Andrew Kneebone - The Love Of Capturing A Memory In Time Was Part Of My Very Soul (Photographer)

Remember, you are a photographer, we look at photos every day, they are the closest thing we have to a time machine. Photos have worth, you have worth and it is worth being paid for.

1. Tell us about your background and journey.

I grew up in a small country town called Barooga, summer days were spent swimming in the river, walking barefoot on long dirt roads under a golden sunset with my closest friends, my mates. Years later I was an adult taking photos.


2. How and when did you realize your passion for photography?

The story of this I wish I could say came from some great divining moment, a lightning bolt out of a clear blue sky but if I am honest then it’s from a not so nice place. 

Years ago my amazing Son who was only a small boy at the time was playing in my back yard, his mother and I had separated and I at the time I didn’t know when I would see him again. So I decided to take photos of him and when the days turned into weeks and still no word as to when I would look at those photos and smile with glassy eyes. 

Then, when I would see him again I would take more photos, and more and well more, ok I will be honest I took a truckload of photos, each one precious as a frozen moment in time. After a while, when life returned to normal and when I said goodbye to my Son I knew when I would be able to say hello again, I didn’t stop taking photos. 

The love of capturing a memory in time was part of my very soul. Anyway somewhere along that journey I found out something, I was actually kind of good. And when I look back now I realise now I actually was terrible but that doesn’t matter because I was learning, growing and capturing memories of my friends, and family.


3. What are some tips you would like to share with amateur photographers?

I have two tips, no I have three. Ok, I have four tips.. that may turn into five by the time I finish writing this. Old digital cameras that no one cares about today were once the greatest camera in the world. You don’t need the most expensive newest camera, you really don’t. Go and buy a second-hand camera and here is the tip. 

Look at the review of when it was new, if it’s a good camera buy it and start shooting. The Nikon D60 is $100, a hundred freaking dollars second hand!! Then get a second hand 50mm F2 lens. Buy cheap and shoot big. 

I worked paid gigs with a Nikon D60 and people who have those photos have them printed on their walls, and are part of peoples lives and today that camera is priced as some of the greatest photos of all time were taken on cameras that would be considered junk by today’s standards. So buy second hand and get going! 

Ok second tip, people will hire you for your personally more than your photos. It’s going to sound strange right but it’s true. Sure you actually have to know one end of the camera from another but when it comes to meeting the potential paying client there is a very simple rule. 

Don’t be a jerk. Be nice and do it because it feels wonderful to be nice, not to get the gig. If you are reading this and thinking “Do I have to be nice!?” Photography probably isn’t’ for you. 

Ok, third tip (last one), When taking photos of kids make sure you get down to their level. When I mean that I mean get down low, laying down on your floor low. You see when you are standing up and taking a photo you are in your world, but when you get down into theirs something magical happens, you enter their world. 

You see how tall all these adults are, how wonderfully intimate their playtime is, capture that. Take lots of photos as well, it’s digital.. you can buy SD cards for nothing these days, go nuts. 

Fifth tip! Backup, backup, backup backup backup backup backup backup and just in case you misinterpreted me. Backup your photos!!! There is a saying “you are one day closer to losing your photos” this could be through your computer/iPhone/iPad being stolen or I don’t know, maybe you were jumping out of a plane and forget to zip up your pocket (you forgetful badass) if they are all gone they are all gone. 

Google Drive, Apple iCloud, or my favourite “buy a big hard drive, copy photos and go to your mate's place and bring beer/wine and keep the hard drive at his place” are a great way to ensure “when” your machine fails, your photos are still alive and well. 

Tip Six! https://www.photopea.com. It’s photoshop, in the browser and it’s freaking free!! or checkout gimp.org. Both free and awesome! There you go, six tips... as promised. (Don’t read the beginning of this answer)


4. What are the important skills one should have to be a successful photographer?

It’s hard to define success. If you have a collection of photos that you are proud of then you are successful. If you tried something and failed but learnt a lot while doing it you are successful. If you make one persons day/week/life happier because you enriched their life by capturing them or their loves ones in a way that brings them joy you are successful. 

If you have earned a crap ton of money then well that’s just great too. Important skills, it’s vitally important that you screw up, you will learn at the speed of light when you do, get everything right and you learn nothing. Oh, you are going to have to accept jobs that keep you up at night with excited nervousness, that’s the feeling of growing as a photographer. 

You are going to have to learn to be nice before drinking tea of coffee in the morning. Or, like me, learn where to buy a tea or coffee at any time or place on the planet. This is the most important skill. 

Learn the rules, learn why the rules exist (rule of thirds, rule of composition, rule of lighting, Kneebone’s rule (that’s the coffee one), make sure you learn all these rules. Then learn how to break them. Because some of the most amazing photos I have ever seen in my life were from people who said fuck the rules I will do what I want.


5. What are various opportunities available for aspiring photographers?

People are always getting married, engaged or have a lot of money and pets. People will always want memories captured. The secret is to find a way to get someone to give you money for your services. Starting out people will offer you ‘exposure’ instead of ‘money’. 

Do not take those jobs, You want exposure post to Flickr groups and your own Instagram or web site. One of the good ways is to offer your services ‘paid’ to wedding photographers that need a photographer to run around taking the odd shot here and there. You won't get much but it’s something. 

Then when you go to the next person and they ask you what you were paid, just double the amount and tell them that. It’s not lying, is savvy negotiating and it’s been done since the dawn of time.

Remember, you are a photographer, we look at photos every day, they are the closest thing we have to a time machine. Photos have worth, you have worth and it is worth being paid for.


6. Which is your favourite book and why?

The dictionary. That book has given me many meanings.

- Andrew Kneebone (Photographer)

Instagram: Andrew Kneebone


Interviewed By Daisy Sharma