I come from a very artistic family. My Dad is an oil painter and sculptor, my brother Luke is an amazing sketch artist and painter and my brother Adam is a talented satirical cartoonist. Megan, my sister and Mum (my mother) do not have an artistic bone between them, however we still thank they are lovely and try to include them in family activities wherever we can :). Up until 2005, painting was also my major artistic outlet until eventually a camera replaced my paintbrush and creating art through photography became my primary passion.
It's been a few years now since I had the realisation that photography was going to be a huge part of the rest of my life and here I am, a full time professional photographer fortunate enough to be doing something I love for a living, specialising in Fine Art Photography and, of course Wedding Photography (with a twist).
Documentary could be described as the technique I use when shooting my weddings. I love to tell stories through imagery - to deliver a visual narrative. My influences in paint and contemporary art contribute to a smaller but just as important part of the capture process. I put everything I have into everything I do, simply because I don’t know how do it any other way.
I am a fully accredited Associate member of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP) and to date I have been fortunate enough to have my fine art Illustrative work exhibited extensively Australia-wide and held in collections as far away as London.
So that's my story, I would love to hear yours.
AWARDS
2011 - AIPP Australian Creative Photographer of the Year 2011 - AIPP ACT Wedding Photographer of the Year
2011 - AIPP ACT Illustrative Photographer of the Year
2011 - 8 Awards of Excellence - WPPI, Las Vegas
2010 - Voted Top 5 Emerging Austrlian Wedding Photographers - Capture Magazine
2010 - AIPP Ilford Trophy Recipient - Highest Scoring Print, APPA
2010 - AIPP ACT Professional Photographer of the Year
2010 - AIPPACTIllustrativePhotographeroftheYear
2010 - AIPPACTWeddingPhotographeroftheYear
2010 - AIPP ACT Highest Scoring Print Award
2009 - AIPP ACT Illustrative Photographer of the Year
2009 - Finalist in the National Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize 2009 - ACMP Trampoline Projections Finalist
2008 - ACT AIPP Runner up Illustrative Photographer of the Year
2008 - ACT/NSW AIPP Print Awards – 3x Silver and 1x Silver Distinction
2008 - Best Photography L’Oreal colour Awards
2008 - Selected as part of the Off The Wall ART08 Sydney Emerging Artist Showcase
2008 - Selected as part of the Off The Wall ART08 Brisbane Emerging Artist Showcase
2007 - Recipient of the Canberra Critics Circle, Photography Award
2007 - ACT AIPP Print Awards – Silver and Silver Distinction
2006 - City News, Solo exhibition “Still” Rated Top 5 ACT Gallery Shows of 2006
2006 - Recipient of the Huw Davis Photoaccess Emerging Artist Grant
2005 - Selected for the Avant Card, “Calling All Artists” Program
2002 - Placed 1st in the National Family Planning Photographic Awards
{The artist responsible for taking my dashing portrait is the wonderful Samm Blake}
Tracy - Congratulations, Dan. So very well deserved :)
Zoe - Oh Dan….oh my word – these pull me in, they are so beautiful….. x
Jono - Love all that negative space!
marissa fleming - well done dan! what you dream you can achieve and you have ;-)yay
keeping the bar high
Andrew Cahill - Congratulations Dan, stunning work, well done.
Shannon McDonald - Very well deserved. You’re pretty freaky yourself.
Josh Tilton - Much deserved Dan! Congratulations!
Jakob - Money, money and money. Well done, sir.
Alyda - So proud of you Daniel!!
Travis Shumate - Holy Moley. Very well deserved. Beautiful images.
todd hunter mcgaw - daniel, when i first saw you, i knew that you had a flame in your heart.. And under our blue skies, marble skies, i found a home in your eyes.. we’ll never be apart.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00ZHah-c0hQ..
dude.. i just got an email from your Mum.. the subject line is “my special little guy”..
ps.congrats big time on your accolades brother, you’re freakishly talented..
pps. please remember me when you’re famous ;)
ppps. absolutely!
Pobke - so proud of you my lil daniel… it’s so amazing to see your journey. when i first met you all those years ago, i never would have thought you’d be the superstar you are today. after all, i was in my car, you were the derro offering to clean my windscreen… i didn’t realise there was such talent within this dirty homeless guy washing windows with his little squeegee. and now lookatcha! dan o’day is taking the world by storm. i’ll never forget what you told me that one day… “But I ain’t never crossed a man that didn’t deserve it…Me, be treated like a punk, you know that’s unheard of. You better watch how you talkin, and where you walkin, or you and your homies might be lined in chalk.” i didn’t want to be lined up in chalk. so i told myself to never forget that. :)
loves you daniel. SO proud of everything you’ve achieved. i hope i’m even 10% like you when i grow up. you’re amazing.
Mandy Campbell - You’re awesome and you deserve every accolade. It was a thrill watching your images judged (and also watching you judge). Congrats.
Robyn Geering - A very huge congratulations to you – seriously awesome achievement, and I can’t think of anyone more deserving of such success.
Thea - Congratulation Dan! Such an amazing achievement xo
Thommo - So proud of you dude!
Jason Vdm - Legend. A win for the good guys :) Look forward to seeing what’s next.
michelle - you’re clever :)
alyda - think Christine & Todd should have a comment off. Winner gets a hug :)
DJ Paine - well done sir. i saw two of your prints come up in judging down in sydney… and i knew both would do well. talk soon!
john benavente - too good dan!
tim - dude… amazing! well deserved & well done.
David Robertson - your talent and hard work is rightfully being recognised. massive congratulations mate
liz arcus - just beautiful Dan, i so proudly looked at these images at APPA knowing some of these were yours, and guessing the others were too…i loved pointing them out to some people at APPA and saying they were yours… i love them all very much. congratulations Dan :-) You are an inspiration to me and so many others.
sammypants - you are so talented Mr O’Day… you have an amazing gift of seeing the world in such a unique way. you have opened my eyes up to so much and have taught me so much more. so proud of you and all your achievements, this is just the very start. xoxo
Lev Kuperman - these are seriously breathtaking. no words…
MichelleK - Congrats again Dan. So beautiful.. and mighty inspiring.
Mark Dohring - Inspiring Inspiring Inspiring. A huge congrats. You truly inspire me Dan.
Adrian - Amazing work Dan. Truly inspirational. Love it.
Sjoerd Booij - Congrats!!
Tyler Branch - ya. really well deserved. you’ve got a great eye for life and that shows in the way you take pictures. congrats.
Anna - Congratulations! You are inspiring! I love your work!
TRacy - Posting these superb images is not in any way self-indulgent. It encourages the rest of us inspiring photographer. Thank you for sharing. And why the hell shouldn’t you celebrate your hard work and creativity. It’s all good.
Kellee Walsh - Congratulations Dan! These are incredible & you totally deserve the accolades.
David Ferguson | Brisbane - Congratulations Dan, I saw your name in the email the other day. Well done.
Delia - Wow, super impressive!! Congratulations!
Pete - Just found these by accident … or did I. It seems I needed to see them. Really beautiful. And congratulations.