Experience
Photographer / Photography Tour Guide 2015 to present
Constantly determined to develop win-win situations, by creating opportunities that had not previously existed. I started NHCameratours.com as a means to encourage photographers from beginners to professionals to explore their own abilities and experience the year round beauty of the White Mountains.
Freelance Tour Guide and Wine Educator 2001 – 2015
Predominantly focused on teaching every aspect of the Santa Barbara wine industry.
In 2010, I established the first daily vineyard walking tour operation in the world. The 3 hour program involves teaching farming practices, soil, weather and wine appreciation vineyardwalkingtours.com.
In 2005 I created sbwinemakers.com a website that I developed to enhance the information I provided on my guided tours.
The primary goal of the site was to create video documentary interviews of winemakers explaining the many aspects of winemaking. As a driver/guide I worked with a lot of novice and expert wine tasters and introduced them to a full understanding of how to appreciate and enjoy wine.
I provide a professional customer service in order to achieve a high percentage of repeat business.
My sales were in excess of $6 million.Some of my wine tasting clients went on to become winemakers and sommeliers.
Webmaster, websites and e-commerce. 2004 – Present
My client list includes wineries, artists, the horse community, antiques, hotels and the food industry.
A solid working knowledge of css, html, php and jquery, the Adobe Creative Suite and Final Cut pro on Macs. SEO, Google analytics, site mapping and many other aspects of site building, from graphic design to hand coding, have resulted in over $7 million in online sales. This also includes teaching website owners how to maximize their businesses and sales through social media. Through wordpress/woocommerce, I developed my own e-commerce program that a number of clients have found invaluable, time saving and cost effective. In addition to this I also photograph all the products for sites and optimize them for fast loading.
Assistant-Winemaker 2008 – Present
In 2008 with two friends we started the No Limits Wine label. Our first vintage was the main wine for the James Beard Society Christmas Dinner. The 2nd vintage was highly recommended by noted wine writers, the 3rd vintage won Double Gold at the San Francisco International Wine Competition against 4,500 wines from around the world.
The Wine Enthusiast also awarded us with 93 points for our 2010 syrah.We released our first rose/blush in 2018. Presented the wines at Garagiste Festivals in LA and Santa Barbara.
Conducted panel discussion on syrah at the Central Coast Wine Classic.
Biodynamic Vineyard Farming 2011 – 2014
I converted 4 acres of languishing vines into a productive crop, single-handedly farmed using Biodynamic and ecologically sound methods.
I have also conducted seminars and trained tasting room staff on the Biodynamic methods and philosophy.
Expedition Guide/International Tour Director 1989 – 2001
Professionally trained expedition guide, I lead overland expeditions through Turkey, Egypt and the Middle-east. These 40 day long camping tours not only allowed me to travel to countries I needed to visit. This career built a strong and determined work ethic that focused on every aspect of travel, culture and education. I expanded my portfolio to include China, Hong Kong, Russia and India where I was expected to develop new programs and destinations through building solid contacts with mutual trust. I continued my work in both Canada and the US, providing the Tour Operators I contracted with detailed and highly successful tours.
Education
Photography and Videography
Through videography, I have documented 100’s of hours of interviews with winemakers, made numerous short promotional videos for artists, wineries, and even horse trainers.
I have had many exhibitions for my travel photography
Qualifications
A levels in Law and History. Kelsterton College, NEWI, North Wales, UK.
Published
Early in 2014 I self published my story “Double Happiness” on Amazon.
Personal Websites
Lee Camerawork is my personal portfolio of photography and videography.
NH Camera Tours photography tour company I established in the White Mountains, New Hampshire