Dustin Cantrell Photography

Dustin Cantrell Photography Destination Wedding Photographer Dustin is a California native with a vagabond spirit that’s taken him on adventures around the globe.

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words - but few images carry the kind of weight that can be felt in those created by Dustin Cantrell. Artfully balancing light, shadows, color and darkness, Dustin’s images are intimate and dramatic, evoking the kind of emotion that can only be expressed by a couple in love. His travels have helped inspire, influence and evolve his technique and distinctive s

tyle. Dustin shoots weddings across California and would love to travel to your dream destination to document your most treasured day.

06/26/2026

Me on Saturday: Grocery shopping

Bernhard Hengl on Saturday: Solo swimming 66km across Lago Maggiore.

We are OBVIOUSLY not the same.

But what makes his story different from every other "I did a crazy hard thing" story:

18 months before swimming Lake Constance, his longest open water swim was 2.5 km.

- Cancer survivor
- Full-time manager
- Father of five

He didn't train 100km a week like the pros.

He trained one hour a day, mostly before 8am.

What actually changed everything wasn't the training. It was a goal he set while lying in bed during chemo, curtains closed on a hot April day, too sick to move.

Win his 10th water polo title.

Doctors thought he was crazy. He thought it was the only logical thing to do.

Here's what he figured out:

→ The goal has to come from you.

→ Give the treatments to the doctors. Give your mind something else entirely.

→ The night you're most afraid of becomes the most meditative thing you've ever done.

→ Identity crisis after survival is real. Finding yourself again changes everything.

He won the title 18 months later.

His rule: "If you have a strong enough why, the hard thing becomes a by product."

Full pod out now - https://lnkd.in/eyBX7HgQ

06/21/2026

Happy Father’s Day!

06/20/2026

Why?

This photo makes me smile. That's Joel. And that's Meadow (my mom's dog). If you've never had to navigate a parent's ter...
06/18/2026

This photo makes me smile. That's Joel. And that's Meadow (my mom's dog).

If you've never had to navigate a parent's terminal diagnosis, I hope you never have to.

Learning what hospice actually means. Trying to wrap your head around it while still holding it together for your mom. Making sure all the final pieces of her life are handled with care.

The pills.
The calls.
The paperwork.
The decisions you never thought you'd be making.

And somewhere in the middle of all that, figuring out what to do with my mom's dog Meadow.

Meadow is a big dog. Sweet as they come but big, sheds like crazy, and rehoming a dog like that isn't easy. I was really stressed about it. My mom loved that dog and I wanted to make sure Meadow ended up somewhere she was truly loved.

Joel flew up to say his goodbyes to my mom.

Somewhere during the visit, he casually said:
"I'll take Meadow if you want. She's such a sweet dog."

I told him he was crazy. He already has a house full of dogs. But his answer was simple. Meadow would be his dog.

After a 17 hour road trip, Meadow made it to her forever home.

I can't fully explain what it meant to my mom to know Meadow was taken care of. That she was going somewhere she'd be loved. It gave her peace at the end of her life and that means everything to me.

Joel Sanders would never ask me to post something like this about him. That's exactly why I'm doing it.

Because hard times show you who really loves you. Not who says they do. Who actually shows up.

Love you brother.

06/17/2026

When was your moment?

06/16/2026

"Why would I spend thousands on a slideshow?" I recently heard this from a potential client. Here's my honest answer:

You wouldn't. And you shouldn't.

But that's not what we make.

We make the story where your mom gets out of the hospital, grandma panic buys the entire KFC menu, and somehow that becomes the funniest thing your family has ever watched.

Our most recent client watched his daughter's high school graduation film and said, "dude I cried multiple times."

That's not a slideshow. That's something else entirely.

We take your family's actual stories — the chaotic ones, the ones with too much fried chicken — and make them land the way they deserve to.

So they last.
So they get passed down.
So your kids' kids know exactly how much KFC grandma bought that day.

You don't have to do anything except tell us your stories.

We handle the rest.

The families we work with don't think about it as spending money on a video.
They think about it as the moment the room went still. The message they got the next morning. The thing their dad said when he saw himself young again.

That's what's on the other side of this.

And on the other side of not doing it?

The stories stay in someone's head. The people who hold them get older.
One day nobody remembers how many buckets of fried chicken it actually was.

We make life story films. Not slideshows.

If you've got someone worth celebrating, send me a message. Tell me about them. Seriously, I'd love to hear about them.

06/15/2026

Your baby is walking across the high school graduation stage.

The one who made varsity. Pulled off grades you still don't know how. Who somehow became this whole entire person while you were just trying to keep up.

You're clapping. Crying. Fumbling the phone.

And then it hits you all at once —

The drive home from the hospital. A car that had absolutely no business transporting a newborn. Two brand new parents exchanging a look that said how are they letting us leave with this baby?

That was day one.

We make the film that connects that moment to this one.

Every story they don't even know about themselves yet. The ones that will make them laugh, make them cry, and quietly break their heart knowing they'll never be that small again.

If you have a milestone coming up and want it to actually mean something.

DM ME

We'll make a film your family never saw coming and will never stop watching.

I fondly remember when I was left home alone as a child and no one would be home for hours. I would immediately run to t...
06/09/2026

I fondly remember when I was left home alone as a child and no one would be home for hours. I would immediately run to the CD player cabinet. Turn the volume to 9 (just to be safe) and insert this CD:

Queen Greatest Hits I

Pressing play on track 1 and hearing We Will Rock You for the 101st time alone in that living room took me to a place I don't think I will ever feel again as an adult.

I have never shared this with anyone.

And these are exactly the type of stories I'm trying to capture through video for the next generation.

You have them too.
The moments that shaped you.
The ones you've never said out loud.

What's the album that makes you feel the same way?

06/09/2026

My hottest business tip of 2026:

Post a text-only update and call it "content."

Congrats. You now have 234 reach and zero new clients :)

If you REALLY wanna build trust and authority on Facebook using video, do this:

Show up for 1 hour. Talk about what you actually know. Let me handle everything else.

Walk away with a long-form video AND weeks of short-form content ready to post.

No excuses about time. No excuses about not knowing what to say.

Video as your sales rep, your proof of credibility, your authority builder. That's it.

(warning though: if you've never done anything worth talking about, an hour with me won't save you. You need a real story before video can do its job.)

Have something real to say first. Then it's actually powerful.

Anthon Sonnenberg, PhD gave me 33 minutes.

No prep. No guided prompts. No structured storytelling.

We still walked away with a full podcast episode AND weeks of authority-building content.

Imagine what's possible when I prompt you like a ghostwriter for a full hour — pulling out the stories, lessons and moments your audience needs to hear.

Most people are sitting on a goldmine and posting memes instead.

👇 See what 33 unscripted minutes produced.
https://youtu.be/1QgOzv26-6I

Want me to create yours? Send me a message.

Address

670 Bailhache Ave
Healdsburg, CA
95448-8307

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Dustin Cantrell Photography posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Dustin Cantrell Photography:

Shortcuts

Share

Category