Diona

DIONA

LEAD PHOTOGRAPHER, AUTHOR & OWNER

→ Wife to Chris and mom to a wild little 6 year old boy.
→ She fell in love with photography when she was 5 y/o
→ She is a Christ Follower; she survives on prayer & coffee.
→ Traveling is in her blood – she has a gypsy soul.
→ Her longest ongoing relationship is with books.
→ Southern-born & raised with some west coast living.

IT’S NICE TO MEET YOU,
I’M DIONA RENEÉ

I began capturing images on film when I was still in Elementary school. My first camera was a blue 80s Le Clic 110. Throughout school, I was that kid that always carried around a camera. I got it honest, my mom never went anywhere without her camera, so in a huge way she’s the reason I developed a love of imagery. I still can’t believe that my parents paid for all of that film to be developed for so many years! I took some very random photos back then!

Nowadays when I pick up my camera, I strive to create emotional images that tell a story and showcase the beauty of both the people in the images and the world around them. I believe in real moments and the kind of images that remind you of the joy of those simple moments. Finding a photographer is more than just hiring someone that holds a camera and snaps pictures. Photography is about carefully crafting and capturing those special moments in time. The ups and even downs in your life; your story, are all intertwined and beautiful. They make you who you are and I would love to help you capture them!

The Personal Blog

Our love story is simple, sweet and a total whirlwind. It happened pretty quickly.

I was 27 and had just gone through a divorce. I made an OkCupid account then decided to delete it because it just wasn’t what I was looking for or so I thought…. the very day I was deleting my account I saw that there was a message in my inbox. I went to check out the profile and saw a guy and his dog hiking. I’m nosey so I wanted to see what he wrote before I got rid of the account. I think I may have said something about friendship and then I asked about his dog.

His dog, Frankie, was actually sick and we bonded over all of our furbabies. Almost two weeks, after chatting online and on skype a band we both liked was going to be playing a few hours north of me (four hours north of him). I half-heartedly invited him, thinking he would probably end up with my friend, Kate. He drove the whole four hours during a heatwave with no a/c, and we met for the first time. No more than 36 hours later he asked me to be his girl. Less than two months after our first “real life” meeting, we got married. Six months later we had our official ceremony.

I cannot have children, but that didn’t stop us from having the family we dreamed of. On the morning of April 25, 2014, at 9:58 our son, Gregory, took his first breath outside of the womb. For 13 years I had struggled with infertility and I was ecstatic – this little 7lb, 5oz, dark-haired angel was the answer to all of my prayers. I was terrified because his birth mother still had three days to change her mind if she wanted to, I knew I would be crushed (possibly beyond repair) if that ended up happening. Lastly, I was heartbroken for his birth mother. If she didn’t change her mind she was giving up the most precious little human I had ever laid eyes on. I couldn’t even imagine that kind of pain.

My Dearest Gregory,

You are more than I ever imagined. I know that I’ve never done anything in my life to deserve YOU, just as I’ve done nothing to deserve God’s ultimate sacrifice and forgiveness. I will be thankful my entire life for YOU, our miracle. You are smart – the smartest little boy I know. You are kind and compassionate – even to the point of bringing me your medicine to fix me when I’m sick. You are loving and caring – you pat your friend’s backs at school to help them take their naps. You are stubborn – you know what you want and you don’t let anything hold you back. You are handsome – the most beautiful little boy I’ve seen in my entire life. You have such an amazingly sarcastic sense of humor – a perfect mix between mommie and daddy. YOU are my heart. I would walk through fire for you. The day you were born was the day that I began to fully live. I am so proud of the little boy that you have become and so excited to see the bigger boy you will grow into. I will never be able to express to you just how much my love for you is! I love you as much as the sky and more. I love you to the moon and back x infinity!!

All my love,

Mommie

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