About Danielle Buoncristiani

The first time I watched an image appear in the darkroom, I was hooked. I didn’t have the words for it then, but something about that quiet transformation — light turning to memory — felt like magic. Around that same time, I was volunteering at the San Francisco Zoo, where I learned another kind of seeing: watching how animals communicate through the smallest shifts in movement or gaze.

That early fascination with observation followed me to UC Davis, where I studied zoology and worked at the Sacramento Zoo, later joining a wildlife research team in Montana studying grizzly bears, bald eagles, and wolves. Long before photography became my profession, it was my way of understanding the world — of noticing patterns, connection, and life in motion.

When I opened Buoncristiani Photography in 2000, that way of seeing shaped everything I did. Photographing families felt familiar — another living rhythm, another expression of belonging. I realized that whether I was working with people or wildlife, my purpose was the same: to honor connection.

My work has always been about connection — between people, between generations, and between us and the natural world.

That belief eventually carried me north to Alaska, where I spent weeks photographing bears, moose, and foxes across Lake Clark, Denali, and Kenai Fjords. Seen in My Lens: Alaska grew from those journeys — part field journal, part reflection, part love letter to the wilderness.

Here, I share the images and stories that remind me — and hopefully you — to slow down, look closely, and find the wonder in front of you.

If you’d like to explore my portrait and family work, visit www.BuonPhoto.com.
If you’re here to journey through the wild with me — welcome. You’re in the right place.

Danielle Buoncristiani
Your Photographer for Life.