SO STINKIN CUTE!

My friend Sarah passed along this cute e-mail about how to hug a baby that I MUST share!

I am also in LOVE with the message at the bottom:

"Life is short! Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, & never regret anything that made you smile!"

1. First, uh, find a baby

2. Second, be sure that the object you found was
Indeed a baby by employing classic sniffing techniques.

3. Next you will need to flatten the baby before actually beginning the Hugging process.

4. The 'paw slide'
Simply slide paws around baby and prepare for possible close-up.

5. Finally, if a camera is present, you will need to execute
the difficult and patented 'hug, smile, and lean' so as to
Achieve the best photo quality.

Aaah !

Life is short! Break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, 
laugh uncontrollably, & never regret anything that made you smile!

Thanks Sarah!  

Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall

Unexpectedly Made a Difference

Made eye contact with this angry guy on his cell phone this morning... It was an awkward/semi uncomfortable moment but I smiled at him and managed to blurt out "Good morning" as I passed him and then proceeded to ask myself, why in the world did I do that! Like I had just made things worse!

He didnt say anything at first but then yelled out, "Thank you! I really needed that!" Ha! I didnt expect that at all! What a great start to the day.  =o)

Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall

My Heart Melts!

Received an email from a parent whose son I had done headshots for a while back. She wrote saying she has been following my work & is so proud of me & is coming to the APA event to give me the biggest hug I have ever had! This makes me so happy inside I cant even tell you!!

Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall

Best in Show APA Something Personal Exhibition 2009

I cant tell you how BESIDE MYSELF excited I am to share with you that I have been selected as Judges' Best of Show for the APA Something Personal Contest and Exhibition.  

I must have read the e-mail from Jeff Kausch (APA SF Regional Chapter Director and National Membership Representative) 6 or 7 times before I allowed myself to believe it. Once it had sunk in I immediately called my family and closest friends.  

I have to say, with all sincerity that I am very fortunate to have such an amazing group friends, family and colleagues who have supported me from day one, help guide me, who continually push and believe in me and my work.  I am humbled by all the thoughtful emails, text messages, Facebook postings and phone calls I have received.  I would not have made it this far without your love and support...wow.   

Also, BIG thank you to the judges of the APA contest:

Margaret Johnson - Group Creative Director, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, gspsf.com 

Jennifer Jerde - Principal & Creative Director, Elixir Design, elixirdesign.com  

Fabio Costa - Creative Director, Cutwater, cutwatersf.com  

Paul Curtain - Creative Director, Eleven, eleveninc.com

Zana Woods, Sr. Photo Editor, Wired Magazine, wired.com,  Really...Thank you.

Cant wait to see you all there!

Danielle Hall

Overture Films

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with a few people in the photo department at Overture Films and show them my portfolio. I am so grateful I had the opportunity to have this appointment with them. I was able to get in there based on an amazing referral. Once referred the AD replied back to my contact saying, "Wow...she actually has talent!" I thought that was pretty funny!

The office was buzzing! Everyone on task getting ready for the opening of a new movie that was coming out that Friday so just to be able to meet with them that day was pretty special.

It was the quickest trip I have ever taken! I was in LA on a Monday afternoon, met with them Tuesday afternoon and then flew out the same night just so I could be on a job the next morning!

Wanted to share the hand-made 'Thank You' cards I made for them. I wanted to do something a little extra nice since they took time from their hectic, crazy schedule!





Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall

Concept 4: Jack Kerouac's Story

Friday July, 24th, 2009

Jack Kerouac Story! We really wanted to try something different. We liked that there was San Francisco history to it and so we searched for images of Jack that seemed to be the most reoccurring and interesting to the story we wanted to tell about a man who was uniquely unstructured and free spirited...but how far did we want to take his story and what would the parents think!?!

Wardrobe was VERY specific and so were the looks of the boys we needed to cast. Many thanks to those who allowed us to photograph in their space and a special thanks to Carey Olson over at Ford Models for helping us out with the casting!

Well, here you go! Be sure to check out the inspiration images at the bottom, too!

Brick Wall and Notebook:

“sketching the street with words”

Father Morissette quoted Mr. Ginsberg, “In his exquisite honesty, Jack Kerouac had the guts to live his ideas.”

Stage:

---"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow Roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww,'" (about ‘On the Road”)

Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassady:

Neal Cassady, considered "the real genius behind the Beat movement in literature" appeared as a main character in many books including Jack Kerouacs 'On The Road'. He was a major influence on Jacks writing style which became known as Spontaneous Prose.

Typewriter:

"In April 1951 Kerouac threaded a huge roll of paper into his typewriter and wrote the single 175,000-word paragraph that became On The Road. The more than 100-foot scroll was written in three weeks but was not published for seven years."

Jack Portrait:

“I am the king of beats, but I’m not a beatnik”

Born: March 12, 1922
Lowell, Massachusetts
Died: October 21, 1969
St. Petersburg, Florida

The Inspiration:

http://www.notablebiographies.com/Jo-Ki/Kerouac-Jack.html

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/jack_kerouac/biography

http://www.beatmuseum.org/cassady/nealcassady.html

http://jackkerouacispunjabi.blogspot.com/

Thanks for reading,

Danielle Hall

Concept 3: Marc Jacobs Inspired

Thursday July 2, 2009

Where do I even begin...5 five year olds. Two outfit changes each. Colorful hair extensions. Songs like: 'Under the Sea' and 'Whistle While You Work' blasting in the background.

Jumping! Twirling! Dancing! Yelling! SO much fun!

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun I had on this one! The idea for this concept came from a Marc Jacobs ad Ebony had shown me. Simple and fun. I rented a ring flash, Emmy Woollard assisted, Ebony OF COURSE pulled great clothes, Rebeca did hair and make-up, JE Model Management for the great kids, and thank you Bob Hsiang for letting us use your studio.

Here are a few shots extra shots from that day. Too FUN!

Please comment, send an email, facebook, twitter me! Would love to know your thoughts.

Check out www.daniellehall.net to find out which images made it to my website!

Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall

Concept 2: Mystic Camp Out

Sunday, July 21rst...yup, Fathers Day!

The camp out concept was definitely a test of our strength and endurance. We had a generator to run the fog machine, we had portable lighting and at one point I had three assistants. (Thank you Raymond for coming all the way out from San Jose! Ching-Wei Jiang for coming out from the East Bay and helping out when you were still not feeling well. And thank you Eugene for always having my back!)

I really have to thank Vicky Woollard for showing me this location. It really had everything I was looking for and all within a few feet from the next spot to shoot. Partner in crime, Ebony Haight made the tent and pulled the clothes, Cheryl Dailey did hair and make-up, and the girls were from JE Model Management.

Here are a few more behind the scene shots. This was a: pop-up tent for changing, hair and make-up done under an umbrella, moms running dog interference, "No, this is not a yard sale.", moving with the sun, "You want the fog thinner?" kind of day. =o)

There are so many great images from this day that I could make a separate book just for this concept!

Please comment and follow my blog, send an email, facebook and/or twitter me! Would love to know your thoughts.

Check out www.daniellehall.net to find out which images made it to my website!

Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall