Harriet Roper - Photographer of the Month November '16
‘What can you tell us about your winning entry into our photography competition in September?
For the September photography competition, “From Earth to Sky”, I chose a photo I took whilst on a family holiday in Devon. We were driving along one afternoon when we stumbled upon this stunning view across Saunton Sands. We ended up returning the next day to wander along the wide expanse of sand, dip our toes into the freezing sea and despite the chilly September wind, enjoy a picnic on the beach; a true British holiday!
‘How did you get into photography?’
I’ve always loved being creative and enjoyed art classes at school from a young age. However, it was when I started university that I discovered just how much I enjoyed photography. I was lucky to live on the beautiful campus at Bath Spa University during my first year and would regularly walk around the lake with my new housemates in between Psychology lectures and writing assignments!
Towards the end of my final year at university (when I was drowning in revision books and notes!) photography offered an escape route; I could pop out the house for half an hour or so and admire the gorgeous architecture in Bath and the Botanical Gardens in Royal Victoria Park. It was during this time that I became inspired by letter art photography and decided I wanted to challenge myself to collect the whole alphabet. I then created a personalised letter art photography frame as a gift for a close family friend’s wedding. Since then, looking out for letters in nature and architecture has become both intriguing and compelling. My holiday snaps have never been the same since, with random letter shapes in amongst the generic beach and swimming pool photos!
Following my graduation I then developed a small business called Capturing The Heart Letter Art Photography. With the help of a talented technical wizard from my university who helped me develop my website and the support of my family and friends, Capturing The Heart was born. I then found Picture Frames Express online who could create bespoke, high quality, multi-aperture frames; perfect to frame my letter art. Capturing The Heart has since enjoyed selling letter art photography frames at a number of lovely local Christmas markets, summer fairs and craft fairs; offering both pre-designed frames as well as a customisation service too, for example, surnames as wedding gifts and baby names as christening gifts.
‘What do you enjoy about photography?’
I find photography to be very relaxing. Photography makes you admire and find beauty in the smallest and sometimes the most unlikely places. I also love the feeling of knowing that I have just captured a moment in time which I’ll be able to look back on in the future and smile about. Not only do I love taking photographs but the time spent tweaking and editing my images is also thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding.
‘What are your plans for the future?’
I hope to continue to juggle my full time job with attending local craft fairs and markets to offer people my creative and bespoke letter art frames; there is always such a lovely atmosphere at the markets and a buzz from feeling proud that people are admiring your work.
If you are looking for a unique and quirky gift, perhaps for Christmas, please feel free to contact me through my website or Facebook Page.
