Capturing great love stories & more
Weddings - Children - Family
Firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is Laura Griffiths and I am very glad you have taken the time to have a look at this site, as this means you are interested in me or my work. I take great pleasure in this. I love my job, I love making great images, but most of all I love to make people happy (I used to think this was my downfall, but more on that later).
My journey to becoming a professional photographer has been an unconventional one. I finished high school in 2003 and as most school leavers would tell you, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I knew I should probably go to uni, but how are you supposed to decide at 17 years old what you should do for the rest of your life? Well, as it turns out, I did reasonably well in choosing a course and a job that was fairly interesting and paid well but it was not to become my life's passion. So in 2004 I trudged in to Newcastle University to begin my Bachelor's Degree in Science and it became obvious very quickly that it wasn't really my bag. So I didn't really bother going to classes, I had chosen Psychology, Geography, and Geoscience. I told myself that what would be would be, if I passed all my first semester courses I would stay and make a go of it, if I failed it was a sign I should do something else. Que sera...... I passed.
So back I went. I got used to uni life, made some friends and started to enjoy myself, namely due to one particular subject... Geology. People interested in Geology seemed to also be interested in the things I liked doing at the time, namely drinking and having a good time. Looking back, it's probably not advisable to choose a career based on the fact that everyone in the industry doesn't mind a drink or two, but at the time it suited me. So four years later I had a Bsc maj. Earth Sciences, I had made many friends that I still love to this day, and I had managed it all with pretty good marks. Win.
In 2008 I made my first foray into the big wide world. I had gotten a job with a Geology contracting company and I went off on a plane to north Queensland to start my career as a Geo (rock licker, rock doctor etc). It was enjoyable, I was making good money and having a good time, the time of my life actually. I was free and I was a grown-up (which I now know is overrated). I met a boy named Mark at my first job, we liked each other and I now have his last name. I have no regrets about my choices, I learned to be free and independent and I met the love of my life.
As a few years went by I became jaded with the industry. It seemed that the harder you worked and the better you were at your job, the more you were used and abused by the company you worked for. Now don't get me wrong, not all of these companies are bad, and we have made many friends in the industry, but for the most part form our point of view the industry seemed a bit on the nose. One day, sitting out at an exploration site, away from Mark and bored out of my brain (did I mention being a Geo is not glamorous, and not really very stimulating?) so I went online and decided to bite the bullet and buy something I had been thinking about for a while. A few weeks later, a package arrived containing my first ever DSLR, a Canon 50D and it felt good in my hands.
Over the next year or two I played with my camera and I enjoyed making images, but my life was fairly busy with working. We had our good jobs and our really bad ones and everything in between. Mark and I left our jobs to get married in 2011, and it was a wonderful time. We were married in Wanaka, New Zealand, one of the most naturally beautiful places I have ever seen. Our wedding photographer was amazing, very professional and the images that resulted were hands down the best I'd ever seen. That was it, I was hooked. The way the photographer had been leading up to the wedding, on the wedding day and the feeling when we received our images really had a huge impact on me. Here was someone making beautiful art, having fun doing it and making people very happy. I wanted in.
I took my camera on our honeymoon where we travelled around southeast asia for six months. I honed my sills, I got better gear, I fell in love with this art and the rest is history. When before my natural instincts to please everyone worked against me (I felt my lack of assertiveness in the mining industry really let me down) they now work for me. I love to do a really good job for people (I always have) but the difference is the immense appreciation I get for my work now. That is what drives me, keeps me going and keeps me striving to get better.
Since returning to Australia, Mark and I have set up our own Geology company Greenfields Geology (if any of you have ever called me only to reach my message bank and be totally confused, this explains a lot). I have also set up Laura Griffiths Photography, which is growing slowly but surely. I still have to do some Geology here and there to supplement the quiet times when I don't have many photography gigs, but everything is more enjoyable now. I am working for a reason, heading for a goal and if I work hard I will get there. I am thankful for my Geology career, because of it I have made lasting friendships, met my Husband and it has allowed me the flexibility to buy really good photography gear. I am also really excited about the future and what it will bring, I would still like to be involved in the mining industry as a Geologist (after all is said and done, I really like rocks!) but I would love to have my business running at a level where I can make enough money and have fun doing it.
So here's to the future, doing it in style and having bucket loads of fun on the way.
Laura
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