Discovery Bay couple shoots for the stars with state-of-the-art photography

By Roni Gehlke
For the Contra Costa Times

Name of business: Discovery Bay Studios Photography
Type of business: Wedding and portrait photography
Owners: Kelly and Stacey Chance
Address: Based in Discovery Bay. On-site shoot locations.
Founded: 2007
Contacts: 925-216-4454; www.discoverybaystudios.com

Hours: By appointment

Number of employees: two

Products and services: Wedding, engagement, senior portrait, bridal boudoir, "trash the wedding dress" photography and video. Albums, photo books, photo-video fusion montages are also available.

How did you get into the business: The Chances started out shooting for a local paper, also did sports photography, aviation photography and video.

"We realized as a husband and wife team we could offer unique perspectives covering weddings," Chance said. "Kelly has a modeling and acting background and relates well with people, especially nervous brides. She has an artistic eye and the ability to make people look their best in photographs."
Stacey also said Kelly is a talented designer of wedding albums.

Chance added that he is an "early adopter" of the new technologies and enjoys deploying the latest gear to best cover events.

For example, over the last year he has incorporated stunning high-definition video clips into the custom-made slide show montages.

"Clients enjoy the fusion of photos and videos in these montages, comparable to what you might see on MTV," Chance said.

Best part about the business?: "Without a doubt, seeing the faces of clients when we present their materials," Chance said. "Often tears will flow when watching their new montage or viewing their albums. If we haven't made a client feel something, we haven't done our job."

Worst part about the business?: Telling a perspective client that they are already booked for another wedding on her wedding date. "Once we have a date booked that's it. Once we had a young couple actually change their wedding date so that we could be their photographers," he said.

Key to success: "Customer relations and delivering more than is expected. It's more than just photographs; it's developing relationships," Chance said.

He said they made many new friends who are newlyweds. Being around young love reinforces their own marriage, he said.

Biggest misperception about the business: How exhausting a day of shooting can be. Often times they feel like they've been hit by a truck after a big wedding.

"We play tennis on our days off and it's not nearly as physically demanding. That was a surprise," he said.

Future plans: "Keep doing what we're doing but at the same time keep raising the bar," Chance said.
They plan to stay on the leading edge of new ways to deliver the best product.
— Roni Gehlke