Today we’d like to introduce you to Annine Berg.
Annine, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Photography is a wonderful way for me to get noticed without being the center of attention. It has been something I have been interested in for over ten years.
I am originally from Norway, growing up in Norway, surrounded by beautiful nature and having a very creative and artistic mother, has inspired me to look for details and appreciate symmetry and a good composition.
We have lived in Houston for almost six years now. My husband’s job in oil and gas is what brought us here. We have previously lived in Paris, Moscow, and London and with moving every three years or so, with two small boys, it’s been difficult for me to keep working. Moving to places where you don’t know anyone demands a lot from you and for us, it is important that our boys have felt as much stability as possible at home during all of our moves. I’ve been the one to always being there for them when my husband has to travel for work. Now that they are older, and with lots of support from my husband, I have been able to seriously pursue my love for photography.
“You have a great eye!” is something I’ve often heard about my photography. That’s partly what drives me. Finding a great composition, getting the details and the lighting right, but I’ve also wanted to have my photographs tell a story and I felt the need to develop my skills further, and two years ago, I decided to start taking classes at https://everydayphotoclass.com and https://hcponline.org which was a good investment. I can highly recommend both places for others wanting to learn about photography.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been a steep learning curve both personally and technically. Personally breaking out of my comfort zone, overcoming being shy, learning how to use all the settings on the camera, learning to see and using the available light and learning the editing process. But it’s all good. I love all those aspects of photography so I have definitely found my passion. Another aspect is promoting and marketing. I find that challenging and that is something I still have a lot to learn about.
My personal breakthrough moment was doing a street photography project I called “Look at me!”. https://www.look-at-me.annineberg.com I knew I had to force myself to do something out of my comfort zone to grow and I decided to take photos of strangers, people that caught my eye while I was walking around in downtown Houston. (That project would have been much easier to do in Norway by the way, where people actually walk to places. People mostly use their cars to get around here.) But I thought Main Street would be a good place to get started. My idea was to stop and ask a stranger for a bit of his/her time, have him or her look directly in my camera and I would take their photo.
Selfies are so popular nowadays and this was the opposite. I took photos of strangers, talked with them and showed genuine interest in them and my hope is that those portraits make people stop for more than a second and take a look in that person’s eyes and wonder about what kind of history that person carries with him/her.
The title also has a personal meaning to me since I was trying to overcome being shy. Before I didn’t want people to actually look at me. But I didn’t want my shy side stopping me from taking great photos. I would sometimes miss out on a great photo opportunity because I was being so scared if I would upset someone or intrude someone’s privacy with my street photography. That project changed that! I was elated! So, “Look at me!”
After I finished that project, I have attended many workshops and Meetups like: https://www.meetup.com/Discovering-Houston-Photography-Meetup/ and https://www.meetup.com/HoustonPhotowalks/ I’ve found very good friends within those groups and it’s so fun to learn from each other.
Please tell us about your work.
I am a freelance photographer who does mostly portrait photography, senior portraits and different types of events and when I’m out in nature, I almost always bring my camera with me. I am very dedicated to what I do and I strive for giving my client the best possible photographs. I have an eye for details and I am always eager to learn, collaborate, try new things and grow in my skill.
I am proud of being very honest and reliable and supporting other creatives. I see my photography getting more and more creative. My latest project was a collaboration with a local photographer from Katy, Jorge Pena, with https://www.jandgphotography.com/. We used an abandoned train in Galveston as the setting for a love story told through our photography. It was an awesome experience! Especially since the models made the story come to life so well. I like it when a photograph is not only a pretty picture but can also tell a story. You’ll be seeing me with a camera in my hand for a long time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.annineberg.com
- Phone: 832 2949190
- Email: bergannine@gmail.com
- Instagram: @annine74) • Instagram photos and videos
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anninebergphotography/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_annine
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