Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle Porter.
Danielle, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
When I sit down to think how I started my photography business, it makes me smile thinking of the journey that photography has taken me on.
Like a lot of people’s stories my love for photography started as a kid. I remember my mom always taking photographs of my sisters and I in every small or big moment that she could capture. She then would take those photos and work for hours strategically pairing them with themed cut outs, stickers or slogans for all three of our individual photo albums.
I truly didn’t appreciate her craft then, but now when I look through these photo albums I see such creative detail, witty captions and eye catching images as she was telling a story, her story that made me feel a part of that fantastic memorable moment again.
Being around such creativity, I witnessed the joy photography brought not only to me but to everyone who looked through these magnificent storytelling photo albums. This, my friends, is what drove my passion and love for photography.
Sharing that passion with my mom, I took classes from high school to college. I was a photographer for my college paper, had the opportunity to work with a MLS photographer to shoot soccer games and also had landed an internship with one of the top wedding photography companies in Orange County.
Now you are probably thinking…WOW what a go getter? Or maybe you are envisioning the next few paragraphs I share my story as this young woman, killing it as an amazing professional photographer shooting celebrities or sport stars or even shooting for National Geographic?
Sorry, friends, not exactly. After I left school reality hit and hit hard. Toward my last year of college, I lost my little sister and was growing in debt. With the financial and family pressures, I took a very different path. I left my home and moved to Texas to start climbing the corporate ladder.
Fast forward nine years later, my love of photography was knocking on my door again. As a young adult and having my own family, naturally I wanted to take pictures of my kids to capture there moments. So I dusted off my old Canon and started taking photos again…lots of photos. I was photographing my kids, my husband and any of my friend the would let me. My creative juices were flowing and I starting blasting my images into all my social media platforms. I was capturing fun, creative images striving to capture unique images that would stand out from the saturation of social media. My unique style stood out and before I knew it I was taking photos of other families, bloggers, entrepreneurs, new moms, newborns, magazines and events.
As I was getting established I upgraded my gear (thank you to my husband for my first legit camera). I was also building my own website, building a business plan, applying for my LLC, attending professional photography courses, shooting just about every weekend, volunteering for charity events, editing at night after getting the kids down and just kept building, building and building. As I was building I was also juggling being a mom of two, a wife, working my day job and establishing my own business. Tired? Oh yes. Do I love it? Heck yes! Working toward something I am unbelievably passionate about is a blessing that I am incredibly grateful for.
Has it been a smooth road?
Building any business from nothing to something will inevitably leave some bumps along the way. For me personally, some of my biggest changes have been related to juggling my time and overcoming the learning curves associated with things I’m less familiar with like building a web sight, creating contractual agreements or learning the latest editing tools. Each challenge takes time to overcome, but provides me with an opportunity to learn and grow. And each obstacle I remove allows me to focus on what I really love… shooting!
We’d love to hear more about your business.
Danielle Marie Photography is a newborn, family and portraiture photography business. What separates me from other photographers (besides my creative and unique photography style of course) is my focus on the customers experience. I put a lot of thought into what each specific customer wants and how I can add my own personal touch to the shoot to make it truly unique and exceed even their expectations. I want my customers to enjoy shooting with me as much as I enjoy shooting them so they feel great about not only the photos they get, but also the process they went through with me to capture those photos.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Dallas is a great city to be a photographer. There’s a lot of diversity in the city that provides different options for shoots depending on what type of look you’re going for. It has some really unique architectural structures, artistic murals throughout the city and some gorgeous natural outdoor settings that allow photographers to create some super interesting backdrops for their photos. Plus it’s a city that continues to grow and thrive which provides a lot of great networking opportunities to help me grow my business.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.photographybydaniellemarie.com
- Email: danielle@photographybydaniellemarie.com
- Instagram: @photographybydaniellemarie
- Facebook: @photographybydaniellemarieporter
Image Credit:
First image of myself is by Lexie Graben Photography
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