Detroit is blessed by having numerous amazing photographers for couples to choose from for their wedding day. One that always makes my preferred list (as long as she is available) is Dionne from The Shooting Gallery. Needless to say, I was very excited when she agreed to a Q&A session for the blog! Here we go:
- How long have you been in business?
Full time – 5 years
- How did you come up with “The Shooting Gallery”? I am in love with the 30s era. The culture, the clothing, the architecture, the art deco design – every bit of it. The name was fun and reminded me a bit of that era and I knew it was something people would remember.
- How many weddings do you book each year? I was committed to shooting 60 weddings per year since I transitioned my business from part to full time; however, I recently made the decision to take on fewer wedding commissions in an effort to gain a better work/life balance, spending more time with those I love and getting to know my clients on a deeper, more personal level.
- How soon do I get my pictures back, and why? A collection of wedding images is delivered in approximately 10 weeks. All of the images are color corrected, white balanced, and made print ready for our clients and with over 900 images per wedding that takes a considerable amount of my time as, currently, I do all of the editing.
- Do you design your own albums? We design our albums in house to ensure that each properly reflects the couple whose story is told within its pages.
- What are some of your favorite venues to photograph? I love historic buildings and unique locations and I look forward to photographing in new venues each season. I am enamored with the Westin Book Cadillac and cannot wait for the opportunity to photograph a wedding there as I’ve had a secret crush on it since the moment I heard it was being renovated.
- Do you like when couples see each other before the ceremony? When couples agree to see each other before the ceremony it opens up the timeline giving us opportunities we wouldn’t otherwise have and allows them to visit with guests during cocktail hour instead of rushing into the reception just before dinner. It’s a win-win situation for everyone, but the couple has to be committed to it. We never place pressure on our clients; it’s a decision each has to make for themselves.
- What is your favorite trend in photography? Honestly, I dislike trends. I embrace growth and change but I never want my work to look ‘trendy’. Today in wedding photography we see more of the artist shine through in his or her work and it’s incredibly empowering for all those who have chosen this path as a means to express themselves while creating beautiful and meaningful images for their clients.
- What do you do to keep yourself motivated? To keep myself motivated I look to the world for inspiration. A book, an old movie, a painting…I gain inspiration from the things in life that move me. True inspiration comes from all directions when you allow yourself to be open to it.
- What is something people would be surprised to know about you? Hmmm…what would people be surprised to know about me? Probably the fact that I left my career in accounting to follow my love of photography. A creative bean counter?? Who knew???
