Miachelle DePiano | Senior Member
My whole life, I’ve had two loves: the English language and photography. As a technical writer, I get to use that love to communicate things to people in the simplest way. It also pays the bills and provides me the essential benefits. As a photographer, I get to tell a story in a creative way, and that feeds my artistic, creative needs. Currently I am very lucky. I am a technical writer for a large corporation in the photography industry, and I get to take photos of the equipment and processes for the documentation I write.
As a teenager, I learned to shoot film, process it, and print it while on my high school yearbook and newspaper staff. Looking back, my efforts were laughable at best, but the experience of developing film and the anticipation of what would emerge slowly through chemical process could not be duplicated. I pored voraciously through books of Hollywood glamour shots from the 40s and 50s, and I wanted to be the perfect combination of Richard Avedon, Ansel Adams, and Imogene Cunningham when I grew up.
Growing up took a long time. Photography appeared in my life in short spurts. I bought a Pentax K-1000 in my early days in the Army, and while stationed in Germany I shot black-and-white film of the architecture, the culture, and the people. The anticipation of what I’d get back when the film was processed and printed was as addicting as ever. Eventually I stopped shooting as career responsibilities took over. However, upon having my daughter, photography again became a part of my life. To this day she is still my favorite subject.
Fast forward to 2005, and I learned to make jewelry. I started a business and became a one-woman operation. Jewelry design, marketing, getting published, searching for venues to show my work—it all required my writing skills, creativity, networking, and photography. I watched other photographers shoot my designs, studying the lighting they used, the art of product styling, and composition, and used those observations to shoot my own work as I couldn’t afford to hire a professional every time I created something.
At the end of 2009, I shut down my jewelry business. The economy had greatly impacted the arts and crafts businesses, and as elaborate as my work was I couldn’t compete with other jewelry designers who made simpler, cheaper product. However, the cliché “when one door closes, another opens” held true. I was given my first DSLR camera for Christmas, a Canon 50D, and my appetite for photography was renewed.
Within several months, I used my networking skills to become a contributing freelancer writer and photographer, first for a local magazine (to which I still contribute) and then a local newspaper. I realized quickly that to be able to conduct interviews, write well, and provide photography to accompany my stories is indeed a valuable skillset. More networking resulted in more opportunities; I was sent on assignments to shoot several concerts and became the official house photographer for a local art center that brings in top name performers. In 18 months of shooting as a professional (meaning I have a business), I’ve been blessed to shoot BB King, Willie Mays, Cesar Millan, and many more.
These experiences in photojournalism taught to me recognize a moment in time and to be prepared to capture it. I’ve also become very good at reading people. Being sent out to photograph events has taught me to read who is receptive to being photographed and who is not. I’ve also become part psychologist. Many people now are so inundated with visual imagery of “perfect beauty” thanks to the wide range of software capabilities in the industry, I learned to make them feel more comfortable about being in front of a camera, to convince them they are more worthy of being photographed than a model. That psychology has also influenced how I shoot and edit my photos. I find that I am reverting back to my passionate roots for photography styles from the 40s and 50s. I like my images to be honest. While I admire my colleagues who are adept at creating fantastic photographic illustrations, I want to show a person’s honest character. Whether shooting celebrities or everyday people, I want to show the humanity within.
I think the biggest lesson I could impart to anyone, regardless of profession or hobby, is to always keep your eyes open. You never know when you will meet someone who can open a door for you.
