Happy Holidays!! (Michigan Wedding & Family Photographer)

A Honey of a Holiday Deal!!! (Michigan Wedding Photographer)

email info@theshootinggallery.com or call 248.709.5469 to reserve your date!!

My Grandmother

These are my Grandparents, Edward and Dolores. While my single mother worked 7 days a week, seemingly around the clock, to provide our two person family with life's necessities, my Grandmother cared for me. I remember watching Bill Kennedy At the Movies with her and Sir Graves Ghastly on a small black and white television (though she did her laundry and cleaning while Sir Graves graced the screen). I remember how much she loved General Hospital (though I never really caught on to that whole soap thing) and late night snacks of frozen Snickers bars and Vernors floats. MMMM....and Lorna Doone cookies - oh, how I loved their crispy, buttery goodness. I also remember our walks together. Sometimes just around the block, but often to the park, and generally to the cadence, "left, left, I left my wife and 49 kids" (the only words I can recall). I remember her stories of the Great Depression; boiling chicken bones for broth, turning in found old rubber tires for money to buy food, and drawing lines on the back of her legs because she couldn't afford seamed stockings. But most of all, I remember her undying love and her unselfish way of putting everyone else's needs above her own.

She's the one thing in my life that has remained constant. She went to church every Sunday, sent birthday cards every year then called to sing to you on the phone, and spent her days always giving of herself to those in need. She asks for so very little and deserves far more than she's received. Even now, in a battle for her own life against an extremely rare form of cancer she, somehow at peace, prays not for herself but for her family instead. I will pray - enough for both of us. And I ask that anyone reading this to please, please, please take a moment and send up a prayer for my Grandmother that, whatever be God's will, she receive all of the rewards in heaven she so rightfully earned here on earth. For if I have inherited just one tenth of this woman's love, devotion, strength, patience, sheer will, and humanity I would have received a gift far greater than anything I could ever wish for.

I love you, Grandma...

HOLIDAY PRINT SALE! (Michigan Wedding Photographer)

To take advantage of this FANTACULAR sale, simply log in to your online event and place your order. There are no codes to enter; holiday pricing appears in your active price list. CANVAS PRINTS are a special order item. Please see options and ordering instructions for those below. The print sale will run until December 31; however, to receive your items by Christmas Eve you MUST place your order by midnight EST on December 13.

///GALLERY WRAP CANVAS SALE///

16x24 $245
24x36 $325
36x48 $485
*canvas orders over $500 receive a FREE 10x15 canvas of your choice

All of our canvas prints are professionally finished with backing and bumper pads to protect your walls and includes the hardware needed to put it on display right away.

Send an email with your image file name(s), size preference(s), and any questions to: info@theshootinggallery.com and we will send an invoice with payment instructions. To guarantee delivery by Christmas, we MUST receive your order and payment in full by midnight EST on December 5. If you've had your eye on a professional canvas print, now is the time!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Thanksgiving + An Amazing Deal!! (Michigan Wedding Photographer)

To celebrate the kick-off of our beloved Holiday Season (marketing and radio may kick it starting nov 1 but I can't even get into Christmas mode until I've awakened from my Tofurkey coma), we're having an album special. WHY you ask? Because EVERY COUPLE should have an album. Oh, and I hear you out there...all you people tapping away at your keyboards making albums using boring templates on Shutterfly or those who just slide their proofs in one (or several) books from Target or Michaels. SHUSH! Those are not albums, people! Nope. Not even. Your amazing photographs deserve a phenomenal, custom designed (that means no templates), mind blowingly (so what if it's not a word) gorgeous storybook of your wedding experience. And because I'm infatuated with life and love, I'm going to give it to you. :)

In order to keep the process simple for those who become overwhelmed by choices, we're doing all of the work for you. Here's what we're offering (brace yourselves, it's pretty freaking awesome).

One 12x12 custom designed album (by yours truly)
25 spreads (50 sides)
Up to 80 images
Black linen cover
Photographic matte finish print pages (NOT press printed/paper)
$795 (including sales tax)

*8x8 parent book copies $395 or (2) for $725

Want one? Email me at dionne@theshootinggallery.com now until December 14 and I'll send you an invoice. I would be happy to select the pictures for you, but if there are certain images you are attached to simply include the file names in your email. What??? You say we didn't photograph your wedding but you want an album anyway? Sure thing! As long as you have a release form from your photographer we would be happy to help you. Additional charges may apply for image processing and retouching of photographs not captured by The Shooting Gallery - please provide a sample of images and we will send you a quote. Albums will be designed and an online preview of the layout sent to the client prior to production within 12 weeks from the date of order. Delivery of the finished album will occur within 6 weeks from date of layout approval. That's it! I told you it was cool... :)

Confessions of a Workaholic (Michigan Wedding Photographer)

It's October. OCTOBER. The 10th month of the Gregorian calendar which is frighteningly close to the 11th month when the air begins to smell very different, Bing Crosby's holiday classics hit the airwaves, and I attempt to get all of my Christmas shopping done before Christmas Eve (for once). And here it is the 22nd...someone light an aromatherapy candle and hand me a Xanax!

Yep, you guessed it. I've been busy. Busy as heck shooting weddings and sessions. Busy answering email, answering the phone...answering my husband. Busy giving kisses and hugs to my son and husband as I send them off to bed before settling down to edit and busy getting more kisses and hugs in the morning, dressed in the same clothes as the night before. Do I miss having a personal life? I sure do. And, what's more, I feel guilty for missing out on the lives of those I love. Such is the life of a workaholic and I know I am not alone.

Big changes are coming for 2010 and in an attempt to find the proper work/life balance that eludes me, I am limiting the number of wedding and portrait commissions I take on. I was surprised to learn, quite recently, that 60 per year is not the average number of weddings a professional photographer accepts. Why didn't someone tell me that years ago????? Perhaps they did and I just missed it. I tend to dance to the beat of my own drum so chances are I wouldn't have listened anyway. I know I inherited my hard head from my Mother who inherited it from my grandfather; thus the beauty of the double helix. Well, that is changing and I look forward to spending more time honing my craft, connecting with my clients on a deeper level, and, last but not least, walking thru life with those who have so lovingly supported me and patiently waited for me to make time for them. Change IS good.

All of my clients are anxious to see their images and believe me, I dance and sing each time I wrap up a wedding or session and hit the upload button (and god willing it will never make YouTube). But, it all takes time and since I can't seem to find someone to share in the wonderment that is editing, it takes alot of my time. To those who patiently await the first glimpse and to those who wait no so patiently, I appreciate your anxiety. It means that you care about your images, which is why you hired me in the first place, right? ::Wink-Wink::: I, too, care - I care allot, which is why I don't just slam thru a thousand of your precious images slapping them with basic, universal adjustments or overused and outdated photoshop actions. These are your moments; snippets of your life as seen thru my eyes and that makes them just as special to me. I may not offer the fastest turnaround but when it comes to personal attention you can rest assured that I'm delivering my promises. And I hope that in the end that kind of care and attention is worth waiting just a bit longer for.

Here is my current edit roster which consist of weddings and sessions from AUG thru OCT - if you don't see your name here please let me know. The hubby may have slipped decaf in the carafe to aid in getting some much needed R.E.M. (the sleep, not the band). :)

Walter Wedding
Boffi Wedding
Galli Engagement
Sanchez Wedding
Nickola Wedding
Fraley Wedding
King Wedding
Kelly Wedding
Kugler Wedding
Mavrellis Wedding
Leja Wedding
Fisk Engagement
Sumner Wedding
Bradley Wedding
Abdal Wedding
Long Wedding
Palin Engagement
Erhard Wedding
Caverly Wedding
Jelinski Portraits
Foust Wedding
Hanson Wedding
Kidwell Wedding
Abela Engagement
Owens Engagement
Garafalo Engagement
Alka Jain Portraits
Muench Portraits

Make that two Xanax and a bottle (read case) of organic red wine, please!!

Cindy + Rick: Vintage Inspired Wedding, Henry Ford Estate (Michigan Wedding Photographer)

07.18.09

Dress: Lea Ann Belter Bridal
Florals: Westborn Market, Dearborn
Cake: Iverson's
Video: Personal Touch Productions
Music: Mary Ann Productions
Day of Coordinator: Kate, Purple Clover Events
DIY: Invitations, favor boxes, just married signs, flower girl baskets, etc.

Gorgeous dress, shoes, and details. Cindy didn't overlook a single thing!




The cameo on her bouquet was the piéce de résistance!










Look at that smile. That's a man in love...
























Cindy's parents are a riot! I can only imagine how much fun their family get togethers are.
I would bet the police have been called at least once. :P


Sometimes even the groom needs to be reminded to turn off his cell phone. :)

Lauren + Andrew: Bloomfield Hills Wedding (Michigan Wedding Photographer)

07.11.09

Ceremony: Kirk in the Hills, Bloomfield Hills
Reception: Oakland Hills Country Club, Bloomfield Hills
Event Planner and Florals: A Moment in Time, Ann Arbor
Invitations + Paper Products: Gourmet Invitations