About Me

This is a little page to let you know a little bit about me. I’m more comfortable telling you about what I like to do and how I ended up here, than giving some sort of internet dating style profile of what I want you to think of me, so here goes….

Home Life

Let’s start with the easy bits. I live in a little village near Cheltenham in the Cotswolds, with my wife Kim, our two young sons Milo & Monty, we also have a menagerie of chicks, dogs and ponies!

Kim, Milo & Monty

Although my work keeps me out of the house most weekends, this job affords me a huge amount of time with my family in the week. Doing all the school runs and shenanigans until bedtime, plus off season is a lovely relaxing time where we have plenty of family trips and days out.

Pets as Therapy

I have also recruited Milo to the charity Pets as Therapy who I have been a volunteer for since 2013. Where for 5 years we went to Knightsbridge care home on Saturday mornings with our little old Wire Fox Terrier Basil, for the residents to stroke or have him sit on their lap. They loved the addition of Milo as much if not more than seeing Basil! It’s a lovely experience which means so much to many of the residents who themselves had dogs in their lives, and get the opportunity to enjoy that interaction again. Sadly Basil Basil passed away in 2018. He was our little rescue dog superstar and you can read his story here. Loosing him was very upsetting but take solace in the wonderful work he has done over the last 5 years. I have since got our other dog Hugo qualified to take over the reigns, and im delighted Basils legacy can live on.

Family

Elsewhere in my life I have a wonderful family. Parents who I see every week, as well as my sister, brother in-law and my 2 nephews and niece. I have an amazing group of friends, some of which I have known since I was 4 years old, and although our partying days are mostly behind us, we still meet up a few times a year to test just how useless we have got at drinking!

Cancer

​I've had a bit of a roller-coaster life so far. 10 general anaesthetic operations tells a story, and I survived testicular cancer in 2016. But I am now fighting fit, and enjoying the best days of my life to date. You can read about my story here.

Photography

​Photography has always been a feature in my life, and is not just a profession to me, it’s not even a hobby, it’s an obsession!

When my wife became pregnant with Milo I upgraded my camera to better capture his formative years. This rapidly accelerated to even more equipment, experience, and photography adventures to the point where I not only make a living from it, but I have found my life calling.

The Perfect Job

Photography ticks so many boxes in what makes me tick. ​I love technology, so that box is ticked. I love the great outdoors, nature and wildlife, so that’s a tick too. I love history and seeing back in time, and with photography I am very aware I am playing my small part in preserving memories for the future. I am fascinated by people. How different we all are, our backgrounds, our personalities and how we interact, and being able to capture those subtleties is another joy to behold.

Artist

Finally, I am a frustrated artist. I am a truly awful drawer. I see in my minds eye what I want to draw or paint, and once it hits the paper it looks like my son did it. Photography feeds that creative desire and then some. By using camera settings, my position, angle, zoom, depth of field & framing, my camera is my canvas. I am never happier than when I am behind the viewfinder. I feel free.

A True Gift

​It is a true gift I get to do something that I love so much in Lee Hawley Photography, and even more that I get to share it with so many people. People who come into my life when they're at their absolute happiest. Many of which stay in my life long after the wedding and remain friends.

I cannot wait for my next story to tell.