Christen - Maternity with Style

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." (Psalms 139:13-14)



Yesterday I had the absolute pleasure of working with my new friend Christen for her maternity shoot. Christen and I bonded over BCBG, "Project Runway" and "What Not To Wear" - so it was practically a match made in heaven. ;-p

I was so excited to work with her (and baby Corban, though he may not have realized what was going on...) - especially because she chose Zuma Beach for her shoot! If you haven't been to Zuma, you don't know what you're missing! It's an awesome beach in Malibu that is guaranteed to have dolphins within swimming distance no matter when you go. Not only did we have dolphins (which we opted NOT to swim out to), but we also had a very amusing seal (who, incidentally, was quite good at body surfing). Isn't she beautimous?



We seriously had a blast the whole time we were there and must have had the most gorgeous beach weather possible: warm warm sand and 70 degrees with a light breeze. You can't pay for better.



Now, occasionally, I hear people mention how a pregnant mother is "glowing". This is a phenomenon that I have witnesses several times, but I was particularly excited to capture it in Christen yesterday. This is straight of out camera - I swear she is literally glowing! (In a good way...):



This time in life has got to be one of my favorites to witness. One of the trends in our culture and in Hollywood that I've actually be excited about has been the glamorization and the virtual liberation of the pregnant body. It is both fascinating and awesome to witness the miracle of life - and I mean that as more than just another cliché. I know several of the women I've worked with in this stage struggle with self-image and feeling truly "beautiful" when they are having a hard time doing basic things and are confused slightly at just how "big" they are, but I hope that I can help not only my clients, but people in general who come across my images to see just how amazing and beautiful this is.



Of course, it also helps when you're working with a GORGEOUS mom like Christen. ;-)











I can't wait to meet little Corban and do the newborn session! He's already a big, active guy who is already very very loved. ;-) Thanks again to Christen for letting me capture such a beautiful time in her life. You are truly stunning.

~B

Dialogues of a Blow Dryer....

My conversation with my blow dryer yesterday went something like this:

Me: "Hey! Ouch! Wtf?"
Blowdryer: "Ooh. Hey. Sorry about that. You ok?"
Me: "No. Jerk."
BD: "Hey, watchit. That wasn't really my fault you know."
Me: "What? You think I meant to do that?"
BD: "I didn't say that, but to be fair, you are holding me."
Me: "What's your point."
BD: "Well..."
Me: "Hey wait. You're talking. Are you like, Narnian or something?"
BD: "Sure - I used to have a job with the Fawns. Tumnus and I go way back... NO! I'm not
Narnian."
Me: "Ok, but, you're like, talking."
BD: "I'm always talking, I just usually say 'WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH'"
Me: "You burned me. Jerk."
BD: "No. You burned yourself. I was just the instrument. It's not like I have legs or something.
You do have a track record, you know"
Me: "Yeah. You got me on that one."
BD: "................"
Me: ".................."
BD: "I am sorry about that nasty crisscut pattern on your face though."
Me: "Sucks. At least I missed my eye. Barely."
BD: "Small miracle.
Me: "You have a point."
BD: "Forgive me? Or am I headed back to the Fawns?"
Me: "Nah. You can stay. Give me a heads up next time though."
BD: "No promises. You really should put some neosporin on that or something."
Me: "......"
BD: "Yeah......"
Me: "Back to 'whooooooosh'?"
BD: "Deal."

I Am an Action Hero.

**CORRECTION** I previously stated that the TOTALLY RAD ACTIONS were Kubota - my bad! They are the Boutwell's! Kubota has AWESOME actions too (which you can purchase here) - but the TRA set of 46 is provided by the Boutwells.

I finally did it. I joined the ranks of Action Heros - thanks to the Boutwells. I have kept hearing about their TOTALLY RAD ACTIONS! from various photographers (Becker, Jessica Claire, Melissa Jill, Kristen Leigh, etc.) and I have to say - I should have done this sooner. Check out some samples.

The first picture is straight out of camera, the second is with "Boutwell Magic Glasses" (LOVE this one), and the third has Magic Glasses and "Old Skool Fast":



And here's another sample. First pic is SOOC:



And this is the same pic with Magic Glasses, "Warm it up, Kris!", and some Yin/Yang action:



Aren't they tasty? I love it. The pack comes with 46 actions for CS2 and CS3 and is totally worth it! I definitely recommend them. Check 'em out!

~B

Sam - Kids Kouture

Who says IHOP isn't picturesque!? Nothing can stop the cuteness of this little guy. Meet Sam - isn't he absolutely, squeezably ADORABLE? Sam is the sweet little 10 month old baby boy of our good friends Matt & Cherise. My husband especially has known both of them since high school (maybe before actually) and I've had the pleasure since college. In fact, at one point, we were all even roommates (not that long ago, actually!). I'm pretty sure that our Kipper was in love with their Espyn too. ;) (Yes, they named their dog after ESPN. She even comes when you whistle the Sports Center theme!)

Now we're all WAY enamored of this little kiddo.



Check out this cute family portrait. :)


And of course, what happened IMMEDIATELY after the last photo...


This one is probably my favorite. I'm not entirely sure why except that I love how cute and little kids are - and how tiny their hands are when they hold their parents hands.


A sweet moment between mom and son.


And one more of this cutie-pa-TOO-tie! :) I LOVE my job. :)

Heidi - the Ewok Baby

Meet Heidi. My in-laws little Ewok-baby. Isn't she sooo adorable? She's a little baby malti-poo-poo (3/4 poodle, 1/4 maltese) and has a rare kind of marking pattern called "phantom markings". Her parents were both light colored (white and silver), but somehow this little one got this. ;-) No jokes about the Milkman.... And you can't tell me that she doesn't look just like an Ewok from "Return of the Jedi". Let me show you some comparison shots:

Heidi - with a natural affinity for nature...


Low-res image of an Ewok:


Don't they look completely related? She's so hilarious too. She does that puppy bounding thing everywhere. There is no such thing as just walking for Heidi. Here's one more funny Ewok photo - mostly because I love Icanhascheezburger....



Ok, back to Heidi. It was a long, hard search for my in-laws to finally get this little chiqua. They had an awesome dog, Mitzi, for a very long time who sadly passed away several years ago. So whatever dog they got had some serious shoes to fill. I'm happy to report that little Heidi is doing that wonderfully. ;-)



Though it's not formally advertised, I actually do pet portraits every now and then. ;-) It's slightly more difficult when the subject is an 8-week old puppy, but MAN is she cute! We don't exactly treat our pets as "little people" (we are Dog Whisperer people afterall - and living a few miles from Cesar Milan makes me feel guilty if we don't live by the "Exercise, Discipline, Affection"), but they are still very important members of the family. :-)



And with those eyes, it's not hard to see why. :-)

~B

Is There Anything More Fabulous that Fierce 5-inch Heel?

Yes! Getting a designer fabulous and fierce 5-inch heel on 75% off! BCBG is one of my favorite shoe designers and I've had my eye on these beauties for a while. I'd quietly drool over them when I walked by in Nordstrom or Macy's. I love the "Bon Chic, Bon Genre" (good style, good attitude) philosophy of BCBG and these shoes PERFECTLY convey that. :-)



Aren't they fantas-chic? or chic-tastic? or fabchiculous? I LOVE it when Macy's runs a sale. I walked in only because I wanted to just drool in the shoe section before moving to another store in the mall and was so excited to see the sale running - and there they were. The only ones of this style and they just happened to be in my size! It was like a sign. The heavens didn't exactly part, but I'm pretty sure one of the incandescent pot lights was spotlighting it... I got them for a fraction of the regular price and they're as wonderful as I dreamed.

Ok, that's all for now. I just wanted to share. Don't feel bad if you're rolling your eyes right now - Preston usually does when I have this kind of reaction to a shoe too. ;-)

~B

My pDNA

Every now and then, a tool comes along that I really fall in love with (or a pair of shoes, but that's for another blog...). For the past couple months, one of the tools that I've really come to appreciate and love is the "pDNA" test (photographer DNA) developed by my friend and mentor, Dane Sanders. It's a 200+ question test similar to a personality test, but for your photography and business.

I took my first test a few months ago and was surprised by some results - and not all together in a positive way. For example, check out my first "Grumpy Factor" results:



Ouch! Though I think at the time I took it that was extremely accurate. I spent too much time comparing my photos to others and letting my own value be determined outside of myself. Talk about a wake-up call! I have spent (and will continue to spend) some time in thought and prayer about this because, for me, it's a sign of deeper issues. So this has been a serious focus of mine since my "grumpiness" was put smack dab in front of me. I've been amazed at how much growing I've done in only a few months!

I have felt that I've been approaching things differently and finally, after some serious good times lately, I decided to just go ahead and see if it showed up as much as I thought it did. Check out my results this time!


WOOT! This is HUGE for me so I'm extremely excited that my attitude has really been changing when it comes to my approach to photography. I am excited to continue fighting this fight and beat down the grumpies!

The whole pDNA test is a part of a larger entity known as the Fast Track Photographer. I know this has truly been a labor of love on Dane's part and he has been working extremely hard on this for a while now (the book is in production I hear!). If you are a photographer or are toying around with the idea of getting into photography, you really need to check this out!



And in case you're wondering, no, I'm not being paid to say this. ;-) Unfortunately for me, I'm not even a Founder (not for lack of wanting!!), but I do really believe in what Dane is trying to accomplish - and the pDNA tool is just one of the great things to come out of this so far! Check it out! As you can see from the photo above, there's also a pDNA link on the main Fast Track Photographer website.

That's all for tonight - more pics to come tomorrow. I'll also be rolling out some changes and specials coming your way so definitely check back for those. And don't forget that the Photoshop Basics (possibly changing that to "Photoshop UBER-Basics" get together at my place is THIS Saturday - email for directions if you're interested).

~B

Photoshop Basics

Ok, so I've had a lot of interest lately in photography and the editing side of life - specifically how I edit my photos and how to use photoshop for it. I'm not guru on photoshop, but I have a decent working knowledge for my uses. So, in the spirit of sharing, I'm helping some people out with photoshop this weekend. Nothing official, nothing that I'd be charging for, but just some basics. If you're interested, PLEASE feel free to join us! All you need is a computer with photoshop and some photos you want to play around with. You don't need to be a "photographer" or even use an SLR, just some pics to play with (point-and-shooters, that means you!). So here are the details:

Where: My place
When: THIS Saturday, May 17th
Time: 1:0o pm
What to bring: your computer, some pics, and a smile

If you're interested, email me for the exact address and directions (the house is still new enough that it won't show up on Google maps...) The email address is: briennemichelle@gmail.com

The more the merrier!
~B

Gene & Emily: Wedding!

This past Saturday I had the privilege of shooting with the beautiful and talented Jessica Verma. We headed out to the hills overlooking Pasadena to an AMAZING home overlooking all of downtown Pasadena. The lighting was seriously stellar ALL DAY and the bride and groom were adorable. Gene had an uncanny ability to get Emily to laugh - especially when he asked if they could keep "practicing" their first kiss as husband and wife...



Look how adorably in love they are! I love it when couples can relax almost completely in front of the camera and enjoy each other's company. It means I get to see a lot of that "something special" between them. It was especially obvious with Gene & Emily.



The house was like a miniature Getty Museum (not even that miniature either - it was pretty huge) and fabulously modern. It also had very extensive and lush grounds. These were taken a a cute area off the west side of the estate.



This was one of the MANY amazing art pieces on the wall. Incidentally, this is also why I love my D300. Nikon glass is fantastic and the new sensor (with a few custom settings especially) has been producing the most vivid colors I've ever had straight out of camera. :-)



Another art piece that caught my eye was the REAL Picasso in the entry way of the house. I had to take a shot of it. Especially since it was so different from what I normally think of when I hear the name Picasso.



Back to the cute couple. They were sharing a sweet moment over their sweetheart table.



I thought this mom and her son were so adorable. And you can tell where her son gets his hair from. :-) I love it when little kids have curly near-afros...



Look who else showed up to the wedding (I'm not sure if this counts as some of the modern artwork, but they also had a Pac-Man room in the house too...)



Check out the view behind them. ;-) It was fabulous!



Another sweet moment during the ceremony



One final shot.



Congrats to Gene & Emily! It was a beautiful day!

~B

Joel & Rebecca's Album!

I am so excited to see Joel & Rebecca's album design done! They had a GORGEOUS wedding this past March in Pasadena, California at Lake Avenue Church - a fabulous 100+ year old church. Rebecca & Joel are one of the sweetest couples! Both are super talented musically (a plus in my book) and their wedding showed it. Joel is quieter and has one of those looks in his eyes that girls dream of when he looks at his bride - Rebecca is super witty and funny and extremely loving to her adorable husband. It was such an awesome ceremony to be a part of!

All of that to say, I hope their fantastic 11x14 album encompasses the love and beauty of their day. To see the full design, *click here*

~B

Brandon: Kids Kouture

Meet Brandon! One of my fav 6 year old cuties! He joined us on Sunday to get in on the photo fun and boy did he ham it up! I didn't even hardly have to say anything to him, he had so much to show me! And he had FABULOUS pirate pants. ;-)

Check out his muscles! He was very proud. ;-)


This was his "Spiderman face"


Then he started showing me his karate moves.


He wanted in on the rolled tongue action too. ;-)


What a cutie! :-) And yay for backlighting.


He also wanted to show me just how high he could jump. I was actually pretty impressed.




Remember how I mentioned earlier that I encourage parents to have their kids bring something they like with them? This was Brandon's choice (incidentally, I think this was also my favorite of the day!):


Here's the other version - which do you like better?


More muscles - yowza!


Ka-chow!


Such a cutie! I love the all-or-nothing attitude kids have. Why run unless you run as fast as you can?


Awww, cousins. ;-)


Thanks again to Liz and Lexi for letting me work with your kiddos! If anyone else is interested in kids kouture portraits, don't hesitate to call or email: briennemichelle@gmail.com

~B