Before Brinae and Glen Smith went overseas in 2012 they made a decision that changed their lives forever.
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"We went on holidays to America and Glen wanted a camera to take some nice photos while we were over there," Brinae said.
"When we came back to Australia he actually got really annoying at first because he'd pull over on the side of the road and take photos of random stuff and it would take us so long to get anywhere."
Glen started doing photography work on weekends while working full time as a tyre fitter through the week.
"Every day I was taking photos and I decided to do something about it and start a business in 2015," he said.
"Never did I think I would own a business until I brought the camera."
The couple had no experience running a business when they founded Dubbo-based Darkeye Photography and said it was hard for them to get started.
"There were times when I left my full-time job that we struggled really hard and there were times where I thought about getting a casual or full-time job," Glen said.
"I wanted to make the business work. I just worked harder pretty much."
The business is a labour of love for the couple.
Glen says Brinae, who works full-time for another organisation, is the brains behind the Darkeye Photography, while she says he's the pivotal part that makes it work.
"He's a whizz, I'm just the mouth behind the lens," she said. "He's the one who knows how to work it. He'll set it up on auto and pass it to me and I'll make out I know what I'm doing but really it's him."
"I could wake up at four in the morning and he's still up editing then he gets up and takes the kids to school so it's just full-on."
Like many small business owners, balancing work and family life is a constant challenge.
"The hardest part would be having two children and one on the way, and making sure our family is paramount no matter what," Brinae said.
"Sometimes you get so caught up with the business side of things...we need to remember to take a day off because our kids are important.
"Everything we do is for our children but we want to make sure we're doing our kids proud and that our kids know that everything we do is for them."
The name of the business is one many people remember and it was created with a family member in mind, the couple say.
"My grandfather who passed away couldn't say my son's name, which is Daurakai," Brinae said.
"He used to call him 'dark eye' because he has really big eyes and they're really dark. The lens of the camera is called an eye so we just put them together."
Proud Aboriginal people, the couple said they hoped to grow the business and do more work behind the lens to capture elders' stories.
"We want to get to the point where we can eventually employ young Aboriginal men and women who can help with the photo booth and build up their confidence," Brinae told the Daily Liberal.
