Credit: A. Noske 2022

SO WHATS MY STORY?

SO WHERE DID IT ALL BEGIN, I HEAR YOU ASKED? OR MAYBE YOU DIDN’T… LETS SAY YOU DID.

Well, I started out as a professional tennis coach.

And it was an unintentional, somewhat accidental, career path which began with a introduction to DSLR camera course at Michael’s Camera Store in Melbourne. Yep, that’s how it all began.

I was taking a break from tennis coaching, after working for 20 years in the sports industry in sport and exercise science and biomechanics, its not as boring as it sounds, but I was burnt out from the 50 week a year / 7 day a week job. Yes I got to travel, but I never actually saw or enjoyed the places I was visiting, except the amazing tennis courts I got to play on.

I brought a DSLR camera, because the best camera takes the best photos… right? But I needed to learn how to use it, and Michaels Camera’s offered a FREE camera course with the purchase. So I turned up with my freshly minted camera, wide eyed and keen to learn how to operate this complicated piece of machinery. After the course, I went home with my newly found skill set (yep I was naive), and I took some photos on the farm of my 8 week old kelpie pup.

The next day, I posted it to social media, and it was shared EVERYWHERE, including published in the Herald Weekly Times… now thinking… “wow this photographer business is easy.”

I gave Michaels Camera Store a call a few days later and enrolled into a swag of new courses… in fact all of them over the next few weeks to learn as much as I could about photography. A few months later I joined a few landscape photographers on a tour to the Great Ocean Road, I was 30ish and never been, and that really sparked the interest in Landscape photography. After a chance meeting with Ken Duncan, at the Langham Hotel, and yes I showed Ken a few photos on my mobile phone… “A big no no because a photograph isn’t a photograph until its printed”. But after that conversation, and inspiring meeting, I gave up my former life as a tennis coach.

And so, my photography career began.

SO, YOU JUST GAVE UP YOUR PREVIOUS JOB?

Ah, great question! Simply yes.

As a kid and in everything I did, I was obsessed with perfectionism, “if you’re going to do something you do it right”. I was a successful coach, I won awards and was recognised as the Top Victorian tennis coach, Runner Up in the Australian Tennis Awards (Newcombe Medal) on three occasions. What I found in photography was it allowed me to be creative and I still got all the amazing benefits out of coaching such as being outdoors and traveling, but I LOVED the adventure.

PHOTOGRAPHY WAS NOW MY THING!

So, after a bit of research into Landscape photography, I could only find one photographer that had studied photography. So many were self taught, which wasn’t a bad thing at all. My point of difference in sport was a degree, so I went and got myself a Photography degree at RMIT University in Photography and Photo Imaging. Yep, this is the part where I can flash my virtual badge at you and impress you with my credentials.

I have worked with Ken Duncan OAM as his assistant, travelled with Ray Martin (who is an absolute rockstar and brilliant photographer) and I have had the opportunity to learn from so many photographers who inspire me each and every day and challenge me to be a better photographer.

SO, WAS IT ALL WORTH IT?

Absolutely! But my life is not all about photographs. There is a whole bunch or other weird and wacky stuff you might find interesting… or maybe not?

  • I am a farm girl at heart, I love getting down and dirty and love the big boys toys and the hard work associated with farm life.

  • I love animals, animals are a huge part of my life, the working dogs I have trained and the crazy kittens that entertain you. Living on a farm you can never have enough animals.

  • I love being active, I miss playing tennis, I work at the Australian Open every year (over 20years), although I dislike watching tennis… Is that weird?

  • I admit to being slightly OCD, but honestly, my dymo labeller is one of my best friends.

  • My new found obsession with The Crown, I was never a fan on the royal family, but now I feel like a groupie.

  • True Story… When I was a teenager, I had a Ken Duncan Panographs image on my wall with a quote “ Turn your scars into stars” and waterfalls… hmmmm if you told me 20 years later I would love photographing waterfalls and I would be mentored by Ken Duncan I would have laughed at you and told you “you’re dreaming”

SO, TELL ME. WHAT’S YOUR STORY? EVERYONE HAS A STORY TO TELL.

If you think all of that is relatable and you would like to work with me, or even give me the honour of owning one of my photographic prints… I would be honoured.