Wedding & Portrait Photographer | PPCF Board Member
For Professional Photographers of Central Florida, growth isn’t just about improving our images. It’s about building sustainable businesses, learning from one another, and staying committed to the craft for the long run. Board member Daniella Koontz of Koontz Photography represents that mindset through nearly two decades of steady growth, adaptability, and a strong focus on systems, community, and client experience.
Based in Central Florida, Daniella specializes in weddings, portraits, and small business branding. Her approach combines thoughtful preparation, clear communication, and intentional business decisions. Rather than chasing volume or rapid expansion, she has built her career around sustainability, consistency, and long-term relationships.
Her work is especially meaningful for couples and families who don’t always see themselves reflected in traditional photography. Daniella focuses on creating a welcoming environment where offbeat, alternative, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, and differently-abled clients feel comfortable showing up fully as themselves.
Growing With the Industry
Photography has been part of Daniella’s life for as long as she can remember. From an early age, she was known as “the girl with the camera,” always photographing friends and arriving at school with stacks of printed photos to share. Her enthusiasm led staff to invite her into the yearbook program her sophomore year, even though the elective was only available to juniors and seniors, so that she could photograph events and learn how to design the layouts.
She officially launched Koontz Photography in 2006. Like many new photographers, however, building a client base from scratch proved challenging. To gain experience and consistent opportunities behind the camera, she spent several years working for established studios.
She worked in a high-volume portrait studio in DeLand, focusing on senior and family sessions, where the fast-paced environment strengthened her confidence and efficiency. She later joined a wedding company as an in-house editor and photographer, gaining hands-on experience with workflow, post-production, and the pace and logistics of professional wedding coverage.
These roles shaped her understanding of client experience, organization, and the systems needed to run a successful photography business.
Preparation Creates Presence
One of the defining strengths of Daniella’s business is her structured workflow. From the first inquiry, clients receive detailed information, planning guidance, and a streamlined booking process that allows them to move forward without unnecessary back-and-forth.
Early phone consultations help establish trust and open communication. Daniella encourages clients to ask anything that comes to mind because her philosophy is simple: there are no stupid questions. The more informed and comfortable a client feels, the smoother the experience will be.
Engagement sessions give couples the opportunity to become familiar with her prompts and communication style before the wedding day. Leading up to the event, she gathers detailed information, coordinates with planners, builds a master timeline, and schedules a week-of call to review the plan and ease any last-minute nerves.
Her planning process is designed to remove uncertainty and create emotional safety. Clients are encouraged to share concerns, request accommodations, or talk through anxieties ahead of time. Whether someone feels camera-shy, sensory-sensitive, mobility-limited, or simply overwhelmed, the goal is to create a plan that allows them to be fully present.
That level of preparation allows the wedding day to feel calm and organized rather than rushed or reactive. Clients often mention her steady presence, her ability to keep the timeline moving without pressure, and how supported they feel throughout the day.
Built on Fundamentals and Sustainability
Rather than focusing on rapid growth, Daniella has built her business around consistency and long-term sustainability. Continued education, image review, and involvement in professional communities have helped her refine her work while staying grounded in the craft.
After nearly two decades in the industry, she operates intentionally as a one-person business. Instead of increasing volume or outsourcing creative decisions, she limits the number of clients she accepts so she can maintain the personal experience and hands-on editing her brand is known for.
Her goal is to build lifelong relationships, supporting clients from weddings through the many chapters that follow. As families grow, children become familiar with her and begin to look forward to their sessions instead of feeling nervous or intimidated.
To balance sustainability with time behind the camera, Daniella also photographs weddings under other companies’ brands as a subcontracted photographer. In those roles, the studio handles contracts, post-production, and delivery, allowing her to focus entirely on the photography itself.
For Daniella, success isn’t about doing more. It’s about protecting quality, relationships, and longevity.
Resilience and Perspective
Like many long careers, Daniella’s path has included difficult seasons. After a car accident left her vehicle totaled, she lost critical work time and income. During that same period, a predatory lending situation led to the loss of her home, and much of her equipment and belongings were later stolen.
For a time, she showed up to jobs using borrowed or rented gear, rebuilding her business piece by piece.
Instead of stepping away, she focused on the next job and the next step forward. That experience reshaped how she approaches her business, reinforcing the importance of stability, resourcefulness, and community support. Those lessons continue to influence the sustainability-focused decisions she makes today.
Leading With Clarity
Another major shift in her business came from recognizing that more options do not always create a better client experience. Early in her career, she offered extensive choices and large galleries, believing more meant better service. In reality, it often created decision fatigue for clients and additional pressure behind the scenes.
Today, her approach is more curated and guided. By simplifying choices and stepping confidently into the role of the expert, she delivers stronger work while reducing overwhelm for both the client and herself.
Community, Growth, and Giving Back
One of the most important lessons Daniella shares with newer photographers is to find your community sooner than you think you need it and to focus on challenging yourself rather than comparing your work to others.
For years, she tried to grow on her own, viewing other photographers as competition. That perspective began to change when she joined the Professional Photographers of Greater Daytona Beach (PPGDB) in 2018. What started as a step outside her comfort zone quickly became a turning point. She became increasingly involved, serving on the board as Social Media Chair and later being nominated for president before the guild ultimately closed during the pandemic.
Through that experience, she discovered the value of mentorship, honest critique, referrals, and the kind of support that accelerates growth far beyond what most photographers can achieve alone.
She carried that mindset forward into Professional Photographers of Central Florida, as well as the Florida Professional Photographers, where she now serves on both boards. One of her favorite parts of the PPCF is their quarterly image reviews. This has helped her develop a more objective eye and make more intentional, creative, and technical decisions.
For Daniella, the real competition isn’t other photographers. It’s the photographer she was yesterday. That mindset drives her long-term goals of earning the Certified Professional Photographer credential and her Master of Wedding Photography degree through PPA. While those milestones feel challenging now, pursuing them reflects her commitment to continued growth and higher standards. With the support and “positive peer pressure” of the PPCF and Florida Professional Photographers, she is confident she will reach them.
That commitment to growth is also reflected in her professional involvement and recognition. Daniella is accredited through Hearts & Lens and is a trusted vendor with Offbeat Wed and the Rainbow Wedding Network, which reflects her commitment to inclusive, affirming service for all couples and families.
Beyond the professional community, giving back locally is an important part of her work. Each year, she donates her time and services to organizations that have personal meaning to her. She volunteers with the Neighborhood Center of West Volusia, which provided her family support during a difficult season in their life. She has also donated photography services or gift certificates to organizations and events such as the Spooky Empire Film Festival through And You Films, Wig Out for Cancer, Foundations to Freedom, Wish Upon a Wedding, as well as organizations supporting adoption and recycled fashion.
For Daniella, community extends beyond professional growth. It’s about using her skills to support the people and organizations that make a positive impact in her community.
Looking Ahead
Outside of client work, Daniella recharges creatively through personal art, museum visits, music, and time in nature, often finding inspiration in small details and quiet moments.
Her goal for every client remains the same: years from now, when they look at their images, she wants them to feel the moment, not just see it.
Because in the end, the most rewarding part of the work isn’t the photograph itself. It’s knowing the images become part of someone’s history.
