My origin story
Everyone loves a good origin story, right? Peter Parker’s Spider bite, Kate Middleton – pre-Princess, TV’s Before They Were Famous…Those stories make us believe anything is possible – and it is!
As my business turned six on the 1st of June…I know six! I can’t believe it myself, I thought I would share JB Moments Photography’s origin story.
80’s Baby!
In the early 80’s when I was around 10 years old I was given my first camera. My stepdad had been collecting points from something I can’t remember and my brother and I got to pick something from a vast catalogue of ways he could redeem them. My brother picked a very cool BMX bike and on a whim, I chose a camera.
It was a Nikon point-and-shoot camera and it came in this super cool (well I thought it was super cool at the time!) black plastic briefcase with foam inlays. It was a film camera and I thought I was the mutts nuts.
From that moment all the minutiae of my rather boring village life was captured. My friends, my brother and his pals, school trips, and family get-togethers. My poor mum spent a fortune sending away my films to Bonus Print to get developed.
I was intent on documenting life, my life. When my beloved gran passed, my mum and aunt only had limited time to clear her flat and my gran’s photos got lost in the clearout. I lost a huge chunk of visual history and I was determined that wouldn’t happen again.
Canon Rules
Many years later, I think for my sweet sixteenth my mum upgraded me to my first SLR camera, and based on the advice of the camera shop (thank you Jessops) it was a Canon. So began my lifelong love affair with the Canon brand. I was easy to buy for from that moment onwards…A new lens, flash, filters that I’d read about in camera magazines. If it was camera related I was happy. I can’t remember if it was that camera or a later iteration that went to University with me but oh boy! Some of those images never got developed!!
Banker with a Camera
By now family and friends were used to me turning up to every big event with a camera in my hand. I had graduated with honours from Stirling University and had settled into my graduate job with a well-known Scottish Bank. My soon-to-be husband (we met two weeks before we both graduated from Uni) had now taken over the mantel of camera present buying.
It was Mr JB who bought my first Digital SLR camera for me. Another total game-changer. I could now take hundreds of photos of the same thing, see them instantly, and not have to worry about sending them off to be processed.
Life Choices
Every event at work that I was involved in included me taking photos. I really enjoyed that.
What I was enjoying less and less was being a banker. I mean, you’ve met me, do I look like I fit into the corporate world? Mr JB asked me what my dream job would be and I said photographer. Then we both looked at our huge mortgage and living expenses and laughed and laughed!
A Wedding Proposal
Almost 20 years into a career that was now sucking the life out of me one of my excellent work buddies got engaged. It was only going to be a few people and in my excitement for her, I offered to take the pictures for the wedding. She said yes! Now to put this in context I had taken nice pictures at other friend’s and family members’ weddings but I’d never been the official photographer. Yes that’s right I was one of those annoying people that stood right next to the photographer and took pictures over their shoulder!!
Cue lots of wedding photography training via the University of YouTube. The wedding, as weddings do, started growing arms and legs and was becoming a much larger affair. I was feeling confident right up until I wasn’t. I remember phoning my boss on the way home from work about a week before the wedding having a complete meltdown. What if I messed it up and ruined their memories from the day? My boss gave me a stern talking to, Mr JB gave me a talking to, and I gave myself a stern talking to. I pulled my big girl pants on, stuck my chest out, and said I CAN DO THIS.
Their Day Was My Day
Oh, my days! I couldn’t remember a better day. From capturing the story of the day as it unfolded to having time alone with the bride and groom. I’m not going to lie, I got quite the power trip bossing people about for the group shots as well!
That day I found my true purpose. I loved every minute. Mr JB saw I loved every minute and between us, we vowed to make it happen. I was going to quit the bank and become a professional photographer. And just over a year or so later I did and JB Moments Photography was born!
I look back at those images and they were shot with a hobbyist camera and a kit lens. I shot the whole wedding on auto settings and edited it in Apple Photos. I’ve come such a long way since then. My (still Canon) camera and lenses are professional grade. I shoot everything in manual mode to control the light and depth of field. I edit in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshoot and have now shot over 50 weddings and many other subjects.
But the image of the two of them I posted above is still one of my favourite images. More importantly, my friends loved their images (and stayed friends with me!) and booked and promoted me for other jobs. I still feel the same joy in capturing people’s life moments and turning them into memories. Here’s to (at least) another six years.
