Once upon a time in the land of steel and bridges, there was an engineer. Despite having earned a mechanical engineering degree in 2007 from Carnegie Mellon University, one of the premier engineering schools in the country, and landing a job at home in Pittsburgh, our engineer was unhappy. As you've probably guessed, I was that unhappy engineer. Luckily, the rest of our little tale is a happy one.
Hi, I'm JP Diroll, and all my life I've been a visual person, fascinated by wildlife photos specifically. But I needed to make my own, so with the extra scratch I had in my pocket from that engineering gig, I bought my first digital camera, also in 2007. It was a sweet little Nikon D50 with a whopping 6.1 megapixels. I had NO clue how to use the thing, but to this day I believe buying that camera was the smartest dumb thing I ever did.
I was no longer taking photos. I was creating images. The creative process immediately began to consume me, confirming what I knew all along: I was never an engineer. I was an artist, and a good one. So I took a leap of faith in 2013. No more 9-5. No more steady paycheck. Just a camera, a vision, and the determination (and support - thank you Alyssa!) to pursue a dream.
Fast forward to today and the dream is a reality. As a full time professional photographer, I'm happier than ever. Here in the city I love, I get to share my journey and art, showing YOU the city you love too, but through my eyes. And I guarantee you're going to LOVE what you see!
