I'm a glass is half full girl which makes me always look for the silver lining. It doesn't matter how crappy my day has been, just seeing something simple, like the blue of the sky, lifts my spirits. The good helps balance out the bad. Photography for me is an extension of that outlook - recording the things that make me feel good.

But I have been hooked on the surprise in the film cannister since I was a teenager. I always had rolls of film juggling around in the bottom of my handbag waiting to be developed (never ever wanted to do it myself and still don't!) and I loved the feeling of finding that one great photo.

I was born in Perth, Western Australia and we spent my childhood following dad around from fishing town to fishing town all around the country. I picked up my first camera in my late teens, a $30 film camera from Target and after discovering digital photography about 5 years ago I now work with a Canon 400D DSLR.

In 2003 I got a cool part-time job in the pet reptile industry and got to photograph pythons and lizards for catalogues, websites and advertising as well as looking after them. It was very easy to become attracted to macro and close up photography because when I looked for the essence of my subject I found weird and wonderful things when I got up close and personal to the reptiles! My love of animals extends from reptiles to beloved cats and dogs (I have two white fluffy slippers of my own, Jackson and Maggie) through to wildlife. I love those expressions of personality, particularly on dog's faces, and try to capture that when I photograph them.

Of course, most of the time, my subject matter is my family, especially my daughter who loves being in front of the camera. When kids aren't pulling that cheesy fake grin, you can capture some priceless candid expressions, some of them fun, some of them thoughtful and all of them full of personality!

While I have recently re-embraced colour, one of my favourite types of photography is black and white. Black and white holds such simplicity in its tones, complexity in its patterns and life when applied to photos of people. Lighting in black and white images can create strong thoughtful images or bright uplifting moods. It's a wonderful medium to portray people, including kids. I don't normally work in true black and white anymore after I discovered gentler, warmer toning techniques. But then every image is different and it depends on what I find when I get there! It's always a surprise!

My last trip to Bali in September 2008 became a defining moment in my journey of photography. Not only did I get some fantastic travel photos for my new Projects Gallery but it awakened a long dormant desire to work with animal welfare. The sad, sad expressions on the faces of the lonely street dogs of Bali gave me the idea to use the medium of my photography as a tool to help rather than just a recording of beauty. As a photographer, I will always be learning and so in that sense my style will always be changing, which will reflect in the images you see here on my website. But in the street dogs of Bali I’ve finally found a "home" in photography.

I hope you enjoy my images as much as I enjoy my passions.

Gabby Lewis