There’s been plenty of sunshine and beach images on my Instagram feed and website this week, as I had the opportunity to travel to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for a weekend to help kickstart the @AirCanada #ACHeartsRio contest. I am not used to shooting on the beach, so I had to search through Instagram for some inspiration and, basically, some lessons.
The first and only feed I really needed to look at was @Jewelszee. Nobody does beach scenes, surfing, or stunning colour quite like this Gold Coast, Australis iger. Her work is stunning and her personality seems to boil through in both the images and the awesome captions. Naturally, I wanted to feature her awesome work in my new Weekly Square series, so here’s what she had to say.
Weekly Square interview with Iger Jewelszee
Q: Introduce Yourself! What’s your instagram account name, how long have you had the account, and what’s your favorite subject?
A: Hi my name’s Jewels and my instagram handle is @jewelszee 🙂 I have been on instagram since its beginning; however, this is my second account, which I started in October 2012. Before that I had an old ‘jewelszee’ account that at the time was one of the very biggest in Australia. I also have a second account @snapper.snapper that I created to share my surf photography, but it has been very difficult to maintain it with all the travelling I have done over the last year. It’s tough to pinpoint my favourite subject, obviously sharing my travel adventures, but also my love of the beach, surfing, and portraits of my daughters, are at the top of the list.
Q: What’s the coolest place IG has allowed you to travel? Where do you hope it takes you next?
A: The coolest place I have travelled to share on the ‘gram’ has, most recently, been Dubai! While the city overwhelmed and amazed me and had its own opulent beauty, the desert of UAE stole my heart and captivated my soul. It was breathtaking, soothing, and left me feeling a sense of such peace. Oh gosh! Where do I want to go next?? Everywhere!! haha! But if I had to choose just one place, I would have to say Canada, or Norway. (oops, thats two lol).
Q: What did you do before IG? Do you still have a job?
A: Before IG I had been in the fashion industry for over 15 years, eventually owning my own boutique near Byron Bay (Australia). When my youngest daughter became very ill, I had to give up my business in order to take care of her full time. I then worked part time in a drug & alcohol Rehabilitation Clinic as part of a project introducing new patients into the Alcoholics Anonymous community. I gave this job up in 2013 to pursue a full time career as a Photographer/Instagrammer. I have now done over 40 Instagram Travel campaigns across my beautiful country.
Q: What gear do you use – list it all! What’s your favorite setup? Dream Setup?
A; I’m currently sponsored by Canon Australia, who supply me with the EOS6D, the 8-15mm F4, 16-35mm F2.8, 24-70mm F2.8, and the 70-200mm F2.8, which I’m stoked with! I’d love to get my hands on the 5D MIII and I’m also totally glamoured by the Sony A7R. I also shoot with a GoPro Hero 3+ Black for underwater, and my trusty iPhone 5S, and I use a Manfrotto 055 tripod. My dream set up… hmmmm I’m happy and grateful for what I have now, that’s all that matters.
Q: Who are 5 of your favourite igers?
A: Tough!! Too Tough!! I’ll go with @garry_norris @laurenepbath, @punkodelish, @colbybrownphotography, @chrisburkard
Can I say 5 more? 😛
If you like the images in this post – all from Jewelszee herself – make sure to follow her on Intsagram and Twitter.
Beautiful interview , Jewels account is truly one of the best on IG
Awesome interview, Jewels! Your photos always inspire me.
Go Jewels, you’re amazing! Great interview, thanks for posting