I was born just outside of Boston, Massachusettes, then moved to the beautiful city of Charlotte, NC till I was 7 years of age before moving back up north and settling in a small town called Brewster on the famous island of Cape Cod, MA. My father James Baci was also once a professional photographer & videographer but later just became a hobbyist so I was born with a camera in my face. Most of my family were/are also artists or creative people, from painting, and photography to craft making we all see the world differently. I always knew I wanted to do something creative but didn’t know what, as a young adult I struggled to find my place in the world, working so many different jobs such as carpentry, house painting, plumbing, garbage man, to being an automotive technician. In fact, I completed a 2-year college course in automotive technology but I wasn’t happy with any of these trade jobs. One day I signed up for a MMA class at a local school where I fell in love with martial arts. I know what you’re thinking “what does this have to do with photography?” and let me explain.
During my obsession with MMA (mixed martial arts) a friend and I found this Muay Thai & MMA training camp in Phuket, Thailand on the internet. (do you see where this is going?) In my mid 20’s I decided to save all my money and travel to Thailand to study the great martial art of Muay Thai for 2 months in Dec. of 2016. This trip would change my life forever!, I immediately fell in love with Thailand, the sights, the smells, the food, the people, and the sport of Muay Thai. Once I returned home I felt empty again, even more so after experiencing what life could be like, I told amazing stories to my friend and family about my time in Thailand but I didn’t take many pictures so the stories were just that, “just a story”. The following year I would return to Thailand for a few months, this time I bought a decent “point & shoot” camera so i could document everything, so I did just that, I filmed and photographed literally everything. Making small youtube video montages, and editing photos in photoshop so I can share my experience with my friends and family. My photos and videos weren’t very good at the time but I knew I really enjoyed creating them. Every day my friend and I would talk about our time traveling in Thailand and we just wanted to find a way to live there. One day out of the blue I had an idea, I could use my video skills to produce marketing content for the Muay Thai gym and build a business making highlight video for its guests. I had a friendship with the owner at the time whom is also American so I sent him an email pitching my idea. A week went by and I didnt hear from him, I started to give up hope but then I got the email, “Daniel I’d love to have you on board”!. After a few months of planning, I sold everything I had and moved to Phuket, Thailand in Aug. of 2009 where I would intern for the gym and develop my photography & videography skills. I successfully boosted the gyms profile generating over 8 million views on youtube within a few years, helping it to become the biggest and best destination fitness gym in the world!. I also had success building a company within the gym, my services became very popular for visitors but I was still struggling financially and feared I would one day soon have to return to the cold NE of America. This motivated me most, one day I met a fellow photographer at the gym, she told me that she is a wedding photographer, at the time I haven’t even considered wedding photography, mainly because I didn’t really know it was a profitable thing. This photographer would go on and shoot some weddings here in Phuket and recommended me as a videographer to one of her clients. This would be the moment that would “again” change my life, I went on to film a couple of weddings and 2nd her as an assistant photographer. The weddings blew my mind, witnessing people from all over the world get married at these amazing beachfront wedding venues here in Phuket was just awesome so with the $1000usd I had in my bank and with a borrowed camera I started my wedding photography business here in Thailand in 2011. Since then I have shot over 300+ weddings worldwide, got married myself, bought a home and had a child here in Phuket where I call my forever home. -Daniel Baci
