Expose Me!

Long time CMD Facebook fan and now CMD client Rob Grimes is a UK based photographer and British Armed Forces soldier. We’ve enjoyed Rob’s FPF submissions for months now and decided to ask Rob to tell us his photo story.

All eye’s are on Rob!

{When and Why did you become a photographer?}

I had no idea photography was for me to be honest, I enjoyed taking images form a young age and I finally got my hands on a second hand camera after buying my fathers Praktica from him. Although the experience of using film and taking pictures was great, I had already decided that I wanted to pursue a career in the British Armed Forces, so photography and cameras were the last thing to be thinking about for NOW!

Fast forward a few years and although photography was still on the back burner, I was starting to take images from my travels and experiences of being on Operational tours (Iraq & Afghanistan) and was constantly receiving feedback form family and friends on how good the images were. So in the December of 2009 after a tour of Afghanistan I decided to take the plunge and buy myself a NIkon D90 to move into the DSLR range and use my old Canon G10 as a backup! And again fast forward another 2 years, I’m now growing a business that includes Wedding Photography, Family/Baby portraits and of course my Travel Photography along with the ability to cover my job in the Armed Forces on the front line on Operations in Afghanistan. So fast forward a few more years and who knows?

{Where would you like to see your talents take you?}

I have 5 years left of my Armed Forces career and I’m planning to survive the next few years and slowly build up a business brand that I can walk straight into upon leaving the forces, with a view to continuing the Wedding Side of the business with the addition of a studio for more family/newborn portraits. But I know I should consider what I’ve done in the past few years (Army) and I have to admit I would love to become a war correspondent/photo journalist, being able to cover a dangerous situation and showcase the truth through images, would be a right adrenalin rush, so if there is anyone out there wanting a soon to be Ex Forces guy to cover any dangerous situation, then feel free to get in touch!

{Who or what is your biggest source of inspiration?}

My Father has always been a source of inspiration, because of what he achieved when he served in the British Armed Forces, but in a photography sense, then I believe it has to be Don McCullin for his work in covering the Vietnam War and other incidents in and around the world including the UK. His never ending pursuit of excellence in the face of danger, ensuring that he captured the truth and portrayed the emotion of the time, was inspiring and still is.

 {Tell us little about your documentary images.}

The documentary images were just a way of gathering images fromrecent trips abroad with my job in the Armed Forces; but as time went by, my techniques got better I started to follow everything I was doing, and was asked recently to cover a course which was running in Scotland for 7 weeks. The course was a command course and its aim was to develop junior commanders and to prepare them for future operations in Afghanistan and any worldwide commitments. It was a great job to cover and I was able to assist teaching (it is my job also) during the 7 weeks. The opportunity wasn’t to be missed and it challenged my photographic skills to the maximum, as we were working in sometimes the worst weather Scotland can throw at us, low light conditions and so on. But I loved every second of the time and as you can see from some of the images, I believe I did the guys on the course justice..

{Any new projects in the works?}

I have a wedding coming up soon in July in the backdrop of Liverpool’s Albert Docks (Liverpool UK) a romantic and exciting backdrop for the wedding shoot, as for other projects, I’m always up and down the country on my Yamaha R1 motorbike and my camera gear on my back ready to snap an incident, cover a story or just get out and about in an urban environment to capture life. In the next 6 months I will be deployed again for another 6 month tour of Afghanistan, so during that tour at the same time as doing my job, I will capturing some intense images, situations and the heart and soul of a British Soldiers life on the front line along with the atmosphere of local Afghan life and culture. So if you want to see some action from the front line and real life images from a war zone, follow me, my website, life, blog and career.

Promotions: I would love to work with any photographers already established in the world of Wedding Photography and would be willing to offer my services as a second shooter in exchange for more knowledge and anyone already working as a war correspondent, would love to hear your stories or receive any advice.

I currently offer a discount of 25% to serving British & American Armed Forces towards the cost of their Wedding
Photography and will always pledge to support the Armed Forces.

And finally, I look forward to working with CMD, they are a great company with the artistic talents to push my
photography further! Thanks guys, Rob