Our LOVE Story!
We always here everyone elses love story so we want to share ours! David and I met in GA (we were cheerleaders at Georgia Tech) and it literally seems like from the first converstaion we never stopped talking! We even managed to make it though a long distance relationship period while I was cheering at UK- (very short lived- we missed each other too much and the drive was killing us!!) but none the less we made it through it! So this is the part where most people are saying “How did you end up in Hawaii?” Well after returing to Georgia- I ended up coaching the JV team and assisting the Varsity team with Nationals-at Georgia Tech. While at Nationals David and I were goofing off stunting and were offered a full scholarship for cheerleading to Hawaii Pacific University. With in one month we were in Hawaii…
So how did you end up in photography?
We both have different outlooks when we shoot and recollections of how we ended up where we are today.
Cassandra- Growing up… I have always used art as a form of personal expression. From the tender age of 2 my parents recall that I “ masterfully painted the guest bedroom walls and dabbled in body art with black shoe polish”- a mark that would still remain 22 years later when my father finally sold the house.
I origianlly went to school (college) for Industrial Design, but when we transfered to Hawaii Pacific University they did not offer that field of study so I chose to study Advertising (in hopes of being an art director). Well after my senior year courses I realized that you don’t have as much creative freedom as an art director as what I wanted, and since I had already been shooting for 2 years and knew that I could be as expressive as I wished in photography- I graduated with no real plans to ever use the advertising degree (but it was free so I did it!). Both of my parents always encouraged me to be open and honest and express myself and I feel that is why I chose this route.
My father asked me on a recent photo trip to the grand canyon “You always told me you wanted to be an artist, did you ever think you would be doing this?” Of course the answer was “no,” because until recently people did not view wedding photography as art! Even when I studied photography in NAHS (national art honor society) it didn’t stick with me like painting and mixed media did. And it really wasn’t until my mother in law and David reintroduced me to it that I became passionate about it. She came out to Hawaii to visit David and I and we began our travels around the islands- David and I both fell in love with the beauty, culture and the stories that could be told. At the time I was thinking “paintings” but when I was handed the camera it hit me that I could share all this through the images (of course if they were good enough). So there we all were taking pictures with a plan to share them with the world (free of charge) to be continued at the bottom…- David grew up with plans to be an aerospace engineer- yes that is a rocket scientist! And had I not come along he very well could be up in space somewhere! Besides loving gadgets and all things technical David is “Mr. Adventure” he is the driving force to encourage me to brave places I would never go or do things I would never do not just for the image but for the experience. As you know from above, David and I came to Hawaii together on a cheerleading scholarship. When we got here he was curious to know what there was to do and see. With our teammates response “smoke, drink, etc…” we were left on our own to figure it out and that is exactly what we did. With camera in hand, maps in the other- we began “the adventures of Cassandra and David”- as our friends say- looking back now even David Mr. Dare Devil himself even says “I can’t believe we did that!” But we got the shot! It was David’s website (
www.Hawaiiweb.com) that was our original outlet for sharing our images and what we had learned about the islands. We posted the info and images on the website. At that time it was all informational, we did not sell anything on the site nor make any profit from the site. However as starving college students looking for a way to pay rent (other than busing tables) we quickly realized that we were generating an incredible outside interest in our images so we decided to try to make a career out of our passion by selling the images as stock photos around the world. Little did we know at that time we would be photographing weddings in just a few years time. One day one of the models we had been working with on her portfolio came to us with the question… “would you two be interested in photographing my wedding?”
And this is where our stories unite… We both said “yes” and from that day on we have been shooting weddings! I guess you could say it really stuck with us.
Since then David and I got engaged ( under a waterfall- with the whole thing on video-suprise everyone David’s a romantic!), Got Married and that brings us to….Brooklyn
Brooklyn is our three year old little girl- our pride and joy and in all honesty the real reason we started advertising our photography services- thank you Brooklyn!
Before her, we worked by word of mouth and did ok, but not enough to support a little one in Hawaii (school is OUTRAGEOUS) Honestly it is like buying a small car every year- so we knew that we had to do something. After she turned 6 months we started planning for a new web launch and advertising campaign (mom- dad you’ll be proud I AM actually doing something with my degree- smiles) So on Jan 1, 2005 we launched “Cassandra Dieterle Photography” Why Cassandra Dieterle- well it’s easier to remember one persons’ name then two and the last name was Davids’ so he still gets some credit (he he) and we HAD to have a .com and all the other searchs came up with “seats taken!” Since then things have grown and grown and grown and already in our 2nd design phase!
David and I truly LOVE what we do and especially that we get to do it together!
When we aren’t shooting…
Typically we are editing with our knockoff Caramel macchitos (We love Starbucks but it was getting way too expensive).
But if we aren’t editing here are some things we love to do:
1. Playing with our little Girl- any weekend day off is all hers! Parks, Playgrounds, Zoo, here we come!
2. We love the outdoors- I am more of a land goer and David a waterbug but we mingle them!
3. Of course we love taking pictures- oh yeah this is supposed to be what we do when we ARENT shooting- nevermind!
4. Did someone say coffee?- We love coffee
5. Eating- unfortunately we have expensive taste so I have had to learn how to make most of our meals-but if we get a chance to go out- we are Lovin’ it!
6. Friends- most of our friends are also in this industry but we still try to meet up once a week or so for dinner and to catch up!
7.Working on the house. we have found ourself working on the house a lot of late… flooring, cabinets, etc….
8. We LOVE Discovery Channel, History Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, etc… but we really have to limit ourselves or else we will get glued to it for the night one show after another- if you have ever seen it you know what I mean- it’s addictive!
9. Travel… we love to travel- but again we are typically shooting- but that is what we love to do!
10.Personal time with Brooke- we have both said on seperate occasions that our favorite time is when we are just goofing off with Brooke- being silly- reading stories -(mommy and daughter bubble baths with TONS of bubbles)-I guess just being parents! We giggle at her sillyness and her temper tantrums (she’s three- they don’t stop at two they only get bigger at 3!) Marriage is wonderful, but having children really shows you what life and love is all about!
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