Milestones and 36 Years in Business
Milestone Celebration Honoring Diana Dyer - We celebrated 32 years in photography back in June of 2021. Diana Dyer Photography llc was a success celebrating the past and moving forward to the future! I felt honored to have such amazing friends, colleagues and family there to support me and my business. Thank you everyone!!
Moving forward, I am not sure what the future holds, but I am excited to see where this leads me...
Update: A lot has happened since our last update. I had to put my photography business on hold so I could take care of my husband. He was very sick and we lost him last year. David and I had been married 46 years. Now, moving forward, we are Diana Dyer (fine art photography) and I look forward to sharing with you my new collection of Signatured Butterfly Cards and gift baskets.
Diana Dyer's Personal Journey
Diana received her first camera at nine years old in 1968. She always had a camera in hand at ball games, etc. Her first wedding assignment was in 1983 for her brother Bobby and sister-in-law Debbie. Her first family portrait session was in 1984 for Ozell and Waymond Dyer in their home. She started as a professional photographer and business owner in January of 1989, which also included her first in-home studio.
Diana worked at JC Penny, Mike Hawthorn Photography, Glamour Shots & Olan Mills to try and find her calling in photography. There were many challenges along the way and times when she wanted to give it all up.
But the year 2005 brought many blessings for her business. Her daughter-in-law wanted to learn photography and she desperately wanted to develop her skills on the computer. They shared their knowledge with each other and helped each other to get started. She also discovered the Indianapolis Professional Photographers Guild in 2005, which was a real blessing as she found mentors, friends, education and so much more. Up until now she felt alone in her endeavors.
Diana then started a product line of greeting cards and stationary. In 2005 she was also in ten consignment shops, one store front, one art gallery and five exhibit booths. Diana displayed her art work in ten locations and competed in twenty six competitions which included her portrait photography. In 2010 she had to scale back and focused more on portraits as they were more demanding for her at that time. In 2015 Diana began volunteering with "NILMDTS", (Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep), a remembrance photography organization for parents and families suffering the loss of a baby and provides a free gift of professional portraiture. She also served with her church, Emmanuel, on the Impact Team at the Banta campus, as a professional photographer.
Diana was elected to the IPPG board and served for two years in 2019 & 2020. In 2022 she was honored to be elected as their treasurer.
Diana went on to serve as the Director at large for IPPG for two more years but had to give it up to care for her husband. Now in 2025 she is back at IPPG serving as a member on the committee anywhere they need her.
Over the years, Diana has received many awards including a Mayor’s award, numerous ribbons, plaques, a medallion, a crystal trophy, a golf club trophy, and five featured images in different places. She has also had the opportunity to photograph several special VIP sessions including: Tamika Catchings, a professional basketball player at a fundraiser for Wernle Children’s Home, Joe Thiesman, a professional football player also at a fundraiser for Wernle Children’s Home, Doctor Clara Stokes, a national speaker for helping troubled teens across the country, "Flashes of Hope" with Mark Watson for Riley Children’s Hospital, a fundraiser for Jesse Hauling, the first soldier from Indiana that lost his life in the Iraq War in 2003, the tallest woman in the world Sandy Allen, at 7 foot and 7 inches tall who passed away in 2008, the oldest woman in the world, Edna Parker, age 115, who passed away in 2008 and Nellie Owen, a grandmother age 86 that had never had a professional portrait taken in her life, who has also passed away.
Diana still has every negative, slide, CD, dvd, etc, in her files, that she has ever taken since she was 9 years old. As a professional photographer only, she has photographed over 1000 portrait sessions, 100 weddings, 70 events, and 10+ fundraisers.
Diana has attended, in her photography education journey, approximately 45 seminars, webinars, zoom meetings, classes in person, workshops etc. Her schooling began in 1989 at IUPUI. One of her goals was to become a Certified Professional Photographer through Professional Photographers of America. It has taken three years, but she was able to pass the written test and image submission, with flying colors. Diana is now working on her second goal of becoming a Master Photographer. Diana hopes to achieve this thru the Professional Photographers of America sometime in 2025 and is well on her way.
Her husband passed away in August of 2024 and she had to make a life decision about what she wanted to pursue on her photographic journey. She had the chance to discuss with her husband her plans before he passed and he backed her up 100%. She is moving forward in what she always wanted which is to share all of her images over the past 36 years in a product which includes gift baskets, signatured card collections and more.
You will be able to enjoy some of her best images in the form of signatured greeting card butterfly collections that will be available soon. With each image created, you will get a special signatured butterfly on the front of each card with the personal touch of her husbands fingerprint in the wings, made in his honor. It is her way of keeping his memory alive as she learns to move forward.
She is looking forward to capturing all those NEW special memories and being able to share them with you along the way! She does realize some people do not get to enjoy some of the beauty that surrounds us and it makes her heart full to be able to help others get to see "The Freedom of Life and The Beauty of Nature".
MILESTONES ALONG THE WAY
David was my big, overgrown teddy bear. He had a huge heart and during our 51 years together has been my rock! He has supported me every way possible to see that I could follow my dream on my journey... 381 David! You will always be loved and appreciated. You had me at hello...
Cindy has been my best friend since 1980, (46) years and counting! Cindy and I share everything and we know without a doubt we can trust each other. She was there as my friend and when my business was established in 1989. Cindy has been there through good times and bad on my journey with no questions asked!! She is the best when it comes to multitasking in business and became my associate, assistant & secretary. To this day, I can call her and say (I need this) and she’s on it even living 3000 miles away in Oregon. We may only see each other once a year, if that, but we talk almost everyday. She always holds me accountable for my actions. She has my back no matter which path I choose to take even if she did not agree with me… Now, we are celebrating this once in a lifetime friendship that some people would never get the privilege to experience. We have planned a trip out west and will be enjoying nature and photographing the whole way. We are both excited for this adventure that is a long overdue… Also, Cindy has been a 6 generation and my longest client for 41 years. I have photographed 3 weddings, 5 seniors, 3 graduations, 5 newborns, 2 dance recitals, 1 football, 1 baseball, 1 grandma age 86 that never had her portrait taken professionally, 1 mother portrait, several family portraits and counting… I just recently realized this milestone was there. Love all of you... Just to add a little note here, our daughters Michelle and Stacey have now been best friends for 41 years and counting! They were born four days apart in 1981.
Tara, my daughter-in-law, had an interest in photography and I desperately needed knowledge of the computer/photoshop/light room, so we agreed In the year 2000, that we could share/trade off my knowledge in photography for her knowledge of computers. To this day, we still share our knowledge when in need of a helping hand. Wow, what a blessing for us both!
Cynthia was there when I needed a BIG boost to get up to date with some things. I was kind of stuck in the 90’s and I felt she would be the one to help me get out of the old ways and bring me into the new ways.
She is now one of my associates and I have had the pleasure of working with her in large events, weddings and more.
We keep each other held accountable for our actions as we grow. We both are volunteers with “Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep” (NILMDTS), helping families cope with the loss of a child by giving them a special gifted portrait of their child. The company had a request to photograph a 5 year old that was ready to be taken off of life support at Riley Hospital. NILMDTS only photographs newborns. With the loss of two children myself and two grandchildren from my daughter, I understood what the family was going through and wanted to go ahead with their request on my own. I called Cynthia and asked her if she would like to help me make sure this family had a gift portrait. Cynthia did not hesitate to take this opportunity with me. She made sure our paperwork was ready and we spent the day at the hospital with the family. We did everything we could to help comfort them during this time and the family appreciated everything we had done for them. That made it all worthwhile for us both, to know we had a hand in helping this family get through their toughest challenge. I do feel very blessed to have met Cynthia in my journey…
Nancy is one of my mentors and inspired me to go after my dream on this journey! She gave me the tools I needed, and helped me see another way in how I photographed portraits. Nancy believed in my vision and inspired my artistic side for competition, ultimately helping me become a "Certified Professional Photographer." I accomplished this goal in 2021 and now I am working on my "Masters." This goal is a bit harder to achieve and Nancy is always the first one to tell me "NEVER GIVE UP, YOU CAN DO THIS!" and I hold onto those words to this day. It is a privilege to have Nancy in my life...
Lois, is a one of a kind friend. I will never forget the day I needed help in one of our Winona educational classes with a computer program. I could not get my computer to cooperate with a download. I wasn't feeling real good anyway and knowing this was going to set me back and I would have to struggle to catch up with the class, I was ready to give up and walk out of class. Lois knew I was upset and offered to help me when no one else would. Together we were able to figure out the problem and got me back on track. Lois touched my heart at that moment. I felt so blessed to have crossed paths with her...
Sarah, is an extraordinary kind of person that will go that extra mile to help where she is needed. She is volunteering her time serving as president for our IPPG Family. Her hands are full in representing our group in every way possible. Much respect is given and well deserved! Way to go Sarah!! Wish you luck as you move forward!!
Ardath, I had the pleasure of working with her on our image submissions for our "Certified Professional Photographer. “WE DID IT, WE PASSED”!!! Yay… So great to share this special project with her and get to know her better…
Mike Hawthorne gave me the opportunity to work for him as a wedding photographer in 1990. Mike also had other photographers working for him as well. I had started my own business as “Memories by Diana” in 1989. The education Mike gave me back then, is a huge part of how I photographed my weddings. Yes, the technology has changed a little bit and I had to adjust with today's photography world but I never forgot his teachings from back then. Mike was a big part of my journey as I moved forward. I could never be more grateful for Mike being a part of it all...
Elsie was there when I was a child and received my first camera at age 9. We may not get to see each other like we would like too but we both know how much our friendship means after all these years. She was one of my childhood besties back then. Elsie and I spent many days at the ballpark where I taught the word “CHEESE”!!! I still have some of those pictures along with every negative I have ever taken. Elsie has also always supported me in my journey…
IPPG: If you get the chance please check out my book. It tells of the journey I’ve taken since 1989. I felt like a failure at one point in the 90’s and felt all alone. Researching for other photographers and not having the confidence it took to be successful was a huge issue for me and I felt like the little guy all the time as I watched other photographers grow. What I realized today, is all I needed to do was give one of my peers a call and change all of that. Even though the 90’s were some of my best years given to my clients, now, 36 years later, the feeling of accomplishment is overwhelming. I still have dreams to look forward to and will eventually get there but no matter what “I will never give up and keep moving forward”! I am proof it can happen for you if you want it bad enough. I tell people it’s in my blood and won’t let me stop. I never thought I would get to this point, having so much confidence in myself and feeling successful today. I no longer feel like the little guy…
One of my BIGGEST turning points in my journey was accomplished in 2005 when I discovered IPPG. There, one of the first things I learned was to keep the same company name and use your own name if available. I did and changed to “Diana Dyer Photography”. I found other photographers that were feeling like I did all those years and needed help in growing their business. The growing education that I received with this group has helped make me the photographer I am today. I now have many photographer friends/peers and we have each other's back if needed. I can’t say I ever had that in the 90’s. Learning together with everyone and getting all the education possible along the way has been the BEST parts of my journey as I continue to move forward with my IPPG family...
I do want to recognize: Cynthia, Todd, Tim, Linda, and I wanted to try something new with a small photography group we called “Moving Forward”. Cynthia asked me what I thought about starting this small group to see where it could take us all and asked if we could use “Moving Forward”, I had used this in a blog I had and I said “Let’s do it!” Our small associate group was shared together for about a year but everyone seemed to be moving forward pretty quick in their business and we ended up having to part our own ways. Such an amazing friendship with peers we had together.
Family: My family has been my life and supported me in every way. I am deeply honored to have them in my life…
Clients: Let’s not forget, my clients that have cheered me on to success throughout the years! I can’t even tell you how much I appreciate each and everyone of them. I loved being their photographer and part of their family. To this day, I have clients from the 90’s still calling me for their photography needs… Love my job, career, and clients.
Diana Dyer (fine art Photography)
dianadyerphotography@gmail.com
8527 Stoddard Lane
Indianapolis In. 46217
317-366-1284
CAPTURING YOUR JOURNEY, ONE MOMENT AT A TIME, SINCE 1989!