About Me
Hi, I'm Freddie. I'm 15, and I have a strong passion for photography.
I moved to the (sometimes) sunny island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands when I was 8 years old
During these years I have mainly grown up in Guernsey and have made lots of friends here along the way. But this wasn’t always the case. I always felt like something was missing, I never really had any hobbies, I would just stay inside and play on my Xbox and PlayStation all day. Just wasting the time away. Little did I know, that would all change.
Just before my 13th birthday, something sparked in me, I really wanted to try Photography. I first started to take photos of flowers in my grandmother's garden using her phone. My grandmother fully supported this new hobby I had discovered, and for my 13th birthday, my grandmother and grandfather gave me my first DSLR camera (Samsung NX1000 with a 20-50mm f/3.5-5.6 lens). When I received this camera, I was ecstatic, I absolutely loved it. And that’s when my passion really sparked, I would go out almost every weekend taking photos. Time passes and in May 2023, I found a bigger DSLR which is my current camera (Nikon D3200) on Facebook marketplace, I asked my grandmother if I could get it for my birthday, and because she believed in me, she got it for me, I was so excited to try out this new camera and explore the opportunities ahead.
I was meant to receive this camera for my 14th birthday but plans changed, I found out that the 2023 Island Games was taking place in Guernsey, I was really interested in this event as I thought it would be a good idea to volunteer, my grandmother encouraged me to volunteer as she thought it would be good experience. little did I know that this would be one of the best weeks of my life, I enjoyed it so much, sure I might not have known what I was doing half of the time but it was great to practice photography. And the other photographers were there to help me out when I was looking a little lost. From spending time with the media team in the office or out taking photos and even videos for the social media accounts with them, it all was a new experience for me. When I was at the closing ceremony, I didn't want the fun to end, for me it had only just started. But I had only just finished Year 9, I had 2 years of school ahead of me and probably 2 of the most important years, GCSEs were approaching fast.
Unfortunately, my school didn't offer GCSE Photography, so I resorted to other subjects, I was stuck with self – teaching myself photography, this mainly consisted of me going out to take photos at the weekends or during school holidays.
I'm not an artistic person, I can’t draw for the life of me. But Photography really clicked with me. Even if I didn't know what the rule of thirds was until I asked my school's A-Level photography teacher.
In October 2023, I was out for a walk around the lanes in St Martin, I hadn't been down these lanes before, I had my camera in my hand and wasn’t really seeing anything interesting to photograph, but then I noticed the amount of red admirals flying around was incredible, especially for late October, I got one shot in particular that I loved, there was something about it that I couldn’t and still can’t explain what it is to this day, this was also before I knew anything about Photography, I was sort of walking around with my camera snapping photos, I think the rule of thirds just became a second nature to me at some point as I never really asked about it and just did it.
I think around November 2023, I see a Facebook post from Gsy arts advertising the 2024 Bailiwick Wildlife Photography exhibition which went alongside the Natural History Museum’s Wildlife Photographer Of The Year. I decided to enter this exhibition with this red admiral photo, thinking that I wouldn’t get in as I was just a 14-year-old taking random photos, but to my surprise I got into the exhibition, and I think this is what started my love for wildlife photography, something clicked in me like it did when I first discovered photography. After the exhibition opened, I started to go out to Vale Pond to take photos of the birds, it wasn’t that long before I started to meet other wildlife photographers, then I met Ben Le Prevost, A chocolatier and wildlife photographer, he told me all the best spots to find birds and always asks me if I've seen the owls (Not Yet!) maybe next year. But the wildlife community is so friendly on this island, it's difficult not to meet people who love wildlife.
I also love outer space; I always wonder what is out there in the billions of light years of galaxies and stars. With photography, you can really see some wonders of the universe from your back garden, I always saw these amazing photos of galaxies and nebulas on social media and wanted to try and do it myself, but didn't know how, I tried searching it up on YouTube but I didn't understand any of it, but then I met a lovely astrophotographer named Ben Fiore, he helped me in my very early stages of astro, with his knowledge, he told me the basics and helped me out with starting out, I went out into my grandmothers garden during the summer and gave it a shot, I struggled with astrophotography at first because of 1 thing. I am absolutely terrified of the dark outdoors there's something ominous about it that I just can’t handle, so I would only spend maybe 20 minutes maximum at first outside taking photos in the back garden before I would get scared and run inside, I know it sounds silly that an almost 15 year old at the time was scared of the dark, but these things just happen, you sometimes just can't handle it, Ben then suggested that I try listening to music while I take photos out in the dark, this really helped, probably more than “really helping”. It completely changed my view of being outside in the dark alone, I was able to stay outside for hours if I was listening to music or just talking to friends on the phone, I found a way to cope with my stresses, and this has completely changed my attitude to the outdoors.
I really started to connect with the outdoors when I did my Silver Duke of Edinburgh expeditions, the first-time round, when I did my practice, I really struggled, I wasn’t with the right group and I couldn't complete it properly, I felt down with myself afterwards and thought I would never be able to do it. After that, I had maybe the best summer of my life to date, I spent time with friends and met new people, I spent time with my family and my confidence really shot up, going into Year 11, I felt better than I did, before this, I was quite a shy person, but now, I feel like I have really changed. I wanted to try the Silver D of E qualifier expedition, I had my grandmothers full support going into this, I had changed groups and felt ready to take this challenge on, when we started, I was feeling great, I knew I was with the right group this time, I was very confident. It was very tough, I'm not the fittest person I will admit, but I powered through it and next thing I knew, I was on my way back from Wales knowing I had finally completed it, about a week after, I found out that I had passed the expedition. After this experience, I felt really accomplished with myself, and this really boosted my self-esteem.
During these past couple of years, I believe my passion for Photography has completely changed my life for the better. I went from being completely quiet and shy, and not doing anything productive. To being confident with myself, going out with friends and being productive, and also doing the things I love. And I now find socialising with new people way easier than I used to. I do admit, I still struggle with my confidence in some aspects, but overall, I feel like I have improved due to my passion. Photography has helped me meet new people, make new friends and most importantly, made my life way more interesting.
And for all of this I have to thank my wonderful grandmother, without you believing in me, I don't think I would have changed this much, you have really made my life worth living and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. You truly are the best grandmother anyone could wish for, the amount you have supported me through my ups and downs is really amazing, and I appreciate everything you have done for me.
I also have to thank:
My Parents, Ben Le Prevost, Ben Fiore, And Finally, The Island Games 2023 Media Team.
If You Somehow Made It This Far, Thank You For Reading This About Me Page, I hope we can make memories together that you can cherish.
Sincerely,
Freddie Brier-Janes.