About Warren Page
Hi, I’m Warren. I own and run Pagepix Ltd – a company providing photography services in the East of England and beyond. I’ve been a professional photographer for nearly 35 years. I have a newspaper background, which makes me versatile in the types of photography that I can undertake, but people are what really makes me tick.
We asked Adam to look back and reflect on his younger self…
Q&As
How would you describe yourself at 18?
Unfulfilled. I was working in an insurance office and spending lunchtime down the pub to make it seem a little less dull.
What inspired you to start your own business?
After four years of being a staff member on various local papers, I just got fed up with going into a newspaper photographic department and having to wait for something interesting to happen. I loved covering sport, but the ‘news’ side of things was incredibly dull for the most part.
If you could go back knowing what you know now, what three things would you tell yourself to do when you first became a business owner?
- To believe in myself more and appreciate my professional worth when pricing my services.
- To learn how to sell something, or indeed anything (including myself).
- Don’t beat yourself up if clients don’t return for repeat business immediately. Stick to your values and realise that there are lots of possible reasons for them not using you all the time.
What are the biggest lessons you have learnt professionally?
- Confirm absolutely everything, especially regarding times and dates etc.
- Make sure your kit is always ready and check it the night before a shoot.
- Always leave more than enough time to reach your job site.
- You are only as good as your last shoot, so give every job 100% commitment.
- Keep trying new angles and styles – stay fresh as much as you can.
- Remember that it is easier to seek forgiveness than permission, so be more direct at getting a shot that you want.
How did you deal with a big mistake, and what did you learn from the experience?
Any job that uses technology has the capacity for things to go wrong! Probably the worst moment for me involved a faulty camera shutter. The camera (the only one I owned) made all the right sounds and felt totally normal, but inside the metal shutter leaves weren’t actually allowing any light to the film. The result: no images. It was for a local organisation’s birthday, and the subsequent phone call was one that I won’t forget in a hurry. I did my best for the client and begged images from other photographers who attended the event, but it really knocked my confidence for months afterwards. However, I always aim to learn from my mistakes, and I went out the very next day and bought a second camera body to use on shoots. I have always used at least two cameras on jobs ever since.
What are your ambitions for the future?
More of the same – to just keep taking pictures. I really love what I do. It will never make me a millionaire, but I can live with that.
What does the future have in store for you personally?
Being just short of sixty, retirement is looming on the horizon, but certainly not yet! I want to keep running until I’m 80, become a ‘grey nomad’ and see a lot more of the world, walk my dogs and make my garden into a real haven…then somehow learn to relax in it.
