Red Deer Photography Blog | Beloved Life Photography

Who is Danielle? Beloved Life Photography

Welcome to my first official blog post as Beloved Life Photography… Some of you may have noticed a change around here, including my business name. I have been “This Beloved Life” since 2006, but recently rebranded and dropped the first word, hopefully making it easier to remember…

Now that that’s out of the way- I’ll tell you a bit about me… Danielle.

I’ve been a photographer since 2006, when I mainly photographed weddings. I’ve now done over 100, and still love to make photos that the bride and groom cherish, but I’ve changed my role, and have been assisting other photographers for a few seasons. It really is a great part of what I do, since I am not wanting to stop wedding photography, but now have more time for my family and other sessions. I simply photograph for the day, then hand over my memory card and relax- no editing for me. And I work with some incredible girls who rock the whole wedding photographer thing… seriously. Shout out to www.candykoated.com and www.lindsaynickel.com

My new inspiration is portraits.

Single, powerful, connected photos of people from toddler to grad. Girls, boys, confident, shy, outgoing, or relaxed… I love themed photo sessions (think Circus-inspired, Dorothy from Wizard of Oz, or the Lost Boys… without cheesy costumes)

But I also feel that simple, natural portraits can portray something that the parents (or even the child) has never seen in themselves. And that is my magic.

Some random things about me:

I have a son that is six and he loves Pacman and Minecraft. He hates vegetables and haircuts.
My daughter is three and is easily bribed with candy and Paw Patrol. She eats anything and everything but is still teeny tiny (I envy this trait)
My husband (of 12 years!) works super hard so I can stay home with my kids (and support my thrift store shopping addiction)
I love anything that has to do with the Beatles
I love Jesus and have dreadlocks and tattoos…a rare combination
The Edmonton Oilers are my favourite hockey team and I’ve been a faithful fan throughout their terrible last few years.
If I could hire out one job I really dislike, it would be cooking. I hate cooking.

People sometimes ask where I came up with my business name… and it’s all based around the word, ‘beloved.’ This word has always been a powerful one to me. People always say, ‘I love you. I love her. I love him. I love tacos. I love….’ But when someone says, ‘She’s mine. He is my beloved.’ it just made it deeper and stronger. It’s my power word. So I wanted a business name that used that word, but wasn’t limited to weddings (since that’s what I was photographing at the time)… so I thought about what I wanted people to value.

This BELOVED life.

Another thing people ask me about a lot is my hair (or they just stare and try to figure it out, which is cool too). I’ve had my dreads since 2016 and I love and hate them. They are an excellent conversation piece (yes, I wash them. Yes, I’ll probably have to cut my hair to get them out. I get them maintained every few months, and yes, they are heavy. If it wasn’t in dreads, my hair would be almost down to my bum, and no, nothing lives in them. As far as I know.) But just like anyone else, I often think of changing my hair, but it took a long time and lots of work, so I’m not ready yet. (Sorry mom)

My first job was bussing tables at a restaurant on Gasoline Alley, Red Deer. My favourite job (aside from photography, obviously) was teaching preschool. I only did this for a year before I got pregnant with my first, but I’d love to go back one day. The stories those kids tell….and seriously, who wouldn’t want to play and read books all day?

I am super close to my parents. Not only do we see them multiple times per week, but they live literally 5 minutes from us. They help get my son to school, babysit when I have sessions, help with random projects (like completely gutting and renovating our whole house), and make us supper (remember how much I despise cooking?)… oh! And they randomly show up to shovel my walk and driveway. I know…I can’t believe them either. They are the hardest-working people I know. My mom works at a school AND runs her own home staging business. (Central Alberta Home Staging)

This is me photographing my daughter… she cried and fussed the whole time- so never feel bad if your kids act out during a session. It happens to ALL of us!