Meet Dawn Bowery of Dawn Bowery Photography in Laurel Canyon

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dawn Bowery.

Thanks for sharing your story with us dawn. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Prior to my career as a professional photographer, I was a visual effects artist for films and TV in both London and LA. Those skills and experience directly influence my photography – especially my post production which in my opinion is equally important to the shoot.

After many years working in London, I moved to California for a dream job creating movie visual effects – firstly Santa Barbara then Los Angeles. I stayed for five fabulous years then returned to London for what I thought was six months but what became ten years. I was working full time for Sky television creating channel idents, commercials, and promos. During my time off I took photography courses abroad resulting in one of my travel photographs being exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. I went on to have several exhibitions featuring my travel photographs from Cuba, Morocco, and China. Although I loved being back in England I really missed my old California lifestyle and wanted to return. So after ten years I returned to La La Land and gave myself the opportunity for photography to be my profession rather than a hobby.

When I moved back to Los Angeles I had to start from scratch which was tough but a huge learning experience. I met many fellow Brits through Brits in LA and BAFTA and was fascinated to hear what brought them to the City of Angels. I began to take their portraits and collected their stories which inspired me to create my coffee table book “California Dreaming: Real Life Stories of Brits in LA”. The book took me two and a half years to complete featuring an eclectic mix of 50 Brits from all walks of life. Looking back, I had no idea what impact this would make on my life – I published my book, had a grand Beverly Hills red carpet launch party, made great friends, and created a new life for myself that continues to lead me to a variety of creative projects. I feel so grateful for the life my photography gives me. I’m creatively fulfilled and get to meet so many different people for a range of creative projects – no two days are ever the same and I enjoy the flexibility of what, where and when I work.

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?
It was a struggle starting from scratch in a new country in a new profession with no contacts. Publishing my book really helped me in so many ways. I met new people and pushed myself to create portraits I would never have dreamt of.

Going from being employed to self-employed is a huge learning curve but a really fulfilling one. Running my own photography business means that I have to wear many different hats/skills – website design, photography, lighting, post production, marketing, accounts, taxes, client management, databases, software, social media and much more.

dawn bowery photography – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
My business is a boutique photography company specializing in portraits. I’m known for my portrait coffee table book “California Dreaming: Real Life Stories of Brits in LA” and for my lighting and post production.

I’m most proud of my book and my favorite portrait changes all the time! What sets me apart from others is my visual effects background – I am very detail oriented and spend many hours in post production finely tuning each image. With regards to portraits, people say I’m really good at putting them at ease during their shoot. I like to show their real personality and a connection in each portrait. I always make sure that I get the best out of my subject and nothing makes me happier than when they are genuinely thrilled with their portrait.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
When the Royal Academy of Arts in London selected my travel photograph of Essaouria, Morocco for their summer exhibition a few years ago. It was a hugely proud moment seeing my photograph on display at such a prestigious and historic place. You can see my fine art on my website dawnboweryfineart.com. My travel photography has been sold for book covers and is in private collections around the world.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1968 Laurel Canyon Road
  Los Angeles
  CA 90046
• Website: www.dawnboweryphotography.com
• Phone: 310 460 9641
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: dawnbowery
• Facebook: dawnboweryphotography
• Twitter: dawnbowery
• Yelp: dawnboweryphotography

Image Credit:
Dawn Bowery Photography
1. Family studio shoot
2. Location family shoot
3. Summer Watson, from Dawn Bowery’s book “California Dreaming: Real Life Stories of Brits in LA
4. “Little Red Riding Hood”, studio portrait
5. Christian Wennberg, actor lifestlye shoot
6. Julia Clancey, from Dawn Bowery’s book “California Dreaming: Real Life Stories of Brits in LA”
7. “Umbrella Friends”, China
8. “Essaouira Street”, Morocco