STORYTELLING WITH DANELLE BOHANE

Mindset

Dec 11

Danelle Bohane is a wedding photographer, educator and a real force in our industry; her storytelling is emotional, honest and captured from a place of heart and generosity. To me, Danelle’s approach is inspiring because she is able to hone in and capture a couple’s connection to one another and their families with sensitivity, curiosity and respect.

Having recently relocated from New Zealand to Melbourne, Danelle is in a new phase of her business reestablishing herself in a new market whilst also launching into the photography education space with her first Refine Workshop with co-creators Cassandra Ladru and Janneke Storm. With new life phases, come new awakenings, opportunities and challenges which we will discuss in this podcast episode.

Danelle is a true artist at work and I encourage you to immerse yourself in her world as she shares her approach to storytelling on the Life and Lens Podcast.

In this blog post, we share Danelle’s images and examples referenced in her podcast episode.

Lei x

“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.”

— Carl Jung

key takeaways from the podcast

Danelle focuses on capturing connection through visual narrative, considering story-telling elements such as chapters, main characters, scene setting and locations including weather, the main story-line and sub storyline. She pays particular attention to imagery that connects the chapters, such as scene-setting or elements that thread a line through the story of the day, such as the weather.

Add dimension and juxtaposition to your images by playing with your lens choice; consider how wide you shoot an image (ie on a 24mm) and then the counterpoint such as a close up detail shot that is tightly cropped. Reading people, the dynamic and the environment is important on a wedding day and should play into your lens choice. Sitting on a 85mm has its place but coming in close to the emotion, means you are immersed in the moment and capture it in a more authentic way.
Storytelling becomes more powerful when you harness your personal sensitivities, history and experiences in life to tell your couples story. Your approach as a photographer is a sum of all your parts and the relationships around you.

Some of our biggest learnings and some of our best moments come from a place of imperfection. Often those little sparks of magic that happen come from capturing the nuance of life or the grey areas. When things aren’t perfect, it’s often some of the best images you create, such as when the lighting isn’t perfect or you have to compromise on the perfect technical element. If you can communicate the way that it felt, those are the parts that draw viewers in to an image and that’s where the magic happens.