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My friends Jonathan & Rachel Strayer from Ghostlight Productions are once again putting on a production this year in the Clarks Summit Abington Park square. This year they have chosen A midsummer’s Nights Dream and I spent some time with them this week getting some images for the prodution.I just felt like I had to share and pass on all the info I can about the event.

There will be six performances this year on June 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, & 13.

This show is FREE to the public.

That’s right! It’s free to the public so be sure to bring the family and enjoy!

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So it’s no big secret that the JJ and I are “tree huggers”. We pretty much would live on the Appalachian trail if we could. Have a conversation with either one of us for very long and somehow it will end up about hiking. It’s a passion that we have shared for most of our marriage and this has been the first time in a few months that it was warm enough to really enjoy a good day hike.

It’s pretty rare these days for me to have a Saturday without work so we had to hit the trail and get some fresh air in our lungs.

All hikers on the east coast recognize these white blazes. They are our guiding light.

Deep breaths.

The adorable JJ

A good day!

Spring is near.

~Daniel~

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    A few months back I was contacted by my friend and colleague Kristy Rice from Momental Designs here in NEPA to photograph a few tablescape ideas that had been rolling around in her head for the better part of a year. Living here in NEPA can be tough when trying to collaborate with other wedding vendors in the area. NEPA seems to be 10 years behind everything around here.  I met Kristy about a year ago when she contacted me to get some pictures for her website and immediately found a kindred spirit of sorts. Kristy introduced me to Dorian Butovich from Central Park Flowers here in Scranton and we ended up designing two tablescape sessions of which I am sharing one of today. Those of you who follow my blog may have seen the ridiculously awesome designs he comes up with. If you haven’t seen his work you can see some of it by clicking  here on my blog.

    This morning I was made aware that these pictures are featured on the Ruffledblog.com. For those of you in the wedding industry the Ruffledblog is probably one of the top 10 blogs to follow in the U.S. If you’re feeling short of inspiration and need to find something inspiring to get the creative juices flowing Ruffledblog is the place to go.

You can see the full blog post on TheRuffledblog by clicking here.

There are so many pictures from this session that could be shared so I thought I would post a few more for those who want to see them….

The following vendors made this happen. Without any one of them this would not have been possible.
Table Designer and Stationer: Kristy Rice of Momental Designs
Floral Design: Central Park Flowers
Cake: Cathy Reppert, Truly Scrumptious
Venue: The Cottage at Hillside Farms, Dallas, Pennsylvania
Linens: LaTavola Linens

Want to learn more about how we do what we do? Why not find us on Facebook?

Daniel Lanton | Create Your Badge

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I get a ton of questions from people about where I get the inspiration for my photography so I thought I would give you a behind the scenes look at what we do at Darkershadesofbrown photography to keep ourselves fresh and inspired.

Wedding photography is a bit behind the times here in PA. Most of the people who want to provide for a family end up moving to a warmer climate as they can work pretty much all year round and keep their schedules full every week. I tend to love Pennsylvania so my wife and I decided to make it our home a few years ago. Honestly, I am sometimes saddened by my lack of piers to share and collaborate with. About a year ago Kristy Rice from Rice Ink whom I did not know contacted and hired me to do some work for her website. For those of you who follow my blog you know that we have become friends over the last year. I think we tend to both inspire each other and I have really enjoyed getting to know the girls of rice ink over the last 12 months.

Just a quick peak at the amazing work we did that day.

Publication is due early next year and after it is released I will be sure to show you more from this amazing session.

The following vendors collaborated for this session:

The Photographer, That would be me.
http://www.darkershadesofbrown.com/

The Stationery, Kristy Rice
www.momentaldesigns.com

The Cake, Cathy Reppert
http://www.eatcakefirst.com

The Flowers, Dorian and Eloise Butovich
http://centralparkflowers.com/

I honestly wouldn’t be able to survive without having creative outlets like this…

It is like breathing to me and today I got to take deep breaths.

~Daniel~

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One of the most frequently asked questions I get when sitting down with a bride is this question of Photojournalism. 95% of the 700 or so pictures you will get from Darkershadesofbrown after your wedding will be photo-journalistic. Often someone says to me that they don’t want any posed pictures and although I would gladly shoot that for you in the end your family and loved ones will hang us both if they don’t get that square to the camera say cheese with the cheese picture to hang on their wall.

Usually, my Trash The Dress Sessions will be more fashion oriented and involve posing techniques but a wedding…..

Weddings for me are all about capturing the spirit of the day.  A wedding photojournalist is a person who takes photographs during a wedding using an alternative approach where images are captured spontaneously to emphasize moments and emotion. Much like photojournalists for the media, wedding photojournalists present the story of the day through their photographs. A wedding photojournalist typically shoots images quickly using available light or on-camera flash rather than using traditional, formal posing techniques and studio lights. The phrase wedding photojournalist has been in vogue for at least 10 years and has now become almost synonymous with normal wedding photography.

Magic moments like this one are why I love so much what I do. The bride being rushed out the door and helped and cared for by the girls who have loved her so much over the years.

I wouldn’t trade these moments for anything

I am a photojournalist in every sense of the word

~Daniel~

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Today I had a day off from work…

Just me…

My 1D….

and some sexy time with my 24mm tilt shift. This week I ordered my second tilt shift to add to my growing arsenal of

ridiculous equipment. I have been playing around with the 90MM for some time now but I think the 24 fits my shooting style a bit better then the other tilt.

For those who know me you know I tend to be a bit of a nerd when it comes to photography. I spend hours up at night dreaming of building my own camera from scratch so why wouldn’t I shoot with manual focus tilt shift lenses?

People keep shooting me emails about how I rack focus

Other then a small curve adjustment and vignette this is what my pictures look like right out of the camera with this lens.

No racking…

Just manual focus tilt shifts.

My favorite shot of the day…. 

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I apologize for posting some non wedding related stuff on this blog but I just couldn’t help posting some pictures I took a few minutes ago in my back yard. I love everything related to photography and although I love wedding photography truth be told I am just as happy roaming the woods with my camera and tripod. That’s right, I admit it, I just don’t take pictures of brides on their wedding day. My love of capturing images does not know any boundaries. Canon has asked me to review the 180mm 3.5L series Macro and although this lens needs to get a little more use before I give the low down.

Wow… 

Get your happy scroll finger in action and take a look see.  

Screensavers anyone….

Feel free to email at Dlanton@Darkershadesofbrown.com with the one you want and I will email it to you for free.

~Daniel~

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Getting excited about my new workshop this fall.

Working on the materials that will be covered.

Details coming soon…

~Daniel~

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Lately, I have been getting slammed with questions and emails about what a Trash The Dress Session is so I thought I would post a little bit about my take on what this looks like to my clients interested in shooting one over the next couple of months.

First of all this is not something that I made up myself. TTD sessions have been going on for a couple of years now and I love shooting them so much that now I am including them as an ala carte option to my wedding packages.

My TTD sessions tend to be more fassion oriented then my wedding pictures. What I love about them is the freedom to take a few hours outside of what can be a stressful wedding day and go to locations that we never had time for.

TTD sessions are not just for the newly married athough day or honeymoon after shoots are becoming so popular with my clients because of the freedom of not being tied to a schedule. Many people have been contacting me about them because they could not get me on their wedding day due to my schedule being booked nearly a year in advance.

Sorry about that guys but you need to get to me early or someone will “beat you to the punch”. There are only so many Saturdays in a year and I haven’t figured out how to cylon clone myself just yet. Pardon me for the Batlestar Galactica quote. I just can’t help myself. Season 4.5 is being realeased for sale in like 24 hours.

TTD sessions can be as creative as you want them to be. It’s all about the location and the couple…. This year I will be shooting them in places like old abandoned amusement parks, NYC subways, factories and yes quiet little mountain cabins for those who like the outdoors.

You want to see some awesome sauce?

You can view all the pictures from Dan & Danielle’s 10 year anniversary session by clicking here. They opted for a parking garage for half of their session. I like me some parking garage wedding photos.

For more information on how to book your session with us you can email us at Dlanton@Darkershadesofbrown.com

~Daniel~

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This year I had the distinct pleasure of being a business sponsor for Ghostlight productions Shakespeare in the park and let me tell you I am so excited that my friends Jonathan and Rachel Strayer are bringing this little piece of awesome to the community here in Clarks Summit.

JJ and I have been friends with Jonathan and Rachel for about a year now and have always been inspired by their passions for pursuing their dream of what will be happening next week.

The following is a little bit of information about the two of them with some pictures that I took last year for Ghostlight productions.

They just inspire the heck out of me.

Jonathan and Rachel Strayer met in college almost eight years ago and found out quickly that they had two things in common – a love for theatre and a love for each other. They both majored in theatre for their undergrad; Jonathan continued the pursuit and achieved his MA in theatre from Bowling Green State University in 2004. Rachel is currently pursuing a master’s degree in creative writing – specifically playwriting – from Wilkes University.
Shortly after their marriage in 2005, Jonathan and Rachel decided to actively pursue their ultimate dream – a theatre of their own. While maintaining a multitude of part-time jobs, ranging from teaching to secretarial work to theatre jobs, the couple began to actively teach theatre workshops and do short dramatic pieces in small local venues. This summer they have decided to bring their theatre into a larger arena.
“We wanted to do theatre for our community,” they explain, “but we didn’t have a building. So we asked ourselves, what kind of theatre can we do without a building?”
The answer was South Abington Township’s first annual Shakespeare in the Park. The goal of Shakespeare in the Park is to provide family-friendly adaptations of classic Shakespearean plays with a few fun twists and a lot of laughs. This year’s production is Twelfth Night and will feature an eleven-person cast of local community members with Jonathan Strayer directing. Performances will be held at South Abington Park on July 17, 24, and 25 at 6:30 P.M. and July 18, 19, and 26 at 2:30 P.M. Admission is free and all ages are welcome.

JJ and I are proud to help these guys do what they love and I can’t wait to find out about all the cool stuff they will be bringing us here in the Scranton area in the future.

Be sure to get there early as I have a feeling South Abington Park is going to be slammed.

~Daniel~