Conversations with Deidhra Fahey

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deidhra Fahey.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
There’s an old saying that says something like “when you’re walking down a path and you reach a fork in the road, whichever path you take will affect your journey in different ways.” In my case, I took both paths at different times in my life, but I had the same ending… I am a photographer. I was eight years old when my parents started a magazine in Laguna Beach, CA. It’s a small beach town that was/is a haven to artists, creatives, misfits, and hippies. It was affectionately called “The artist colony”. Both of my parents were Irish immigrants. They settled in the “art colony” because of its welcoming state. It was then that they put me to work on their magazine. They gave me a camera and told me to go take pictures of anything and everything, and they would write a story about my images. It was a pretty unique way of doing things, kind of backwards, but it challenged me to find really cool things that were not only interesting to me but might be interesting to everyone reading the magazine. It was a magical time in a magical city, and that’s where it all began for me. Fast forward ten years, and I’m off to college to study photojournalism. I begin a new path in life on the East coast. As with anything that you do in life, there are highs and lows. One of those highs was having children. I instantly became obsessed with images of people. A whole new world that transformed into doing headshots, editorial and lifestyle images that eventually became my career. I learned so much from a very famous photographer who mentored me. He taught me about light and darkness and how they’re both your friend. I believe every photographer should have a mentor or somebody that they look up to. Not somebody that they copy, but somebody that stimulates their creative being. This is why I won’t call it a “job”, because I love and am what I create. It was time to move back to the West Coast and continue my adventure in photography. My life has been so enriched, influenced, and molded by the people I met through this path. It is very satisfying to see my dream help another dreamer/creative achieve theirs.

Alright, 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?
I refer back to the two paths. Obviously, there’s the one of being a female in a male-dominated career. Even when I was the teacher, I had male students that became more financially successful because of their gender. Personally, I don’t dwell on that as I feel that if you are creative and somebody is searching out your talents to help them get started or to continue to be successful in their field, they understand that creativity knows no gender. As for other types of obstacles, I just looked at them as a learning experience that would only further my love, passion, and the art of my photography.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My body of work is filled with passion and is my total being. I specialize in creative, editorial, lifestyle, and headshot photography for actors, models, and influencers. My photography is not limited to this. I have a portfolio of beautiful and intimate family, pet, events, and monumental moments that I share on occasion. My main focus- no pun intended- is on actors and actresses. I am excited to capture them from the beginning of their journey to following their dreams. It’s awesome to be a part of that journey especially when it leads to an award, their own show/movie, or any success that they may have in their career. What sets me apart is my knowledge, expertise and love of natural light. I have spent years perfecting the light to mimic the purity and trueness of film. It’s a fact that film is truer than digital in its raw form. This sets my headshots apart as casting can see how vivid and vibrant my clients are compared to other shots. I pride myself on my images being able to be used straight out of the camera. I won’t speak on others’ methods, but I personally have spent my career perfecting banter, depth, and light to bring out the best in my clients. Therefore, capturing their personality, essence and aura in an un-retouched image. I truly love my clients and what I do. It is my passion. I don’t do it for the money or for the fame, I do it because it’s my life. My images are as unique as the person I am photographing and that uniqueness is what casting is looking for! This is what has set me apart and contributed to my success and the success of my clients!

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I have a lot of advice because I like to hear myself talk, but if I had to boil it down to one or two things, my advice would be to start off with film. When shooting with film, you’ll actually have to learn how the camera works and how to achieve photos that are vivid, bright and true as opposed to digital which is not as organic. My second word of advice is to never depend on fixing your pictures in posts. In headshot photography, you can’t photoshop a personality.

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• Email: [email protected]
• Website: https://www.deidhra.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deidhra/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deidhrafahey/

Image Credits:
Deidhra Fahey Photography