Q&A with former Photography student, Ollie Lloyd

Q.Why did you choose to come to Stafford College?

A.I chose to go to Stafford College because I felt that I never fitted in at School. College meant I was able to have a fresh start in a grown up environment with similar, like-minded individuals. It also enabled me to do photography which was not an option for me to do at Sixth Form.

Q.What did you enjoy most about being a student here?

A. I enjoyed a number of things at the College, the first being the atmosphere. I felt that the College gave off a good vibe which made me feel comfortable and as part of a community when I was there. My lecturers were amazing, in particular my photography teacher who was always there to support me and he was always pushing me to take my work further. The best part for me was the people I met at college, who had the same interests of mine, including photography. I still keep in touch with these students now.

Q. What are you up to now?

A. After college closed in March due to Covid-19, I started a part-time job at my local Co-op. At the same time I was starting my own photography business on the side. I spent the majority of the summer going out to shoot friends cars to help me to build my portfolio for future clients. In June I launched my portfolio on my website www.olloyd.media and began to work for private clients taking photographs of their cars for social media. Currently private clients are the majority of my work and I really enjoy it as I meet people who share my love for cars. I have also done a few track day events for commercial companies, which has been a brilliant experience.

Q.Have you always had a passion for photography?

A. I had always had a passion for cars since I was very young, it was my love of photography that grew in later life when I got my first camera at 16. After getting to grips with in on a family holiday to Canada, I realised how much I enjoyed it, and so I decided to study photography at College, to expand my knowledge further. When shooting for my college work I quickly realised how much more there is to photography than first thought. I found my niche rather quickly and it was urban landscapes, they will always be my favourite things to photograph. Outside of college I would frequently attend car meets with my friends and this is when my two interests first came together, it was all natural progression from there.

Q. What is your current job and what are your plans for the future?

A. I still work at the Co-op part time, while I build up my business. This funds my photography as I shoot for clients on an almost daily basis. In an ideal world I would like to pursue automotive photography as a full time career, but it is a struggle with the lack of commercial events on due to the current climate. I hope that coming into the summer of 2021 I will be able to make it my full time source of income.

Q. Are you working on any exciting projects at the moment as part of your role?

A. I have a lot of projects in the pipeline for the start of 2021, a few worth mentioning is a charity drive in the spring to help raise money for multiple charities through the car community. It will include a weekend drive of some of the most scenic routes in the UK and all the money raised by the tickets sold will be given to charity. A second is to begin to sell my photographs both as prints and in small scale publications. I am hoping to start shooting as an official photographer for one of the largest car clubs in England for their events over the summer.

Q. And your most notable achievement so far?

A. My biggest achievement so far was being able to host a drive day in the Lake District in August 2020 with a car group.I spent the day creating images of some amazing cars. Since then these images have been used by an automotive accessories manufacturer to promote their products.

Q. Have you faced any major challenges/set-backs in getting to where you want to be in your career?

A. When trying to set up my own business it came with its own problems, Covid made it hard for me to meet up with people and photograph their cars, but the hardest was the lack of clients that I had for the first few months as it took a while for my name to get around the car community. Apart from that I believe it will be possible to pursue my career in the future if I continue to put in the hard work.

Q.Do you have any advice for students who have a passion to get into photography?

A.If I could give anyone advice on how to get into photography as a career generally it would to always keep shooting. Just getting out and shooting, whether it is is out of your comfort zone, or something you have shot before. The more you get out the more skills you will pick up and ultimately become better at it.

Q. If you had to sum up your time at NSCG in one sentence, what would it be and why?

A. Stafford College helped me to find my passion and to help me pursue a career in an industry I love!

If you have a love of Photography, just like Ollie, find out more about our Photography courses at Stafford College