Fiona Brook

St George Leagues Club Photographic Society

Supporting Our Members

 

 

I have been interested in photography since I was a child – possibly because my father is also a keen photographer, and my sisters and I were frequently called upon to pose for some crazy idea of his.

This shot of me taken where I grew up in Scotland (yes, the sun does occasionally shine there).  This was obviously before I had understood the meaning of modesty!

I was given my first 35 mm film SLR camera (a Petri GX-1 with 50 mm and 28 mm lenses) at the age of 15, and soon discovered greater possibilities than with the Kodak disposable cameras I had previously used.  My family and I migrated to Australia about a year later, and I used the camera to document the trip.  In pre-digital days I was very discerning about clicking the shutter and the film processing costs associated with each frame.  It was during this time that I realised photography was a way for me to express myself and my view of the world.  Over the next 20 years or so I spent little time using the camera, other than to take snapshots of family events and the like.  Other aspects of life became prioritised somehow.

In 2005 I bought my first digital camera – a compact Kodak C360 5 mega pixel model.  I was immediately impressed with the quality of the images, even though it was a low-end camera.  I started posting images on the Internet in various interest groups, and received some positive feedback with regard to composition, etc.   Comments such as “that shot is great – you must have a really good camera!”  I’m sure we’ve all heard that before.

In late 2007 I was given a Nikon D80 camera with kit lenses (28-55 mm and 70-300 mm) by a close friend who enjoyed my photography.  This was the impetus for me to explore the current phase of my journey.  I was advised by my aunt in the UK (who is a semi-professional photographer) to find a camera club, which is how I stumbled upon the St George Leagues Club Photographic Society.  I was immediately drawn to the imagery I found on the website, and wanted to explore how I could learn to improve my photography.  I heard about the Portfolio project that was supervised by Professor Des Crawley and decided to give it a go.  I had all sorts of ideas about subject matter, but on the day before the first portfolio group meeting I received the devastating news that a close friend of mine had killed himself.  I decided to investigate the topic of “death”.  Something western society doesn’t deal with too well.

I spent many hours taking pictures in cemeteries and reading about different cultural perspectives on the subject but the project didn’t seem to gel.  I almost gave up, but the interaction with other club members helped me a great deal, and the “team” atmosphere of the portfolio process drove me on to find a way to complete the task.  I believe this has been one of the most important activities I have undertaken in life to date to learn about myself and how the world works. In the end I decided to produce a tribute to my friend.
This is the AV presentation that resulted from that experience…

 

A year later I found myself on the Committee as the Club’s Treasurer (thanks Bernard for oh so kindly nominating me!).  Involvement at Committee level certainly gave me a different perspective on the club, and I enjoyed the four years in the job.  I began to realise that I have a strong interest in macro photography and invested in a Tamron 90 mm macro lens.  It became my obsession for the next little while, and no bug or flower was safe from my attention.

I was asked to give a presentation to the club, and here is a Proshow presentation I made at the time . . . 

 

Of course in hindsight, I would do many things differently, but that’s the great thing about the learning process. I took part in the Portfolio exercise run by the club again in 2010 after having spent the best part of a year getting to know and understand the community of The Block in Redfern.  Once again it was an extremely enlightening and enriching experience to share with other club members.
Here is the result…