Bullet Points:
- Name: Alexis aka LEX
- Born in South Africa (Port Elizabeth 1979 – 2007)
- Currently living in Kent in the South East of the UK
- Been in United Kingdom since January 2007
- Is male (last time I checked, which was 5 mins ago)
- Has green eyes (
) - Claims to be 45 years old (from May 2024)
- Professional Dreamer (full time job)
- Also an Occasional Thinker (night time job)
- First got into photography end of 2009
- Uses Nikon only (brand loyalty)
- Is Happily married (Yes. Really. 16+ years)
Where are you from?
I am originally from Port Elizabeth. A coastal city down on the Southern tip of South Africa.
Why did you come to the UK?
I needed a change and I wanted to live abroad. If I didn’t at least try, I might’ve been one of those people who never ventured out into the world and end up spending their entire lives living in one place. The world is a big place and there is lots to explore. Moving to the UK made travelling possible and more affordable.
Where did you start?
When I got to the UK I started teaching myselfvweb development and web design. Studying coding languages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP & MySql. I did this for a couple of years but it was exhausting. Having a full time job, working 8 – 15 hours a day, then cracking some Red Bulls and sitting until 5 am on the PC studying, programming, writing code, chasing bugs, fixing glitches. To this day, those years are almost a blur and could often be found in a parking lot, in my company van, sleeping (Sorry Boss!)
How did you get into photography?
One day when my wife and I were walking around Bluewater Shopping centre, I happened to stroll into a Jessops camera store. On display were a few different digital cameras. At the time I wasn’t looking at buying, just browsing. I picked up a few cameras. The usual point n clicks. A few of the Canon camera bodies. And then got my hands on the Nikon D90 DSLR. Not having a clue as to what I was doing, I fiddled around with it a little, put the viewfinder to my eye, focused and “click”. Pressed the shutter. To this day, I wish I had requested the image from a store clerk, because it was THE SHOT that prompted me to eventually come back to the store and purchase my first Nikon DSLR.
What made the photo so great?
Nothing!! And everything. If I had to venture a guess the camera was probably set to Shutter Priority with the shutter speed around 1/10th of a second. And what this did was create Shutter Drag effect. Everything in the image was pretty much in in focus, but the people walking passed the store were partially blurred. (motion blur) It just looked like one of those shots that may have been used as an advert in a magazine. Maybe a Nikon logo and some text that says; “Life moves pretty fast. You need a camera that can keep up.” Or something to that effect… It had a similar feel to the image below. (Disclaimer: This is not my image.)
Disclaimer: This is not my image. I borrowed it from this website – http://blog.alfiegoodrich.com/crowds-in-the-rain-akihabara-tokyo/
How did you get into nude photography?
It started off innocently enough. I had bought my first camera and literally started off shooting everything. Everything from landscapes to motorsport at locations like Brands Hatch. I had even tried my hand at some fashion n portraiture, with models I had found on Gumtree.
One day, at work, I was chatting to a woman who worked at a site I frequented, and mentioned that I had taken up photography. Straight away she asked; “So when are we doing a photoshoot?” And with that, we booked a date to shoot at my home studio.
On the day of the shoot, with nothing planned, we just began firing off some shots. About an hour into the shoot, the model joked and said; “I’ll bet you want to shoot me naked next.” We just had a laugh about it, and brushed it off as a joke. But before long, she was naked. And we were capturing some great images.
It didn’t take long after that for me to join up with Portfolio Websites like Model Mayhem and PurplePort to find other models to work with.
What is it about photography that you enjoy?
I enjoy the creative process. I’m a technical person, by nature, and like deconstructing, learning and experimenting. From camera knowledge, to Photoshop editing techniques, I love it all. There are basic fundamentals to photography, for example, shutter speed, aperture and ISO settings. With creative photography I ignore most of that. Put models into weird poses, get them to hang off beds and windows, shoot through glasses and bottles, colour gels etc… Anything that breaks the usual rules. There is no “right or wrong” way, in my opinion. There’s your way and what works for you.
