Hi there friend, i'm Faye!
If you've had a chance to take a look at the 'About' page on my website, then you'll have picked up a few snippets of information about me. If you'd like to know more... well, first of all, let's chat! I love nothing more than sitting in a cafe drinking tea (I actually really hate coffee. LOVE tea though!). The best way to get to know me is by chatting to me, but if you'd like to know more before we meet face to face, you're in the right place.
My photography journey began a very long time ago, when I was in school. My best friends can attest to the fact that I wouldn't go anywhere without my trusty point-and-click and about 15 rolls of film - yes, film! Back before the word 'selfie' was invented, and when every click of the camera HAD to matter, because you couldn't just take a zillion photos of the same thing and pick your favourite. I used to wait with excitement for my photos to come back through the post 2 weeks after sending off my rolls of film. Let's just say that there are a lot of really awful photos of me and my pals back in the day - we thought we looked awesome though, of course!
My parents bought me a tiny digital camera for my 21st birthday, which fuelled my love of photography, and of travelling, as I used it on my post-university euro-trip and my epic trip to Vietnam with my now-husband.
We actually met at University. He was studying Maths and I was studying Archaeology, something I will always have a soft spot for. Two days after we started 'Going out', the Top Gear Vietnam Christmas special was on TV. I was mesmerised. I was in love. I HAD to go to Vietnam! So, two days after Matt became my boyfriend, I told him that I was going travelling in Vietnam and was he going to come with me. Almost exactly a year later, we went to Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia for two months.
I knew then that our mutual love of travel would be there forever. We got married in 2014, and two weeks later moved to the industrial city of Duisburg in Germany, where we would spend the next 3 years working in an English International School.
That same year, my wonderful husband bought me my very first DSLR camera for my birthday. I was smitten. It was love at first sight. I now had the technology to take all of the fantastic, amazing photos I had always dreamed about. I experimented with different photography styles, and got REALLY good at taking street portraits of people when we were on our travels.
Some friends of ours in Germany got engaged and decided that they wanted the wedding in Germany before moving back to Ireland. They asked if I would take their wedding photos, and I said yes! They got married in a picturesque German castle, and I loved taking the photos so much that I decided that was what I was going to do forever. That buzz of adrenaline that I got from capturing once in a lifetime moments is still something I experience with every wedding I am a part of. There is no other feeling like it.
After 3 years in Germany, we moved to Shanghai in China for another 3 years. I started my photography business in 2016, and I am so lucky that it has been going from strength to strength since then. It has also meant that I have got the chance to work as a professional photographer all over the world, which is awesome!
In 2020 we moved to Hampshire in the south of England (a little earlier than originally planned due to covid), and we had our gorgeous baby girl Amber in January 2021. She has completely changed our lives. She is funny and cute and beautiful and sassy and is the absolute light of our lives.
So, that's my journey into the world of professional wedding photography. It's been a dream, and still is, every single day.
Want to know more about me? Here are a few quick-fire questions and answers:
Tea or coffee? Tea. I love the smell of coffee, but absolutely hate the taste
Where is your favourite holiday destination? Swaziland - Safari
What is your biggest fear? Spiders
What is your proudest accomplishment? Having a paper published in an academic journal
What makes you laugh the most? My husband, Matt
What is your favourite book? Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
What is your favourite movie? Toss up between Overboard or Operation Petticoat
What did you want to be when you grew up? An Archaeologist - basically, Indiana Jones
Who is your favourite band? Queen
What is your favourite colour? Sunset orange
What is your favourite food? Thai green curry
What is your favourite animal? Cheetah - Cats in general. Big or small.
What is your favourite possession? My passport - A stamp in my passport is one of life's great pleasures
What turns you into a huge geek? Palaeolithic handaxes and cave paintings - Don't even ask - This goes way back to my Archaeology days!
