Five minutes with... Diana Baker Photography
Sponsored post in collaboration with Diana Baker Photography
Edinburgh-based Diana Baker is a photography pro, specialising in beautiful portrait shots of newborns and families. We caught up with her to find out more about what it’s like running your own photography business, and we even got some top tips for anyone looking to improve their photo-taking skills.
When did you first become interested in photography, and what made you want to start your own business?
I first took a course in photography at university out of necessity; I did a fashion degree and needed photos of my outfits to enter competitions. I didn’t like what the photography students were producing so I thought I will just need to do it myself, and I fell in love with it from there.
What’s your favourite type of photo to shoot, and why?
I have been in the photography industry for 18 years and over that time I have photographed just about everything you can think of. For me, it isn't the subject matter that makes it my "favorite" it’s the magic that happens in creating that image. Whether that’s figuring out how to get that killer fashion shot or an amazing smile from a baby, it’s when the hours of hard work comes together for 100th of a second that really makes me so happy. I love my process.
What makes portrait photography so special?
I am the only girl on my father’s side and everyone tells me that I am exactly like my Oma, my grandmother. I look like her, I have the same mannerisms, I am artistic like her. Sadly she died tragically when I was a kid. I never really got to know her, and I have no photos of her either. She’s the only other female blood relative I have that I get a lot of my traits from, and I don't even have a photograph of her.
That has left a hole in my heart about who I am and how I connect to my family, and now that I see those same family traits in my daughter it makes that gap bigger. So when I am asked what makes portrait photography so special I think it’s so much more than a "nice" photo, it is a connection to our past and to our future, it is capturing a part of the spirit of that person and holding onto it forever so they are always right there with us.
What’s your top tip for amateur photographers looking to up their game?
Find a process that you love and do nothing but that for a few years. For example, if you love more than anything else getting up at 4 am and climbing up a mountain to get that stunning first dawn landscape shot, do that!
If that sounds horrible and you just want to stay in your bed, don't be a landscape photographer. You have to love the process of making an image. Taking a photo takes a fractions of a second, but making an image can take years sometimes.
I have known way too many photographers who have gone after the perceived easy photography subjects because that is where they think the money is, only to hate it a few years in and give up. Find your passion first and worry about the money later.
What’s next for Diana Baker Photography – anything exciting coming up in 2019?
The photography industry has gone through huge changes in the past 20 years and some very large players in the industry have closed down, leaving big gaps in the market. I have plans to fill some of those gaps with stylish, innovative, and exciting new products. That is all I can say about that now but I love to take my clients on the journey with me via my social media so they can see it all unfolding.