GENUINITY. A new word.

Anybody who knows me well knows that I am ALWAYS reading. :-) I love books and I have learned to really love audiobooks in the last 3 years or so (thanks to long commutes in my past). I'm on a business book tear (if you have any you'd like to suggest, please do!), and I am currently reading "You, Inc." by Harry and Christine Beckwith. I found it on iTunes randomly and downloaded the audio book to my iPod. I love it! It's helped to remind me of how much being genuine really matters in any business and in anything in life. If I try to pretend to be something I'm not, one of two things will happen: 1) the person I'm being fake in front of will see through me (which just makes me look dumb) or 2.) I'll fool them. And the kind of person who is fooled by me will also be fooled by someone else eventually too - not usually the kind of thing I'm looking for. ;-)

And to have a Stephen Colbert moment, I'm going to invent a word here: Genuinity. Which, for my purposes, means the quanitity or quality of your genuineness. I started this blog last year to help share and inform my clients, friends, and prospective clients of the real me. I believe in being REAL. The more I've whittled down what I do and what my photography is all about, the more simple it has become - I shoot REAL people, REAL moments, REAL memories. My photography is about being real because I and making it a point for me to be real also.

So I hope you enjoy the stuff found in this blog - it's little pieces of the real me. Got something you want to know? Ask, and not only will I answer you, maybe I'll even blog about it.

How is your own Genuinity doing? You can only be you anyway, so why not do it well?

Baby Samuel Barker

I was so excited today to get to see our good friends Matt & Cherise and their new baby, Sam. He's only 2 months old, but was a bit premature so he's only 13 pounds. He's absolutely adorable and totally mellow. :-)

For those of you who don't know, we used to roommate it up with Matt & Cherise not that long ago and my husband Preston has known both Matt & Cherise for years (since high school). We were so excited to see them become parents and thrilled to spend a few hours spoiling the little guy (which, at his age, primarily means holding and giving gifts to the parents). ;-p

Here's a few pics of the cutie - Keep in mind these were taken with a little point'n'shoot, so don't think to yourself "Wow! The Nikon is really lame".

;-)
~Brienne

PS: I had to take this pic of Preston holding the little guy! :-)

Xochilt & Kevin

Last weekend, I shot a beautiful wedding in Torrance, CA (yay for coastal weather!). The bride, Xochilt (pronounced Zso-she) was beauitful, and the groom was certainly entertaining! I think this wedding had more kids and pregnant guests than any other wedding I've shot - and there were only about 100 people there!

It was a blast. Here are a few of my fav shots of the bride and groom.

Runner's up....

So the word came back on the house we put an offer on today. We are officially the "runners up" aka first back-ups. They took a slightly higher offer that had contingencies, so there is the remotest of possibilities that they'll come back to us if the winners change their mind after their inspection. We're not holding our breath though.

We're not too bummed though. It was a great house and had so much potential, but there are so many foreclosures out there right now. We've actually expanded our search area to include our favorite choice - Glendale/Burbank. So we're optimistic and know that this just means that God has better things in store for us. :-) So farewell to the home on Stanley Ct. and hello to all the other opportunities out there!

We'll keep you all in the loop if anything changes or if we find a new property! Can't say that I'm sad that there doesn't seem to be packing and moving in my immediate future. ;-)

~Brienne

Kreative Kids

I always love photographing kids. Whenever I do a session with little ones, I always enjoy it and laugh a lot - even when the two year old gives the inevitable tantrum. :-p This session was no different (though I didn't actually photograph the 2 yr. old while she was screaming...I don't know why cuz I usually love those shots). These two little ones were absolutely BEAUTIFUL and a pleasure to work with.

Thanks to Shylah and Maliah's mommy for all her help! Enjoy the shots. :-)

Becoming a LoveCat

I've just finished reading "Love is the Killer App" and I can't recommend it enough. I had just decided to get more info on the biz side of photography (I run my own photography business after all), and this was an awesome jumping off point.

Kudos to Dane Sanders for the recommendation and to Tim Sanders for writing it (I don't think they're related, but I could be wrong). It is chock full of great advice and is a breeze to read. It's funny, simple, and informative - and leaves me wanting to be a Lovecat.

The basic premise is simple - if you fill yourself with knowledge, build your network, and are a basically compassionate person, and then you share that with others selflessly, you will succeed. It's not for the sake of success necessarily, but for the betterment of business and for your own good.

Let's just say he's made a convert of me. Competition in the work place (in the way that the term "baracuda", "shark", or "pirana" is used) is a thing of the past. If we share our knowledge (which has been boosted by reading EVERYTHING on relevant subjects), advice, network (address book) and do it all with GENUINE concern for those around us, the sky's the limit.

That's a horribly over-simplified sum-up of the book, but it's sort of the basics. I recommend reading it - you won't regret it. ;-)

~Brienne

Kamesha & Steve

So it's a bit late, but here are a few images from my wedding on the 25th of August. The bride & groom had some interesting issues to deal with - even more than the normal wedding. This wedding was originally booked for late October, but since the b&g are both military, they had to change the date when the bride was called to serve overseas in October. Despite the OTHER circumstances (those of you who got a frantic phone call know what I'm referring to here), there were still some great images.



Don't mess with either of them! They're both in the Air Force!


I love these next two - Steve wasn't too up for it at first, but I'm glad Kamesha talked him into it.


Family photo op here. :-) This is the new, blended family.


Congrats to Kamesha & Steve - thanks for having me be a part of you day! My thoughts and prayers are with this new family as Kamesha is supposed to go to Iraq the first week of October.

~Brienne

Fashionista Photo Shoot

As a part of the re-structuring of Shepard Creative Photography this year (that I'm ALMOST done with!), a new section of photography has been opened up under our "Creative Couture" photography line - Fashionista Photo Shoot.

Similar to America's Next Top Model, clients get a chance to spend a day as a fashion model (complete with professional makeup and hair). I've had some clients add this to their Senior Portrait session, some who want it for their professional portfolio, and some who just want to have fun for a day.

This past weekend, I headed out to the desert (I know, I know, you're thinking I'm crazy because of the weather, but it was actually in the 80's the whole shoot and dropped down to 79 by the time we left!). I also was breaking in my new LightSphere (which I LOVE). Check out the pics!