ALBUMS & ART
We take a lot of pride and the presentation of our images, so our albums are designed with individual care rather than rushed design templates, and many of our books are made by hand. In addition, we have canvas gallery wraps (gorgeous prints on artist's canvas, wrapped around a stretched frame for hanging directly on the wall), fine art prints (giclée prints on a rag paper), and photo guestbooks with paper that reproduces images wonderfully and holds pen ink perfectly. And that's just to name a few.
Learn more about our design and delivery process here.
AUTHENTIC PHOTOGRAPHY
What does it mean for a photo to be authentic? For us, it means two things. First, it's not about being a strict photojournalist—we love to interact and have fun with you. Instead, it's about allowing that interaction to bring out your true personality. Your real smiles and laughs rather than your "camera smile." Everyone has a camera smile, and most people never know the difference between it and your real one. But the people who love you see it immediately…and we want to show them the authentic you.
But for us the concept of authenticity also extends to the development process. After the shoot, we develop our photos digitally like most professional photographers today. But we treat that process as the modern version of a darkroom—with an awareness of both the original's abilities and its limitations. That means striving for colors that are true to the original scene as well as black & white tones with classic clarity and contrast. No gimmicks. So while we're always experimenting with new techniques, we don't want to give our images a treatment that's more about style than content.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY GRANT & SARA
WEDDINGS
STEP 1, THE ENGAGEMENT. Our wedding coverage starts well before the wedding with an engagement photoshoot. The shoot is light and fun, because the point of it isn't to fit you into a template—the point is to let your own personalities lead the way. This shoot forms the foundation of our relationship with you because it helps us learn about your style, and helps you get comfortable with how we shoot. When the wedding finally does arrive, that relationship will help us blend in rather than intrude, so we can create images that are more authentic.
STEP 2, ON THE DAY OF THE WEDDING, we like to spend as much of the day with you as possible. The day does go by fast, and an important part of our job is to be your memory...to record the emotions, events, and details so that you can still remember what it felt like years later. We shoot in a generally documentary style—photographing what happens rather than "making" moments happen. But the other part of our job is to help you stay relaxed and make sure you're having a great time, because if you're having fun the photos will take care of themselves. That also means we won't stand back to be the documentarians all day long. We want to get you two alone for some time together, and the portraits we shoot during that time often turn out to be the best photos of the day. Another of our duties is to make the formal portraits for one of those few times when everyone from your family is together again. Finally, by the time you get to the reception we know it's time to let your hair down. So we fall back and let you lead the way as you dance and mingle. You might not notice us, but we're there shooting, and we're always near by if you need us.
EXACTING ATTENTION TO DETAIL.
We have a keen eye for both the details you planned and the ones that pop up unexpectedly, and we're on the watch for them all day. So after we finish shooting the rings and the decorations, we'll be keeping an eye open for flower girls running the wrong way and the father of the bride stealing glances at his little girl.
And the same eye that captured those details will be curating and refining them later. Our editing and development process is designed to make the best images from the day even better, through expert selection and color correction.
Read more about our post production process here.
Detail of canvas gallery wrap
INVESTMENT
Starting at $2500, our BASIC COLLECTION includes 8 hours of wedding day coverage by 2 photographers, and an engagement shoot on-location in the Chattanooga area. All of our other collections include that level of service, and build on it with longer hours or all-day coverage, additional shoots, albums, or other pieces of art.
To receive a complete collection list, just say hello through the contact form below!
PHOTOGRAPHY & DESIGN BY GRANT DOTSON & SARA DOTSON © COPYRIGHT 2013, DOTSON STUDIOS, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
