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You’ve been reading their articles for months or years, have you ever wondered “Who are the photographers who write for DPS”? We thought it would be a good time to introduce them to you through a series of interviews. No worries, Darren will get his turn too.
Today meet Elizabeth Halford.
1. How long have you been shooting?
I’ve been taking pictures since I was about 10 years old. I spent all my pocket money on film for my Kodak 110 instamatic. I’ve been seriously teaching myself photography since 2008.
2. Do you have a full time job or are you a full time photographer?I’m a full time photographer and blogger. I also have a hand in running a charity, Cure Rett.
3. If you had to limit yourself to one genre of photography, what would it be and why?If I had to choose just one genre of photography, it would be children’s portraiture
4. When did you start writing for DPS and why?I started writing for DPS in 2009 when I first started blogging about photography to keep my own site interesting. Darren hired me and so I was writing for DPS before I really even knew what blogging was all about! Thanks to that opportunity, I’ve built a really fantastic readership on my blog where I write about photography and business in “real.plain.english”. I learned from Darren that being nice to people online is a total win-win and that we highly underestimate the power of giving!
5. What do you shoot with and what’s your favorite lens?I shoot with a Canon 5DmkIII. A 7D is my backup. My two favourite lenses are the 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II and 50mm f/1.2. I wear a ShootSac to keep my lenses accessible while shooting.
6. What would be your number one tip to any new photographer?Take pictures!
7. What’s your next big project?Well one of my most exciting projects this year has been getting my branded car. It’s certainly made waves! I got the attention of Mini who went and branded one of their test drive models because they loved mine so much!
My biggest project in 2013 will be my first live workshop “How to sell in Plain English” in March in Southampton to teach photographers how to do in person sales so they can actually make money photographing people! It ain’t rocket science!
I’m also the key photographer on the Picture the Hope Photography Tour which is touring the UK to photograph girls with Rett Syndrome. Some of those shots can be viewed here on the blog I write about my daughter, Grace, who has Rett.
8. Where can people go to find out more about you and your work?To view my photography, you can visit www.graciemayphotography.com and to visit my blog for photographers, www.elizabethhalford.com. You can connect with me and my growing community on Facebook. My full story can be found here.
Read more from our Digital Photography Case Studies, Reader Questions Category
Tagged with Elizabeth Halford, Interview, photographer
Peter West Carey is a world traveling professional photographer currently leading photo tours to Bhutan, Nepal and Hawaii. This month, he is also helping others learn about photography with the free series 31+ Days Of Photography Experiments which builds off of the 31+ Days To Better Photography series on his blog.
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Mei Teng Says:January 18th, 2013 at 10:57 am
Elizabeth, your work is beautiful. Love the portrait of the little girl.
joe bodego Says:January 18th, 2013 at 10:58 am
what a lack of diversity!! photography through the eyes of the white blue eyes blonde European like everything else. What a joke
Scottc Says:January 18th, 2013 at 11:28 am
Elizabeth’s work is great, I have read many of her articles and they were always very well written and incredibly informative.
Thanks!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lendog64/
Sarah Thompson Says:January 18th, 2013 at 7:57 pm
I follow Elizabeth’s blog and have found her contributions to the photography community invaluable, not to mention generous, and I think her images are stunning. Joe – she is neither, blonde, blue-eyed nor European, not that anyone should have a problem with any of those things!!!
Elizabeth Halford Says:January 18th, 2013 at 10:16 pm
Hi Joe! I can’t really help the demographics where I live. Would you like to finance my aspirations to travel the world? 
Jason Miller Says:January 18th, 2013 at 10:43 pm
Hi Joe. By the looks of it Elizabeth is a brown haired, brown eyed girl from North America living in predominantly white southern England.
I think one of these photos is of an Asian girl.
I love her work and she helps take the pride out of photography and photographers. A hard working mum who knows children
LE Says:January 18th, 2013 at 11:14 pm
@ Joe bodego if you’re talking about Elizabeth she’s doesn’t have blonde hair…or blue eyes and I’m pretty sure she’s not European so I guess that’s pretty diverse!
Asma Says:January 19th, 2013 at 1:02 am
Great photographer who teaches well too
Alethia Rains Says:January 19th, 2013 at 1:33 am
Joe, Elizabeth isnt a blonde blue eyed European. Elizabeth is a fantastic photographer and I’ve learned so much from her writing. If you want diversity, I suggest you Google it.
Barb Says:January 19th, 2013 at 2:02 am
Joe you really should bother looking at more of her work before you make that judgement. i would suggest viewing her photographs from her Picture the Hope project. Could your rude comments be coming from your own inadequacy? Your complete lack of manners stun me. Elizabeth, love your work and blog articles.
steph Says:January 19th, 2013 at 3:19 am
LOVE your work and your blog(s). I have been reading your stuff since 2009!!! Thanks so much for all your insight and help you didn’t even know about. I’m launching my photography business this week!!!
Amy Says:January 19th, 2013 at 4:18 am
Wow, Scott, that is a little harsh. How would you reply to someone who only shot people of color or those if mixed race? Or what about the photographers living in India Portugal??Would you be just as quick to say there is no diversity to their work? She lives in ENGLAND, not in Chicago or Milwaukee.
I would say your comment is a joke.
Amy Says:January 19th, 2013 at 4:19 am
Sorry, that reply was meant for Joe.
Elisabeth Says:January 19th, 2013 at 5:33 am
Elizabeth is fantastic. I’ve been following her work for a few years now and she’s definitely one that I watch for in my inbox every morning
In response to Joe, considering the majority of Elizabeth’s work is most likely done through client bookings, I have a hunch that can’t be helped. Also, you must not have looked through her portfolio if you see “a lack of diversity”. A shame really.
Great post!
Richard Harrison Says:January 19th, 2013 at 6:33 am
With a million subscribers and no apparent end in sight DPS casts a large net across the photography community. So I welcome this opportunity to get acquainted with the people behind the opinions, tutorials, journals, gear, experiences, etc. I almost skipped the article this time though because Elizabeth Halford is well known to me. I first came across her a couple of years ago when I was in search of an answer to an issue I was having and found it in one of her Facebook discussion groups. I subsequently found her blog and have followed her ever since. It’s been a joy watching her grow.
Elizabeth’s photographic area of interest falls outside virtually every one of mine but I admire her work and have seen it grow too. I sort of feel as if I were present at the professional creation of Elizabeth Halford – photographer. I look forward carrying along with her as the journey continues.
As for her lack of diversity I agree with Amy. But you know she’s also in very good company along those lines. Ansel Adams and his parks and Edward Curtis and his Native Americans come to mind. They dealt with photography on a much grander scale – but they didn’t begin that way. What they did do was focus their passion for their art and stick with it. And collect their fair share of destructive and, truth be known, jealous detractors. I suspect that no matter what area of interest they had pursued they would have excelled, but the paths they took left us with a priceless National legacy, one that compliments and informs the heritage of all our diverse peoples. It isn’t simply the image (except perhaps to simple-minded people) that makes the photographer or makes the photographer great. No more than gear does.
And Elizabeth: a blue-eyed, blonde white person? Well she is white. Good photographers, like most artists, are attentive, curious observers of the world around them. Thus I’m quite surprised that her critic managed to observe that she is white since he so obviously got all the other descriptive points, both literal and figurative wrong. But then it is so easy these days for people to hide behind their screens and spread hate for hates sake. They are at best reprehensible examples of humanity (in all its diverse form). By comparison it takes not a little courage to put oneself out there for all the world to see and judge on almost a daily basis. I know that open as I am about most of my life I couldn’t do that.
Thanks for the interview DPS. Thank you Elizabeth. And for that matter, thank you joe for motivating this defense. The real joke is EH needs no defense and certainly not from your diatribe.
joe bodego Says:January 19th, 2013 at 9:59 am
Photographers love to travel to places like Africa, the Caribbean and take photos of those smiling black faces living among the perfect exotic milieu yet the last thing they would embrace is one of those black faces picking up a camera and shooting. You are all hypocrites, program from birth to fear equality. How dare an African take up photography! you would do your best to ignore their work in favor of European or Asian whose photos are meaningless and downright bland. Lets face it, you’ve hated us for 400 years since you first laid your eyes on us and we are subjects to be photographed not the photographers, you ought to look deep down in your minds and face this fact. I am tired of the mediocre photographs that are splashed in our faces by photographers who think they could get on an airplane, fly to Kenya or Jamaica and tell a balanced story in pictures. You do nothing to reach out to Non white photographers, do you think some Asian from Korea or some white guy can fly into Africa and tell a story more meaningful that a local? get off your Nation Geographic asses and reach out. I am a black Canadian photographer of Caribbean decent who watches time and time again as the Europeans and Asians tell our story through photos that most of us just laugh at, the cliché shots of the bland beach, never the water fall at the side of the volcano or the wild goats that feed by night. You are purveyors of lies and deception like your ancestors and now its your turn with your $10.000 cameras instead of the ships and your guns. Shame on you, shame on this site and shame on this kind of photography.
Asma Says:January 19th, 2013 at 11:31 am
Lol Joe, seriously? You could have at least linked to your website/page so that we could all see what you have to offer. Africa from the eyes of an African. Africa is immensely beautiful and so are its people. Just like any other part of the world. But not all of us here are wild life or nature photographers. The person in question is definitely not. Her speciality is different … she may be white but she is helping others building their careers which IS immense too. There are lots of Africans working in UK as photographers and their clientèle is definitely not limited to Africans … a proof that a client needs eye to handle their shoots irrespective of the colour of that eye.
I am a Pakistani and I know Pakistan is definitely not those blood-shed pictures you may find as top 100 hits. But we do greet with open arms anyone who comes to us and take pictures of beautiful, cheery children of North West who have to earn their meals or the hard-working brick making ladies in the south. These photographs does show at least some sides of my beautiful country so why not?
Definitely a wrong page to say things like this but everyone has right of expressing their opinions. So, cheers !
Jay Says:January 19th, 2013 at 1:56 pm
Hi Joe,
Unfortunately your comments seem harsh and misplaced. A photographer is, IMHO, primarily an artist and then a recorder. I have seen ” forced” diversity and it looks sad. Let’s celebrate this photographer’ skills and artistry?
Sincerely
Jay
P.S. I’m an Indian- American and proud of it.
Tim Says:January 20th, 2013 at 2:37 am
Elizabeth, I’ve enjoyed reading and learning from your blogs for over a year now. You are a great photographer with your own style for how the images should look. After reading your full story (http://www.elizabethhalford.com/personal/dont-underestimate-yourself-how-i-went-pro/), my respect for you went up significantly.
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