Meet Dyanne Klinko | Photographer & Producer/Host of Backstage Pass, a Facebook project

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dyanne Klinko and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dyanne, how has your work-life balance changed over time?
Balancing my work and my personal life has taught me many things. As a wife and mother, it is critical for me not to loose focus on the most important part of my life, family. When my work starts to cross over into my personal life, I can see obstacles forming rapidly. A husband doing activities on his own, not talking with my children as I should. My absence is the worse part of loosing my balance in life. I look at balance like a scale. Fifty/fifty. If the scales start to dip to one side, or the other I begin to loose either my family time, or the dedication I put into my photos and my interviews. Keeping a balance is something I have to work at everyday. The years I have been active with these projects has taught me so much. A calendar schedule is vital and as a producer and host, the time involved there is massive. My photography is equally challenging. I would not want to schedule too much in one month, but breaking it up throughout the month allows time off to do some of the things that I enjoy like shopping or just taking a walk all the while, keeping the scales balanced. With taking photographs, well that is still a big challenge for me. As an example, I cannot predict the kind of sunset that I would want to photograph until it starts to get dusk. If I am going to photograph whales, dolphins, or animals, that is easier. I can schedule this time on my calendar with ease, I look at my calendar everyday to make sure that I have personal time included equally to my work. My bad habit is that sometimes, my family activities are an opportunity for me to bring my camera. Which is a problem if I spend more time taking photos instead of just enjoying the time we have together. It’s critical in keeping the balance of my work and personal time in the foreground. Always. There is so much more to photographs then just taking pictures. I need to decide which photos I keep, then edit them, print them and start entering them in contests like the County Fair for example. All this takes so much of my time that it can lead to frustration and cause late nights and early mornings just getting the photo projects completed in a timely fashion. As a producer and host of Backstage Pass, a Facebook involvement, this is very intensive. I must talk to various progressive rock celebrities and get their consent to be interviewed. Once I have that approval, the time it takes to research the celebrity’s professional career and prep questions takes hours and days to complete. The interviews run in length of about two hours on average which cuts into my personal life quite a bit. For me, this is the whole secret to my having a wonderful and productive life on an equal scale. Life is so precious and having a balance allows me to enjoy every moment of the day. Never let your work interfere with your family, Stay dedicated to both equally and your life can be a beautiful fulfilling opportunity that gives you less stress and peace of mind. Get what you want out of life, but keep your eye on yourself and your work equally and success is just around the corner.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I started Backstage Pass on my own. I have had no prior experience as both a producer and a host for these video taped and live interviews. I came up with the idea to do this to help spark my Facebook group Emerson Lake and Palmer – TITANS OF PROG with new memberships. I started my new project by making a list of known celebrities that are already members of my group. I needed to come up with a format and style for the interviews that would be unique to me. Asking questions from a fan perspective instead of a musician or music magazine’s perspective felt right. Now I had my format, Next, I needed to get messages out to a few celebrities I knew from my Facebook group Emerson Lake & Palmer – TITANS OF PROG to see if I could spark some interest. I was so delighted when every celebrity wrote back saying they would be happy to be interviewed by me. The part of this development that felt most uncomfortable for me and quite challenging was that first time I was going to video chat with my first celebrity. What would this person think of me as an unprofessional producer? What if he decided against doing this? I put my thoughts behind me as hard as that was, and focused on just the positive aspects. I was going to actually speak with one of my heroes!! With this in mind I made the first video call. I was delighted with my conversation with my first interviewee. We talked for over an hour and the conversation was light and a lot of fun. From that point on word about the success of my first interview spread and I am currently interviewing more and more celebrities. My photos are a hobby that I thoroughly enjoy. I have sold my first print which has given me the confidenceI needed to produce more of my work. As a “just for fun” activity, I am involved with acting in Hollywood and Los Angeles. I have played in an award winning short film titled Fortune in Gold. This has been very exciting as we have won many awards for this film. I am a creative soul who enjoys life and nature. I love whale watching and do it as often as I can. Spending time with my family and walks on the beach are the pleasures in my life. Anything else I accomplish is gravy!!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
DAY 1
Tour around town
lunch at home
dinner at home

DAY 2
Watch sunrise at the pier
Breakfast at the Harbor
Go whale watching
Lunch at the ocean Resort and Spa

DAY 3
Walk the pier and spend the day at the beach
Lunch would be a picnic basket

DAY 4
Take the Coaster train into San Diego
Take a tour on The Midway Aircraft Carrier
Lunch on The Midway
Train back home

Day 5
Back on the Train to La Jolla
See the seal breeding grounds
Take a kayak out to the sea cave
Lunch in La Jolla downtown at Dukes

Day 6
Drive into San Diego
Ride the speedboat called The Patriot
Walk to Sea Port Village for shopping
Lunch at The Fish Market
Dinner in Encinitas at the Pacific Bar and Grill

DAY 7
Early breakfast
Off to Petco Park to watch the San Diego Padres baseball team play
Take the trolly down to Little Italy in San Diego
Lots of restaurants in Little Italy to pick from for dinner

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
A shoutout to my husband Keith who is my confidant and encouraged me to pursue both my Backstage Pass and my photography and has always given me an honest opinion of my work. To my children, Brian, Derek & Stephanie, their approval and feedback has always been invaluable. To the one person who took a chance on me, I thank Robert Berry of the Robert Berry 3.2 band, Alliance, December People and as a soloist. Without Robert I would never have had the success I am enjoying today.

Website: Dyanne Klinko or https://patreon.com/invite/ajompa_2

Facebook: Dyanne Klinko and Emerson Lake & Palmer – TITANS OF PROG

Youtube: Dyanne Klinko or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPoV5BEdwKXNAhxTUbDV5DQ or