Photography & Portraits in Chandler

Justine Miller has always done her best to preserve memories. As a young girl, she would watch the Christmas lights on neighbors' houses, blinking hard to hold onto the festive images and etch them into her mind. Today, she still does her best to capture the magic that happens in everyday life. Instead of using expensive lighting equipment or posing her subjects in elaborate scenes, she shoots outside in the natural light and encourages her clients to act naturally so she can capture their real emotions. That may explain why some of her favorite photo subjects are people at their happiest: brides on their wedding day, children at play, newborn babies, and adults lounging in extra-large diapers. Though she prefers to hold sessions outside, she does schedule studio sessions for clients upon request. After a session, she performs light editing on frames before posting them in an online gallery, which clients can peruse to select the images they’d like to print.

Gary Steiner knew he was in trouble. His social studies teacher—whom his classmates had nicknamed "the walrus"—had just caught him drawing the teacher's cartoon likeness with an exaggerated handlebar mustache and buckteeth. Instead of punishing him, however, the teacher offered him a job drawing caricatures for the Arizona State Senate. His childhood desire to sketch everything he saw had finally paid off. It was this desire that led Gary to eventually pick up a camera and fully realize what he calls "the ability to produce in print that which the eye envisions."

Over the last 15 years, Gary has done just that, toting his camera to fashion shows, weddings, and studio shoots where he immortalizes his subjects in clean, editorial-style images that have appeared in Arizona Foothills Magazine. His close-up portraits experiment with color contrast and saturation, ranging from stark, black-and-white face shots to softly colored full-length poses of women and children. His experience with boudoir and fine-art photography has allowed him to capture the beauty of the nude female form in intimate maternity shoots or in lingerie shots that incorporate candid poses and unconventional angles. Aside from having his boudoir work showcased in the Raintree/Northsight location of Fascinations, Gary's accomplishments include being able to spell daguerreotype from memory.

Mr. Duke started his self-named photography business more than 60 years ago, but that doesn’t mean his company’s services are old-timey. One of the team’s specialties is photo restoration, where ultramodern computer software helps them produce crystal-clear images from scraped, creased, or faded originals. Of course, the primary objective of the business is to help families create new memories, which they do with Duke Photography’s signature portrait sessions held at studios in Phoenix or Tempe. At the Phoenix location, photographers work both inside the studio and out, as they’ve cultivated a garden adjacent to the studio that serves a lush backdrop for shoots. The Tempe studio’s outdoor space is surrounded by crystal lakes that provide a tranquil setting to capture snapshots of families or synchronized swimmers. Sessions are open for any occasion, though the team at Duke Photography specializes in portraiture for families, businesses, weddings, high-school seniors, and sports teams.

An active Denver photographer since 1985, Bart Levy imparts hard-won wisdom to aspiring photographers in upbeat three-hour workshops. In Digital Photography 101 workshops, the seasoned shutterbug demystifies DSLR cameras, teaching pupils how to harness ISO speeds, manual settings, and flash settings to produce crisp, memorable images of lens caps. Students also learn how to compose visually striking snapshots and Levy will demonstrate the differences in digital file formats, so acolytes can upload and share pictures without setting their web browsers on fire.

Shelly Ivy's parents probably figured they were indulging a passing phase when they bought their 8-year-old daughter a blue camera with a flash bulb. As it turns out, that gift steered Shelly toward a career in photography that fully manifested when she opened Ivy Studios Photography with her husband Brandon. The duo specializes in wedding and portrait photography, and their work regularly graces Wedding Wire's Bride's Choice awards. Sharing a fondness for rock 'n' roll, they bring an enthusiastic energy to their clients' photo shoots, which commemorate occasions ranging from happy nuptials and momentous graduations to the fire walk that closes out every family reunion. When they're not focusing lenses on brides or setting up surveillance on ring bearers, the pair stages introductory and advanced photography classes that help students fluently maneuver around their digital cameras.

Wilson Camera Digital Lab & Portrait Studio opened in 1954, back when most photos were still developed on papyrus scrolls. Nowadays, digital gear fills the store’s two locations, but photographer Rudolph Henninger still brings old-school photography knowledge to his work in the shop, drawing on more than 37 years of experience behind the camera. He and his staff offer photograpy services for weddings and family portraits, teach photography classes, and work in their photo lab to digitally restore old photos.