Q & A - Phoenix, AZ Family Photographer

Yesterday I asked on Facebook what would people like to know about me. I've been wanting to share more about me on my Photography blog, but have a total writers block. So I thought it would be fun and here are the questions asked...

Marco Samardzija -

"What made you want to do photography, since you got a degree in psychology. To me, they are opposites. One is an art the other is a science."


In 2004 I got a BA in Psychology at ASU. (Go Devils!) When I started college I was a pre-business major. First year of college I took Psy 101 for one of my general credits.

I didn't think it would change my life.

The class was interesting, but I wasn't going to change my major because of it. Then, the following semester I took a Social Psychology class from Professor Steven Neuberg. It changed my life. As a pre-business major I was not having fun learning about economics and what not, it was work to understand it. Psychology was different. I wanted to go home after class and read the textbook just like any other good book out there. I loved it! Professor Neuberg made it fun and interesting and I just couldn't get enough of it. So, I switched my major! After graduating, I worked for The Child Crisis Center as a Healthy Families representative... in other words I was a social worker for the AZ Healthy Families Program. It was one of the hardest and most rewarding things I've ever done. I loved thinking I was helping to make a difference in people's life. Getting people to trust you with their problems and open up wasn't easy, but over time I felt the families I worked with trusted me and allowed me to help them.

On the other hand, I've always loved photography since I was a little child, as a matter of fact I've been published... (ha!) ... in two of my high school yearbooks. I laugh because I was talking to some friends last night who were telling me I should blog about this. I loved being part my high school yearbook team and helping conserve the memories from the years I spent there. I was known by my peers to have a camera in hand at all times. You just never know when the best picture opportunity may come and so I got some great pictures published. Having children ignited by passion for photography once more. I wanted to document everything about my children, so that I may remember the everyday things when they are grown.

So to answer the question. I see more similarities in psychology and photography than differences. They are both an art and they both impact people's lives. There is some science to both, but you can approach them differently depending on the situation. I love to think that I'm making a difference and helping people document important events/periods in their lives.

Life is short, so document it.

Faria Munmun - "How did you become a successful photographer/entrepreneur?"

To be honest, I'm not sure how to answer this. Success is subjective. When I started photographing people I just wanted to take pictures, but quickly realized that to stay in business I needed to become more business savvy. After all, I was spending so much time away from my family that I needed to make it worth it for me. I love doing photography, but I love my family more. I will never get back what I miss out on. Melissa Jill just yesterday tweeted "Don't start a photo business unless you enjoy business. Less than 20% of your time will be spent on photography if you want to be successful." That said, also take care of your clients! My business is word of mouth, meaning my clients refer other clients. I don't ask for this, they do it because they loved the experience they had with me.

Sharon Cherry - sent me an email with questions about doing a birth and I thought I would share my answers here. To check out the Birth post click here.

Having delivered three kids of my own, the last thing I wanted to do during a birth was have the flash going off. I thought it would be distracting for everyone including the mother and doctor. I was already in the market for a new camera a couple of months ago and decided to bite the bullet and purchase the d700. I already had the 50m 1.4 lens which works great in low light. These two things made the shoot possible. Most of the time my ISO was between 3500-5000 and I shot at 1.4 most of the time. This could not have been done on my d5000 or even the d300, ISO quality is just not there.

As far as when to go to the hospital, I asked Trisha to let me know when she was 6cm. I determine this because I knew it was her 3rd birth and the hospital was close to me. Though she assured me many many times that her labors are long and I would probably be waiting, that wasn't the case this time.

How to price a Birth session is hard. You really don't know what you are in for. When I was in labor with my first child it probably took me about 8 hours to get from 6 to 10cm. So, I'm still working this out.

Thank you guys for asking questions! If you are reading this post and you would like more posts like this leave a comment. I would love to do another one!

Newborn Contest Winner - Phoenix AZ Newborn Photographer

I'd like to thank all those who participated in the Newborn Contest as well as those who vote! The winner of the contest is Nichol Preciado Shrum! Congratulations! I can't wait to meet your bundle of joy!

Newborn Contest - Phoenix, Arizona Photographer

If you haven't joined Diana Carver Photography on Facebook... well.. you should! You will find there are promotions and deals exclusive to fans as well as be in the know of what is going on around here.

I mentioned on Facebook having a Newborn Constest so here are the details...

Drum Roll...

HOW TO ENTER CONTEST

1. Send a picture to me at dcarverphoto@gmail.com by Saturday, March 5th. I will then post them to a special contest album on my Facebook page Monday, March 7th. Voting will begin immediately!
   
2. If you haven't yet, join my Facebook page.
3. Ask people (your friends, family, co-workers, etc.) to "like" their favorite picture (i.e. YOURS!)
4. Votes are counted as likes on each individual image/entry. A person must like Diana Carver Photography on Facebook in order to like a photo.
5. Voting will continue through Friday, March 11th! Winner will be announced on Saturday, March 12!
6. Submitted images must of the soon to be mommy.( No professional pictures)
   

THE PRIZE!

The winner will receive:

-a 3 hour complimentary photo shoot

-a CD with 20 fully edited high resolution pictures with a print release!

-a private online gallery to share with family and friends

The session must take place in local areas to Phoenix Metro and be redeemed by Dec 1st and before baby is 10 days old. A signed model release will also be required prior to the session.

Let the fun begin!

Rylee - Mesa Newborn Photographer

I got to meet this little lady earlier this week. Sadly her mom had tried getting another photographer to do her newborn pictures, but that photographer kept rescheduling their appointment. That made me so sad! Newborns change daily, everyday counts. The majority of newborn pictures on my site are before the baby is even a week old. I was up for the challenge of photographing a 3 week old. I got her in as soon as I could.

Rylee put up a good fight.

She really didn't want to sleep.

Every newborn session is different and come with their own challanges. I've had a 6 day old baby not want to sleep. I've had babies poop all over. Gotten tons of poop on my hand, or pee. I've even gotten it on my clothes. Hahaha

But Rylee's mommy was wonderful and patient. So, we waited her out. She slept for a good 30-45 minutes. Just enough to get several poses of her sleeping. But I love the awake pictures too. Here are just a few of my favorites...

Day Thirty-three

Day Thirty-One

Day Thirty

Ashley opening our sliding door...

Day Twenty-Nine

Day Twenty-Eight

Day Twenty-Six

Day Twenty-Five

McWilliams's Maternity Photo Shoot

It is such an exciting time in a person's life when there's a baby on the way. This wonderful couple are just in that stage, they are expecting their first baby. It's a baby girl, her name is picked out, and her room is ready for her arrival. I'm so excited to meet her too! I'll be doing her newborn pictures. Here are the maternity pictures...

Day Twenty Four

Logue Family

Here's another session from Dec. We had lots of fun playing in the leaves, riding the carousel, and the grand finale riding the train! Now that's a session! Here are some of the pictures...

Editing: Before and After

I thought I would share with you my before and after editing work. Since I started on this journey I've realized that not only did I need to learn to use my camera to its full potential, understand lighting(blah, blah) but that I also had to master software editing tools. Not that I have mastered these and not that Photoshop will "fix" a picture. Many photographers would not show their before and after pictures to clients let alone potential clients. It's like asking them to get undressed. Yike! However, there are still many that do and will and I always enjoy seeing how they do it. Trying to figure out how they do it, it's fun for me.

The first picture is a picture straight out of camera with NO editing! The second one is edited.

Valentine Family - Phoenix, AZ Photographer

Here's a sneak peek for the Valentine family...

Rutherford Family

I had great fun with the Rutherford family on their shoot. Here are some pictures of their session...