I have been working for Dmagazine for 4 years now as a photo retoucher and I finally got to photograph my first spread and a few pages in the magazine.
I was a little nervous photographing the spread. The designer wanted specific lighting that I do not have a lot of experience with, but I was not going to back down from a challenge. I have a few continuous lights and a speedlight to help with the dim lighting of the Stoneleigh P. The owner and his granddaughter were so nice about taking photos. I know that sometimes being in front of the camera can be awkward, but I wanted them to be as natural as possible. The whole shoot was about an hour to an hour and a half long after setup and I got the lighting perfect. I was so relieved when the art director complimented me on creating his vision.
Are you excited to watch the World Cup in DFW? I received a list of places that I had to photograph for the magazine to help with the bar/restaurant list of where to watch. I had so much fun meeting some really cool people and also trying really amazing places. Each place I photograph had their own authentic style and were very excited to be featured in the magazine. I even went back to some of the places to try more of their food. The only struggle that I had with this project was that my A/C was out in my car so when I was traveling I probably looked like a sweaty mess! The owners of these establishments didn’t seem to notice though (or at least were nice enough not to tell me LOL).
Working on Dmagazine’s May 2026 issue was a blast and I cannot wait for more assignments in the future.