Dotson Studios bio picture

Welcome!

We are Grant & Sara Dotson. As a husband and wife team, we bring a unique perspective to photography, one influenced by life experiences as well as comprehensive art and design training. Our cameras are an extension of not only our eyes, but our minds and hearts, instantly capturing moments and emotions just as they occur. We enjoy getting to know our clients on a personal level and helping them feel that they're a part of a partnership. Every client is different, and our photographs seek to reflect each individual personality for truly unforgettable memories.

 

Photo of Grant: Courtesy of Jamie Weiss. Thanks Jamie!

 


Giselle & Kevin’s Wedding

Photographing Giselle and Kevin’s wedding was pure pleasure. They were so happy and relaxed, and their First Look was for the books! So sweet and beautiful. Plus who doesn’t love a reception in an airplane hanger…and a plane flight getaway! I loved every detail!

Congratulations to Giselle and Kevin…thank you so much for asking us to be a part of your day.

Enjoy, Giselle and Kevin.

How did you decide on your dress?
I went shopping with my mom, my sister, and my brother Anthony. When I tried this dress on, I couldn’t stop twirling around in it and swishing about the Wedding Boutique in it. It was so light, airy, comfortable and just gorgeous. I felt like it embodied my personality of classy and fun loving. It was probably the second dress I tried on and I just knew it was made for me. :)

What was the most memorable moment about your wedding day?
Giselle: There is no doubt on this question, my favorite moment was my “First Look/Special Moment” with Kevin. It was just me and him in the sanctuary. He had been standing and looking at the stained glass, facing away from the door. My wedding coordinator led me in, set up my dress and veil, turned on our favorite song, (The book of Love – Peter Gabriel) told kevin to count to ten and turn around. He did what he was told and when he turned around, so many emotions washed over me as I saw him standing there, waiting for me, waiting to become my husband and being so incredibly excited about it. Words cannot describe what that moment meant to me as we just shared all the joy together. It will be something that will be etched in my mind forever. I had been so nervous that morning, but when I saw him standing there, all those feelings just faded away. (And I was super excited for him to see my dress, hair, veil and shoes, since I had kept it all a secret from him.) :)

Kevin: I think Giselle will say that her favorite moment was when we saw each other in the church for the first time before the actual wedding while our song was playing. While I have to say that was my favorite moment as well, to add another one, my other favorite moment was watching walk down the isle with her dad.

What did you enjoy most about planning your wedding?
Giselle: It was difficult for me to plan the wedding, though one of the best parts was getting to hang out with my mom a whole lot :) Sometimes the details were overwhelming, but the most fun part was being able to remind myself that at the end of the day, I would be married to Kevin. That made all the hard work and preparation pale in comparison to the real reason for the day.

Kevin: While I enjoyed planning the wedding from choosing tuxes for me and my boys, researching venues, visiting venue sites, searching for photographers, to selecting items for our registry (all while getting to spend time with Giselle), planning the honeymoon was special for me. I wanted a place we could truly relax, where stress did not exist and we could just enjoy starting life together. I was getting to plan a trip at one of the most meaningful times in our lives. In the end we went to Maui and enjoyed a room right on the beach, the warm calm beaches, snorkeling, mount drives to Haleakala, coastline drives to Hana, para-sailing, zip lining, boating and sunset walks on the beach. It was a dream the whole week and we didn’t want to leave when it was over.

What is your ring like?
My ring is a eternity band that is a circle of diamonds. I wanted something that did not stick out far from my finger and would be fluid with my active lifestyle. It is so sparkly and classy. It is perfect, he did such an amazing job. The story behind this is that I was quite vague as to what I wanted, just not giving much information. So Kevin did some looking on his own and sent my friend a picture of the ring he found. My friend somehow convinced me to look online at various rings and I ended up picking one that I just thought was wonderful, it was my favorite. When I sent it to her, it actually happened to be the exact one that Kevin had picked out for me. So it was meant to be :)

What was your favorite detail of the wedding?
Giselle: Well there are just a few awesome details that I loved….When Kevin surprised me, by singing me a song. I thought I was going to fall over from all the emotion, but it was such a sweet and surprising gesture. I know he was as nervous as I, but managed to do an amazing job….Also, my brothers officiated the wedding and told our story in such a loving way and weaved it into the homily. It was such a fun and personal service….And then my last favorite detail was flying away with Kevin on the plane, it was magical.

Kevin: I thought it was absolutely amazing that Giselle’s dad was able to fly us away in his plane and then to see all our family and friends wave us off as we made a pass by the house.

What are three words you would use to describe your day?
Giselle: Surreal, Ethereal, Unforgettable

Kevin: Best day ever!

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future?
We will be living in southern California for the next couple of years as Kevin finishes his medical residency and I finish anesthesia school. After that…God only knows. :)

Anna & Justin’s Wedding

Anna and Justin are such a sweet couple!! They are friends with some of our former clients and we were so excited when they contacted us about their wedding.

Grant had the privilege to photograph their wedding and everything came together perfectly. All of the details were beautiful and Anna was a stunning bride…with a very happy groom. :)

A huge congrats to the happy couple, thank you so much for asking us to be a part of your wedding…it was gorgeous!

Enjoy, Anna and Justin.

How did you decide on your dress?
It’s kind of funny that I ended up with this dress because when I went shopping I had something very different in mind. I thought that I wanted a flowing, romantic chiffon dress. I tried a few of them on and really liked them, but THEN I tried on this dress. And I knew instantly it was THE dress. It is exactly what I always pictured myself wearing in my childhood dreams of my future wedding, and I couldn’t have been happier with it. :)

What did you enjoy most about planning your wedding?
I’m a thrifty person by nature, so I really enjoyed researching costs, coupons, and special deals in order to get the most out of my budget. There were a few times when I went into A.C. Moore with my mom and sisters, armed with 4 or 5 50% off coupons, and got a bunch of necessities at a really great price. So, crazy as it may sound, that was one of my favorite things about planning my wedding – planning how I could get things at ridiculously low prices! :)

What was the most memorable moment about your wedding day?
I think the most memorable moment for me would have to be right after our pastor announced us as the newlywed Mr. and Mrs. Justin Hipp. It was the happiest moment of my life!

What are three words you would use to describe your day?
Beautiful. Surreal. Joyful.

What was your favorite detail of the wedding?
Gosh, I’m not sure that I could pick ONE favorite detail. There were so many special ones! My mom made my veil, so that was super special…we used one of my Nana’s (grandma) recipes for one of the appetizers at the reception, all of my family was involved with my wedding in some way, and we were oh-so-thrilled with the ceremony and the music! It was a day that we will remember forever.

What’s next for you as a couple? What are you looking forward to in the future?
Well, I (Anna) have one semester left in my undergraduate degree at Bryan College in Dayton. We are living in Dayton until then while Justin works. After I graduate, we will probably move to Chattanooga for a while until we find more suitable long-term jobs. Those could potentially lead us anywhere, so we’re excited to see what happens next!

Emily & Dan’s Engagement

We are so excited about working with Emily and Dan! We met this couple at a bridal show and Dan is a commercial photographer. Him and Grant enjoyed chatting about all things technical and we are excited about shooting at the Tennessee River Place. Grant met up with them at the battlefield for their engagement pictures and was excited about their connection and how fun they are to be around!

We hope you enjoy their pictures…their wedding is tomorrow and I can’t wait! The weather is going to be perfect and I know everything is going to be beautiful.

Congrats Emily and Dan…you guys are perfect for each other!

How did you meet?
We met online. He asked me out even though I told him I didn’t like camping. On our first date, I accidentally walked in the back door of the restaurant so I surprised him by coming up behind him while he was trying to look cool and casual. I knew he was special when he ordered nutella crepes for dessert. Pretty much my favorite thing ever- his too!

Anything special you’d like to share about dating?
We have fun even doing the most mundane things.

Describe your proposal.
Dan pretended to take a family photo and when he went around to fix hair and adjust clothes and positions he pulled me away and got down on one knee and proposed. I was totally surprised.

What is your ring like?
It’s a round cut in a square setting surrounded by little diamonds with more little diamonds all around the band.

How would you describe the way you feel about each other?
We love each other of course, but the best part of our relationship is that we are constantly cracking each other up.

Do you have any special plans for your wedding that you’d like to share?
We’re riding off on a waverunner!  Also, Dan got a six tier cookie cake for his grooms cake, and we’re having nutella icing for our regular cake.

Kacy & Ryan’s Engagement

We really enjoy meeting new couples, each one has a different chemistry, a different story, but they all are so in love. It’s one of the wonderful perks of our job…being around people so happy in love. So when Grant met up with Kacy and Ryan for their engagement shoot, this was one of the things he talked about afterward. We love being around our couples and witnessing their love.

Kacy and Ryan are a couple you love to be around. They are confident in each other, and their love. They were all smiles and relaxed together. Grant really enjoyed their engagement shoot, and I can’t wait to post their beautiful wedding….

We hope you enjoy, Kacy and Ryan.

How did you meet?
Ryan and I met through mutual friends who set us up on a blind date! We talked and talked for hours and both of us instantly knew our connection was something different than we had ever experienced before. Each of our first and last blind date turned out a success!

Anything special you’d like to share about dating?
Knowing from early on in the relationship we would get married, we dated for one year before getting engaged. That year consisted of getting to know each other better, each others families, working on building our careers for the future, and a lot of FUN!

Describe your proposal.
From day one Ryan and I have had a set date night that just the two of us go out to dinner and spend quality time together. On this particular Wednesday in January, Ryan did not eat much at dinner and was in a hurry to get home to watch American Idol. Anyone that knows Ryan knows this is out of character for him not to eat and to WANT to watch American Idol! Reality television, one of my guilty pleasures….not his!  So we finished dinner and headed to his place. Once we got there he grabbed a card and pulled it out of the envelope to give to me saying it was a belated anniversary card for our one year that we had celebrated the weekend before. Not thinking much about it, besides the fact that he had taken the card out of the envelope, I set the card on the table and went about my business. About 15 minutes later I got settled in to watching Idol and decided to “open” the card. In it was the sweetest message about his feelings for me, the past year of our relationship, and our future together. At the end of the card he asked me to marry him and when I looked up with tears in my eyes, he was on one knee with the ring! Of course I said YES! He also had roses he had hidden in the laundry room so I wouldn’t find them.

What is your ring like?
My ring is a beautiful three stone Tacori setting with an emerald cut center stone. It is an absolutely amazing ring and I couldn’t be happier with Ryan’s selection!


How would you describe the way you feel about each other?
Couldn’t imagine spending the rest of our lives without each other! As cliché as it sounds we are best friends who; confide in each other, support and encourage each other, respect each other, have fun together, and love each other unconditionally. We are a team!

Do you have any special plans for your wedding that you’d like to share?
Our wedding is going to be celebrated with our families and close friends. We want the day to be fun for everyone!