Biography

Daria (Dasha) Founder of Obsidian Flame Studios

I remember running around as a kid at my grandma's dacha (the Russian word for country house), basking in the sweet aromas of the rain mixed with grasses, flowers, and vegetables that my grandma grew there. It was a rainy yet extremely sunny morning. In Russia, we call sunny but rainy days Mushroom rain, because these two elements are ideal to help fungi grow. It's so refreshing standing under these sun showers. Our dacha had a little forest behind our red, brick built, country home, where we would count insects with my sister, sit inside the hut my dad constructed for us out of branches and sticks, and journey onto having a beautiful childhood. At the age of 7, we moved to Prague, Czech Republic, where we lived for two years before finally moving to the United Kingdom.

My first camera was a silly £100 electric purple compact camera, followed by a General Electronics bridge camera, that now when I look at it, is the tiniest, toy-like bridge camera I've ever seen in my life. Maybe my interest started with the memories of my Grandad who was a hobbyist photographer, bringing along his large camcorder to film me and my sister as children playing around. All I remember my first clicking experience to be was taking pictures of my bunny rabbit, Prince, sunsets and creating cool light effects with a slow shutter during night time.

In 2011, at the age of 14, I began publishing my own online and printed music and fashion magazine. In its early days, I had to document most of the coverage myself, which lead me to begin using my camera with a specific purpose in mind and self-learning everything through trial and error. I have never stopped shooting and growing my knowledge ever since.