Gill Fea Photography
Welcome to my site. My name is gill and I live up in the Highlands of Scotland in a beautiful and remote village beside the sea. For the last 16 years, I have and continue to work for an EOT who build fantastic websties and also teach Horse Riding, nearby at a local riding school. In my spare time I like to immerse myself in nature - whether thats trekking up a mountain, woodland walks going low and slow looking for tiny beasts and fauna or going at exhilerating speeds on a horse or snowboarding/paragliding down a mountain. A camera goes everywhere with me.
Following in my Fathers footsteps, I have always had a deep connection to photography, in particular, the Natural World and the art it holds. Whilst I have and continue to photograph commercial events, personal events and weddings over the years, my main passion lies deep rooted in Nature. I love being outside, immerced in the elements and will often spend hours holding everybody up on various walks whilst I stop to get a photograph of every mushroom, interesting plant, insect or rock known to man. I marvel at the sky, the mountains, the sea, the land and the fierce scottish weather that comes with them. I am facinated with the natural world and all of the colours, patterns and creatures that it contains.
Weather
The horse riding stables I have worked at for the last 20 years boasts the most incredible views of the Moray Firth, over to Nairn and all the way over to the mountains of Loch Ness. It is an honour to work outdoors in such a beautiful location and to be able to witness such stunning scenery and ever changing light and cloud formations. I have been lucky enough to have witnessed Cloud Inversion, Mammutus clouds, Kelvin Holtz clouds, Iridescence clounds, Cirrus, Cirrocumulus, Cirrostratus and Lenticular. Whilst the view is spectacular, the Farm has definately helped prepare me for the elements and trudging down a mountain in torrential rain or snow and low temperatures.
Light
Another love of mine when it comes to nature is light. Sunrise, daylight and Sunset each offer us something special in the form of subject lighting which greatly influences what magic you see and when. I love how the light interacts with the sea, the land and the sky, the stars and all of the nature that surrounds it. I have recently been going out during the darker hours with a 365nm ultraviolet torch to photograph all sorts of glowing fauna and critters. I am greatly enjoying the discovery of a bioluminescent world I wouldnt have otherwise known was there. Particularly glowy subjects include, rocks, lichen, spagnum moss, seaweed, shells, snails, slaters and earthworms.
Education
I grew up in Inverness and attended The Inverness Royal Academy where I gained 8 standard grades, 5 Highers and and CSYS in Art. Other curricular activities include Young Enterprise and Duke of Edinburgh.
I then went on to Inverness College where I have undertaken an NC in Art, a HNC in fine art and a City in Guilds qualification in Interior Design.
In 2002, I was accepted into several Scottish Art Schools but decided on the BDes Hons course for Interior and Envirnmental Design at Duncan of Jordanstone. I spent my third year exchange over in New Zealand, studying at Massey university in Wellington. As well as the performance design course I enrolled on, I particularly enjoyed my printmaking and Toi Atea (Maori Art and Design) where we got to spend time with large Maori familys, visited a Marae and learned about the language, the culture, art, dance rituals and the food! I love that the ancestoral stories are passed on by the older and most respected family members and also through the repeat pattern art you will often see on the Heke (rafters of the Marae)
As well as completing 7 years of art school, I have never been far away from horses and have been slowly gathering my BHS stages over the years. I now have my BHS Stage 1, 2 and 3. My stage 2 teach, my RDA singular and group coach certificate, my TRSS qualification and my first aid. I am fully disclosed to work with children and vulnerable adults. Whilst the loss of my beautiful horse has meant less competing of late, I am still happy to go out to training on youngsters or any horses that need a rider.
I have ridden for the BBC's re-inactment of the Battle of Bannockburn where they CGI'd 5 of us into an army of 500. We got to wear the costumes from Robin Hood, Prince of theives and work with the Clan Ranald re-inactment group. I have also taken part in the Highland Military Tattoo, Riding in a re-inactment of the battle of Waterloo. Working with horses has allowed me to get close up and personal with nature during every season, often witnessing once in a lifetime scenes and wildlife.