3 minute read
Wal Cattermole
WAL'S STORRY
Through my eyes - The sun was rising. I was driving my truck through the McKenzie country heading back to Christchurch, it was 2005.As a line haul driver, I saw this landscape every day, this day was different. I came round a corner, the light and beauty spread out all around me was glorious. The landscape was a golden colour and the early morning sun was catching an old stone cottage that had partially fallen down. It was glowing in the warm light of dawn.
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As a Christian, I found this quite a spiritual experience, seeing the beauty of God’s creation. I realised that I needed to somehow capture it and share it with others. I needed a camera. When I got home from this journey, I told my wife Auriole that I wanted to buy a camera and take up photography. My first camera was a point and shoot Canon powershot 3.2-mega pixel camera and It travelled with me every day as I tried to capture what I was now seeing.
I soon out grew that camera. I met a very experienced photographer who attended our church, he became my mentor and friend, he also introduced me to the local photography club (Christchurch Photographic Society) that met in our church every Wednesday night. It was great meeting with like-minded people. I spent the next few years trying to understand the ins and outs of photography and trying to get the camera to photograph what I was seeing. I found out that the more I learnt the less I knew. I had no interest in travel until I took up photography. Since then, we have travelled round New Zealand, spent a year in Britain, and travelled around Europe. I was photographing anything and everything but I soon realised that it was the old rustic buildings, rusty cars and old things that captured me, the grungier the better.
The challenge for me is to bring these objects to life and to tell their story-so much easier to say than to do. When we came back to Christchurch I moved to another Club, Pixels, that met once a month and had online competitions. After this group closed, I went through a period of not really doing photography. I had lost my passion, felt that I was not good enough. Retirement changed that. I retired at the end of August 2020. A friend kept inviting me to a weekday photography group that he was running.
I finally decided to go on one of the photowalks, hanging out with a great group of people, taking photos, chatting and having coffee. My passion for photography was coming back. What does photography mean to me? I have always felt inferior to others and felt like I was never good enough. It was during my downtime that realised a valuable lesson.
Do not compare yourself or your photography to anyone else, but aspire to learn from others and be the best you can be. Most of all ENJOY YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY AND HAVE FUN. I now feel comfortable to take photos of what I “like and see” not necessarily what others see. Photography is a way for me to share what I see with others. I love getting with people like me and sharing what I know and learning from what they know. Photography is also a way for me to express who I am, and the way I see things is sometimes different from others, and that it is ok.