Daniela has been wonderful from her stunning work to traveling last minute to my small home town in Indiana 5 hours away from Chicago so that I could still have the wedding of my dreams during a pandemic. Her work is unbelievable and truly captures the emotions of the day. Any bride would be lucky to have her document your day! read more

See all

Daniela is not only professional and over the top friendly but she also made posing feel natural and captured so many great shots! All of our family and friends loved her and I couldn't recommend her more! Plus the turn around for getting our photos back was so quick!! read more

We first hired Daniela for our engagement photos and she did such an amazing job that we knew immediately we also had to have her capture our wedding day. She took the time to get to know us as a couple and to really understand the vision we were going for. Her attention to detail is impeccable, she is very professional, creative, and made us and our family feel at ease. Our photos are absolutely stunning!! Attached are just a few of our favorites! read more

See all

Where to begin?? I found Daniela on an extensive search. I must have gone through hundreds of portfolios of photographers to see who I thought had the talent I was looking for. So many times, I've seen people hire photographers for such special events that just didn't nail the photos, and in my opinion, that's gotta hurt! It's who you trust to capture the moments in time you can't get back, so I definitely did my homework. Daniela was not someone that was easy to find--she doesn't advertise a ton. I came across her work by chance. When I saw her portfolio, just by the way she works with the lighting in her photos, what she chooses to blur and bring to the forefront of the picture and what she highlights--boom! I knew this girl has the eye! She knows how to capture the beauty and have it shine in the photos she takes. I contacted Daniela, and I was just so touched by how sweet and easy to work with she is. She has the heart of gold! She is someone who does this as her passion, she just really enjoys it, and created her company for it. Not the other way around! This woman is just pure talent. She nailed our engagement photos, and we just got our wedding photos, and just WOW. She has got our whole family's vote for #1 photographer in the Chicagoland area, and she now will have generations of our family who will utilize her company for any important event. If you want someone who has the pure talent to capture the moments you can't get back for your wedding or special event, make it count by selecting a talented photographer. Daniela is the way to go. We wish her all the success in the world!! read more

See all

Daniela and Beking were absolutely amazing!! My husband and I love all of our photos so much! They caught such great candid ones and knew how to use the lighting and locations throughout Chicago. We weren't doing an engagement shoot, so Daniela was flexible with the package we wanted, which was greatly appreciated. HIGHLY recommend. read more

See all

I chose Daniela because of her excellent reviews on Yelp. I wanted a beautiful photo spread for my professional portfolio and wasn't sure how to begin. Daniela was amazing! She helped me choose the outfits that best complemented my body type and was great at giving direction during the shoot. In the end, my portfolio turned out better than I could have possibly imagined. She truly is a consummate professional who gives the utmost attention to detail. If Yelp had ten stars she'd get them all! read more

I own a wedding DJ company and in the past 6 months happened to work with Daniela at 3 different weddings. She is great to work with and after checking out her site I am a big fan of her work! I have also endorsed her company on my company website as a preferred vendor. Keep up the good work Daniela! read more

I would absolutely recommend Daniela to anyone looking for a wedding photographer. I took a look at her portfolio online and was very impressed. I reached out to her to setup an initial meeting and she was very responsive and flexible with her schedule. We had an initial meeting over coffee where she was prompt, professional and friendly and our personalities instantly meshed. I got married at an old mansion turned museum where the ceremony and most of the reception was outside. Daniela met me a 2nd time prior to my wedding day to tour the venue to get some ideas of the best spots to take photos. She also wanted to see how the sun would hit the space that time of day to optimize the lighting. On the day of the wedding Daniela showed up early and got to work right away. She has a strong yet calming presence which was critical for herding my ADHD infused wedding party. We got our pictures back about 4 weeks after our wedding and they were absolutely stunning! She captured our day perfectly. Her passion definitely shows through her work and she has an incredible eye for detail. I would hire Daniela over and over again :) read more

I used Daniela for my wedding and she is just the sweetest person and made my day so relaxing and chill. Her calming demeanor is contagious and she is so talented in her craft! She listened to all that I wanted and always asked questions to make sure we were on the same page. I have nothing, but good things to say about her and highly recommend her for any photography projects! Mad props, Daniella! read more

We hired Daniela for our wedding and engagement photos. She was very pleasant and responsive, and easy to work with. In one instance, we misplaced the engagement photos that we ordered (that were to be displayed at the reception) and she replaced them free of charge. We felt that she is very honest and trustworthy. In terms of the actual pictures, we ended up disappointed in the product. She did a good job of capturing details such as the wedding dress, reception tables, flower arrangements, etc. However, many of the pictures with people in them were too far away and unusable. I had requested certain shots and had given her examples of angles/poses ahead of time but she did not end up looking at them. I also requested a shot of the LaSalle Board of Trade view with the clock (a very famous wedding picture in Chicago) and she was unable to get that done, instead suggesting that we stand on the sidewalk which did not turn out very nice. The group family pictures were not spaced/arranged properly so the ended up looking like a group of people just standing around, and nobody in our family ended up ordering pictures. We also passed on the album as we did not see enough pictures that we liked. In contrast, her assistant (Layla Eloa) did a wonderful job with the groom's pictures. She spent a lot of time on posing/posture and they all turned out great. Layla is in the market with her own photography service, and we highly recommend her! read more

Daniela Cardili photography was one of our most important and best decisions we made for our wedding. There are so many options available in the industry but I truly believe Daniela provides an element to photography that is rare and wonderful - authenticity! Daniela looks at the wedding holistically. She gets to know and understand her clients and forms true connections! I really do think of Daniela as a lifelong friend. My husband and I have never felt more ourselves than from her lens. I think what strikes me the most about Daniela is her ability to capture you at your best self - it's you, just elevated. When she took our engagement photos I remember thinking - she didn't just capture two people, she really captured our love. We just received our wedding photos back (in record time!!) and they are absolutely stunning. Along with our family and friends, we are just elated to be able to relive this special day. Photographs, especially wedding photos, are timeless. They will be in your family for generations to come and I couldn't be happier that Daniela was the one to capture them. read more

Daniela is wonderful. She has a calm and friendly personality and gives direction quickly, the photos came out amazing and the bride&groom didn't have to spend a lot of time away from their guests. I've seen her family portraits as well and they are just beautiful. More than a photographer, truly an artist! read more

We absolutely loved working with Daniela. Both my husband and I were nervous about getting in front of the camera, but after the engagement session I knew we were in great hands. She was so helpful with working out the timeline of the wedding day and had great ideas for where to take our bridal party pictures. The day of the wedding she and her assistant did such a good job of capturing not only the portraits, but the candid moments. She created a slideshow of her favorite photos from the wedding, and my husband and I both couldn't control our tears- the photos were so beautiful! They more than exceeded our expectations. Picking 50 for the photo album was so hard because there were so many amazing photos! read more

Daniela is a wonderful photographer. I chose her based on photos she took of the venue we chose for our reception (ArTango Bistro). She was very communicative and reliable in all of our correspondence leading up to our special day. Then, on the day of the wedding she stayed very calm and supportive. She knew exactly how to set the scene and pose the wedding party to take the most beautiful and flattering photos. Her assistant also did a great job with the groomsmen. She is competitively priced for amazing quality. I would recommend her to anyone! read more

Daniela was the most professional, kind, patient and talented photographer we could have ever dreamed of having for our 4/18/15 wedding. She was wonderful throughout the planning process and executed our vision perfectly the day of. We can not say enough nice things about her. Not only did she get our 2,000 pictures to us two weeks after the wedding; she also put together a beautiful 7 minute slideshow as a preview. My husband and I couldn't be happier with Daniela and her assistant Layla. We would highly recommend her to anyone looking for an excellent photographer, great experience and beautiful photos! read more

Daniela Cardili is very talented and a joy to work with. Her confidence and years of photography experience shines during those most unexpected moments. Daniela's work is a beautiful blend of art and photography. Our family highly recommends Daniela Cardili Photography. You will cherish Daniela and the lifetime of treasures she creates for you. read more

We had such a wonderful experience working with Daniela for our wedding. At the initial meeting, we knew we wanted to work with her - she was very passionate about photography and her job, as well as very timely, organized, and thorough. This was evident during our engagement session and entire wedding day. Daniela was able to provide an experienced voice, recommending wonderful locations all over the city and making sure we never fell behind schedule. We even added a couple extra spots when she noticed a new background or lighting that she could take advantage of. Her photos are beautiful and do an amazing job capturing the entirety of the day, from all of the traditional, yet special moments, to candid shots between us, friends, and family. As an added bonus, we received our edited engagement photos two days after taking them and all of our wedding photos a month later! We could not have been happier with our decision to have chosen Daniela as our photographer. read more

We could not have been happier to work with Daniela for our wedding! My groom is a photographer, so it was his job to select candidates for us. Daniela wowed him first, and then when the three of us met...we talked for over two hours! Daniela is so lovely and kind and amazingly calming (says a frazzled bride), and she was all of those things through the entire process - including with all the characters at our wedding! I cannot recommend this woman enough as a person...and believe me, you want to work with someone you like! And, of course, we LOVE her work! Our pictures came out GORGEOUS! read more

Daniela was amazing to work with. Not only was she patient and kind, but she gave direction. My fiancé and I booked Daniela just about two years prior to our wedding bc of how much we enjoyed her work- I'm quite particular when it comes to photography being thy I have somewhat of a passion and background in it , but her work quickly caught my eye. My husband and myself don't feel that we could have chosen a better photographer and plan on working with Daniela in the future. I would definitely recommend her to anyone. read more

Let me start by saying I am the first to admit that I am a very particular (i.e. critical) person. Photography for our wedding was one of my top priorities. I don't have the best memory, and I wanted someone who would not just capture photos, but the moments on our special day so we could relive them for years to come. Daniela was referred to me by another photographer who was unavailable on our wedding date. I looked at Daniela's website, and I knew right away that I must have her as our photographer. Her work was absolutely stunning and dramatic. Besides having beautiful work, I knew it was also important that our personalities mixed because you're spending your whole wedding day with the photographer. Daniela and I met up at a pie place, and I immediately felt like I was catching up with a good friend. She has a calming and friendly personality, but you also get the sense that she will just take care of everything. I was sold! On our wedding day, Daniela was prompt, poised, and professional; she immediately set to work using her artistic eye. It was also an exceptionally hot day, so she was very good about working smart and trying to keep folks in the shade who were not in pictures at the time. Much appreciated! Last night, we just got our photos. I cried. Daniela captured exactly what I hoped for and more. These are photos I will be proud to share with our family and someday children. Daniela's art (because that is absolutely what it is), is so incredibly beautiful. I totally went outside of my budget for her, and I am so thankful I did. She is worth every single penny. Don't walk to Daniela, run to her for your photography! read more

We are so glad we had Daniela photograph our wedding! We loved getting to know her during our engagement session and felt so comfortable knowing she would be the one capturing our big day. On our wedding day she was on time, professional, organized, and helped make everything run smooth--even with a very large bridal party! She was great at directing us with poses for pictures and captured many wedding details in her photos. I'm so thankful I have these photos to look back on and remember our day. The hardest part is now deciding which photos are our favorite, because we love them all! read more

Daniela is an artist and she captured the spirit of our wedding. Before meeting her, I looked at the pictures on her website and they were some of the most beautiful wedding pictures I've seen. When Dan and I met Daniela in person, we were hooked. She worked with our budget. She was patient with us as well because sometimes we had to figure out what we wanted. She photographed our engagement photos as well. I'm pretty camera shy and feel so awkward when posing. She was professional and also made us feel very comfortable during the engagement photos. At the wedding, she took amazing portraits of our family and guests. Her candid pictures showed joy and love! She only shared the good ones! She was positive and encouraging. She was also subtle and most of the time I didn't even realize she was taking photos. I love the pictures she took of my bouquet and the reception room as well. She captured us talking with our guests. And she photographed our friends and family having a great time! Her candids of them smiling, laughing, and dancing brought us great joy knowing our guests really enjoyed themselves. I'm so grateful she was our photographer! read more

Daniela is professional, patient, and kind. She has a great sense of photography and her style is simply what we like. When shooting our wedding, we feel her passion was not about merely finishing a task but about making an artwork for us and for herself. She provided us great suggestions on shooting spots in Chicago. A couple of weeks before our wedding, she paid a visit with us to the actual church where we were going to have the ceremony. After the wedding, she very soon provided us first the low-resolution and then the complete set of high-resolution photos. We like the photos very much. All through the process of communication (email & phone), she's been very responsive and always met our demands as quickly and well as she can. We would definitely recommend her. read more

Daniela is the most gifted photographer I have ever worked with. It is clear in her work that she has years of knowledge, experience, and a great fundamental background in photography. She has a great eye for staging photographs, and has extraordinary attention to detail when it comes to lighting. All of the pictures we got back were incredible and truly captured a moment in time in our lives at our wedding. Daniela was an absolute pleasure to work with. She was very flexible and willing to customize things to our needs. The turnaround time on the pictures was way less than expected; she even sent us a "best of" slideshow before all of the pictures were released. I felt so honored to work with someone who has such a passion for the art of photography, and am glad I choose Daniela to photograph one of the biggest days of my life. read more

Daniela is a true artist and an expert in her field. My husband and I are beyond grateful she was our wedding photographer and absolutely love our photos. We are still amazed at the quality and quantity of photos she took. Not only did Daniela make us feel and look our best, but she also captured our loved ones at their best. Her photos are timeless and you'll notice that all of her brides look so happy in their photos, which is a true testament to Daniela's wonderful personality. Her calm demeanor puts you at ease and allows you to truly enjoy such an important day. At the same time she is extremely detail oriented and knows exactly which angle and what lighting is most flattering on her clients. Beyond her artistic eye, she is also very organized. She made the family portraits session run seamlessly, and even reminded me of certain photos I wanted that I would have otherwise forgotten to take. At your wedding you cannot possible take every moment in, which is why hiring your photographer is such an important decision to make. Daniela captured so many memories I would have otherwise missed, and as the day went by so quickly her photos helped me relive some of my favorite moments. I would recommend Daniela to anyone looking for a photographer. It will be the best decision you make. read more

Daniela was absolutely amazing to work with. I searched for the perfect photographer with my mom and from the moment we met Daniela she was just amazing. We clicked and I knew she would be perfect for my wedding. After seeing her gorgeous albums and her work I couldn't have been more anxious to sign a contract. She is such a sweet person and she was so lovely to work with. My wife and I weren't always the easiest to manage I'm sure and she never missed a beat. She was professional and friendly and just a true artist. For our engagement session she made us feel so comfortable in front of the camera. For the wedding, she stayed calm while literally everyone else was in panic mode. I could just look over to Daniela and be reminded that this day isn't about how everyone's hair looks or if the colors turned out right. It was more meaningful and Daniela worked to capture those sincere moments. I cannot wait to see our photos because I have all the faith in the world they will be beautiful. My wife and I are not the most romantic couple... we are more playful and silly but we chose Daniela because the way she shoots and edits, we knew she would capture the softer side of us. Thank you Daniela for being so kind and understanding while working with us! We were blessed to have you for our wedding xoxo read more

Picking the photographer was the only real assignment my now wife gave to me, but we both agreed it was the most important vendor. I spent hours and hours looking at photographers and their styles online. At one point I had a spreadsheet with about 50 photographers rated and profiled. After figuring out exactly the style we were interested in, I narrowed it down to three to meet and get pricing from, and Daniela Hood was at the top of my list based on the albums on her website. She wasn't as well known as some of the other photographers we met with, but her pictures spoke for themselves, and we figured she'd be one of the most expensive (she wasn't at all). After meeting with photographers, Daniela's personality was our favorite, and her pricing was really reasonable and fair. It was the easiest decision because we liked her photos the best too, and we are thrilled we picked her. She has a very artistic documentary style that tells the story of your entire wedding day, so you can remember it forever. Her photos of us were just as beautiful as the albums she has on her website, if not more so. We took photos on Lasalle Street, in a small park next to the Art Museum, and then at the Museum of Contemporary Art where our ceremony and reception were. They were all amazing, and she made it really easy to be natural in front of the camera. Instead of feeling uncomfortable or like we were posing, she had us be natural (and kiss a lot :-) After 3 hours of photos around town (our choice) we were still relaxed and happy, and ready to be married. We would recommend Daniela as a better alternative to the expensive well-known studious with high priced photographers. Daniela is better. read more

Daniela Cardili shot our engagement and wedding photos this past year. Upon meeting her for the first time we knew she was perfect fit for us. She made the whole process of picking a photographer stress free. Any questions I had she would answer right away either by phone or email. Daniela has a very calm and patient demeanor, she listened to all our "wants" yet provided her expertise to capture the perfect shot. On the day of our wedding, Daniela took the time to get to know the families and wedding party, which made everyone feel comfortable in front of the camera. She also captured some amazing picture of our dog! Daniela also had a partner working along side her, she was also very professional and captured the side action shots that turned out great. My husband and I are could not be happier with how everything turned out. She was beyond great to work with and would recommend her to anyone looking for a photographer! read more