Black Panther chief photographer Niamh Greene is finding herself in more and more demand these days as offers of work start to come her way.
And, as Niamh herself admits, blackpanther.ie has played a key role in getting her started.
In fact, Niamh is due to go on a day’s work experience with one of the country’s top snappers, Dave Maher from Sportsfile, over the next couple of weeks.
It’s something she’s really looking forward to.
But how did this work experience offer come about? It was all thanks to Niamh taking some photos for blackpanther.ie – that’s how; it was that simple.
Niamh told blackpanther.ie: “Norman [Kelly, Black Panther chief instructor] said there was an event coming up and would I be in a position to take a few photos for him. I hadn’t done much sports photography but I have an uncle in Kilkenny who has a kickboxing club and I had taken some snaps for him before. So I thought, ‘Why not, I’ll give it a go!’
Niamh, who’s 24 and a childcare worker by profession, was always keen on photography but her interest didn’t really take off until about two years ago, when she got a present of a camera.
Then, she joined the Clondalkin Photography Club.
“They organise courses, day trips, workshop nights and even run competitions. It’s really great,” she told us.
Niamh is doing a lot of house calls, mainly children’s portraits for communions and the like, as the work offers start to pour in.
She’s also doing a wedding in September.
Hopefully, Niamh’s involvement with blackpanther.ie will continue to open more doors for her as she pursues her photographic ambitions.
We have included a small sample of Niamh’s work to show you what she does, apart from taking pictures of you lot at the club!
The Black Panther Kickboxing Club prides itself on being a ‘large social family’ as one of the main focal points of the local Tallaght community.
And stories like Niamh’s shows you what can be done.
Incidentally, if anyone would like to contribute any stories to blackpanther.ie, please let us know.
You can write about your own experiences at the club – anything at all; it’s entirely up to you.
As we say about the website ‘use it, participate, it’s yours!’
If it helps to get you started in something you’ve always wanted to do, like it has for Niamh, all the better – go for it.
Again, don’t be shy.
It may help, say, for instance, if you are at college, to have some published articles on the site as part of your portfolio.
It may help in other ways, too.
By the way, if you want to write an article for the website let Norman Kelly know, and he’ll put you in touch with the relevant person.
Or if you want to make yourself available for interview – we’re always looking for willing candidates – again let Norman know and he will take it from there.