about: ANDREA CARLYLE

I am a wife and a mother of three engergetic boys. Our house is filled with constant noise and the only quiet time we get is when the three monsters are asleep. I love the South African bush, good food, pretty pictures, surfing the net for inspiration and the odd glass of chardonnay, whilst the children play in the garden.

I have been a fan of photography for years. I started shooting weddings seriously about four years ago, when a dear friend handed me some of his clients, as he was about to embark on a new venture in Dallas. With the arrival of my twins, I decided to reduce my working hours in order to spend more time at home with the children. Using photography to make up for the loss of income was a natural progression.

Where are you located?
Johannesburg, South Africa

Describe how do you feel at the starting of a new project?
I usually feel very excited and enthusiastic, sometimes a little overwhelmed.

If you are not an photographer, what alternative career path you might choose?
I am not really sure ? I discovered rather late in life that an 9-5 office job is not for me, so it would have to be something freelance-based and creative.

What’s your way(s) to balancing work and life?
Honestly, there is no balance. In fact, it’s total chaos, so, as I mentioned earlier, the odd glass of chardonnay often does the trick ! I try my best to stick to those occasions I classifiy as work/family time. So should a client call on a Sunday, for example, I postpone a there-and-then reply and get back to them on Monday morning, during working hours.

What’s your favorite quote?
“Never regret the things you have done, regret the things you haven’t done”

Could you share any insight for people just entering the profession?
People frequently ask me for advice and I am never really sure what to say. My husband has always said I “live with my heart instead of my head”, and I really believe if the passion is there, then everything else seems to follow and fall into place. The other stuff that relates to the admin side, such as how many pics to hand over; how to hand them over; what albums to offer. etc. You somewhat have to find your own little place that suits your own lifestyle.

For example, when I started out, I decided to hand over high-resolution edited images. Other local photographers thought that this was ill-advised, as you do not make money on the prints. Making money on prints does not go well with my lifestyle. – I do not have time to run back and forth to labs.

How do you overcome creative block?
I must admit I am finding this question to be a little of “the creative block”. I do not really aim to be an “on the edge, hip happening” photographer and weddings are so fast paced that you just have to make a plan so there really is no time to have a creative block.

Where do you get your ideas/inspiration most of the time?
More often than not, I trawl the net and I keep an ideas folder, which I flick through every so often.

What music are you listening lately?
I should really name drop some real “trendy” band here, right? Music is a soft background murmur in my home at the moment, remember the three little energetic boys and add in wooden floors. . .nuff said.

What’s one thing you wish you knew when beginning your career?
I wish I had realised earlier on that an office workstation was, quite simply, not for me and that I had the courage to term myself “photographer” earlier.

If you have online portfolio (website), what is the URL?
website: www.andreacarlylephotography.co.za
blog: www.andreacarlylephotography.co.za/blog

[.]