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

Zeynep, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. 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?

Opening a photography studio with zero business knowledge was a huge risk at the time. It was right after the 2009 crisis and I lost my job as a 3d Modeller at Disney. After trying very hard to find a position to even apply to I decided to take a risk and sign in to a 10 month photography program. I had no idea if I even had any talent to photography but I definitely had the passion. My daughter was just born at the time and I loved taking pictures of her.

After completing the program I decided to go ahead and open the business back in 2010. The very first years was very difficult. I didn’t have any business skills to run the studio but eventually, everything settled. Now I can’t even doing anything else than being a photography studio owner.

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 was always passionate about visual arts. My mom was a well painter in Turkey and I spend a lot of hours in the art field as a child. I studied 3d animation and Visual effects in Turkey and Canada. I worked in children’s movies and video games.

After I had her daughter I became fascinated by capturing her first milestones. In 2010 I decided a career change and became a portrait photographer. I have been specializing in maternity photography, boudoir portraits in my San Diego studio. I especially loves photographing women of all ages, in every milestone of their lives, making them feel empowered, beautiful, and confident.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

At one point in my business, I had everything on my shoulders and eventually got burned out. I am learning to slowly get help, hire contractors, and eventually grow my business.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

Each photo session is an empty canvas. You can create anything you can image. This kind of freedom is priceless.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.portraitsbyz.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portraitsbyzsd/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/portraitsbyz
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHGRjlzLKlZPT46UvK6M0PA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/portraits-by-z-san-diego