Connor Passey has been taking photos for almost 10 years.
A Chertsey resident, Connor's latest batch of photographs generated a wave of excitement among residents after he posted them on Facebook — generating hundreds of likes and encouraging comments.
He told the Comet that he first got into the hobby via his Dad, who works shooting on film and later digital cameras.
"It was great for me as a kid as he'd upgrade his camera much like you upgrade to a new smartphone so every year I got a slightly better camera to play around with.
"Of course my photo's back then were probably upside down out of focus with no sense or composition or any clue as to what I was doing — I just knew I enjoyed taking photo's even if they were bad ones," Connor said.
Regardless of the quality of his first forays into photography, Connor's latest work is evidently impressive and indicates the time and dedication he puts in.
On World Mental Health Day (October 10), the Chertsey resident was candid about the restorative power he found in taking photos as someone impacted by mental health issues.
"Photography is still very much a hobby to me I could see myself doing it as a profession one day... it's mainly been a big help to my mental health.
"I suffer with severe anxiety and depression that has effected me since I was in secondary school and even at 25 still makes day to day life difficult.
"Photography has been better for me than anything I've been offered by the GP and I'd recommend anyone give it a try even if you've only got a phone you don't need anything more than that to get into taking photos," he said.
Sometimes perceived as an individual hobby, Connor's experiences with the Runnymede Photographic Society — "They welcome people of all skill levels there's no snobbery" — show that this is not always the case.
His photos seem to be helping open up the conversation about Chertsey too, at least insofar as highlighting how beautiful the town can be as it moves through the seasons.
"There's lots of beautiful places to photograph in Chertsey... I find myself most often down Chertsey Meads.
"You get some stunning sunrises, especially in the colder months of the year when you get all the mist moving across it and the occasional spotting of a deer.
"I find myself going back to Virginia water lake quite a lot as it's close to home, there's so much to explore. You also get to see a beautiful change in the scenery year round we are quite lucky in Chertsey to have such places on our doorstep," Connor said.
While he said he's open to all types of photography including portraits and landscapes, the occasional moments when he captures wildlife can be the most rewarding.
"If I had to pick one for the rest of my life it would be wildlife and it can sometimes involve hours of waiting and then only a few seconds to get the critical moment captured, but the high you get off coming away with that photo is incredibly rewarding and you get to share it with other people who might not otherwise ever see something like that."
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