We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Diane Hamacher. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Diane below.
Diane, appreciate you joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?
First, I think it’s important to define success. If you would have asked the 23-year-old Diane, a fresh graduate from International Business School, she probably would have told you: a high paying job in a big company, managing a team while also travelling to meet customers.
I experienced some of this “success” when I worked in France & in the US and when I left my US corporate job back in 2017, they hired me back as a consultant. I got to travel to the affiliates in Germany, France, UK & Italy to train their ecommerce teams. I’m super grateful I got to experience this, so I learned that it was not what I wanted to do even if I had the skills :)
Today, I would define success as being able to prioritize my family & my kids, health and have a job that means something to me. Photographing happy and loving families, capturing kids’ joyful smiles, creating lasting memories for those families, what more can you ask for? I get to do a job I love and contribute financially to our family.
Being able to organize my time as a business owner and deliver quality work while being available for my family, that flexibility is priceless. We found a good balance in our family while arranging work around our family lifestyle.
So, to finally answer your question: what do you think it takes to be successful? Learn from your experience, define your strengths and your skills, find something you love and you’re good at, commit to it and have fun!
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I was born and raised in France. Studied International Business in Germany and started my corporate career in Paris working in Event Planning. In 2007 my husband and I moved to the US. Two kids later and 13 years of working in Sales and Marketing, I took the leap of faith to pursue my artistic dream and started my photography business.
My work is specialized in kids and family portraits. I work mainly in studios with a modern, white, and industrial look so all attention is on joyful smiles and genuine connection. If you’re looking for family photos at sunset on the beach, I may not be your best fit. I’m not a golden hour photographer, I like to control light and deliver clean and bright photos :-)
When I photograph kids, I love to capture laugher and movement. Bubbles and confetti are my best friends! The perfect recipe to get the little ones comfortable in front of the camera and get joyful photos. I just finished a Personality Portraits week at a preschool and how it filled my mama’s heart to see those happy and joyful faces.
In my work I’m also drawn to one-on-one connections. Capturing love and happiness between parents and their kids. Of course, I’ll capture the complete family, but I just love photos of just mom with her little one (and dad too of course). Each relationship is so unique and special.
If you are looking for a boutique experience and have a photo session even dads will enjoy, you know where to find me!
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
I want to get mom and dad in the photos with their little ones. We, parents, probably have a million photos of our kids in our phone but not that much together WITH our kids. Kids grow up way too fast so let’s capture memories and freeze time.
Two years ago, I participated in Cristin More’s challenge, where moms or dads had to get in the frame with their kids every single day for a month. So, for me always hiding behind the camera that was a challenge, and what a rewarding challenge! I still have some of my favorite’s photos on our wall today.
My goal is to make my little models and their parents comfortable in front of the camera, have some fun, so we capture real, authentic smiles, joy, and happiness.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me one of the most rewarding parts of being a Kids Photographer is to see them come alive, full of joy and capture their individual personality at play. Kids are happy, parents are happy, photographer is happy :)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dianehamacher.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dianehamacher/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dianehamacher
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianehamacher/
- Other: https://g.page/dianehamacher
Image Credits
Laron Lindsay (cover photo) Diane Hamacher