Had an amazing March 12th!Thank u 4 all the bday wishes & hilarious vm!Today:airport at 4am.Gonna b a long day of travel. Lking 4ward 2 reachin our destination.

Grandma Laudati

Most everyone called her Ma.  My family, meaning my brother, sister and I called her Grandma.  

Growing up military you dont usually have the opportunity to grow up with your extended family.  We moved every three years so whatever we knew about them was learned from short phone conversations, cards usually filled with updated pictures and the seemingly sporadic visits which usually meant spending two to three days in the car only stopping for gas and food...about three days to visit divided up amounst the family members and then back on the road!

Though I didn't know her well, I knew she loved us.  Every visit she would say in her thick New England accent, " DANyell!  Come give Ma a Kiss!  Get ova here.  Come give Ma a kiss!" and she would proceed to squish my checks together until I had proper puckerage and she would PLANT one right on me!  

Not to mention the endless questions about who I am dating, why I am dating them, or why I am not dating and when did I plan on getting married.  She would then go into some gossip story which was always entertaining.  But every conversation would begin and end with her saying how much she missed and loved all of us.

What I do know about her is that she must have been a pretty strong woman.  She came over from Portugal with her family at a young age and fell in love with Ralf Armon Laudati, an Italian!  What a Romeo and Juliet story that was!!!  

Grandpa died when my mom was 7 and Grandma had four girls to take care of in Dighton-Rehobith, MA.  Eventually, she remarried and then he passed away.  

Here are a few pics of my grandma and grandpa together:

I dont really know her to be so emotional but I am deeply sadden by the emotions I hear coming from my mom.  I cant imagine what she is feeling... however, I do know that grandma felt and appreciated all the faces that appeared and the love that overwhelmed the room before she passed.   

Below are two of my favorite pictures I have taken of my grandma.  She was a feisty one!

This was New Years...I don't remember the year I went back to MA. but this was taken at my cousin Kimmy's right before I fell down the stairs and then broke their door.  Umm...yeah.  Good Times!  (there is suppose to be knee pads and a helmet waiting for me!)  I was teasing her about what was in her red party cup and then brought up my camera to document her drinking from one and I got this!  

AWESOME!  LOL!  

This was taken on my last visit.  Haha!  At my cousin Kimmy's new house!  Grandma had just realized I was taking pictures of her.  I don't remember what I said but the same thing happened.  I brought up my camera again and she showed me the love!   

Thank you for reading.

Sincerely, 

Danielle Hall

Good Morning Monday!

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  Have a great week!

Thanks for looking!

Danielle Hall

The Night of Episco Disco

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Danielle Hall

Episco Disco

...An event anointed by the SF Chronicle as "unusual fun"

Can you imagine hearing anything but congregational or word of God music in church?  A Catholic church?  Saturday, February 20th at Grace Catherdral  I had my first taste of EpiscoDisco.

At first I felt a bit uncomfortable... there was a DJ, people dancing, a wine sponsor!?!?!  At church?  That was the part I had a hard time getting over.  What was this really about?  I soon learned that Grace Cathedral/Paradise Now had been putting on these events once a month for the past 9 months to get the word out about "embracing innovation and open-minded conversation where inclusion is expected and people of all faiths are welcomed."

Looking around I began to really take it in.  It was all quite beautiful and the art installation by Elizabeth Parks Kibbey , of thousands of flowers hanging upside down above my head as I danced made it all feel surreal.

Truly something I had never experienced. 

Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall

Swag: Canon Lens Coffee Mug

HAHA!  Love this!  Check it out at PDN.

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Danielle Hall

Old Post to New Post!

I guess you never know what can happen... and I kind of it that way!

I had posted a blog back in January called Tour de Blue Bottle where Tony Sison and I had gone around the city on bikes to tour, taste, and eat treats at Kirk Harper and John Quintos Blue Bottle Coffee locations.

Well, SURPRISE!

A series of the images have just been featured in yet another article about these guys and their locations.  Big props to them!  Check it out here at SFist !  Thanks Leanne!

and Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall

Get to know me!

Howdy!

Well, there have been quite a few things happening over here that I have been excited about sharing.  New relationships developing both personal and professional.  New experiences and forms of inspiration ... and as February came to a close I felt it had flown by!  

I have learned so much about myself these past few months which has helped me to think about and establish not only my business goals for Danielle Hall Photography but my personal goals for Danielle Hall.  I know, right?  Personal goals!  Why are we doing all of this in the first place?  Yeah, there is the love for photography but... if you are building a career doing it there has to be something else you are doing or working towards so that you can not only stay inspired in your own work but also not get burnt out! 

More later on Danielle Hall Personal goals! 

And here it is, March.  My birthday month!  Its time to get dressed up kids because its only getting better!  I cant wait to show you what I have been doing.  

This month I plan on doing some SERIOUS house cleaning!  House Cleaning = Danielle Hall Photography March Monthly Goals.  For March I plan to finish old personal projects so I can really dig in and start new ones.  So many ideas!  

Next, revise my business and marketing plan to be in better shape for where I am now in my business.  I have realized that a photography business is organic.  Everything changes and updates and evolves so fast! 

I will also be putting my taxes to bed and following up on some leads.  Its going to be a busy month!  Coming up... some February work I can now share as well as my sisters visit to San Francisco!


Want to know more about what I am up to?  Check me out on Linkedin , Facebook and Twitter !   

Thanks for reading!

Danielle Hall  


(First 2 pics self portrait, 3rd photo credit to Emily Polar )

Good night

Thanks for looking!

Danielle Hall

Update on its way...

but in the mean time: 

Thanks for looking!

Danielle Hall