Click on the ad to see it larger. Digital Photo Pro Magazine - September/October 2009 Photoshop User Magazine - September 2009 Digital Camera & Photo Buyers Guide 2010 Photoshop User Magazine - April/May 2010 Photo Credit: Doug Levy

Like most of us, Shyla’s first experience with a camera came in the form of it being pointed at her. But, as an only child for the first 12 years of her life, Shyla became the subject of a loving mother’s photography obsession. She recalls the day her mother treated herself to a $200 lens as an “appalling and unnecessary waste of money.” Little did Shyla know she would one day be spending upwards of ten times that “appalling” amount on a lens of her own.

Shyla’s first experiences behind the camera came after signing up for a high school photography course, which earned her a disappointing ‘C’ grade at the end of the semester – patience proving not to be a virtue during the hours she would have to spend in the darkroom developing and printing images. For a time, she pursued other mediums of art and taught children but she continued to nurse an underlying passion for the camera. It was only during her senior year of college that she decided to give in to her dreams and make photography her focus. Graduating with a degree in Theology from a small private college in Southern California she quickly tucked it away and pursued an internship with a well known celebrity wedding and fashion photographer in Newport Beach, California who equipped Shyla with the tools and the courage to pursue photography as a full time adventure.

Renowned for her lifestyle fashion approach to the wedding day, Shyla has quickly become a highly sought after international and domestic wedding photographer – traveling the world with an infectious personality and zest for life that help her capture the beginnings of beautiful love stories everywhere.

“We are all too familiar with the high school graduate who doesn’t know what they want to do with their life. I, on the other hand, didn’t have that problem. I knew exactly what I wanted to do. The problem was that I wanted to do it all. I pursued a variety of passions from children’s ministry to medicine, flitting from one concentration to another until I took a step back and examined the thread which ran constant through every endeavor... PEOPLE.

“I only wanted to be around people, hear their stories, and use my skills to help preserve them. It was through that understanding that I pursued a career behind the lens, setting off to encapsulate stories and capture the moment when someone bares their soul with a single glance – or the moment they commit to forever. Photography is an opportunity to offer my talents as a gift to someone else.

“I am humbled each and every time I pick up a camera and am allowed intimate access into someone’s life. That in and of itself is what fuels my passions and is a key ingredient of my ‘Anima’.”

“Integrating APC was an easy choice for me. 

“Initially lured by the sparkle of their ‘green’ efforts, I quickly came to find out that APC is a boutique lab that offers more than a low impact on the environment. The quality of their service coupled with the caliber of their products have given me the confidence I need to partner with them in bringing my clients the best choices to archive their memories.

“As a wedding photographer I am commissioned to preserve memories – and as a human being I am commissioned to preserve the environment. Using companies like APC ensures I am doing both well. Not only do I have the opportunity to provide my clients with high quality archival prints, but they can feel good about the fact that the products they are purchasing leave smaller carbon footprints.

“As with most organic efforts, forgoing their industry‘s version of ‘pesticides’ shows APC’s investment in quality trumping quantity, and thus they provide their customers with a longer lasting product. Being able to assure my clients that their canvases won’t fade or yellow with time like other more commercial labs is quite valuable in the quest to ensure them that I am giving the utmost care to their treasured photos.

“This care and quality is essential to the way I do business. My brand and my logo are my name and inseparable from who I am at the core. To me, people are what matter, so when I choose to affiliate my business with another, I am conscious of that fact. Who I choose to partner with reflects not only my business but my person-hood and I am thrilled to have found a company that shares similar values.

“APC’s actions speak louder than words. They have proven again and again that they are just the type of company I am looking to associate with. They care about people, they care about the environment and they care about quality. Those three things alone prove that APC shines in their execution of what it means to be in the upper echelon of the canvas world.”

Shyla Dalirifar’s website
Shyla’s Dalirifar’s adventure log