AshtonTaylor01

Interview with Anne Cooper – Mother, Teacher, Business Owner and Photographer. (Anne’s photography business has taken off after posting a few images on her facebook wall. Now, over 1000 people like her page and she is getting calls from all over the world.) (my article is going to be called either ‘Triple Threat’ or something to do with facebook/the internet... Not sure yet!) How long have you been a visual arts teacher? 17 years. What is the strangest thing a student has ever done? One day I was teaching a cooking class and they had cooked their food but it was too hot to take out and eat at recess. I told the students that they could take it unless it was cool, so one turned around and put it in the microwave on defrost thinking that would surely cool it down. How long have you been a mother? I have been a mother since 2000. Ben is turning 12 this year, Ellie is 9, Hannah is 7, Angus is 5, Lizzie is 3 and Charlie is 18 months. So there is 6 of them! When did you realise that you to pursue photography as a career rather than a hobby? Probably in the last few years. I’ve just become disillusioned with teaching and all the paperwork and other things involved. Photography has always been my big interest and I am just looking for something to capture a bit more creativity. How did you go about setting up your own business? The internet played a massive role, I photographed friend’s kids and weddings and so forth and posted a few on Facebook. It sort of just grew from there! That grabbed it and has grown it into a business, more or less out of my control. It has definitely gone crazy and spread to places I would never have thought. So the internet played a massive role, then? MASSIVE role! It really took it out of my hands because it just became huge all of a sudden. I loved the feedback from posting pictures and showing my work, then I thought ‘I could really do this full time’. What is your favourite thing to take photos of? I love babies, especially newborn. It’s exciting to be a part of that time in someone’s life. I also love shooting kids too, I’m a big prop junkie. I love setting a shoot up and choosing props that suit my clients. I love weddings too, it’s all good! How many shoots would you do per week? Roughly around three. That’s really all I can fit in around kids and teaching at the moment. I try not to do too much because of the post production time and keeping up with everything. I try to shoot on location rather than studio shots, apart from new babies. How many hours would you spend on post production, then? On a small shoot, it could be anything from 2 to 4 hours. On a large shoot, like a wedding, it can be 8 or 10 hours before I finish editing. How do you juggle being a mother, a teacher and a business owner? I don’t! (laughs) It’s chaotic, it’s crazy. I’ve got a great husband! Some days it works really well and some days it’s organised chaos. That’s just life. I try and run everything on a tight schedule and keep organised. I love it, but the time spent away from family is hard sometimes. What is the weirdest thing you’ve ever been asked to photograph? Recently an older lady in her 60’s asked me to photograph her nude so she could give the photos to her husband for his 70th birthday. I still haven’t done it. Do you have any tricks or jokes to making people smile when you’re taking their photo? Well when I’m shooting kids I can hone into what will make them laugh because I’ve got 6 of my own! Boys love the fart jokes, obviously. I try and let everyone have fun and be natural. I like the more candid shots. Are your kids sick of you taking photos of them yet? Yeah, the older ones are! Sometimes they do something funny and say ‘take a photo mum!’. Other times I tend to take candid ones of them while they’re not aware. The older ones are definitely sick of it though! Where do you plan to go from here? Definitely get my business to a stage where I can do it full time. Also, I’d like to expand my base. I’ve already started doing that, I’m shooting in Canberra, Sydney and other places. What are the advantages of being a rural based photographer? Well where I am in Temora is close to a lot of bigger centres, so you can still get work around here. It doesn’t necessarily matter where you are. Also, being in the country give you so many more options of locations to shoot in. We have beautiful countryside and wide open spaces. We aren’t limited to buildings and architecture. Do you have any advice for anyone who is looking to start their own business? If you’ve got kids, have a good husband. Otherwise, don’t have kids! (laughs) Just do what you love and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Keep thinking of new ideas and drawing inspiration from things you love. Find Anne’s business at https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Anne-Cooper-Photography/201524223201222 or http://annecooperphotography.blogspot.com/ Images are- Ashton Taylor 01- Annes Facebook page (Screen grab) Ashton Taylor 02- A sample of some of Annes work. Ashton Taylor 03- Some of Annes props/costumes. Ashton Taylor 04- More of Annes props Ashton Taylor 05- Anne and her youngest- Charlie.

Page: 31 of 155 (20%)