Meet Danielle Gabrielli | Wedding Photographer

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

Hi Danielle, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I picked up a camera what feels like forever ago. Then, in college, I photographed events as a yearbook photographer. I loved getting people to giggle and capture their moments having fun. And I loved their happy and excited reactions when they saw their photos. Eventually, I started being asked to photograph proposals, engagement sessions and weddings and I fell even more in love. Deciding to turn that joy and love that I had into creating a business felt like a big step, there are so many small details that go into creating and owning a small business! But through classes and communities I’ve learned how to build a business and a brand and enhancing client experience. And that’s what I love about starting my own business – the freedom to learn and build my business into something unique and being able to change that and continue to build and evolve! Most of all, being able to pursue what I’m passionate about: helping people tell their love stories for decades to come through photos.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My whole business and workflow is centered around my clients and telling their story. Photography is so incredibly important to me on a heart level as I know that Alzheimer’s Disease is in my family history and there may be a time where someone retelling me my love story through photos may be the only way I remember it.

It’s been a whole journey and a half coming to where I am today. And there have been plenty of moments where it seemed to steep a climb to try. Overcoming those challenges of having to upgrade equipment, constant learning hurdles to learn how new software and social media algorithms work, and just the amount of time it takes daily to continue to build a business has been challenging at times. But there have been these moments thanks to incredible clients, beautiful photoshoots, and the photography community that have continued to ignite my passion for being a wedding photographer and loving on my clients. I have seen a lot of wedding professionals burn out during the pandemic and post-pandemic. And keeping my business grounded on reminding myself why I do this is what has kept me going (that and having a personal cheerleader husband who looks over my shoulder while I’m editing and tells me I’m doing incredible work doesn’t hurt either!).

I want the world to know that my brand is based around storytelling. I chose to build my brand around the concept of “capturing genuine moments of incredible love stories” because I believe every love story is beautiful and unique. And not just in a cheesy way! I take those stories of how people met and the little things that make a couple quirky to build how I capture their day. From how they met a comic book store but it took multiple years and multiple friends to finally get them together, to the little toy dinosaurs they “rescued” from different stores over the years that were on a shelf by themselves and made an appearance as wedding decor, to the fact that he loves sandals and she loves cowboy boots and they gifted each other them as their gifts on their wedding morning. You learn through this job that those small details are what make each of us human.

And those details that build their love stories are absolutely my favorite.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my best friend were visiting DFW for a week, I always find it essential to take them through the “Texas experience” at the Fort Worth Stockyards. As well as some of my favorite spots, like getting food truck food at Klyde Warren Park and tacos at one of my favorite taco spots Resident Taqueria. I would also take them to some of my other favorite iconic Dallas spots: the Dallas Arboretum, the Dallas World Aquarium and the Dallas Zoo. And thrifting at some of the great thrift stores we have in this area!

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?
I want to credit all the people who took a chance on me early on as my lovely clients, as well as some of the incredible mentors who have helped hone my skills and shape my business over the years: Abbie Beck, Rob Greene, Emilye Willis, and Kate Preston. Most importantly, I want to thank my incredible husband for always believing in me and pushing me to grow.

Website: www.dannileaphoto.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/dannileaphotography

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dannileaphotography

Other: https://www.zola.com/wedding-vendors/wedding-photographers/danni-lea-photography