Becki Williams Photography Turns 5!
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5 years ago today I packed my belongings into a box (just like in the movies) and left my full time job as a Video Editor in Harpenden.
For the last 10 or so years, everything I had done was to become a Video Editor. I went to college in Watford when I was 16 to study Media Production where video editing became my passion and photography my hobby.
After a gap year I went to University and did a 4 year degree in Film & Music, which included a ‘year in industry’ where I gained experience.
I left with a 1st Class Degree and within a few months found myself as a Runner at Pinewood Studios. My job was as entry level as you can get but when you’re surrounded by editors and bumping into Ralph Fiennes dressed as Voldemort on the way to get the post and Jack Black filming Gulliver's Travels on the way to get people’s lunch, you don’t really mind making so many cups of tea.
After a while, I realised the long hours and insane M25 commute was not for me. I needed something closer to home with hours that meant my husband and I (just boyfriend back then!) were more than passing ships in the night.
I was lucky enough to find a video editing job in Harpenden pretty quickly. Just a 6 minute commute and normal working hours, it was perfect. It was corporate video editing so there were no celebs to bump into in the corridors but I was actually editing rather than making non stop coffee.
After a few years of corporate editing I started to get twitchy fingers. Maybe this wasn’t what I wanted to do after all? But I had gone to university for this career. I’d worked in the industry for 5 1/2 years now!
Having picked up photography as a hobby in 2002, I still enjoyed it and found myself snapping away at the weekends. Slowly and surely I started asking people if there was anything they’d like me to photograph.
I did maternity shoots, child photo shoots, products shoots, all to get practice and see how I felt about being a photographer.
After getting a little experience I started charging small amounts for weekend photo shoots and putting together a portfolio.
In May 2014 on my wedding day, I opened a present from my husband, which came with a note about following my dreams. It was a brand new camera, the camera I still use to this day.
We had no idea that in 5 months time, that was exactly what I would be doing.
In October 2014 I took voluntary redundancy from my editing job, packed up my box of belongings and was officially full time self employed.
Starting your own business is not easy.
As much as a lot of people think I just take photos for living, that’s far from the truth. I edit, build websites, work on social media, do admin and send emails for a living. Taking photos, that’s just 10% of my job.
But the 10% that I spend cuddling newborn babies, the time I spend with new families, makes the other 90% worth it.
And that’s what I think is different about this job than any other that I’ve had. I love the photography side of things so much that I will happily sit and rage at my tax return once a year or spend hours a week renaming photos before uploading them to my website so that Google ranks me higher in search results.
Through all the ups and downs I’ve loved the last 5 years and I have no intention of giving it up any time soon. There are still way too many newborns out there that need cuddles!
So thank you to everyone who booked me as their photographer, whether that was in year 1 or year 5. Thank you for every review left, every Facebook post like and for anyone who has shared my work with their friends and family.
Word of mouth is the BEST form of advertising and the only people I have to thank for that is all of you. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Becki x
