Lisa Gardner
Ex-rally driver, Lisa Gardner decided to take up photography after the Indian restaurant next door to her hairdressing salon caught fire one night and took her business with it!
"After the initial shock of seeing the salon go up in flames, I sat down and asked myself whether I really wanted to start it all over again. I decided it was fate, and I would reinvent myself in a new career".
"I was already working weekends as a racing instructor at Oulton Park, Brands Hatch and Donnington. I'd always loved taking photographs and thought I'd fill my week going on courses and learning a whole new skill. I never once thought I'd take it up seriously and be able to earn money from it!"
Lisa did every course she could think of, including postal courses, on-line tuition, college courses and night school - "you name it, I tried it, and I soon got bored with them all."
"I realised I was on a different wavelength, and would have given up if I hadn't seen a magazine article on Annabel Williams. I loved the way she puts the emphasis on photographing what you want, and makes the technical side secondary."
"Annabel and Catherine encouraged me to do what I wanted to do rather than what I thought I was supposed to do. They have a completely different attitude to everyone else."
"I thought that to earn money from photography I would have to spend money advertising. Annabel Williams taught me to save my money and learn to work in a different way. Now I'm out there having a great time and earning money from it. I love it so much I would do it for nothing if I could afford to!"