Gitch'R Portrait @ DIO Fest 2018 via Kelly Koval

Wow! Yellow this year eh? What inspired the color?

Kelly - "Well, this may have been the 6th year of DIO Fest, but it was actually the 5th year of the "Gitch'r Portrit" series, so I wanted to choose a color with a bit of pizzaz. And what better way to celebrate than with a golden yellow?? I'd always previously been attracted to cool colors as a backdrop, but yellow seemed like a good transitional color - perhaps I'll branch into even warmer colors next time - Hot pink anyone???"

See Kelly's flim captures from 2018, a weekend not too long ago...

After 5 years of capturing the faces of DIO Fest, what would you say is the takeaway?

It's been such a fun experience... Ultimately though, a really good learning opportunity. I've had years with a broken camera, or there's rain out, or it's mega sunny, or there's a line at the portrait wall and I gotta make quick moves - no matter what though, it's all a blast. I'm definitely the first to admit that I am not a perfect photographer... I've just always been so enamored by portraits and will always work my hardest to get a good capture. That being said, there are definitely slip ups and blurry ones every year, but I suppose that's part of the vibe. Together they always shine though.

They absolutely do! What's been your continuous inspiration though the whole deal?

I guess I just always thought of the portraits as one big family, one big whole - like a yearbook if you will. It's always a sweet experience to look back on each year and see how we've all grown up. In fact, I'd really like to make an official DIO yearbook one day. Would be rad to collect all the photos from each year and make something extra special. There are so many good people who work so hard to put this festival on each year and it would be pretty sweet to memorialize the magic of each year into something tangible. Do it ourselves // Photo book of ourselves! One can dream right?

That does sound pretty dreamy... ! What else do you have up your sleeves for the years to come?

Oh you know me, I'll always be taking portraits - Can't get away! But I'm also really excited to be recording an album with my band MAJK (www.facebook.com/MAJKmusic)! It's something that's been brewing for a while now and we're really hoping we'll get our music out into the world by the end of the year - Stay tuned!

We sure will - Thanks Kelly <3

See more of Kelly's photos and find out more about her on her Instagram page: www.instagram.com/kelly.koval

Peace & Love -  Circa 93 - ∞

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