Photographers Boutique: Interview with Donna Brookes from Brookes Callow Photography

Will you start by telling us where you work and live and the type of photography you do?

I live and work in Whitehaven on the outskirts of the Lake District. I am just one half of Brookes Callow Photography and we specialize in contemporary Wedding, Lifestyle and fashion photography in and around Cumbria, the UK and internationally.

What inspires you as a photographer?

I’m definitely a ‘people’ person so the people I photograph inspire me – everyone has a life story to tell and if I can be part of their world for just a few hours and put smiles on their faces then I get really excited about that!

Art inspires me – Texture, colour, shape and form. I am constantly experimenting with different ideas to give each image the individuality it deserves.

Emotion inspires me too! – The love between a mother and her baby child, the unspoken feelings between a couple, the attitude of a teenager! I believe an image should evoke an emotional response, whatever that response may be, joy, laughter, tears…. I know then that I have done my job right.

How long have you been a photographer?

I’ve been a professional photographer for two years but photography has been part of my life in lots of ways all through my life! I remember my first experience of a camera when I was four years old, my Dad hiding under a bed sheet and jumping up snapping a photo of the expression on my face!

My uncle had a Canon A1 when I was young and I knew then that I wanted to take photographs of the world.

I studied Graphic design at University and using photography to illustrate an idea always inspired me!

When you’re not photographing, where can we find you?

When I haven’t got a camera in my hand you can find me in a classroom teaching photography! I work part-time for the Workers’ Educational Association, whose whole ethos is to bring learning to adults who would not ordinarily enter into any sort of learning, especially from disadvantaged communities.

I love the fact that photography can give so many people a purpose, a passion even, or just a different way of looking at the world around them!

You can also find me at home with my husband and two teenage girls just being mum, or down the garden in my greenhouse in the warmer months, nurturing my chili plants!

Any books that inspired you {or helped you} in your business?

The book that has inspired me from the first time I read it as a child, is Alice in Wonderland, that colourful, weird and funny world! I am not sure how this has helped or inspired me in my life or my business, but I am sure it has!

Best marketing idea?

Being me and letting people get to know the ‘real’ me! I don’t feel that I should ever pretend to be someone or something I am not and I think people appreciate and like me for that.

Worst marketing idea?

This would probably be… making the mistake of paying money for advertising, without really doing enough research into whether this would result in a positive benefit for our business.

Do you have a studio and if not do you feel having a studio would help your business grow?

We don’t have a studio at the moment but now you have asked, I do think having a ‘high street’ presence raises your profile. Would people take us more seriously as a business if we had a studio, as it gives the business a more tangible identity? The jury is out on that one in my mind at the moment!

Photographically speaking, I know I wouldn’t enjoy the restrictions I would come to feel in a studio environment. What I love is using the world around us to compliment or represent our clients’ lifestyle, and I do believe I can bring out the best in a person during a shoot when the environment is ‘real’ and not ‘set up’ if you like.

What do you think makes a photographer successful?

The words that came to mind when I read this question were passion, commitment, dedication and a love of life, in no particular order and in equal measures!

What’s your weakness in this business?

My total lack of organization at times! People always try to make me feel better about this, by telling me they’d heard that “all creative people are like that”

I think that will be my excuse and I’m sticking to it!

Are you a Nikon or Canon? And which model?

I shoot with a Canon 5D. Not, I have to admit necessarily through initial choice. I bought my first DSLR second hand and kind of fell in love with it. I can be quite analytical and that side of me would probably have bought a Nikon!

And Lens?

I absolutely love my Canon 70-200! I use this whenever I can, it’s like its part of me and everything is just instinctive when him and me are together! I also have a 50mm prime lens, which I use if my big baby just won’t do the job, and recently I bought a set of Lensbaby creative lenses. These have so much creative possibility, an opportunity to do something a bit different!

If you weren’t a photographer, what would you be?

Hmm… I’d probably stick to teaching. (Although my husband always says I should have been a social worker!) The joy of seeing a person walk away with a confidence to do something they never thought they could do is such a truly special feeling.

Can you give the readers your best piece of advice for starting or running a photography business?

Don’t be scared! Don’t be put off! Talk to lots of people already doing it, expect to make mistakes, reflect on why they were just that, and then move on, but above all love every minute of it!

Tell us your proudest moment of your career?

I could say the first time a client cried with emotion when they saw their images, and yes that was a proud moment, but probably my proudest moment, if I am to be totally honest, was seeing the faces of my students from a disabled Centre, the day an exhibition of their photography was opened in the community, by our local Mayor!