Conversations with Dalena Watson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dalena Watson.

Hi Dalena, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My parents have home videos of me chasing people around with a camera as far back as twenty years ago, but it wasn’t until my son was born in 2017 that I started to look at photography completely different. My husband Morgan and I were married in 2012 and there was a period of time there where we weren’t sure if we were ever going to have children. Without going into too many details, I’ll just say that I couldn’t stay pregnant and it was literally the hardest few years of my life. Fast forward to 2017 and we finally welcomed our son, Ian. Naturally, I turned into a “mamarazzi” (that I joke about) wanting to document everything about him and our life together. I bought a camera and started practicing every day. I took a few courses and I joined groups online to learn. In one of those groups, I ended up meeting my best friend, Liana Hamilton.

It was through her that I first learned of the magical world of composite photography. At that point, Ian was a little over a year old. I just knew that I had to learn how to create photos like that. I started studying and learning at every chance I could get. Putting myself out there and sharing my work in the groups I had joined was the biggest hurdle to jump at first, but it was ultimately what helped me learn the fastest. There are so many aspects to take into consideration when creating composites and Photoshop itself is extremely intimidating. My first goal was to create a composite of my son riding a dinosaur for his second birthday dino-themed party. I was hooked! I definitely found my niche in this whole process and I couldn’t be happier.

I still take a lot of lifestyle photos to document our everyday moments and milestones, but now that my son is older he’s starting to make requests and we have so much fun creating together. I’m also a pretty shy person and because of my interests in things that are magical and fairytale, I have a hard time relating to other people and other women in particular. But creating these magical photos for others has connected me with some really cool and nice people that I probably never would have met otherwise! I’m just extremely grateful and blessed to have found something that I can not only share with my son, but also with other parents wanting to bring their child’s imagination to life!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road learning Photoshop because there is so much to it, but I’m naturally a computer nerd so I know that has helped me learn faster. There are so many aspects to consider when creating composites like lighting, angles and perspective, coloring, and tones. I can look back on my work from a year ago around the time I started and compare it to now and I see a ton of growth. So I know I’m going in the right direction, it’s just a struggle getting to that final point.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I create magical composite photos for children mainly, but can also work with families and hopefully eventually companies as well. Composite photography is taking more than one photo and combining and blending them in Photoshop to create an original visual work of art. My work is inspired by my son’s imaginations. I have always loved all things magical, fantasy, fairytale, and in a lot of my work, you’ll see things like unicorns, mermaids, dragons, dinosaurs, and celestial themed imagery.

I try to create realism in each piece so I try my best to match elements of lighting, perspective, and color grading to make each piece seem as realistic as possible. So that’s where I get my motto, “bringing imagination to life.” I’m most proud of just being able to do something that makes me so happy and I get to spend a lot of time with my son. I love seeing the look on his face when he sees a new photo for the first time. It’s addicting! And then to also be able to see and hear other children and parent’s reactions to my work. It’s just amazing!

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I would say that I’m very lucky to have such a supportive husband. My husband Morgan has been the dinosaurs, reindeer, bears, and more in our behind-the-scenes photos. He always jokes that he’s always in the photos too. I’m lucky to have him push me when I need it, supportive always, and an honest critic. I know for sure that I wouldn’t be going in the direction that I am now if he wasn’t there telling me what he really thinks of what I’m creating.

Contact Info:

• Email: DalenaWatsonDesigns@gmail.com
• Website: https://DalenaWatsonDesigns.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dalenawatson
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dalenawatsondesigns

Image Credits:
Dalena Watson Designs