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Photography By Donna Kay | Lifestyle Photography

The Quick Survey

• Name / Business Name: DonnaKay Johnson / Photography by DonnaKay
• Located in: Shelby, NC (greater Charlotte area)
• Started in: 2011
• Status: Full Time
• Types of Photography: Lifestyle: newborns, children, maternity, family...also commercial, nature and landscape
• Primary Camera / Favorite Lens: Canon 7D/50mm f/1.2; 85mm f/1.2; 70-200mm f/2.8; 24-70mm f/2.8
• Interesting Personal Fact: I'm shy and have major anxiety over being around new people or groups -- yet I've gone into a profession that has me around both, and I LOVE it!

Find out more

• Main Site: www.photographybydonnakay.com
• Blog: http://photographybydonnakay.blogspot.com & http://beyondthephotographybydk.blogspot.com
• Twitter: @photobydk
• Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/photographybydonnakay

Short Bio - Word from the Photographer

I have 3 grown kids - now in the their 20's - so I know how quickly time passes, and how important it is to have the special moments recorded. My parents gave me my first 35 mm camera when I graduated high school, and I think I must have spent every extra penny I had after that on film and developing. I have boxes and boxes of photos of my kids as babies and toddlers, and too many photo books to even count. So, I guess I've been "into" photography for quite a while. I got my first DSLR - a Canon 20D - about 7 years ago. I would subscribe to all of the photography magazines, and read every book I could get my hands on. But while my kids were still growing up I never found the "right time" to really pursue my passion for photography. Still, I was always with my camera, taking pictures all the time. Suddenly, though, it seemed my kids were grown, and I reached a real point of finally having the time to fully pursue my dreams. So despite some anxiety - I started classes to learn my camera better... and from there it just blossomed. Now I am shooting with a Canon 7D, have more lenses and equipment than I could ever use, and rarely will you catch me without my camera. I'm sure some of that could also be from my extreme love of camera purses... I think I have them all!! When I got serious about starting a photography business, I had to do it all by the rules: taxes, licensing, logo, branding...even making sure I didn't break any copyright rules with the music I play on my website!

Lifestyle would be the best way to describe my photography style. I'm not crazy about the studio-look photographs, although I do have a studio in my home with backdrops and lighting - the works. I do realize there is a need and desire for the traditional, but it's not where my heart is nudged the most. My favorite photos are always the ones of the special moments... the photos that you almost feel you need to look away from, as if you are intruding on a special moment. Those are the photos that I find in the frames in my house, and the ones that my kids always pick as their favorites of themselves and each other from growing up. I love to capture moments that show more than just a picture, but rather tell a story...The ones that evoke emotion and make you want to keep looking over and over again. My heart melts with every newborn photography shoot that I am blessed enough to do. I fall in love with every new baby! And with every photo shoot - whether it's a family, business, maternity, etc. - I feel I come away with a new friend. That's the best part of the job - meeting the people, getting to know them and hopefully capturing their moments that will last for a lifetime. It is truly a blessing to get to do what I'm doing -- and I have been blessed in return meeting so many wonderful people.