Hello -I’m Rick!
I’m a self-taught photographer and filmmaker, and someone who’s spent most of my life figuring out what it actually means to not just be a fulfilled creative, but also how to keep going when it gets hard.
I’ve been shooting both photo and video for years. Before YouTube, before anyone cared, before I had any idea where it might lead. What started as a hobby slowly turned into a career, then a business, then something bigger than just cameras and videos.
Today, I have a YouTube channel with an audience of photographers and creatives from all over the world. I work with brands whose products fit with my work. I take photos and make films that reflect how I see and experience the world. What I make is ‘real world me’, both the highs and the lows. I’m not one to pretend or hide behind some curated influencer BS version of ‘life’.
I also mentor other creatives, 1 on 1 and in groups. People who like I did feel stuck, overwhelmed, burnt out, or merely just frustrated that their creative life (or even their wider life) doesn’t look the way they hoped it would by now.
None of this started from a place of clarity or confidence…. it was actually as far away from that as you can get.
The bit most people don’t see
For a long time, I struggled with the same things that the people I now work with struggle with.
Perfectionism.
Self-doubt.
Procrastination.
Burnout.
That constant feeling of ‘I really should be further along than this.’
I overthought everything. I was waiting for the right time. I tied my self-worth to output, numbers, and validation from others. I juts wasn’t doing the thing that I so desperately wanted to do. On the surface, things often looked like they were going ok. But inside? They were at breaking point.
That’s why I’m careful about how I talk about what I do now.
It’s not about ‘hustle’
It’s not about overnight transformation.
I’m not interested in pretending the hard parts don’t exist because they still do, even now.
The position I’m in now, creatively, professionally, and personally - it didn’t come from short cuts or hacks. It came from consistently (well, sort of!) doing the work, making mistakes, learning how my own brain works, then building and tweaking systems and habits that actually support my creative life rather than drain it.
That’s the place I’m now coming from.
What I do now
My work sort of sits where making and mentoring meet.
On one side, I’m actively making things. Photography, filmmaking, YouTube. I know what it’s like to put things out there and seriously doubt it, but to force myself to do it anyway (and to keep doing it).
On the other side, I work closely with people who want to reconnect with their creativity, build on it and trust themselves again. Some are photographers. Some are filmmakers. A lot don’t really even fully know what they are yet. They just know things aren’t going as they want. They’re basicallly just stuck.
Through 1:1 coaching and group mentoring, I help those people:
get out of their own way
rebuild their self confidence
move beyond perfectionism and procrastination
create consistently (without burning out)
make work that actually feels like their own, work that is genuinely fulfilling and fun
Why creative people work with me
I don’t think people don’t come to me because I’ve got everything figured out.
They come because I’ve been through all of the sh*t that life throws at you without hiding it and without pretending I had everything figured out.
I know exactly what it’s like to feel lost and yet weirdly capable at the same time. To have experience, but almost zero clarity. To want more from a creative life without destroying the rest of it.
If that sounds familiar, you’re probably in the right place.
Working with brands
I also collaborate with brands whose products are (and have been) part of my workflow and assist me both creatively and in my business.
I don’t chase trends, or force gear into content where it doesn’t belong. If something appears in my work, it’s because I use it and see a place for it in the future. More often than not, this is long before there’s any conversation about working together.
Brands tend to work with me because my audience trusts me, and because the work I put out there prioritises longer term value over short term attention.
The aims are always the same. Honest integration, real world use, and natural storytelling. If something feels transactional, then it isn’t for me.