Karl: Twenty-Something Photographer

Kind of, yes. I think I always wanted to do something creative. When I was a kid I was always building things and making films with the family camcorder, but it wasn't really until digital cameras came out that I properly got into photography.

I know this is a bit of a cliché but I have to say the people and travelling. I've met some amazingly inspiring people and been to some cool places to simply photograph and do what I love doing.

Not surprisingly, I mainly enjoyed the art subjects and also science and math strangely, but outside of lessons I was in a band which was a cool experience at 14, 15 and 16.

Yeah, I went to Staffordshire University and studied Music Technology. I get asked a lot about why I didn't study photography at uni and I'm not against it, but for me learning the initial technical details of photography like aperture, shutter speeds etc was helpful, but then I just wanted to go and do it without restrictions.

My first job in photography was for my mate's band The Virginmarys. They were doing a gig and wanted some live photos. I had recently bought my new Digital SLR and thought 'this is an amazing opportunity' and I've been working with them ever since. Goes to show that the people around you now can be the best people to know in the future, so don’t ignore them.

This is a tough one – I'd probably tell myself to focus a bit more. I wasn't naughty but I was a bit cheeky and I think I could have studied a bit harder in the subjects I didn't enjoy. I would also say be yourself a bit more; it's hard when you’re in school with all the social pressures, to be out of the box so I’d sit myself down and tell myself not to worry too much about what other people might or might not think.

To say no sometimes isn't always a bad thing. I struggled with this one for a while and said yes to everything I could possibly do. Initially that's more important, but as you progress and people get to know you and your work you just need to be easy to work with, straight to the point and give good professional advice. Which sometimes means you say no to the work - if it doesn't suit me I'm not doing to offer my best work, and that's not helpful for anyone.

This is a tough one because there are lots of different types of photography, but I think whichever avenue you decide to go down, be it still life/fine art, travel, fashion, events or something else, I think these qualities are all important.

1. Confidence – by this I don't mean over confidence, but you need to be able to direct people and have good people skills to make them relax and want to work with you.

2. A good eye – this is something that's up for interpretation as photography is an art form, but working as a photographer you need to understand the market and have a good eye to appreciate what other people will like.

3. Creativity – kind of a contradiction to the second point but being creative and allowing yourself to explore photography and not going with what other people will like, will ultimately benefit you as a photographer and give you a better understanding of the second point. Sounds obvious but you've got to just keep taking pictures!

Pinterest is a must for me. It's great for inspiration and showing off your stuff. Flickr is another one for storing your photos and you get a 1tb free which is awesome. I'd also recommend photography forums like Talk Photography which runs competitions to get you out experimenting. It's also great for advice from other photographers.