Photography Instructor | Visual Story teller| Business owner
I am a photography instructor and visual storyteller.
In 2013, I started my journey as a professional photographer specializing in headshots from my home photography studio in a small town in Oklahoma.
Two year later, I purchased the building that is now my photography studio.
"Buying the property and turning it into my own photography space is one of the accomplishments I am most proud of. It was scary to take on the debt. I had no choice but to believe in myself and my photography skills and work hard to pay the loan. In 2018 I paid off the note and my building has been completely mine since!"
For the past five years, I have taught photography courses ranging from beginner to advanced photography methods. Over the course of the last year, I've continued to work with my photography students by creating effective and engaging online photography courses now available at
www.ChickashaPhotoClasses.com
For me, the photography courses are a labor of love:
"Photography has given me so much and has saved me many times! I want to share how I see the world and I want others to learn how to do the same. I want others to experience the many gifts and possibilities photography offers.”
In 2009, I served on the board of the Chickasha Area Arts Council and was the chair for the first annual Rock Island Arts Festival, which is now on its 10th annual celebration. For my efforts building the festival up from scratch, I was recognized as the Chickasha Chamber Volunteer of the Year.
In 2018, I received the Friends of Guidance award from the Association for Career & Technical Education (ACTE) which honors individuals outside of the field of education who have made significant contributions to the advancement of career guidance and counseling.
Although my training and Professional work is with portraits and headshots my favorite type of photography to create is painterly images.
Over the past 5 years, I've created a painterly image style through which I explored creating photographs that look more like paintings: "I use various techniques such as shutter control, shallow depth of field, moving the camera while taking a photo, photographing moving subjects like water and wind all to create a more painting-like feeling straight out of the camera!”
To view my work, visit: https://500px.com/p/reginnazhidov?view=photos.