Hey,

I'm Dustin.

I figure since you are allowing me to photograph the window to your soul, that it's only fair you get to know a little more about me as your photographer! The window to my soul is above these words, yep that's right that's one of my eyeballs haha.

Here's some fun random facts about me.......

I am super introverted

I am highly empathetic

I give world famous hugs

I love anything cotton candy flavored

I am a professional anxiety sufferer haha.

I am a genuine caring person. 

I am a photographer. 

I am a giver. 

I am sensitive. 

I cry in movies. 

I am addicted to music. 

I am afraid of grasshoppers and heights and flying and Lightning. 

I love to go hiking. 

I love people of all religions, race, sexual orientations and creeds. 

I am shy. 

I am confident. 

I ponder life and revel in the beauty of it often.

I love deeply. 

I love deep conversations and human connection.

I love making new friends. 

I am quick to forgive others and let go of grudges but slower to forgive myself. 

I rejoice when others succeed and feel deep empathy for others pain. 

I sometimes struggle when trying to understand the cruelty of others. 

I believe in uplifting others no matter who they are. I live and breathe kindness. 

I love to stargaze and love the sound of chirping crickets. 

I love hugs both giving and receiving. 

I love laughing with those I love and laughing so hard that I cry. 

I sometimes feel so powerful and yet so helpless. 

I feel a burning in my soul and my heart to add love to the lives of everyone I meet. 

To uplift those who struggle and to shower the world with gratitude and compassion. 

I am a hopeless romantic and believe chivalry needs a revival. 

I am human. 

I have weaknesses and I am on a journey to overcome them. 

I struggle on my journey. 

Sometimes life can be hard. 

I seek the beauty in those hard times. 

I hope deep down every day that I will do good in my life and hope to be remembered as a driving force of love by others when I am gone. 

This is a small glimpse of who I am. 

I can't wait to capture and learn a small glimpse of who you are!

How does it all work? Tips for a smooth session...

Here's a little more info on how the session works.

I have an optometrist chin rest where I will have you rest your chin and brace your forehead to eliminate movement as movement will affect the very fine line of focus and cause motion blur, so sitting still is essential.

Once you are comfortable in the chin rest, I use a combination of either bright but comfortable constant led lights that I will use to light each side of your iris, both constricting your pupil to give us more surface and details to capture, while also allowing my camera to get a fast enough exposure to keep the details sharp.

For those that struggle with the LED lights, I have a flash option where I use a different LED light that will be shined towards your iris to help me lock in focus and constrict the pupil after which a flash strobe will do short durations of light for the camera exposure.

Both options allow me to capture the detail I need, but above and beyond the lighting options, one of the most key factors to getting the best possible details and quality of your final image, is the ability to open your eyelids wide enough unassisted using just your facial muscles.

I highly recommend practicing in front of a mirror to prepare for your iris session, you want to practice opening your eyelids up wide enough to get good exposure all around your iris, top and bottom, the more of your iris you are able to expose for your session, the better the outcome of your final edit. Practice doing a surprised face like you just found out some crazy tea or surprising news, really work on trying to raise the eyebrow to the top of your forehead so we get the top of your eyelids to come say hello. Then practice using your cheek and lip muscles to pull your bottom lid down to your chin and see if you can get the bottom of your iris to show fully.

Hopefully these tips and tricks help you get a better idea of how much iris you will be able to expose unassisted. Don't worry, if you struggle I have a few other tools and tricks that we will use during your session.

Overall the session only takes 5-10 minutes per eye max depending on how much iris you are able to expose, the more you are able to show off that amazing iris, the less time and quicker your session will be.

If you have any questions or concerns about doing an iris session, feel free to reach out and I'd be happy to talk more and answer them.