My Bio Page

Thanks for checking out my website and hopefully enjoying the photos, while they aren't for everyone the people involved in them, both in front of and behind the camera enjoyed the experience and hoped that you do to.

Now a little about me, My name is Barrie Fitzgerald, I'm 39, live in Adelaide, South Australia and practice photography as a hobby.  While I was in high school I studied both photography and media studies and was awarded the prize for "Top of the school" in Media Studies at The Heights School in Modbury Heights.  I went on to start in the workforce with a local television station, but after a few months left the television station, returning to studies.

I applied for and was accepted to the premier media training course in South Australia, it was called Media And Personal Skills, or MAPS, it was run by a brilliant man named Roger Minogue {Stretch to his friends and colleagues} who was overseen by the school principal, Richard Walsh, a massive supporter of the course and its students. 

The course was run in a dedicated facility out of the old Vermont High School in South Plympton.  Even though the course was housed at the Vermont High School, we were not high school students, nor did the high school run the course. 

Competition to get onto the course was fierce, only those at the top of their class were invited to apply and then not all applicants were accepted.  Unlike other schools this wasn't done on a first in best dressed basis.  All applicants were interviewed and tested and there were only 20 places on each course.  The course covered the following subjects;

• Commercial Film Production

• Commercial Video Production

• Commercial Radio Production

• Commercial Photography {Studio}

• Commercial Photography {Outdoors/Location}

• Darkroom Processing [Film]

• Commercial Art

• Typing

• Personal Development
   

The course was 12 months in duration and ended up with the final exam in all areas.  To pass the course and be awarded a certificate, or Viva as we knew the certificate you had to pass all topics.  As you can see from the topics the course wasn't run as an art school, we weren't there to feel good or be ourselves.  We were there to hone our skills and gain employment in the fields of our choice.  We were the best of the best and we were recruited straight from the classroom into the professional media outlets we wanted to work for.  I passed my first year and went on to continue my studies in the second year, I specialised in Television and Video Productions, while minoring in Photography.  I left the course after being recruited by Television Broadcasters and returned to work in Television.

Some time later I left the television industry and after various jobs found that I was suited to security work.  While the work was OK the money wasn't!

I maintained an interest in photography and finally got my first digital camera.  It was a Sony Mavica that took a floppy disk and held some 30 photographs on one floppy disk.  I took it everywhere taking some very low quality photographs but having fun all the same. 

Most of what I'd learnt in school was gone by this time and I had to re-learn everything!  My camera of choice was now a point and clink digital camera that produced remarkably small images that looked good in the view finder but couldn't hope to compete with a film camera.

In mid 2005 my wife Emma bought me my first Digital SLR, I'd been looking at them for a while but wasn't too sure what to buy and was trying to save up for one.  I got the Pentax istDs, a neat camera that serves my needs to this day, I started taking photos of things around me and friends who enjoy posing for photos.  Over the past 2 years my photography has improved and I have read up on the skills I had years ago.  Slowly but surely I am finding that things I was taught to do in the 1980's are in fact still relevant.  I am currently trying to build up a home studio, the equipment I have is basic and the space isn't that big either but it is a good place to start and I can build on what I have.

My wonderful little lady decided that she'd buy me a new camera for my birthday and she bought me a medium format SLR so that I can improve the quality of my studio and portrait work.  She bought me the Mamiya RB67 Professional S, I really must be one of the luckiest men around, she supports my hobbies, supplies my equipment and then doesn't complain when I'm not here to do the odd jobs around the house.