Ten Facts You Didn’t Know About The Early Days At WTTF

1.     When we started we had a dial up connection. Let that sink in!

2.     Our first paid job was a stills' shoot for NRMA. Jason took lots of photos but the one they selected, and used extensively, was one he took accidentally.

3.     We made $800 gross in our first year in business. Yikes! We ate a lot of cabbage and drank through our stores of Qantas Wine Club quaffers. On weekends, when we wanted a treat, we added bacon to the cabbage.

4.     Things were nearly over before they began when, in 2004, Jason suffered an Olympic gymnastics' injury. It was during the floor routine. He rolled over in bed and did his neck. There was significant whinging but, with a little TLC and that Olympic spirit, he bounced back, better than ever.

5.     In the first year or so, Jason was freelancing for the Financial Review. On a job covering the Suncorp AGM, he met a Suncorp Communications’ Manager. She asked if he could quote to shoot the Suncorp Annual Report. Jason studiously checked his diary (although, it was relatively empty) and indicated that he could "probably juggle to fit it in". There was extra bacon in the cabbage that night!

6.     In 2003, when we started our business, we used Nikon kit (the camera was called a D1). We changed over to Canon in 2005 (their camera was called a 1D).

7.     When we set out, we lived and worked out of our one bedroom flat; it was seventy square metres of bliss. So that we felt like we could ‘go to work’, we put our bed in the lounge/dining room and set up the office in the bedroom. It’s important to have a door. All self-respecting businesses have a door right?

8.     Jason had a well-dressed phase. Button up, collared shirts with cufflinks, a tie and leather, pointy shoes. It’s hard to imagine now isn’t it? Check out the picture if you don’t believe it.

9.     Although Jason always loved working with video, we couldn’t afford the kit at the outset (back then it was more than $100 000 for a basic set up), so we focused on stills. Our first video camera was a Black Magic Cinema Camera but the excitement was short lived. It was a piece of crap. [#notsponsored]. These days we use a Sony FS7. Next on the shopping list is a Red Weapon 8K.

10.  After proudly handing out our first business card to all and sundry, a friend pointed out a spelling error. Apparently, Jason was a ‘photograher’. I wish we’d kept a copy. Let us know if you happen to have one.