my first ever shoot to now working deep into the Perth scene with most talented brands, the journey is humbling but so rewarding if you’re willing to jump for it. If there is one thing I have learned, it’s that creativity thrives when you put yourself out there and embrace the mistakes, you just got to keep shooting.

Embrace Festival February 2025 - Shot by Andrew Siney*

If you’re looking for a photographer who can bring your story/brand to life – whether at a festival, a portrait session or a creative project – Contact me today and we can start planning your next shoot!