Today we’d like to introduce you to Dilyara Martinovich.
Dilyara, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started Red Trolley Studio as a wedding photography company 6 years ago with the primary approach of documenting wedding day moments, authentic emotions and relationships between the bride and groom, their families, and friends. About a year ago, I introduced myself to documentary Day In Life family photography and it has changed my purpose in life. These are not just a couple of hours long photo sessions that I am doing, I literally spend the whole day (16-18 hours) with the family documenting their day, whether it’s a regular family day, or it’s their day off, or it’s their family vacation trip. Spending the whole day with the family and the kids allows me to capture the essence of the children and all the fun and, often times, weird stuff they do!
I knew I was creating priceless memories for the parents and kids with those photos showcasing real emotions, but not until recently I realized that these pictures also have “a healing power”. Why?
When I was a little kid, I remember myself being a carefree, loud, happy girl who always got her way. I tried to be the first in the classroom and in my gymnastic classes; I wanted to be the center of attention everywhere. As I grew older, I started losing that sense of lightness and happiness. Our society force on us its rules, certain “accepted” behavior and a life path that we all have to take. We worry too much about what other people think about us, we have so many worries without reason. I became fearful; hesitant to take risks, less social, and definitely not the girl I was before. I accepted it and called it adulthood. Many can probably relate to my story, as many think that with age we have to be more mature, settled and live our “normal”, “socially accepted” lives.
Not long time ago, I’ve decided to change that in me, I wanted to break out free. I started doing meditations, started looking for true me within myself, sort of speak. Often times, in order to find “happy me”, I have to return to my childhood and channel that happiness, confidence, carefreeness into myself. Luckily, I have many pictures from my childhood that my father took, reminding me of those specific moments when I was extremely happy.
Without those pictures, I am afraid I wouldn’t remember those moments and would not be able to find my way out.
Today, when I’m photographing families and seeing fun happy energy in kids, I re-connect with my child-self. I believe pictures I create can serve as a healing element to parents and kids in the future, if it’s needed. I believe that at some point of their lives, when they find themselves unhappy with who they are today, because they feel alone and unloved, these pictures of their happy childhood will remind them who they truly are, and how much they are loved. They’d be able to channel these memories and project them into present, they’d be able to re-connect with themselves in that happy moment that they’ve felt, and they’d be able to heal, as I did. I am so grateful that my photographs can help the families to keep those memories forever. Now I am developing a new division that called “Life within moments” where I will be primarily documenting families on vacation. Besides that, my husband, who is a photographer and cinematographer as well, would create films that will be a great addition to family albums.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh, it’s been a bumpy road! 🙂 As you might probably know, Southern California has the biggest concentration of photographers compared with all other states. Some of the best photographers in the world live and work here. Starting a business and operating with huge competition is very hard for anyone. But now that we found our niche, we can easily tell what sets us apart from the majority of photographers and it’s been great! We actually got a studio space recently in the heart of San Diego and in the middle of the remodeling, so you are welcome to our Grand Opening soon!
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Red Trolley Studio – what should we know?
I do wedding photography but now I am starting to specialize more and more in a documentary Day In Life family photography and opening a new division in our company called Life Within Moments. My goal is to document family lives in different states and travel nationally.
What sets our company apart, is that we (my husband Sergey and I), whether documenting a wedding or family day, are able to capture the moments between the moments that are easily can be overseen by others. We proud that we can deliver the imagery which shows to people what they felt like on that day, rather than what they looked like.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
Passion, perseverance, positive attitude and love for what you do.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.redtrolleyphotography.com
- Phone: 858-405-9994
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/redtrolleystudio
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/RedTrolleyStudio
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/red-trolley-studio-san-diego
- Other: http://www.redtrolleyphotography.com/day-in-life-family-photography-carlsbad-california
Image Credit:
Red Trolley Studio
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