We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Edith Diaz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Edith, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

When I started to learn night photography, I was worried about what others would think about my work. Opening up to the world, being vulnerable is a very scary place. I would see images online of amazing night photographers and I just wanted my art to be like theirs.

Because I was new at night photography, I pretty much started from scratch: where to look, the importance of the moon cycles, when the Milky Way is visible and when is not, what are dark skies and the sad reality of light pollution. Things that I now come to me naturally, I had to learn quickly after many failed attempts when shooting stars.

I started night photography in 2019. The next year, the whole world stop due to COVID. Working from home for the next year an a half was almost a blessing for my learning experience – I was out until early hours of the morning shooting images, then coming home and logging into work.
Like many others, I used YouTube to find the how to’s, and quickly became an addiction.

As a woman, being outside in the middle of nowhere and alone wasn’t easy, but nothing worth accomplishing comes without challenges. There are some safety principals I practice when heading on the hunt for dark skies. There aren’t many women that I know that practice this hobby because of the safety risk involved.

Once I started to share my work on social media, I realized people actually liked what I was doing, which was hard for me to imagine when I started. I also started sharing my first images of the night with the description that I would share it to compare my work the following year and see if I have had any improvements. I found that to be attractive to others who wanted to pursue night photography.

As time has gone by, I’ve found my own style, and I believe when you are confident about what you do, people would follow and want to learn from you.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I was born and raised in Sonora, Mexico, the bordering state to the south with Arizona. I grew up being outdoors all the time with my father by the ocean, always searching for the best fishing spots around rocky cliffs and coves, my dad is a fearless chaser of adventures. I guess this is why I am who I am. I graduated from Law school in 1998 and I moved to the US in 2000.

I come from a family of artists, two of my maternal aunts were/are accomplished painters with their work displayed in galleries in NY and Europe. I’ve always been very creative. In college, while going through law school I took drawing and painting classes. Those were some of the best memories I had in my college years (non law related!). Being engulfed in your own work and self expression was so rewarding.

I immigrated to the US through marriage. The next ten years of my life were almost a blur. I was with someone who made me forget who I was and built my self-esteem down. Once I left that dark time in my life I slowly remembered myself and started to seek that artistic side again. I both my first DSLR and I compared photography with painting: the world was my canvas, my camera was my brush.

This photography journey has became a personal journey of self healing and re-discovering the things I am really passionate about: nature, outdoors, the night sky, the thrill of chasing adventures. I have connected with so many people who have reached out to tell me how my work inspire them to try night photography, and this is why it’s important to believe in yourself and the work you do, because you never know who you’ll inspire next.

I consider myself as very independent and an adventurer. I want to share with others what I do, something that I was so afraid to do before. I want to inspire women to follow their passion and to be confident in their work. I create for myself  I don’t photograph for approval. I shoot the sky I want, the landscape I choose, I chase the adventures I imagine, and plan and I try over and over again. I may fail, but I would always try. That’s the most important lesson I’ve learned in this journey.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think in this social media era, a lot of people may perceive you as a narcissist who wants recognition from others. And although sharing your work  and receiving positive feedback Is rewarding, It isn’t why you do it. Being creative means to be vulnerable, to inspire, to continue your learning journey doing the things that make you happy.

I always say that when others look at your image, they don’t understand all the work behind it: the planning, the drive time to location, the chase and thrill of the moment, the sleepless days and nights, the reward of your work once you upload your images to your computer, the sometimes frustrating editing process and the final image with is the reward. For some people this may seem like a waste of time, but for creators, is what brings you to life.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Find your niche and people will find you. If you’re creating a social media page to display your work, whatever area you’re in, keep it that way. Your followers don’t want to see what you had for dinner in their feed, they want to see more of what attracted them to you in the first place

Your work is for you first, then for others. Don’t do what you think others would like to see, do what you like to do.

Trust your instincts and be who you are. This is your alter ego page -be that passionate artist on your social media. Don’t let the critics bring you down – remember that you are the man in the arena.

Have fun and don’t do things for “likes”, do it for you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://azhoneybeephotography.com
• Instagram: @azhoneybee
• Twitter: @azhb_