Reflection and Appreciation

Two years and eight months ago, I decided to not to conform to a cubicle, refuse to live a bland boring life, and to officially and formally re-embrace that creative side of myself that I mistakenly left sketching in a notebook and writing in my journal back in grade school.  I haven't picked up a pencil and paper to draw or a pen and journal to write since probably 9th grade...and I missed it.  I loved doing both of those things, but I became consumed in academia, going to college, and getting a "real job" and forgot about those two simple hobbies that made me quite happy.  It wasn't until I moved from PA to MD in 2007, fresh out of college, when that feeling of contentment and excitement suddenly hit me again out of nowhere.  I went sailing for the first time, I took photos while sailing, and subsequently, a love affair began. The rest is history.  Since that last linked post, I went to photography school in DC and am actually graduating this Sunday.  I continue to assist multiple commercial and editorial photographers, am consistently booking my own shoots, have interviewed at places like National Geographic, and have officially registered my business, Lisa Dierolf Photography LLC.  So, for those out there who say they want to do something in life (anything), but end up convincing themselves that they "can't" do it and find more reasons why it would never work instead of more reasons on how they can make it happen, my advice to you is this: smell the coffee. Life is short and you need to make the best of it, so use your time and energy toward doing things you love, exploring something you think you might love, or just taking a chance on something completely outside of your comfort zone. Even if you don't succeed or end up not loving it, you'll have a new experience under your belt and you are one step closer to finding and doing the things you actually do love (even if you don't know what they are at this moment).  You can do anything you set your mind to as long as you have a plan and goals in place.  Challenge yourself. Be scared, but confident.  React.  Jump on every opportunity.  Carpe diem.

During my from-scratch journey to becoming a professional photographer, I've been lucky enough to establish a professional relationship and genuine friendship and with some very influential people.  These guys each have a passion for educating, eagerness to provoke creative thinking in others and they each exhibit excellence in their own craft and style, which I very much admire.  I am eternally grateful to them for teaching me so much of what I know today - you are the Masters, in my book.  Meet my inspiration:

Mike Lappin is an imaging technician for both National Geographic Magazine and Nat Geo's map department.  A photoshop and retouching guru, Mike takes credit for working with the Nat Geo photographers to help make their published images and covers look their best for print.  I was lucky enough to study Photoshop with Mike over the past year and a half.

Mike is also an avid cyclist.

Former Baltimore Sun news photographer gone Blogger, David Hobby is the owner and author of Strobist.  I met David by wiggling my way into his blog comments for a chance to shoot at a local non-profit.  Since then, I've been lucky enough to assist him on a wide array of shoots with wide arrays of dynamic and inventive lighting setups - I learn something new from him every single time. 

Robert Rathe is a corporate, advertising and editorial photographer from Virginia.  Formerly on the board of ASMP, Robert's business expertise and know-how parallels his technical photography expertise making him the real deal.  I've had the opportunity to assist Robert and know that if I ever have a question, all I need to do is pick up the phone. 

Cover Shoot - Mark Walsh

Thanks to Mr. Strobist, I recently shot my first cover for a local business magazine.  I was assigned to shoot former AOL exec, Mark Walsh.  Mark is very active in politics and can frequently be seen on CNBC.  He is also the CEO of GeniusRocket, which is a crowdsourcing media/ad company.  They have a pretty unique and smart concept going on over there and it definitely seems like an exciting place to be working.  They basically take their clients need (media, video, etc) and put it out there to the creative world.  Creative artists can then "bid" on the job and GeniusRocket will select a handful of the best options to present to their client and then they go on from there.  Pretty nifty if you ask me.

So, anyway, first big shoot for the cover of a magazine.  For me, thats a big deal.  Kind of a milestone in my photo career thus far.  And I was nervous. And it was about 85 degrees in that office.  And the lighting in there was no bueno.  Luckily, I got there about 45 minutes early to be safe and set up.  I set aside and hour and a half for the shoot, and good thing I did because I ended up only getting about 30 minutes to shoot Mr. Walsh (my photo teacher's prediction was right).  Overall, my first experience being under pressure with a deadline turned out OK.  Unfortunately, all that I was really able to get were the safe shots because there wasn't enough time to get too creative or fun.  Still, it was a great learning experience and I can't wait for the next one that comes along!

(converted to B&W for the blog...)

Lucky 15

I was one of the lucky 15 who got the chance to shoot alongside David Hobby, aka Strobist, at the Howard County Conservancy.  It was a long, inspiring, day and it was incredible to see how the scenery changed as the light moved hour by hour.  Aside from the cause and the photos, what really made this day special were the people involved.  Not only were they all  stellar photographers, but they were really helpful, great to talk to and bounce ideas off of.  David himself was super nice, funny, laid back, and willing to educate...his personality really set the mood for the whole shoot.  Thanks again, everyone, for a fantastic day and experience!!!

High Five!

There are lot's of exciting things happening for Lisa Dierolf Photography lately!!

Since I have been at CDIA, I have put a lot of focus on my website, marketing and most of all, networking.  Obviously, I'm here to improve my photography skills, but the business side of things need just as much attention.  David DuChemin, author of Visionmongers, says that business and marketing are 90% of being a photographer.  The picture taking part is only 10%. So anyway, at a school where the professors are all pros, and even famous, photographers, it would be crazy not to network, get to know them, and bounce off ideas.

That being said, professor Robert Rathe has allowed me to tag along on one of his big corporate shoots at the National Institute of Standards and Technology next week.  All that I know so far is that it will be an all day gig and it will be in a high tech lab.  He is a fantastic teacher, down to earth, and I am really thankful that he is allowing me to be a part of this shoot.  What I am most excited to observe and learn is the photog/client dynamic in a corporate setting and lighting techniques.

Two days after this, I am meeting up with wedding photographer Maria Linz for coffee.  Last April,  she and her 2nd shooter graciously allowed me to both shadow and participate in shooting a wedding.  Her energy is contagious and it shows through her photographs.  It especially shows because she booked 54 weddings between April and December of this year....you can do the math.  We are finally getting together to go through the photos that I took that day and just to chat photography/business/etc.  So excited!

Following that meeting, I'm doing a family shoot in Annapolis for the design guru and owner of The Preppy Paperie.  She needed some family photos to put in her super cute custom designed Holiday cards.  Both the cards and photographs will be featured in a post in two weeks or so for you to see.  Sooo, if you need some portraits or cards, you know who to talk to ;)  See my prior post about the Holiday photo/card package we are offering!

Ok...so...there is one more major thing to announce.  I don't even know where to start with this one, and the embarrassing story as to how I got this opportunity will go left unsaid (unless there is high demand to know), so here it goes...  STROBIST.  If you are a photographer, and don't read this blog, then you should.  Join the 500,000+ that already do and you will learn some great tips from major professional photographer David Hobby about lighting technique and beyond.  This guy is just...awesome.  And he has high end clients and assignments all over the world.  And he knows light better than anyone.  Anyway, yesterday around 11am, he posted a blog titled "Are you a local to Baltimore or Washington, DC?".  I am!  So, I furiously clicked through the blog on my cell phone to see why he wanted to know this.  Turns out he was looking for volunteers to join him on a SHOOT in HOWARD COUNTY, MARYLAND.  Say what?? All you had to do was leave a comment with your info if you were interested and he would select around 12 people.  The shoot is on a farm and is for a non-profit. The goal is to provide them high end media to use in their advertising which will hopefully help them reach their $500,000 fundraising goal.  By the time I read the blog, around 2pm, he had closed the comments because he received a ton of responses and didn't need any more.  I was crushed.  This kind of opportunity never comes along and I missed it!!!  But, being the kind of girl that I am, I basically groveled and embarrassed myself...but all of that paid off....because I got the gig.  There are a bunch of other perks and exciting things about this shoot that I am not at liberty to talk about yet, but will clue you in soon.  I can't believe I will be shooting with David Hobby.  I will be shooting with...the Strobist.    I have no words.