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Meet Diane

Diane McKinney learned her photography skills early on in life. Her Grandfather who was a photographer inspired her through his beautiful and powerful images. He was the first man ever to shoot an image through the periscope of a submarine in WWII.

Upon deciding to choose photography as a career, she took many classes and worked under an instructor who taught at Duke University. She mentored under a photographer to get critical on the job experience. Only then did she launch her business in January of 2003. As luck would have it clients loved her work and she was able to quit her full-time job and sole focus on her business only four short months after launching her advertising. 

Since that time Diane has literally photographed hundreds of weddings and babies. Her love of her job and clients has kept her business strong and allowed her to expand into babies and families as a natural progression of her brides ever changing lives. Check out Galleries to see her work.

Experience

 
With over 15 years of experience in the photography industry, our passion for photography has only grown. As Raleigh’s premier photographer, we are known for our ability to give 110% to our client’s whether it’s capturing your first kiss as a married couple or the genuine smile of your toddler.

One of the features that sets us apart from our competition, beyond the numerous awards listed below, is our love for our clients and their families. One of our favorite parts of this dream job is being able to capture all of your family’s most precious moments and developing life long relationships with our families. On more than one occasion, we’ve been a first choice photographer for family events whether it’s a sibling’s wedding or our bride’s first newborn shoot.

We provide artistic and elegant photography with professionalism and efficiency while being sure to keep our client’s in the know. This focus on service is why we have a 5-star rating on The Knot, Wedding Wire, Facebook and Google. We have earned Best Family Photographer 3 years in a row.  We’ve also won several awards from top names and magazines in the wedding industry, both locally and nationally. Commercially we have been published for well known brand magazines such as Woman’s World, Weddings magazine and Cary Magazine.  

 

Expertise has awarded us The Best Family Photography in Raleigh, NC the last three years in a  row. They chose the top 18 photographers out of 113 photographers in the area. We were scored based on more than 25 variables across 5 categories, including reputation, credibility, experience, availability, and professionalism. We’ve also been awarded Brides Choice Award from Martha Stewart Weddings & Wedding Wire for 3+ years, 1st place in the WPS Image Competition Awards (Wedding Photographic Society) in several categories as well as been featured in the national BEST OF WEDDINGS Knot magazine on multiple occasions.  Awarded Bride’s Choice from Wedding Wire 3 years and running, and been selected as the Top Ten Wedding Vendors in the Raleigh area.

We’ve also been featured in several local magazines such as Carolina Bride, Southern Bride & Groom, and Weddings magazine. Additionally our work is regularly featured in Woman’s World Magazine and various other publications.

The Studio

1201 W. LENOIR ST. | RALEIGH, NC 27603

Welcome to our photography studio! We are located in the historic Boylen Heights just minutes from Downtown, Dorothea Dix Park and NC State. Our building is at the dead-end of W. Lenoir Street and McCullough. We are in a building with 6 other artists. Two artists are outside and the remaining including our studio are located inside. Take the ramp between the two buildings down to the door on the right at the end of the ramp. We are upstairs, the first door on the right. For directions just ask Siri for driving directions to Diane McKinney Photography. Our studio is by appointment only so please contact us for an appointment.

See you soon!