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Beyond The Lens Photography bio picture

Visual Artist Unleashed

I am a mother, a wife, a friend, and a photographer.  Photography is the part of my life that has brought me here:

Welcome to my blog.  Here you can find my most recent work along with other tidbits from life's adventures.  I have had a camera in my hand since my first son was born 12 years ago.  Since then, what was a hobby, has flourished into an obsession and a career.  I find my passion for photography grows everyday.  Whether it is something new to learn, a new friend to make, or a new place to explore.  Photography challenges me, and allows me a creative outlet all at the same time.  So I welcome you to look around and get to know me a bit, feedback and conversation are always appreciated.  And check back often for new posts and stories!!!

 

 

 

Photo courtesy of Raw Photo Design 

Monthly Archives: October 2009

Val and Sidney;Wedding in Danbury, Connecticut

 This past Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing Val and Sid’s wedding day.  These two have a very special place in my heart.  I feel very close to all of my clients in one way or another, but these two have hearts purely made of gold…I mean, like solid all the way through!   They would give you the shirt off of their backs in a snow storm and not ask a question about what happened to yours…GOLD! 

 

 A shot of the dress from underneath…

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 One of the Val and Sid’s nieces.

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 The flowers…

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 In true “Rock Star Bride” style, Val had to have two pairs of shoes.  A traditional pair for the ceremony, and your not so typical…straight up sexy, for the reception.  Can you guess which is which??

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 One thing I loved about the whole day was the getting ready time.  Normally I am all over the bride and taking pictures of every little movement she makes.  BUT being able to be intuitive to your clients, and “roll with it” is something that you learn over time.  In this case, I quickly learned that this wedding day wasn’t just about Val and Sid, but the uniting of two incredible families.  So my coverage soon moved from the norm of “Bride and Groom” to “The whole GINORMOUS family”.  Here is Val’s mom dressing little Noah (Val’s nephew and also the ring bearer).

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 Val’s necklace and ear rings

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 Val’s Brother In-Law and Sister escorting her into the church.  Ohhh..and it poured :)

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 Noah again, after the ceremony, watching it pour outside.

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The reception was at The Portuguese Cultural Center in Danbury, and it had the biggest dance floor I have ever seen.  It resembled a stadium.

Here are some details….

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 There was dancing….

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 And portraits…..

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 And more dancing……

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 And more portraits……

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 Some seriously sexy dancing…..

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 And a huge family portrait!!!!!

This is Val’s family…..and getting these guys all together at 11PM was quite the story…but it was done!!!!

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Some more dancing……

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And some portraits…..

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 and of course the night ended with a ring shot!!!

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Ohhhh and I almost forgot……

 

 

 

 

Something scandalous…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are under the age of 25

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close your eyes now!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come’on doesn’t this guy look like Jay Z?… :)

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A big Thank You to Melissa Kosswig for team shooting this one with me.  She is a trooper :)

Val and Sid,

Getting to know both of your families and ALL of your friends was amazing!  I can’t think of a better way to of spent a Saturday night.  Your day was filled with a million moments, all heart felt and passionate, but I already knew that you both are full of heart.  What I didn’t know was…ya’ll can party!!!!!

 

Thank you all again!!!

November 12, 2009 - 3:05 am eric langlois - Yay Val - congrats!! Danielle, these reception shots are absolutely ridiculous - totally amazing work on these!!

November 11, 2009 - 11:52 pm Robert J. Trenske - Such a great wedding Danielle! I really dig those shots in the rain, great work!!

November 11, 2009 - 11:09 pm Kathleen Trenske - Way to rock the rain!! I love the shots with the umbrella and the one from outside the reception hall. Great job!

November 10, 2009 - 12:12 am Eric Foley - Very funny post D! I can hear you laughing as I'm looking at these. Great job on all the different lighting situations.

November 9, 2009 - 1:39 pm Brianna Phelan - The shot of them through the window is the rain is amazing! It looks straight out of the magazine! :)

November 7, 2009 - 3:54 pm Erik Maziarz - way to rock the umbrella shots!

November 5, 2009 - 4:04 pm Aurora - What a great job I totally LOVE the reception shots great lght Danielle =) what a trooper ou are going out into the gross gross rain for the window shot!!

November 5, 2009 - 2:05 pm auntie - OMG what a gorgeous baby!!

November 4, 2009 - 2:48 pm Cynthia - Love the rich colors and the umbrella black and white shots! Fun couple!

November 3, 2009 - 2:25 pm Joe Fuller - Great pics babe, Looks like you didn't let the rain bother you all much at all. There truly are too many to list as favorites. Okay, your umbrella and the shoe shots are pretty awesome, but you knew that already. Great lighting for sure. Val and Sydney, congratulations and sorry I couldn't make it.

October 30, 2009 - 1:42 pm pammy - Awesome job Danielle! You make me want to get married all over again :D

October 30, 2009 - 1:19 pm Valerie Nazario - Ok, it's official, I love you! I knew it before, but now it's completely official. I love a little scandal... LOL Great job! I can't wait to see the final product.

Colette and Keith; Wedding in Hartford, Connecticut

 So this one time, I got to 2nd shoot a wedding for this really cool photographer named Tania Sones.  As if things couldn’t get any more fun (we quickly realized we WERE in fact the dynamic duo….not the original, but pretty damn close) the portraits were at City Hall in Hartford….AND….the reception was at none other than The Society Room.  Are you kidding me?????  Needless to say it was a blast…..so without further a-du….Please meet Colette and Keith.  The morning started out at Colette’s families’ home where Tania and I began to get to it!

 The dress…in all it’s amazingness!

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 LOVE LOVE LOVE the flowers.

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 Here Colette is stepping into her dress

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 You will probably notice through most of this post that Colette has this infectious smile.  Her eyes light up and this huge grin just takes over.  I love how excited she was about all of the details during her and Keith’s wedding day.

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 This is my favorite shot that I took during the ceremony.  I think this moment is so important when a couple is taking part in whatever religious ceremony their faith requires. This moment never really happens at the same time with each wedding I cover, but you can tell it’s that moment when nothing else matters.  No one else is in the room right now but Colette, Keith, their priest, and their God!

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Here is the limo driver popping the cork for their champagne toast!

IMG_0629 I love being a 2nd shooter for moments just like these next few shots.  (For my current brides and all future brides…there is much to be said about being primary shooter too…so no worries ;) ) BUT…while Tania is doing all of the formal shots, I get to see the moments that are sometimes missed and lost…

So these next few shots are reasons to have a 2nd shooter…..

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 Here are 2 of my favorites from the rest of the portraits we did with Colette and Keith. I could of shot in City Hall all day long.

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 BUT…then we got to The Society Room and I was like….WHAT!  I am more than sure my photos don’t do this place justice.  I mean don’t get me wrong, I love my venues (you know who you are)…some more than others (mostly because of staff and service) but being an artist who eats with their eyes…this place very well could of made my head explode!

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 Then we went out into the streets of Hartford for some more portraits!

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 So The Society Room used to be a bank…and it has this vault..and in the vault there is this sweet little set up for a couple to have some quiet time…or some nice low light portrait action!

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 LOVE  LOVE LOVE this shot.  I don’t know what it’s a picture of, but I can guess it’s pretty awesome!

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 Again with that infectious happiness :)

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 My FAVORITE shot from the whole day….at this point I am literally bawling.  A son dancing with his mother is enough to make any mother of 3 sons break down, but add in the obvious closeness of their relationship and this crazy little “no one else in the world is here”  thing that’s going on and I was looking for a tissue (more like a roll of paper towels, but who’s keeping score).

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 And of course who could forget the ring shot?  They had these sweet little Tabasco bottles next to the GINOMEROUS prawns that they were serving during cocktail hour! As soon as I saw them, I slipped one in my pocket for a ring shot later ;)

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Thank you so much Tania, Colette and Keith for having me.  It was a privillage to be part of something so beautiful and real!

November 12, 2009 - 3:03 am eric langlois - Totally kick ass job on this wedding!!! Love the different take on city hall, cause you know we've all seen that place a million times! :) Awesome work.

October 28, 2009 - 3:03 am Eric Foley - Man you killed this one! Love the portraits of the bride and all the details. Nice job in City Hall too!

October 27, 2009 - 11:49 am Cynthia - I really love the dress pictures and the one in the Society Room. Great job!

October 27, 2009 - 12:39 am Robert J. Trenske - Way to totally rock this wedding Danielle. I really love the details and the shots at Hartford City Hall! Great stuff!!

October 26, 2009 - 2:11 pm Tania - Danielle-- I had such a great time shooting with you! I totally forgot about the dynamic duo... that we were... LOL! What I didn't forget was the "note" you got on your car for parking in a private lot... LOL! Thank goodness your car wasn't towed! We've got to shoot together again- it really was a blast! (And I'm sure there will be more lighting sweetness- isn't City Hall just dreamy?)

October 24, 2009 - 12:43 pm auntie - I like the one where you can see their reflection in the window - very subtle and cool!!

October 24, 2009 - 6:19 am Rick O - Unbelievable set :) Whicked cool place too!