Meet Linda Pianigiani of Dography in West Hollywood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda Pianigiani.

Linda, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Dogs and photography have always been some of my greatest passions. I grew up in Italy, with two beautiful specimens of Siberian Husky and since moving to Los Angeles, I’ve been lucky to spend time with some incredible dogs (thanks to their owners), one in particular, beloved Luna, who served as my main inspiration for years. Dogs have always been in my life, whether in my family or through friends. I even considered a career in dog training and obtained a training certification that is often coming in handy!

While hanging out with Luna, be it on hikes, at the beach, or just walking around, I found myself repeatedly immortalizing her during any of our adventures. I had recently bought my first DSLR and transitioned to snapping some pictures with that, overusing the phone. I considered starting to take pictures of dogs and turning it into a business a few years ago, but I didn’t pursue it at the time and put it on the back burner.

Then, at the beginning of 2018, I took on a personal project, photographing the therapy dogs that are part of the LAX Pets Unstressing Passengers program, a mix of portraits and documentary – and that’s when I realized that this is what I want to do with (at least part of) my life. So, in addition to this personal project, I started marketing my pet portraits services and officially started the business a few months ago.

Has it been a smooth road?
Every day is a hustle! Building a photography business from scratch is not as fun as it sounds. When you’re running everything, from planning to accounting and marketing, from sales to web development and designing, photography itself tends to be overshadowed by everything else.

During those times, it’s easy to get discouraged and forget why I got into this in the first place. However, dedication to a set goal has always been a strength of mine, and I’m humbled by the lessons I’m learning along the way, day in and day out, in order to reach it.

Getting started is the hardest part, I think, but hopefully the road ahead, however winding, will be an adventure full of lessons, people and memories to look back on a few years from now and make it all worth it!

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
Capturing the essence and personality of man’s best friends is one of the most rewarding experiences, along with seeing the owners’ reaction when delivering the final product of those moments in time, preserving our furry friends’ legacy. I specialize in dog portrait sessions, favoring a natural environment setting, with beautiful natural light (early morning or sunset, when it’s not so harsh) enhanced by off-camera flash when needed, to make the portrait vibrant and colorful and add a hint of glamour!

My goal is to capture the essence of that special canine companion in people’s lives and make lasting memories so that whether it is a documented story or a few candid shots, they can look back and re-live moments that are so very special and also enjoy sharing them with others. When humans want to join in on the fun, I’m happy to incorporate them in the shots!

By working with some families in the past, I realized that most of them are missing in their collection is a fun, creative and over the top family portrait with their pets – so I decided to add a Day In The Life session to my offerings, where I spend 4-5 hours with a family creating some one of a kind, fun, quirky, off-the-beaten-path portraits depicting the essence of pet/s and humans, doing what they do best, whether it’s spending a day by the pool, going out on a hike, running at the beach, camping, skiing – whatever your family does as a group, I will photograph and create something unique.

At the same time, I believe my mission as a photographer is to help document and bring awareness to the work of phenomenal organizations caring not only for animals, but also and especially for people in need of animals’ immense love and dedication, be them veterans, people with disabilities of any kind, ill and elderly people, and any other humans who may benefit from the presence of a dog.

For that reason, I’m actively working on documentary projects depicting animals (and humans) part of the many organizations doing good around the US and the world, in general. This is definitely what I’m most proud of as a company and as an individual.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
I believe Los Angeles and surrounding areas is the perfect place for a business like mine. The love people have for their pets here is something I have not experienced anywhere else.

Which means, on a purely practical and financial level, that people are also more willing to invest some money in what is, let’s be honest, a luxury for most, regardless of the quality of product provided. Starting a photography business in this day and age is not a walk in the park, during a time when phones and social media have virtually made everyone a photographer!

However, I believe that if you offer something unique that people will want to actually show in their homes and share with family and friends not just on a small phone screen, you have a point to start a business that can be sustained and have many satisfactions that go beyond the financial gain.

Pricing:

• Different level packages available and starting at $950

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dographyla.com
• Phone: 310-467-8567
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dographyla/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dographyLA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/dography-west-hollywood?osq=dography

Image Credit:
Main photo: Jessica Goodwin
Heidi Huebner, Amy Garrett

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