Daniel Maddux was born and mostly grew up in the flat subtropical land of south Louisiana. He started drawing in the 4th grade. He attended college and law school in the 1980s. In between completing his undergraduate degree and starting law school, he took a several art classes and started painting in addition to drawing. During this time, he discovered the European Renaissance technique of Silverpoint drawing and loved it. After graduating from law school, he practiced law in south Louisiana, briefly Maryland, and then Texas in the 1990s. During this time he continued to draw and paint.

In 1999, he bought his first camera to document family visits and events. After living for several years in Texas, he felt ready for a change and decided to move further west. Upon seeing Sedona for the first time in early 2003, he felt that he was home and moved to the town within one month. Seeing the natural beauty of the red rock buttes and canyons surrounding Sedona inspired him to photograph the land on his frequent hikes.

In October 2007, he started photographing with medium and large format film cameras and became more serious about his photography. He started photographing with black & white film and got his first Platinum prints made in 2009. Seeing these Platinum prints reminded him of the Silverpoint drawings that he loved, which hooked him on the Platinum printing process. In 2012, he upgraded to a 16x20 camera and slowly started photographing people and Sycamore trees with this massive camera. In the Fall of 2015, he discovered HIDDEN LIGHT, LLC, and has been working with Matt and Taylor since that time to develop his film and make Platinum prints, Cyanotypes, and Silver gelatin prints of his negatives.

He is currently photographing the Sycamore, Cypress, Alligator Juniper, and Oak trees in the canyons around Sedona with color and black & white film.