Dani Benton Photography

23/01/2026

Friends, I know I rarely post here anymore. With everything we have going on the past (nearly) three years in Japan, I haven't had much time for my photography. But, I have not hung up my camera forever, and I do plan to offer portrait services again in the future.

In the meantime, I'm happy to announce that one of my photos was selected as "runner-up" for the 2026 Shimanami Kaido wall calendar. In 2024, I also received an "honorable mention". This photo contest is made possible by the local Chamber of Commerce, so the calendars can be seen hanging in many local businesses.

This coming year, I plan to create a photo series showing all four seasons of the Shimanami Kaido, with my tilt-shift lens. Wish me luck!

04/05/2024

Friends, it's been a while since I posted on this page. I managed to find some time for some photography, just for fun, as the wisteria was blooming. This fuzzy bumblebee managed to be in the right place at the right time. The tilt-shift lens is manual focus only, so it's not easy to make adjustments very quickly, as the bees buzz by.

We're coming up on 15 months living in rural Japan! We've been very busy with immigration, business development, abandoned house renovation, opening Benton Guesthouse, and building our little honeybee farm. I've been sharing the process every step of the way on our Benton Homestead » Re-Planting Roots page and our YouTube channel. But of course portrait photography is still part of my long-term goal! So I'll continue to post here, as that eventually comes back to fruition.⁠⁠⁠
#日本 #四国 #愛媛 #今治 #大三島 #しまなみ街道

27/01/2024

Of course, what makes a person feel more like they've finally found their home, than the love of pets. So here's a small assortment of all the rescue critters who’ve won our hearts the past year in Japan.

Ponkan is our beloved orange street cat; we named him after one of the dozens of citrus varieties grown on the island. He was found begging for food at the convenience store, an angry, raspy, old guy. Over the past six months, he’s made very slow but steady progress towards being a sweet, cuddly housecat.

Bosco is the best dog I ever found under an abandoned house! He was the fifth puppy we rescued, and at six or eight weeks old, he immediately won our hearts. He’s now about six months old, and is growing into a wild but smart little pup!

As a bonus, you can get a little peek into our second 'akiya' abandoned house. Clearly this one hasn't been renovated yet! Our first abandoned house took six months to be AirBnB ready. This one will take a decade... Check out for all the 'akiya' renovation adventures.

There are many more street dogs living around our houses (including Bosco’s mom, dad, and grandma), so we’re feeding, befriending, and we even managed to get one caught and spayed. But more on that in future blog posts!⁠
More on the blog »
https://www.danibentonphotography.com/archives/8475⁠⁠⁠
#日本 #四国 #愛媛 #今治 #大三島 #しまなみ街道

25/01/2024

Now that we've been in Japan for nearly a year, and are open for business, here's a little more info!

Ōmishima island is rural, but attracts many visitors. It’s part of an archipelago known for the ‘Shimanami Kaido’, a series of seven white suspension bridges spanning the Seto Sea from Hiroshima prefecture to Ehime prefecture. Cyclists travel here from all over the world to ride their bikes across the beautiful bridges with calm inland sea views. So we’re really in a perfect location to catch tourists who may want to stay in our guesthouse, pick up some ‘omiyage’ honey jars, or bring home some portraits to commemorate their travels.

It seems only natural that my niche focus would be portraits for tourists. What better way to commemorate your travels, than with some portraits with a backdrop of the Seto Sea, or the steep mountains covered in forest and bamboo, or the striking white suspension bridges? I learned to embrace tourism opportunities back in New Orleans, where nearly 50% of my clients were visitors to the city, from another state or even another country. I loved walking the French Quarter or Audubon Park, taking portraits in iconic scenery. So I’d love to bring that experience to Japan!

However, for the past year, my only portraits have been of my dear husband Evan. Here you can see him, always working hard to make our dreams become reality.⁠
More on the blog »
https://www.danibentonphotography.com/archives/8475⁠⁠⁠
#日本 #四国 #愛媛 #今治 #大三島 #しまなみ街道

25/01/2024

Exciting news: Dani Benton Photography is now officially open for business in Japan! We arrived on Ōmishima island last February, started remodeling an abandoned house in April, received a Startup Business visa in June, opened Benton Guesthouse in November, and received a Business Manager visa in December. It’s all been very fast!

While our business Benton Homestead » Re-Planting Roots will primarily focus on the guesthouse, honeybees, and small-scale natural farming, I couldn’t imagine life without a camera in my hand! So of course photography is part of the overall plan.

I was encouraged to enter the annual ‘Shimanami Kaido’ wall calendar photography contest, as I had seen the beautiful printed calendars hanging in many homes and shops. I didn’t win, but I did receive an Honorable Mention, which came with a ¥1000 award (about $10). The photo that received the Honorable Mention is below. This is one of the suspension bridges, with Ikuchi island in the background, as viewed from the Family Mart convenience store parking lot. I took this photo my first week in Japan, while learning the layout of our new little island home!⁠
More on the blog »
https://www.danibentonphotography.com/archives/8475⁠⁠⁠
#日本 #四国 #愛媛 #今治 #大三島 #しまなみ街道

28/08/2023

Hello friends! We're risking everything we have to start a new life and small business in rural Japan, and it's all very exciting. But I'm starting this campaign because we are having trouble getting some boxes of belongings shipped from the United States... Would you mind please sharing our fundraising page?

Due to circumstances outside of our control, the shipping amount for our few boxes of belongings is much more than the initial quote we budgeted for. We are on a very fixed budget, with no income until 2024, so we simply cannot afford this increased expense. Every dollar in our savings account is already allocated to go towards our guesthouse renovation, honeybee business, professional immigration assistance, or modest living expenses until we start earning an income.

You can follow along our journey at Benton Homestead » Re-Planting Roots' YouTube, Facebook, or Instagram pages. I share almost daily updates in our social media "stories" and about 3-5 more detailed YouTube videos each month. Thank you for sharing!

Hi, we're Dani and Evan. We're risking everything we have to start a new life in ru… Danielle Benton needs your support for Ship Precious Belongings to Japan

20/08/2023

Print Shop:
danibentonphotography.shootproof.com/gallery/printshop/

Hello, friends! I apologize for my absence the past few months, but life has been incredibly busy. I'm very happy to announce that we're getting settled in rural Japan! The little island we chose has been more welcoming than we ever imagined, and everything's really falling in to place. We've received our Startup Business visa 2-months ago, which means I'm able to accept clients in Japan. That also means we're working 'round the clock to get our guesthouse and honeybee farm up and running during our 6-month visa window.

I wanted to remind y'all that I launched a Print Shop on my website, at the beginning of this year. I realize a print shop is something I should’ve added to my website a very long time ago. Better late than never! If you've ever wanted to have a piece of my art photography on your walls, please feel free to take a look.

Currently, the gallery features landscape and travel photography from our 15-months throughout Mexico, neatly catalogued. The gallery has a shopping cart, so you can place orders directly for photo prints, canvas prints, and metal prints. All orders are delivered from Miller's Lab in the US, the company I've used professionally for almost two decades.

All proceeds help establish our life and business here in Japan. We likely won't have any income until 2024, so every print sale helps greatly! I also have two 'Buy Me a Coffee' pages (like Patreon) if you'd prefer to help out another way:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/DaniPhotography
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BentonHomestead

Please note: my Print Shop images have a watermark for online theft protection. The actual photo prints *do not* have the watermark on them, of course!⁠
#日本 #四国 #愛媛 #今治 #大三島 #しまなみ街道

22/05/2023

Here we have Mr. Lightfoot, in front of the federal building in the Central Business District of New Orleans. He needed an updated headshot, and wanted to include the iconic flying eagle statue, which is part of the Federal Marshal badge and visual identity. I brought my trusty off-camera flash, which allowed me to lower the exposure of the background, while lighting his face nicely, to add a little interest and drama. I think it suits him!

He was pleased with his session, and left me these kind words: "Dani is a true professional! I was blessed to do a photo shoot with her, and I was truly impressed and delighted with her work! I strongly recommend Dani Benton Photography. My experience and quality of my photo session was awesome!!"⁠
More on the blog »
www.danibentonphotography.com/archives/7791/⁠⁠⁠

22/05/2023

This week, we're looking at three very different headshot portrait situations: first, a natural setting for a beauty pageant; second, a professional setting for a federal marshal; and third, a fast-paced conference setting culminating in a total of 450 headshots. You'll see how each session is tailored to the needs of the client

First, let’s take a peek at Ms. Alyssa’s session at Audubon Park. This talented young woman needed headshot portraits for her upcoming beauty pageant, which required her to submit photos with a certain look and style of outfit. We chose this location for her session, so we could get a mix of greenery, as well as a clean background, using the amphitheater pillars as a backdrop. I used a telephoto lens to give us that nice soft background, and the natural light from a rare overcast day, to let her natural beauty shine through.

I’m happy to say that Ms. Alyssa did end up placing in her pageant, earning the title of ‘Miss Fleur de Lis’ in the Miss Louisiana USA Pageant. She also received an additional award for ‘Miss Congeniality’ and ‘Interview Award’. Way to go!⁠
More on the blog:⁠
www.danibentonphotography.com/archives/7791/⁠⁠⁠

17/04/2023

In stark contrast to most of our 14 months traveling 21 Mexican states in 2021 and 2022, our short time in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz was spent puzzling over the seemingly abandoned Gulf coastal waterfront. The long stretch of malecón had more abandoned buildings than occupied, despite the nice beach, warm temperature, and calm waters for swimming. I decided to create a short series of tilt-shift photographs to document the bizarre crumbling structures.

I assure you this is not representative of many areas in Mexico, and in fact, was quite startling, after seeing so many amazing villages, towns, and cities throughout the country! ⁠You're welcome to follow the link in my bio to see the full collection of 15 images in this study of such an interesting and unusual city, like nowhere else we witnessed in Mexico.⁠⁠
More on the blog:⁠
www.danibentonphotography.com/archives/8312/⁠
Print Shop:⁠
www.danibentonphotography.shootproof.com/gallery/printshop/⁠⁠⁠⁠