Firestorm in Canyon Country

First of all, thank you all for your phone calls and concerns. For those you haven't heard or, more likely, have been distracted by the many other crazy fires, my husband, myself, and my parents found ourselved in the middle of the Canyon Country fire for the last 36 hours or so. It seems like everyone knows at least one person or family involved in the various fires around the southland, so I know our story is far from unique.


This photo is the "before" of the Camp Plenty neighborhood you'll see more of later. The sky was downright Apocalyptic (this is from Sunday afternoon).

A HUGE shoutout to the Firemen and women who are continuing to battle these dozens of blazes - they are true heroes!!!

As it stands now, my parents, who were originally evacuated yesterday, are now safe back at home (along with their three cats and the dog). Unforunately, a lot of homes were lost in this - including just down Whites Canyon from my parents on Camp Plenty. I was able to talk with some of the residents of that neighborhood (and one family of one of the destroyed homes) and take some pictures. You'll also see a photo of the eucalyptus tree that came down in our complex and landed on our car park (the top of it is a tennis court - that's the photo below).

Thanks again for your prayers. Please continue to pray for those who still don't know the fate of their properties and find themselves still evacuated.

The following photos are just a few from the Camp Plenty neighborhood (both before and after the fires came through).


This is the family I spoke to and that is what's left of their home behind them. They were in a surprisingly good mood considering.
Some of the heroic fire fighters.
This is what is left of the trash can of a family down the street from the burned out photos. I spoke with the resident of this home and he showed me some of the other damage to the home. They were really lucky though and they didn't lose their home.

Check out the front of this Saturn - it totally melted due to the heat of the blaze. Dent resistant, yes. Heat resistant?.... not so much....

I LOVE Halloween - mostly because of pumpkins. ;-p

This past weekend, I took my annual trip to one of my most favorite places on earth - Lombardi's Ranch in Saugus, Ca. My mom used to take me and my siblings there every year to pick out pumpkins from the time we were really little, so I have a lot of great memories there. This time I took my husband and my father & mother-in-law so they could experience it too.

You have to understand 2 things about Lombardi's:

1) Fall has not really started until you've gone here (and football season starts).

&

2) This is no ordinary pumpkin patch!

First of all, Lombardi's is HUGE. I mean really really huge. It's a working ranch and they grow all their own pumpkins there. Check out my pick of just ONE of the pumpkin fields you can walk through to buy a pumpkin. That's one of about 10. Second, they have a lot of other stuff there too; hay rides, a sunflower field, corn fields and a corn maze (you can even buy fresh corn on the cob like at the fair to eat while you walk around), a petting zoo and random animals you can look at too (check out my Llama picture! it's totally chewing on the wool of the sheep!). There is so much to see and it's a blast esp. for kids. They also have really strange pumpkins and squash too. And all of it's free. :-) You just pay if you want a pumpkin or something.

One of my favorite-est parts of Lombardi's is their Scarecrow Contest. Every year tons of groups (like brownie troups, boy scouts, elementary school classes, etc.) can enter a scarecrow into the contest. I'm not sure what they win and they split up the age groups to make it a little bit more fair, but I'm always amazed at what these kids come up with! It's so much fun to grab some fresh corn on the cob and walk around through the sunflower patch down Scarecrow Alley. Check out the pics of my favorites.

I spoke with one of the owners and founders, Joanne Lombardi, this year and have made arrangments to do photography sessions there next year! I'm so excited about this! Basically, you'll be able to bring your kiddos in their costumes to Lombardi's for 15 minute "mini-sessions" (for cheap too!) and get some great pro shots of your kids in costume in a wonderful locations. You'll have to signup beforehand for a time slot, but if you have more than one kid with you, you can sign up for multiple times. I'm really excited about this opportunity and you can bet you'll be hearing more about it. :-)

Check out the pics! ~Brienne







btw, is this not the funniest sign? And people totally sit there and wait.... I giggle every time! ;-)

I could tell you but.... then I'd have to kill you.

So one of my most favorite weddings this season is a secret! How funny is that? Due to security reasons, I can't publish the names or face of the groom involved in this wedding (or the photos that could identify him), so I'm only posting one. But it's one of my favorites even though you can't see his face at all. ;-)

More to come! I'm excited about upcoming events - keep visiting for new info!

~Brienne

Aubrey & Brian in Sylmar

My final wedding of my packed final weekend in September was located at a beautiful Equestrian Club in Sylmar, CA. The day was beautiful, as was the bride, and the couple was blast. When you combine the bride's love for the Dodgers and the groom's love for Star Wars, you get an interesting combination! Take a look at some of my fav images for clarification on what I mean by "interesting". :-)


In case they need explaining - the R2D2 held the pens for signing their guest book plate, the Dodgers "tickets" were actually their place cards, and they had bobble head dolls made of themselves for their cake. Awesome, huh? I love it when couples get inventive and think out of the box. :-)

Saturday Fashionista Shoot

Saturday's shoot was an absolute blast. Working with Sandra was an pleasure! I think she might have the most amazing eyes (I didn't re-touch them at all) that would totally change color with every outfit she wore. Also, she has the most amazingly cool jewelry collection. ;-) Every piece she wore was her own. You'd never believe me if I told you her age, but if you ask her, she'll tell you she's "34.95 + tax". ;-) Let's just say I hope I look that good when I'm her age!

Makeup was provided by the amazing and every talented Sandra Welzenbach.

Leehey Wedding

I was so excited to start my crazy weekend off with a beautiful wedding at the Ritz Carlton in Pasadena. I was shooting second for my good friend and talented photographer Jessica Verma, and we had a blast. I even took a shot or two of her... ;-) This couple rocked - they had a 70's hair band play at the reception and even covered the dance floor in bubble wrap. It was pretty awesome. :-)

Congrats to Keith & Becky on their beautiful day - I know you thought it was going to rain, but it didn't and your day was gorgeous!

Enjoy some of my favorite pics from the day!

~Brienne

Mac or PC

So I came across this music video today and I could hardly stop laughing. That might have something to do with my exhaustion level right now (three shoots - two of them weddings - this weekend, and two more to go this week!), but more on that later.

Enjoy this hilarious video - you know where I stand. ;-)