Women’s history month - feature | Diane Nicole photography
Look! I was featured on shootdotedit.com and I am flattered by the article’s sweet words. I wanted to share a bit about the article on here, so my readers can get a good sense of what I talked about!
“Most working moms will tell you that being a professional and a mom takes time and patience. At ShootDotEdit, we are amazed and inspired by strong female photographers who seem to do it all and make it look easy.” - ShootDotEdit
It’s true! Being a working mom takes a lot of patience, I am so happy that over the years of running my own business, and taking care of two kiddos and the family, I can say that I think I have a routine down… most of the time! Sure, there will always be those bumps in the road, but I know I can do this, especially with the support of my family.
“I am seeing more and more women photographers. 10 or 15 years ago, that wasn’t the case. Many family portrait photographers are moms, and they become photographers because they want to take better pictures of their kids. So I just love seeing women being creative and finding a way to make money doing it. If you have the passion for it, go for it” I really do love seeing the work that working mamas put into their artwork, that is photography. It’s amazing that a fun hobby can turn into a lifestyle!
I’ve been a photographer for 18 years, (gosh that makes me sound like i’m aging myself…) but I have been through every trend you can think of! “I catered weddings for 12 years and while I was living in Florida, a friend of mine asked me to shoot her wedding – and I had a great time! When I moved to Chico, CA I started doing more weddings for friends and I really fell in love with it. People are just having a great time. They’re in a great mood. They’re celebrating. So I just kind of pushed forward with it. I was scared every time, but I got better and better and was able to start charging what I’m worth.”
With everything in life, especially a life as an entrepreneur, you’ll fail at some things, succeed at others… but you’ll always learn along the way. “After every wedding, there was always something that I learned. I remember I had a bride, and they had an outside wedding at one of the local parks. She was an hour late to her wedding and it ended up being pitch black outside. That was before I really understood my lighting, so I didn’t have flashes. So I did this wedding in the pitch dark. And from then on I’ll never be in that situation again.”
When it comes down to inspiration, and education, It came to me with a lot of research. Obviously back in the day photography wasn’t as big as it is today, so the ones that inspired me had that amazing niche I had been looking for.
“About eight years ago, the first thing that I came across was CreativeLive. That was an awesome beginning education for me. And then I found WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International). It really opened up this whole new world for me. to meet other people in the industry that were rocking it. And I fell in love with two there – Sue Bryce and Susan Stripling. Susan is a wedding photographer, and Sue does more portrait work and is an incredible speaker and educator.”
Take a look at the blog post for some of my favorite tips I take with me everyday! It will help you along the way too.
Thanks for following along, and thanks again to ShootDotEdit for the feature!
Diane