As background, I shoot villas that people rent for holidays in Cyprus.  If you want to check out the results, go to Rent Villas Paphos website.  The majority of the pictures on that site are now my handiwork.

In the old days, I had to do all the life balancing things you do to make the time to go out taking pictures.  Now I don’t have an option.  There’s a villa to shoot, and the client wants the pictures now.  So pick up the bag, get in the truck and get going.  Somehow that changes the way you feel about things.

When you get to the villa you’re shooting, you need to prep it.  Humping a bunch of loungers around to set up a ‘relaxing by the pool’ shot in 35 degrees keeps you fit!

As a photographer, you look at the villa as a series of shapes, lines and colours – and then set out to make dramatic pictures.  But you’re there to sell the villa, so you’re looking for the shot that shows how people can have a great time living outside by the pool with a view of the sea in the background.  Sometimes that forces some interesting choices!

I’ve become an expert at balacing daylight and flash, and at controlling converging verticals with a 17mm lens (and used on my full frame Nikon D700, it really is 17mm – watch out for your feet!).

I guess the bottom line is when I’ve got some time now, I don’t naturally pick up my camera.  From it being a pure pleasure and indulgence, its become a tool of work.  And I’m taking a lot less pictures purely for fun.  The upside is that when I do, I seek out shots that really make me happy.

The bottom line is I’m very happy doing what I’m doing.  I’ve mastered a number of new skills, and I get very real satisfaction from making villas look great and doing my own thing when I can.

And the villa above, work or play?  That one’s play – its our villa in Polemi.