NZPhotographer Issue 46, August 2021

The Wonders Of Our World
Interview with Deb Ford
my admiration and love of photography went by the
wayside as I got older and life got busier.
Currently I work as a registered nurse in an acute
mental health ward. It’s challenging, hectic but also
rewarding. Just recently I have also started as a casual
lecturer at CQUniversity assisting with residential
schools for nursing students. This is something that I
never expected to do but I love being able to play a
small role in teaching future nurses, and maybe trying
to sway them into nursing in the field of mental health!
I seem to be one of those ‘later in life’ people as I did
my nursing degree when I was in my 40’s and started
photography in my late 40’s. Both of these were things
I had always wanted to do but hadn’t gotten around
to. Photography is my absolute passion now, I love it
and can’t imagine my life without it and my absolute
dream would be to travel the world, camera in hand,
capturing images of scenery, wildlife, the people and
the places.
DEB, TELL US ABOUT YOU AND WHEN YOU GOT
STARTED WITH PHOTOGRAPHY...
I’m mum to 2 gorgeous children (now adults), and
am married to a fantastic man who may roll his
eyes occasionally when I whip out my camera but
who is wonderfully encouraging and supportive. I
live in Mackay, Queensland, Australia and have just
recently turned the fabulous 50. I celebrated this by
going away with my husband and my camera club
to a beautiful seaside town and then to an island
getaway. The camera was kept very busy capturing
the gorgeous scenery and wildlife that we came
across!
I first picked up a digital camera about 2 years
ago, I had always loved photography and it was
just the right time for me to get a new camera and
start learning photography properly. When I was a
teenager and in my early 20’s, I was always carrying
around a point and shoot film camera, capturing
images of the people and events in my life at this time.
I was also an avid magazine reader and would always
admire the many fantastic images in magazines but
I never thought photography would impact me so
personally. It gives me so much joy and I love that
I can show people things in detail via my macro
photography and give them a better appreciation
of the critters of the world. It’s made me much more
observant and I notice so much more beauty in
the world and that is something that I am extremely
grateful for. I share my images online because I love
them and I want other people to stop and just enjoy
the feeling that an image can give. If even one of my
images impacts someone, whether it be that it makes
them stop and think, or helps them to focus more on
the wonders of nature, or even just puts a smile on
their face then I’m grateful.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT
PHOTOGRAPHING?
I haven’t come across a genre of photography that
I don’t love as of yet, but my particular passion is
macro images of insects. There’s just something so
fascinating about seeing the little critters up close!
Wildlife and street photography are another two of my
photography passions. There’s something exhilarating
and breathtaking about being out in nature, seeing
wildlife and capturing images of them.
Meanwhile, street photography fascinates me, I love
capturing images of real life and people. I live in a small
town which makes this much more challenging but you
can always find something if you keep an eye out.
40 August 2021 NZPhotographer