Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Dennis Doyle. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Dennis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

50 years old. Successful in a profitable career.
Three children in college.
The stories of a perfect life race thru my mind. You know, “beautiful home, white picket fence ,loving wife,2.4 children”. It took me all of those 50 years to understand that was a fable. The house has a mortgage, the kids leave home and the loving wife has other interests……

Driving to work one day. In the middle of a huge freeway. I turned around and promptly quit. Yes. QUIT right there and effective immediately. Write my final check…..

The decision to go back to my roots. My creative brain was in control finally. (certainly not my logical brain!) I worked in a forensics photo lab in my late teen years and into my early twenties. I loved photography. I loved all phases of photography.

I will become a 50 year old photographer !!!
Weddings. OMG .I hated them! I mean I loved the event but I hated the structure for photography.
I know!! I will do street photography. News worthy? Maybe a few head shots thrown in! surely I can be successful in this area.
I was not a very good street photographer.
I was always looking for composition and not capturing the moment. That is not good for street photographers!!

Fast forward to almost quitting and rethinking the entire photography direction.
It was then a strong mentor to me decided to let me know my problem. He proceeded to tell me my basic problems with photography!
This took several glasses of a very good whiskey and more than one log on a campfire.
I am inherently a creative. (Somehow?. Naturally, not learned) .I do see the world in compositional scenes. The viewfinder of the camera fit my vision of the world perfectly. It s that process that led me to fine art photography!.. I am now content in my world and make my living from being a photographer .This journey holds so many stories but suffice it to say my heart and soul are in balance…d

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a creative. I started my photography journey in a forensics photo lab. Developing 8×10 glossies on graveyard shifts. The job was horrible but the education was priceless.
I love the camera.
I especially love seeing the world thru a viewfinder!

I took a break from that lab for about 30 years while I raised 3 incredible kids and helped them become wonderful human beings. Those years I build incredible custom homes for very famous people.(my creative side being fed thru construction)
As the children left home for college I found the creative art world calling out for me. I left the construction world for the new and somewhat daunting world of digital photography. I cut my teeth on film but had to learn this digital world from the ground up.
New cameras, new computers, new programs and a constantly changing environment. Photography is a very dynamic art . Tools and equipment are changing constantly and any successful artist has to adapt to change quickly .
I love the challenge!~!

I spend much of my life immersed in the Arizona art scene. Showing at big art shows . Incredible galleries..
( https://arizonafineartexpo.com/ ) ( https://anticus.com/ ). I also fit in as many of the areas wonderful street shows as I can. ( https://thunderbirdartists.com/ ) .
The rest of the year my home base is a tiny community in central Nevada near Lake Tahoe. Stillwater has a stop sign. It is the last place on the state Hwy 116. It is my little slice of heaven. OH, Did I mention I live in a small island of private property surrounded on 4 sides by a National Wildlife Refuge?…..

Along with my photography I love to write. I have written a couple books (The Past, Interrupted) And (My View).
If you look thru my social media posts you will find hundreds of pages of that writing. The writing sooths my soul .

I am a incredibly fortunate human being…..

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Such a great question! There are so many things that the beginning artist does NOT know. They know their art ,they know their creative space but they have no idea about how to present that art to the public.
Its a huge area for a creative to share his/her art with the world! It gives us “relavance”…it gives us a reason to continue to create.

That journey from beginner to struggling to successful is fraught with traps. There are those that want to take advantage and then there are those that do not want us to succeed.

My best advice is to politly NOT listen to the myriad of voices telling you to do this or that. Do not listen to your friends or family. Find yourself a mentor that has done and been where you want to be. Find a artist that walks the walk you want to follow.
That person can smooth out a very rough road .While they can not do your job they can tell you what not to do witch is, in my opinion, more important.

so many mistakes I have made…So little time!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The ability to be a artist, a true artist, is in our genes. It is a undeniable quest if we let a little light shine on the seeds of creativity. There are so many rewards to being a artist .
There is the connection to the art buyer.
There is the journey our art takes thru us. Watching art struggle to achieve light after years of work is a passionate experience.
And there is our exposure to other artists! This is perhaps one of the most overlooked rewards we receive. and its free!!! I participate in a 10 week art show in Scottsdale, AZ. every year. This will be my 10th year in fact. While I love to sell and to make contact with new collectors it is the artists that keep me coming back. Without them it may not be worth the effort .
To surround ourselves with fellow creatives (no matter what there area of art is) is a natural high that can only be achieved in these types of gatherings!

get out and create then participate !!!!      

Contact Info:

• Website: http://dennisddoyle.com/index.html
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dennisdoylephotography/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ducilla/
• Twitter: @Stillwaternv
• Other: https://www.facebook.com/dennisdoylephotography/ https://www.tumblr.com/blog/dennisdoyle

Image Credits
All images are my own captures..