St George Leagues Club Photographic Society
Supporting Our Members
My enthusiasm for photography came at an early age way before I got my first DSLR. I have had a camera in my hand since I was about 5 years old. While growing up, I loved to take photos with the family camera and would use all the space on the computer hard drive. That was my forte!! I have attended multiple short courses on different aspects of photography and recently acquired my Certificate IV in Photography and Diploma in Photo Imaging.
A lot of people are shocked with the images I get out of using my D7000 crop sensor camera (and 18-105mm kit lens). I say when you know your settings, all cameras will work for you (though I desperately want to get a full frame camera). The big shock (even for myself) came when we were required to submit 10 images for my end of year portfolio assessment while doing my Diploma in Photo Imaging. I ended up presenting an architectural portfolio which I was extremely happy with and also receiving first for it, it inspired and gave me enthusiasm to go even further and really pursue this as my career. I got a lot of great feedback and compliments from it when we had our exhibition at Ultimo TAFE. I remember one man purposely came on the day it first opened (I happened to be there!) to specifically come and see my work on the wall as he was shocked with the images that were playing in a slideshow on campus. That made my day I can tell you!! As most photographers will say, they don’t think their work is any good until people really tell you and you start believing it.
Ever since I started doing courses I became much more observant with the world that we live in. It is full of moments to capture. It can sometimes overtake me which is not good when you go on a holiday to relax with your camera! People have often told me that I have a creative eye and an ability to capture the moments. When I shoot, I get the tourist photo out of the way then start changing it up a little. Moving behind people to get a sense of crowded atmosphere, changing the aperture to have a point of view, focusing on the small things and not always shooting wide. My current style is shooting abstract, architecture or anything that has a minimalist feel (even food!). My aim is to shoot something that no other photographer has really done before. For example with my Architecture portfolio I researched images that have been taken before at the locations and didn’t see an image that really took my eye. So when I arrived at the locations it was my turn to have a go and interpret it how I saw it.
My love for light and photography is so great as that’s what makes the image come to life. No light, no photo! The emotion and sense of feel in some images is what helps create the image in my opinion. This is just a small collection of my light work, more to be exhibited in our Head On Festival Exhibition this year. My current work consists of portraits of individuals or families, events, corporate events and functions, architecture, product shots for websites and advertising material and most things that come my way, especially from word of mouth. Please contact me for a shoot or if I am of any help to you.
Being the youngest photographer at the club and being so welcomed by all the lovely members helps me be in contact with local photographers. I would love to see other young people join us and share their ideas and knowledge as well.
To contact me or to see more of my work please see my website. Marianthi Karadoukas