Pete Tighe was an absolute pleasure to work with. We worked closely together to ensure we could produce a suite of images that Pete could use across his professional life. Pete had obviously thought very carefully about the images he wanted and prepared accordingly. Even though Pete was well prepared he arrived for his session visibly nervous. However, as we got into it, he quickly relaxed and was very happy to trust me to take the lead and we had a lot of fun getting some really effective professional portraits. I had a chat to Pete about what he does and his experience of a Lizzy C Photography photography session.
What do you do? Tell us a bit about what you do.
I am an engineer in specialising in intelligent transport systems. Most of my work is behind the scenes building control room technology for large tunnels. If you travel through a tunnel, the most visible part of my work is the electronic signs designed to keep you safe. But the most important part of my job is to keep you safe in the rare event of an incident, like a fire, when you need to evacuate.
It is an amazing job with lots of intellectual challenge and it requires a surprising amount of visual skills. Transport networks are incredibly organic, multi-dimensional systems. As a highly visual person, I get immense satisfaction from this field of work. Peers in my industry seem to value my ability to distil incredibly complex situations down to a single, simple, easy to comprehend diagram.
Tell me about how you got into your field.
At university I teetered between architecture and engineering. At 18 years, I was young for my age, confused and low in confidence. I did not realise the strength of my visual literacy and communication skills. In 1983 I wrote a computer game pretending to defend the planet from alien invaders. Then I built a robot for a science competition. I came second, gained a lot confidence and chose Mechanical Engineering, focusing on technology in engineering. The rest is history.
What is the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
The best piece of career advice came from my wife, the lovely Nicole. Her advice was “back yourself”. It has had a profound impact on my approach to all aspects of my life.
Why did you choose to have professional profile photos taken and what will you use your portraits for?
I’ve always taken time to have a professional portrait for two reasons. First, it gives me confidence to back myself. Second, I am such a highly visual person that I understand the power of a picture and that first impressions really do matter. I am always providing visual and technical services to corporate customers. It would be remiss of me, and confusing to my customers, if I had a scruffy portrait. I use the portraits on social media, in my company’s corporate directory, internal company newsletters and for events such as conferences and industry newsletters.
Why did you choose to hire Lizzy C Photography?
Most of all, I liked Lizzy’s photography style. When I looked at her website, her photos stuck me as a delicate balance between personal warmth and corporate professionalism. My job hinges on 1:1 relationships with people doing difficult jobs in transport control rooms. I pride myself on always being approachable. But these control rooms operate some of the largest infrastructure assets in Australia. So I need to also present a very professional image. Lizzy’s photos do both remarkably well.
Tell us about your experience working with her. Were you happy with the results of your shoot?
Just the idea of a photo shoot creates a lot of nervous energy in me. Lizzy’s natural style set a relaxed tone, which in turn relaxed me. The result is an awesome set of new portraits. There were so many good shots, in a range of moods and settings, that I ended up buying a few extra than I originally planned. Thanks Lizzy!
