What feeds my soul?
Expressing myself.
Being vulnerable.
Going deep with someone else who’s willing to reciprocate.
Growing up in Orange County, California has put this Enneagram 4 through it — in so many ways.
Like y’all… I ran across the country away from it for six years. Maybe more, if you count the yearly trips back ever since I was fourteen. Plus many weeks in between.
If you’ve lived here for any length of time — or grew up here — you probably know what I’m talking about.
Well, hi. I’m Danielle.
Born and raised in Orange County, CA.
I’ve explored a lot of it — but not all of it.
At one point, I had to leave it. Love it from afar.
Then life brought me back — right into the deep heart of it.
And somewhere along the way, something shifted.
I’ve grown to love it differently.
To want to understand it.
To want to heal it.
To fully immerse myself in its history, its land, its people.
This year, I’m leaning in even more.
It feels like I’m giving myself a living history lesson.
Rooting myself in telling the stories of families, farms, chefs, businesses, brands, and the community of this land — how they came to be, and how we can come together to care for it.
To heal it.
To become more authentically ourselves — alongside one another.
That’s what feeds my soul.
And I’m curious…
What do you enjoy seeing most from the whole process?
• The behind-the-scenes videos mixed with how I got the shot?
• The before-and-after editing?
• My editing workflow and creative process?
• The full story — beginning, middle, and end?
I genuinely want to know your thoughts.
Here are some Behind the scenes from a recent dinner I captured for The Ecology Center at their lovely and most delicious farm-to-table cafe.
