How long have you been a photographer?
I've been taking photographs for most of my life. I've got tubs and tubs of print film from way back in elementary school sitting in my closet right now waiting to be put into albums (or at least organized). I opened my photography business, Daveen Photography, in spring of 2006.
What made you become a photographer?
When I really started understanding how to use my camera as a tool for capturing images (just like a painter would use a paintbrush and a palette for painting), I think I "became" a photographer. Until that point, I was just a "camera user". There is a big difference. Taking a photograph that elicits an portraits is a way for me to translate what I see onto film (although I'm digital now), so I really feel like it is wonderful artistic outlet. Although it is now a business for me, with all the details that being one entails, it is still the creativity of photography that motivates me. I am emotionally connected to the portraits I create . . . I think that that is what makes a good artist, whatever the medium.
What inspires you in your everyday life?
I'm really gravitating towards a clean, modern look right now . . . magazines, fonts, ads, furniture. Modern, yet warm and inviting at the same time. I love looking at print ads that are not cluttered and with a great layout. I'm also very inspired by warm, light shades of color. My family and good friends inspire me with their laughter and love, and little moments recharge and inspire me.
What advice can you give our readers about looking through the lens in a new way?
I think that oftentimes, there is a pressure to do more than just take images that satisfy the inner artist in us. Viewing the camera as a means to express yourself creatively and just relaxing in that vs. the pressure that we put on ourselves to take the "perfect picture" helps images become more meaningful and real. There can be an amazing satisfaction in that.
Most of our readers are paper crafters and wish they could take better photographs. Can you give them advice? What can they do to capture that memorable photograph?
I love to look at light in everyday situations and pretend I'm going to photograph in it. In my mind, I choose a lens and the settings I might use on my camera to work the light to bring out a feeling I'd like to convey through a portrait. Doing so will help your readers understand how to create a photograph, not just take one. With that in mind, capturing a moment that may never happen again - in a look, a glance, a twinkle of the eyes- becomes easier when you understand and can read the light in a situation. BUT DON'T WAIT for a situation to be absolutely perfect to click the shutter. Otherwise, you may miss out on an emotionally perfect picture. All of the images I've included for this blog interview are what I would consider an "outtake", but convey a priceless moment all the same. Telling the story of life, as it happens, is an important part of photography. Letting yourself do that, and embracing it, is very artistically satisfying!
Create Well: Don't wait for a situation to be absolutely perfect to click the shutter. Otherwise, you may miss out on an emotionally perfect picture!
