Brienne Michelle Photography Blog

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED

2008-11-30T23:39:00.000-08:00

I am proud to announce that the Brienne Michelle Photoblog has moved!!! If your browser hasn't redirected you automatically to the new address, simply click here to see the new blog. And don't forget to bookmark the correct address:

www.briennesblog.com

It's Coming...

2008-11-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

All will be revealed on December 1, 2008. You don't want to miss it.

::b::

I Am So Flexible.

2008-11-26T14:57:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the movie "Signs" with Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix? I totally love that movie (even though it scares me still - especially the sounds the aliens make when they talk...). I always end up walking around afterwards wondering if I should be wearing tin foil for a hat, but rarely give in to the temptation. Rarely.

Anyway, there's this one poignant scene in the film where Mel & Joaquin are talking about serious stuff as the world seems to be ending. They discuss "the kind of man you are - the kind that sees signs, or coincidences" in things (roughly). Joaquin's character tells this hilarious story about being at a party and almost kissing a girl, but turning his head to get rid of gum before kissing her only to turn back and discover that she's vomited in the interim (sorry for the grossness...). He uses this as his example of why he's a "Signs Man" since that was clearly a sign that he shouldn't be with that girl. And I totally sympathized with him. Because I am so a "signs" kind of girl.

If you're one of us, you know who you are. You see meaning in things like being caught at a red light only to pass an accident ahead of you that you would have been in had you run the yellow. You see it in small stuff too - like the sale price on the BCBG shoes you've had your eyes on for months (that is so a sign - especially if the only pair left is in your size...). But if you're like me, you wonder if you should ever take mundane things, like, say, fortunes from fortune cookies, as "signs."

Which brings me to my point. Fortune cookies. Preston and I had a wonderful dinner at one of our favorite SCV restaurants (Grand Panda) and finished our meal in typical fortune cookie fashion. I was amused when I read mine:

I mean, who doesn't want to be told that their life will be happy and peaceful? I laughed because I want to have a chat with the writers some days and say things like "Umm, hello? baby on the way... Just what is your definition of 'peaceful'?" My husband and I shared a laugh, and he opened his. This is where I sorta got bitter (yeah, I'm one of those people who struggles with not taking fortunes personally - maybe it's just pregnancy hormones, who knows...).

Flexible? He's the one that's flexible? Ok, Mr. Fortune-Cookie-Writer, show yourself! I am so flexible. I'm so flexible that I'm not moving until you come out here and explain yourself! While my husband continued laughing and totally enjoying the moment, I huffed and puffed for a few minutes at the clear insult from some writer who just doesn't know me. That's about when the ridiculousness of it hit me and I promptly went into female-recovery-mode (aka pretend like you didn't just do that and don't know what they're all talking about...).

Ok, ok. So maybe everything doesn't have to be a sign. Or maybe Mr. Fortune-Cookie-Writer meant it more literally since I can't even see my toes anymore, let alone touch them.

Yeah, maybe that's it.

::b::

Dance. Biscuit.

2008-11-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just need to laugh. One of the ways that happens for me (especially during the political season, though this video isn't political...) is thanks to Saturday Night Live. Last year's Thanksgiving special, hosted by Justin Timberlake, was HILARIOUS. I was excited when I heard he was doing it again. Unfortunately, he had to cancel, but he did come on this past week to do his whole special in under 2 minutes (he also danced for Beyonce in a sketch about her song "Single Ladies" where he refers to himself as a "dance biscuit" - you should watch that one too...).

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! :)

Christian & Jolene ::Wedding::

2008-11-17T22:08:00.000-08:00

I'm done. That's it. Finished. With wedding season that is. And what a way to end the season!

Meet Christian & Jolene. Their story is pretty unique these days. They met in high school (well, the met before then, but it wasn't more till high school) and started dating as seniors. They graduated, she went to Arizona for college to play volleyball, he stayed in California. There were a lot of cross-state trips, a lot of phone calls, too much missing each other. Eventually, she graduated and came back to California and the relationship only grew stronger. They have gone through a lot during their several years of dating, but they have clung to each other through it all. And finally, FINALLY, it was time to say "I do".

Thanks to the fires around southern California this weekend, Christian almost didn't make it to his own wedding and several of the guests were also delayed or unable to attend. Needless to say, things were hectic all morning and the phones were ringing off the hook. They managed to keep it together though and the details still came of beautifully. Check it out!

Jolene was simply gorgeous.

I love catching little cute moments like this.

The whole wedding party was amazing. I had to post this one. When I mentioned that they should feel free to "show their personalities", JP took it seriously. He would be the one hanging off the poll in the back...

More "personality"...

Ah. Yeah.

The fires were good for one thing - nice gorgeous fall light.

I love the emotion in this one - especially Jolene.

This was one of my favorites.

Bustin' a move on the dance floor

Did I mention that there was some hilarious, off-the-hizzy dancing? :)

Thanks again to you both for letting me be a part of all the crazy awesomeness! It was beautiful to watch and the party was fantastic (as was the food, btw)! I hope you enjoy the honeymoon cruise to Mexico!!

To see their full slideshow, *click here*.

::b::

Jolene & Christian ::Teaser::

2008-11-16T14:28:00.000-08:00

I just finished my last wedding for the season and it was amazing!! Can't wait to show you the rest of the photos, but first I plan on indulging in my prenatal massage my husband scheduled for me in anticipation of the glorious (and somewhat painful) moment in the wedding season (he SO loves me).

Enjoy the teaser! More images and slideshow coming soon!

Roman Family ::Creative Couture::

2008-11-13T15:35:00.000-08:00

Whenever Liz calls me, I get really excited. Like silly, giddy excited. I guess you could say that, in my photography career, home girl and I go way back. Liz has been coming to me for her family photography needs for a while now and it's seriously so much fun to work with her, her husband and her kiddos. I've had the pleasure of watching little Izzy spring up in front of me since she was just months old to now being 2! Vanessa has grown into a beautiful young woman (these girls seriously look like their mom!) and I was lucky enough to shoot Liz & Alex's awesome Leap Day wedding. So, yeah, when she calls me, I get pretty happy. :)

This year, for their family portraits and Izzy's 2 yr. portraits, we headed back to Big Tree Park in Glendora. By the way, if you have never been there or haven't ever driven by it, when they say "big tree" they should probably say GI-HUGEMONGOUS. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but goodness gracious, it's ridiculously big.

We started with Izabel's portraits in her cute-o red dress.

Awww, sisters....

Time for some family shots...

I don't like to talk about my flare.... (that's for the Becker fans out there)

Not hard to see where the good looks in the family come from with parents like this!

Mom got some extra special love. :)

Thanks again for letting me work your family! You know I enjoy it every time and I can't believe how grown up the girls are now! Looking forward to the next time. :)

::b::

Amari ::Kids Kouture::

2008-11-12T15:01:00.000-08:00

Meet super adorable cutie-patootie 4 year old Amari! I love doing Kids Kouture shoots - especially when I get to work with such fantastic people like Amari and his mom, Amani. Amari came prepared for his shoot too. He had three outfits and four toys all set to show me (not to mention his Taekwondo moves and some killer dance skills). We met up in Pasadena near the Rose Bowl and jumped right into it!

I try to encourage parents to help prepare their kids for shoots by hyping it in a positive way plus I ask that parents let their children bring a few items that they really like to "show off". It usually helps loosen kids up a little bit and it always makes for more enjoyable photos. I was excited to learn from Amani that Amari did really well for his school photo after his experience with me - I'd like to think that part of that comes down to just providing an enjoyable experience for kids to just be kids in front of a camera. Plus you get to see their real personalities come out - which is so much more fun. Check out what I mean about Amari's adorableness and some of the toys he decided to bring!

I had to show Amari the only cool move I knew.... crab walking. :) He was instantly a pro.

Amari is a total Laker's fan (a kid after my own heart!). His favorite player is Kobe - so this is his "Kobe face".

Ahhh-Yaaah!

Dance moves - no music necessary. :)

He had to show me his push-ups - he's gotten good at them in Taekwondo classes...

Just because he's cool.

Surveying his kingdom. :)

Special thanks to Amari & Amani for letting me be a part of documenting such a cute time in Amari's life! It was truly a pleasure to work with you both - I hope to have the chance to do it again in the future!

Info, Discounts, Promises & PROOF about J. Elway

2008-11-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

I've been totally slacking on my blog-life lately and I must apologize. I have tons of stuff to blog now (I'm oh-so-nicely backed up on that front!) and I promise I'll be getting that cooking soon. Especially those of you who had family portraits with me and gave me permission to post - those will go up soon, I promise! Wow, I just said "I promise" a lot in this paragraph. I better hop to!

This is the middle of Holiday Portrait craziness for me right now and I have one wedding left to shoot before I'm done for a while (thanks to maternity leave) and it's this weekend. I still have a few slots open for portraits if you're interested, but mostly weekday times. If you're interested in doing a weekday shoot between now and December 1, I'm offering a special 15% discount! Remember, that's for weekday sessions! Weekends are almost completely booked.

Anyway, like I said before, I WILL be getting caught up on session posting, but in the mean time, I wanted to address a nasty rumor. I have heard via a few emails that some of you don't believe I shot John Elway (with my camera). I was righteously indignant at this until I realize that those photos too were un-blogged. So to put you at ease, here's a quick shot from during the filming portion for ESPN's new show "Homecoming". :)

Told ya. :) You can also see one of my photos of Mr. Elway on the cover of the SFV News magazine this month.

More blogging coming soon!

Bishop, California - #89 CHECK!

2008-11-05T15:48:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, my husband and I traveled to Bishop, CA and the surrounding areas in the Sierra Nevada mountains for a little anniversary getaway. We seriously don't take enough vacations and since we figured this would be the last chance before 2 become 3 (or 6 become 7 if you count all the pets), we wanted to go somewhere beautiful, relaxing, and not too busy. The small town of Bishop was perfect.

I come from a family that likes to DO things on their vacation. Visit landmarks, go to museums, hike, watch movies, etc. However, Preston is definitely a "I don't want to do anything, I just want to relax" kind of guy. Given the insanity that has been in our lives lately (which will only get worse I'm sure), we opted for the latter. We packed up our happy little Subaru and headed north with no plans other than a hotel reservation (plus golf clubs for him and a camera for me!). Keep in mind though - I am no landscape photographer. In fact, I rarely even attempt to shoot landscape and even more rare is when I show anyone what I shot. I really want to learn, but for all of you out there that have a natural knack for this, bear with me...

I slept in the first morning while Preston golfed (in 35 mph winds, lol) and then we sleepily headed up to the snow. It was nice and stormy (my kind of relaxing weather, personally). We drove up to Lake Sabrina first. It was right at the base of the snow level, but since that was pretty high in elevation, we decided that we shouldn't push it (since I was already getting a wee bit of altitude sickness).

I don't know if the temperature translates in the photo to you, but holy cow, it was cold. Right around freezing, but the wind coming down off the peaks was way too cold for this California girl.

We started back down and stopped briefly at both North Lake and South Lake. These next photos are from North Lake. There was actually a guy out there fishing too. Craziness. It was so gorgeous and quiet though. Nothing but the sounds of the wind.

I think our Subaru was so happy to be in its element. :) By the time we were done with the long weekend, the Sub (pronounced "soob" in our family...) was covered in mud and dust after driving through puddles, off-roading on volcanic rock, and driving through a lot of rain and dust. The drive to North Lake through the aspen trees and mud puddles was one of my favorite parts. Totally worth it to get here.

There are several places in town that were quite beautiful also. I loved this blood hound hanging out on the back tool box of his owner's truck and had to grab a quick pic with my point and shoot. He was so happy when his owner came back out too - started thumping his tale on the toolbox as soon as he caught sight of him. He also appeared to enjoy having his photo taken.

I loved this little creek down the road from our hotel.

This truck hanging out in the front yard of a repair place down the road was very eye-catching to me. I have always loved old cars and this one was no exception, even in it's state of disrepair...

Preston and I were also totally amused when we found this just up the road from us. Especially since we rarely see our last name spelled correctly!

Throughout our trip, we spent time exploring and relaxing every way we could. Preston napped, I got a pedicure (holla!), and we enjoyed visiting some local photography galleries while it was raining outside. I've been wanting to do this for a while, and I was thrilled when I realized I get to check this off my 101 in 1001 List! Not only did I go to Vern Clevenger's gallery on Main Street, I also went to the Mountain Light Gallery as well (mostly made up of Galen Rowell's work). Check out his shot of North Lake! It was inspiring and beautiful - and I even bought a book on landscape and nature photography so maybe someday I can get good at this too. :)

The next day, we drove up onto the volcanic tableland mesas just a bit further north. It was still wonderfully blustery and I loved how the clouds looked.

We also spent some time lounging in the Looney Bean - one of our new favorite coffee spots. :) All in all, we really enjoyed the nice, relaxing time - just the two of us (well, three if you count Cameron). I highly recommend it for a nice, quiet, picturesque getaway. :)

To My Beloved

2008-11-05T13:30:00.000-08:00

Three years ago today, I said "I choose you" to the love of my life and best friend and I thought I couldn't possibly be happier. We spent four years together, moving and growing and stretching (sometimes joyfully, sometimes painfully) together before we finally stood before God, our families and friends and sealed it with a kiss.

We have always been good at laughing, you and I. I know that you pretend like I'm not funny sometimes (even though we both totally know I am soooo funny). Secretly, I think you laugh sometimes when I'm not just to make me feel better about my lame joke that I totally worked all day on. You always roll our eyes when I start doing some strange new dance in the kitchen or down the stairs, but I see the laughter in your eyes when you call me crazy (and I agree with you). We both know you like crazy.

I was wrong though, thinking I couldn't love you more than I did that day three years ago. That's been one of our secrets to success, hasn't it? I loved you then. But the stretching and growing since then, combined with the intertwining of our two hearts and minds and souls has been simply indescribable. I never could have expected this - nothing could have prepared me for it. I love you, deeply, and the decision we made 3 years ago was the best one yet (though, I should probably warn you that I may feel differently in a few months - Cameron seems like a pretty good decision so far too).

We've been through a lot, you and I. Not everything has been "perfect" and we have certainly had our share of pain in our lives together. No one else can possibly know those little and not-so-little things you and I have faced in each other and ourselves. You have pushed me to be a better person through it all though. I used to be scared - scared of my past, scared of what it might mean for the future, scared to trust and truly love, scared to do simple things like stand up for myself or big things like go out on a limb and start running a business. You helped teach me to be strong. And somehow, you never questioned whether or not I could do it - you saw something in me I didn't know was there.

I cried that day. You didn't see it, but I so did. It was brief and my heart was too full to keep it in anymore. I wanted you to see a strong woman coming down to meet you at the end of that aisle, but I still cried a little. That might seem small now, since I cry often, but I suppose that's just one more way things have changed and evolved with us. Maybe I always cried. Lol.

I know I'm totally embarrassing you with this, but you know what a romantic I can be sometimes. And sometimes, I think it's important for me to say publicly just how amazed and blessed I am by you. You have given me the best days of my life. And you have given me a son, though we haven't been able to meet him yet. I know the stuff we have in front of us won't be easy, but I have a pretty good idea how it'll come out in the end.

So I guess what I'm trying to say is thank you. Thank you for your humor, your witty conversation, your laughter, your smile and your eyes, your strength of faith and character, your vulnerability, your support, your encouragement, and most of all, your love. I look forward to what God has for us ahead and to facing it together as husband and wife. Happy Anniversary, my love.

*all images taken by Jessica Verma, November 5, 2005*

I am so NOT at Home Right Now

2008-11-01T21:33:00.000-07:00

FYI - I am definitely not in town right now. Well, I'm in a town, just not the one I live in (currently I'm in a little coffee shop called "The Looney Bean"). Hence the shortness of this blog. I am enjoying a wonderful long weekend away with my husband to celebrate our anniversary (which is actually on Wednesday). To enjoy our last anniversary before kids, we headed to the gorgeous, secluded little town of Bishop, CA near the base of Mt. Whitney. As you can see from the photo above (courtesy of local photographer Vern Clevenger - a new friend I've made while up here), it's absolutely gorgeous here. That's Lake Sabrina, btw - we headed up there on Friday (my photos are coming later obviously). It's beautiful and stormy and blustery and we have absolutely no plans while we're here - and I'm loving it.

All of that to say I'll be back next week. I will return calls, emails, and messages then.

Personal Musings of a Crazy Pregnant Lady

2008-10-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

It hit me today. I'm in my third trimester. Holy. Cow. We're talking final stretch here people (literally and figuratively).

When I think about the fact that I have like 12 weeks (possibly only 10) before I'm holding my son in my arms, it scares me to death and excites me at the same time. Now, as a 3rd trimester-er, I'm used to constant, conflicting and overwhelming emotions all at the same time. But seriously. 12 weeks.

Things have been changing, sure. I spent about a week where I couldn't really walk (those of you who know me and my pathetic love-affair with injuring myself probably remember all the of the various ways I've fractured, dislocated or just plain messed up my back and hips...) and then found a yoga course that really works for me (I'm in love with it - it's never been so easy to commit to a physical routine before). I've started to waddle *cringe*. I spend most evenings icing my ankles and feet. My baby spends most of his evenings playing kickball with my insides. He's big too - doctor estimated him at almost 15 inches last week (that's like 2 - 3 weeks ahead size wise). Granted, that could change, but man... He's strong too - he actually wakes me up at night now and if he really gears up and gives me a good kick, it shakes the bed a little bit. You can see this little guy swimming around on the outside of my belly and it fills me with both wonder and a wee bit of that oh-my-gosh-I-saw-this-in-a-horror-movie feeling. I dream about him constantly. I used to day dream about what my kids would be like, but nothing like this.

It's finally stopped feeling weird to walk into the baby clothes section and find something cute. It still feels weird when I think about dressing my baby boy. Sometimes I feel very very 16 still. Of course life has gone on and how I look at the world has changed, but so much of what felt like "me" is still there. And then there are times when I realize that I look like an adult and I feel 35. I have started to get little lines around my eyes (a fact that I'm actually a little bit happy about, believe it or not) and I can see the lines on my husband's face starting to form (a fact I really like - "distinguished" men are hot!).

I guess realizing today that I went into this stage almost without realizing it, combined with my upcoming anniversary has led to a lot of reflection. My husband and I have been through a lot together in the last 7+ years and though I don't feel ready to be a parent per-se, I feel confident because we're doing this together.

However, confidence still doesn't diminish that "holy cow" feeling. Maybe that's why things like the upcoming election, global warming, Prop 8, the economy, and all that craziness seems a little paler to me right now. Sure, I'll be out there on Nov. 4 waddling into the voting booth, but when you compare it to the fact that my husband and I created a life, it almost feels silly.

Btw - if it seems like I've wandered all over the map in these musings, it's not you, it's me. That's my brain ALL THE TIME right now. It's frustrating sometimes (especially to my poor husband), but once you learn to just ride the crazy wave, it's not so bad. Unless it's bad to accept your craziness and start enjoying it. That's probably some kind of psychosis or something.

Oh well. :)

Holiday Time!: Corban ~Kid Kouture~

2008-10-27T14:24:00.000-07:00

Corban is probably one of the cutest 3 month olds ever. Until Cameron is born and hits 3 months anyway... ;) But UNTIL then, Corban definitely has the market. I love doing holiday portraits, especially fall portraits, and this little guy was amazingly cooperative. Christen (Corban's gorgeous mommy), Corban and I headed to Lombardi Ranch in Saugus (one of my favorite places ever) and took some great "first fall" photos. Now, understand when is say I love this place, know that it's sort of a ridiculous understatement. My husband rolls his eyes, but I seriously come to this place every year - I even drove out during college because it's practically sacrilegious to buy pumpkins anywhere else. And now I have the added bonus of thinking to myself that I can't WAIT to bring my kiddo here. Seriously so much fun for me and my little wacky brain. :)

Check out Corban's flirty over-the-shoulder-come-hither look.

He wasn't entirely sure about this whole being held up when there are clearly other things to do thing, but he did pretty well!

But then, to entertain himself and us, he did one of the things babies do best:

And one more cutie shot with a little help from Mom - this time with pumpkins his size. :)

More portraits coming soon! Can't wait to blog some shots from yesterday's portraits in Pasadena with Amari - my new favorite Power Ranger/Kobe Bryant fan. :)

~B

Baby Shower Guestbook!

2008-10-24T12:21:00.000-07:00

Can you tell I have baby on the brain lately? I don't usually do this many personal blog posts in a row, but I had to share this one. I've been toying with the idea of offering Baby Shower Guestbooks for a while, but never actually have. I decided I would be my own guinea pig (usually I commandeer a friend for that!) and create one for my husband and I!

When I got married, my aunts and my mom arranged for everyone to write little notes (marriage advice, favorite memory, etc.) and put them all in a little box for me to keep. I still visit that box from time to time and it's always been a special thing to me. Eye-opening in some cases, but also very special. ;) I thought I'd like to do something similar for my baby shower and this seemed to do that very well. :) Plus it gave people a chance to see some of our maternity photos AND leave little tidbits for Cameron. I thought it might be something special for him (and possibly his family) later too. I love how this page came out too:

Of course, my wonderful talented album designer Sandra provided the design (and Jessica Verma took the photos). If you want to see the full 10x10 album design, *click here*!

Our Maternity Shoot!

2008-10-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I should have posted this a little faster, but I was behind on some other editing and tried to be responsible. :) However, here are the long awaited photos....

Preston & I headed down to Old Town Pasadena to meet up with my long time photographer/friend, Jessica Verma. Jess shot our engagement shoot, our wedding, and now our maternity shoot, so I guess that officially makes her our "family photographer". Jess was also really instrumental in teaching me a lot when it comes to the photography and photography business worlds, so I'm always thrilled to get to work with her again. She graciously caved to my neurosis and let me have the unedited files same-day so I could tweak with them myself. :) Super uber thanks to you Jess!!!!!

I also have to give a shout-out to my buddy Danielle to whom I dedicate this post - she helped motivate me to get it done already! Lol.

Cameron may not have been in our plan originally, but I hope that it shows just how much his parents love each other and how much we can't wait to love all over him. We both feel truly blessed by God with this little dude.

It's always a good reminder for me to be in front of the camera every now and then. I'm much much MUCH more comfortable behind it - but every time I have photos done it reminds me how hard it is for my clients to do the same thing. Kudos to all of you for doing it - it's hard!

Sigh. I used to be tanner than my husband...

At the Wishing Trees.

Thanks to my amazing husband for not dropping me... my shape and weight makes this kind of thing sorta awkward - but he made it look easy. :)

I have the best husband EVER. Like, seriously. He's hilarious. These are probably some of my favorite photos ever of him. Also, he's hot. Like way hot.

Sun-flare! Love. It.

Cuteness outside of Jess's studio in Sierra Madre. :) Also, though it was very hard to select only 3 pairs of shoes to wear in this shoot (have I mentioned I love shoes?), these particular ones had never been worn and were christened on this shoot. :) I love me a fierce red shoe.

And finally, our "Notting Hill" picture. :) I didn't realize until a few days after the shoot that this is how that movie ends.

We'll be making a guest book out of the entire shoot for the shower later on, so if you're coming to that, you'll get to see even more photos. :) Thanks again to Jess for doing the shoot and for making us both feel so comfortable. :) You rock my world. As always.

~B

Lisa & Dali ~Wedding~

2008-10-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

Lisa & Dali's wedding last weekend was absolutely gorgeous! They have known each other for 10 years (from their days at Harvard) and the comfort and excitement of a foundation like that was definitely evident in everything they did. So many of their details were well thought through and intentional and it really showed. For example, Lisa & Dali had their fathers light the small candles and pass that light to the back of the congregation of supporters in the church, who then passed it, one by one, all the way back to the front to their mothers, who passed the flame to them, where they lit the unity candle together in the front. It was beautiful and symbolic and definitely personal. They also chose to face their guests during their vows, rather than away. Truly, their whole day was packed with personal details like that - it was beautiful! Speaking of details, here we go:

Loved this shoe shot. :) I was totally inspired by shooting with Melissa Jill last February...

The blue box says it all.

More of the getting ready details

So California.

Isn't Lisa absolutely stunningly gorgeous?

All her ladies were pretty gorgeous too. :) I loved the gowns.

Ceremony time! I brought two assistants with me for their wedding and let Nate take the front of the isle for this one - I love being at the back, so I was definitely enjoying myself. Brandon (who I would like to if you had a blog, dude...) chilled up in the Indian Jones-like balcony. Visit Nate's blog to see shots of the seriously freaky balcony. :)

Married!!!!

Newlyweds leaving in style!!! Lisa's father and her sister built this beauty.

We headed over to downtown Pasadena for some quick photos NEAR City Hall. Technically, we weren't permitted to set foot on City Hall property because other wedding was going on there (you can almost see the other bride in the background of the shot), so we chilled across the street for a few shots. We even got clever about how to get some wedding party shots in the street in front of the Hall without breaking the rules. :) Don't worry, we didn't disturb the other wedding - the reception hadn't even started when we were over NEAR there. :)

Aren't they so adorable?

Dali is apparently known for his uncanny (and funny) ability to sneak into the back of very serious photos. Wedding days are no different. :)

I love this shot. Cal Tech's campus is gorgeous and choc full of locations. Their reception was at the Athenaeum (built for Sir Isaac Newton himself...).

Ok, before this blog gets too long, I'll wrap it up. Their full slideshow will be up soon and I'll be sure to post it. :) Congrats again Lisa & Dali!!

Our Maternity Session - Teaser

2008-10-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

I had a little dose of my own medicine today. Preston and I headed down to Pasadena to do our maternity shoot with my fellow photographer and good friend, Jessica Verma. That means that for the first time in a long time, I was on the other side of the lens.... Here's a sneak peak of the session - I'll do a full post soon (after I get Lisa & Dali's images up from their wedding last weekend - I'm still way excited about that one!).

Mark & Joy's Wedding Album!

2008-10-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

I had the immense pleasure of shooting Mark & Joy's wedding this past August in Malibu and I am SO excited about how the wedding album came out! Sandra has really out-done herself (she seems to do that a lot) and I'm thrilled to show this one off. :) If you'd like to see the full album design, *click here*! Keep in mind that the full album is 12x12 inches! Enjoy!

Addicted. Hopelessly, utterly, & completely...

2008-10-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd be the "strong one" in my group of friends. I thought, "Hey, I've read good books before". I thought it wouldn't hook me like it had so obviously hooked all of them.

So I was WAY wrong.

For those of you who have already succumbed to the literary crack known as The Twilight Saga, I sympathize with you. I read all 4 books in about a week (all 2500 pages or so). I even read the draft of the re-telling on the website. I couldn't put it down. My sleep suffered, my social life suffered, my editing life only survived because I had the audio book too to listen to while I was editing photos. I walked around looking much like the vampires in the story after no sun for a week and dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. And I was strangely ok with that. You can tell who is in the middle of Twilight by that special "Twilight Face" that shows up for anywhere from a week to a month. We're like a little club. Or maybe Coven is the better word...

Anyway, I was so excited that they decided to make a film out of the first book. I know it won't compare to the books, but something, ANYTHING that keeps this wonderful world from ending is welcome at this point. I haven't stooped to fan fiction yet, but the desperation is simmering... ;)

To see a sneak peak of the film, check out the trailer here:
Twilight HD Exclusive Trailer

To purchase the crack books, *click here* or visit pretty much ANY bookstore. Stephanie Meyer (the author) holds some impressive records for all four books in the New York Times Bestseller list. You will probably thank me if you read the books, but your family and friends might not... Of course, you could just do what I did and get them all hooked too. ;)

October 11 Wedding Teaser

2008-10-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

My husband has whisked me away out of town for the day today (for some relaxation and a hockey game with friends... yes, those two can go together...), but I still have my laptop and I wanted to post a little teaser from yesterday's wedding! More from Lisa & Dali's wedding will be coming soon (I promise!) and I can't wait to share it with you. Everything was simply gorgeous! In the meantime, this will have to do!

Ron & Anna ~Wedding~

2008-10-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

Warning: This may end up being the longest blog post of my blog-life so far. ;)

This past weekend, Anna & Ron were married at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. It was seriously one of those weddings where everything came together - the kind a photographer like myself dreams about (literally). Everything was gorgeous - the people were beautiful, the bride was stunning, the wedding party was hilarious and energetic, the details were personalized and fabulous, the setting was amazing, the weather was perfect.... I know they always tell you (when you're a bride at least) that something WILL go wrong, but if anything did for this wedding, I definitely didn't see it.

We started at the Marriott Residence Inn in Beverly Hills for some beforehand prep and details.

Anna's makeup and hair (and most of the ladies in the bridal party as well) was provided by the very talented Marlou Colina. All of the ladies looked flawless.

Anna's gown was completely custom. She even had it sent to the Philippines for extra beadwork on the antique lace bodice and detailing along the bottom of the skirt. It was fabulous, fit her like a glove and had a very Luhlier feel to it.

The lovely ladies in their very fashionable deep purple dresses. Their personalities were evident from the very beginning.

Anna really did look amazing. Of course, when you're that gorgeous to begin with, a wedding gown and all that is just icing on the cake.

Ron & Anna opted for a "First Look" before the ceremony. I LOVE it when couples decide to do that. There are so many benefits. You get a nice private moment to enjoy each other's company when you see each other for the first time and you actually get to talk to each other. From my personal experience (my husband and I opted for a First Look before our ceremony as well), it was so special knowing that my husband saw me FIRST - before any of the guests did. Plus, it takes a lot of the stress and tension out of the photo time and you get amazing shots.

And even with a First Look, Ron still started tearing up when Anna walked down the isle to him. The whole time she was walking, all the groomsmen were whispering to Ron, saying things like "Dude, that's your WIFE!" - they were all pretty impressed with how stunning she was too.

More details.

They held the ceremony in an outdoor courtyard that overlooked the mansion and all of downtown LA and Beverly Hills. Breathtaking.

Ron is such a stud (this theme is re-occurring btw.... you'll see more of why that is later...). He's also a poker player, so while he was sweeping Anna off her feet for their first kiss, his family and friends were all shouting "double down!" to get him to kiss her again. ;)

Newlyweds!

Wedding party fun.

Their adorable twin flower girls were embarrassed by the PDA....

The gentelmen... and Ron showing off his new bling.

More Ron & Anna cuteness....

It should have been a hint of what was to come when Anna had already put on her dancing shoes...

Seriously, check out that bling! What a gorgeous ring!

When I shot Anna & Ron's engagement session, they managed to find a cute little miniature golf course that had an Eiffel Tower on it. That was perfect because guess where Anna & Ron are going on their honeymoon.....(no, it's not to a miniature golf course...). They picked one of the Eiffel Tower shots to blow up and display plus they had a full guestbook made of their engagement images for guests to look at and sign.

After they were officially introduced and made their grand entrance into the reception (held in the courtyard located in the center of the mansion itself), they launched into their first dance. It started out romantic and it was clear they had practiced steps and lifts and dips...

However, mid-way thru their romantic 98 degrees song, the song came to a screeching halt and switched to "Jump On It" and then they really broke it down!

After getting their groove on for a while, the song screeched back to the end of their romantic song and Ron ended it well again (more stud action). Everyone was thoroughly impressed.

After dinner and the sun began to set (and Ron had sung "I Wanna Grow Old with You" as a surprise to his new wife), Anna changed into her second dress of the evening - a hot little short number - to cut the cake and make her exit with her husband in. Btw, they couldn't decide on cake, cupcakes or baby cakes, so they pretty much had all three. :)

Ron decided one bite wasn't enough and decided to finish the slice they had cut.

Once the sun had totally gone down, the real surprise of the evening aired. Ron & Anna told everyone that they were going to do a video montage "you know, with baby pictures" to show to their guests. No one except the wedding party knew what they had actually prepared. Anna & Ron shot a full movie trailer version of "The Matrix Engaged" starring themselves and their groomsmen. It was seriously amazing!

I was totally blown away at all the work they put into it. Kristopher J. Evans (who also agreed to play Morpheus) produced the film along with his company Corner 10 Productions. He also put the full trailer online, so you totally should go here to watch it!

After a bit more dancing, Anna & Ron made their goodbyes and snuck out.

Hope you guys have an AMAZING honeymoon in Paris and Rome!!! I can't tell you how much I enjoyed myself at your gorgeous wedding! Best wishes to you both!

PS: Told you it was a long blog. :)
~B

Wedding Teaser

2008-10-05T21:36:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting Ron & Anna's wedding in Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Btw - check out the list of films that have used the Greystone - I guarantee you'll recognize them (Xmen, Spiderman 1 nd 3, The Big Lebowski, National Treasurer, just to name a few)...

I have been looking forward to this wedding since their engagement session and I was not disappointed! Everything was fabulous - location, flowers, makeup, entertainment... it was really breathtaking and almost everything they did was entirely unique - right down to the movie trailer they filmed and had produced for their reception called "The Matrix Engaged" (Ron & Anna playing Neo and Trinity). I already spoke to the production company and made sure to get a link to the video online, so I'll be sure to include it in the next post - you won't want to miss ANY of it! Check back tomorrow for the full post!

You're Almost Out of Time

2008-10-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

I don't usually comment on any of the "taboo" don't-talk-about-that-at-the-dinner-table type subjects on my blog, but I'm breaking that rule a little today.

Politics.

I don't know where you stand. I don't know if you "Hope for Change" with Obama, want to follow the "Maverick" with McCain or if you just think that the resemblance between Palin and Tina Fey is uncanny and can't wait for more Saturday Night Live episodes with her. I don't know if you watch debates, rate debates, or start debates yourself about this stuff. I don't know if you're pro life, pro choice, or pro common sense. I don't know if you've lost your house in this crisis, or if you're watching your retirement go down the drain. But I do know this.

You can help do something about it. Wherever you stand. And, in my opinion, you can't complain if you aren't willing to do SOMETHING. Even something that seems small. Like vote. And that's where it starts.

Take a look at this rather funny and star-studded video I came across earlier today.

And in case you missed that link, just *click here* to register.

~B

#33 -- Check! --

2008-10-01T13:46:00.000-07:00

I am so excited to finally check #33 of my 101 in 1001 List! :) It's been on there for way longer than I should have had it there since I sorta knew how to fix this but just hadn't taken the time to hammer out the details. Well, details, consider yourselves hammered. I have FINALLY tricked out my emails. Check it out!

I am seriously very happy to have this one done. Special thanks to Melissa Jill for her help with this AND a special shout out to her again because today is her BIRTHDAY!

If you've gotten emails from me recently, you've probably already noticed the difference and I can say that it has definitely been a good thing. It's been a part of the branding process for me and making sure that I infuse my personality into everything I do with my business. Plus email is probably the primary source of communication for me with my business and it's always been sort of a bummer to me that they were lame looking. I mean, if a girl is wearing some totally feroche shoes, a boring email is just that much more depressing. Ok, so maybe that's just me. But still. :)

Here's to happy emailing! And fantastic shoes....

~B

Joshua & Sutton ~Destination Wedding~

2008-09-29T13:07:00.000-07:00

They waited 10 long years to marry - so needless to say, EVERYONE was sooo happy for them as Sutton & Josh said their "I do"'s this past Saturday in Palm Springs. It was a destination wedding for them and their closest family and friends. They traveled from Minnesota to the heat of the desert for their wedding at Le Vallauris - which was beautiful to say the least. They started the day at their beautiful hotel, the Springs at Palm Springs Hotel & Spa. Here are a few details!

The gentlemen looked fantastic - especially since it was already over 100 degrees...

Sutton was truly stunning.

A few more details...

The gorgeous outdoor ceremony.

Don't they look so great together? What a good looking couple.

Her flowers were so beautiful and happy and bright. :)

The happy newlyweds!

I love this one. :)

I also love this one - Sutton's Uncle, who helped walk her down the isle, is quite a funny guy. :)

You can see their full wedding slideshow by *clicking here*!

Thanks again for letting me be a part of your day Josh & Sutton! I hope you enjoy your cruise honeymoon!

~B

Christian & Jolene ~Engagement~

2008-09-24T17:17:00.000-07:00

Jolene & Christian are so stinkin' cute. They are seriously adorable. Their ease and comfort with each other comes across (it ought to after almost 8 years of dating) and translated into a very easy and laid back session. We headed out all over the Santa Clarita Valley for their engagement shoot, starting with North Oaks Park - an old haunt of theirs from back in high school.

(again, keep in mind I'm working on the saturation issue with posted photos - the photos look about a million times better before being hosted...)

I love that when I say to couples to "do cute romantic things" I always get a slightly different response. With some couples, they giggle and blush, others immediately kiss. And in the case of Jolene & Christian, they do things like stick out their tongues, lick the other's ear (or possibly bite) or stick a finger up the other's nose. I spent most of the session laughing - but these are my kind of people. They share something very special - humor. Having married a rather funny person myself, I can say with genuinity (that's my invented word from a previous blog) that it makes a huge difference in life.

Back to the cuteness....

After a while, we headed over to the Valencia side of town near and around Bridgeport for more fun. Fortunately, the weather was also very nice. :)

There are a whole series of shots from this location that I thought were absolutely beautiful - the light was gorgeous and just right. But I have to say, there is another photo that might give this set a run for it's money for being my favorites... but that'll come later.

A special request photo - tree climbing can be cute too!

Ok, here it is - my favorite. I call it the "Spidey-shot". Christian is a huge Spiderman fan, so I thought this might be a perfect way to end the shoot. :)

(In case you aren't sure what I'm referring to, this is the picture from Spiderman the movie that we were imitating):

Looking forward to the wedding in November!
~B

Steve & Annika ~ Engagement~

2008-09-22T22:51:00.000-07:00

They've waiting seven years to get married. That's right. Seven. Steve & Annika started dating as high school sweethearts and life continued on. She went to college, he went to the Sheriff's Academy, and still their love grew and matured. It wasn't long before everyone in the family was talking... It was obvious from early on that these two are meant for each other.

Steve & Annika will tie the knot this winter, but before it gets too cold, we headed out to do some engagement photos down in beautiful, sunny, 75 degree Long Beach. And in keeping with their unique love story and fun personalities, they chose the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Queen Mary, and Shoreline Village for their session. It was AWESOME. But be forewarned. This will be a long post - all those great locations combined with a fantastic and photogenic couple equals one very happy photographer and a whole lot of pictures to post on a blog!

We started at the Aquarium...

I love this one. This was a cute little port hole into a tank. I told Steve & Annika to hop up in it and they didn't even bat an eyelash. :) I love it when I have clients that just trust me.

This shark head was fabulous. It was some kind of air circulation thing and was blowing a lot of air out of the mouth. So Steve decided to model it up with the wind blowing his shirt back... Though it almost looks like he's hoping it won't eat him.

Besides being distracted by the otters (soooo cute) and sea lions and fish, the sea horses always catch my eye. Check out this guy!

Aren't they just adorable?

As the sun started to head down, we headed over to the Queen Mary (you know, the giant sister ship of the Titanic...)

Always love telephone booths.... always.....

This is one of my favorites from the Queen Mary photos... if I can pick a favorite anyway.

The running joke of the day was that I would tell Steve & Annika to "do cute romantic things" when I'd pick up my camera. I love that they just knew exactly what to do with that.

As we headed over to Shoreline Village, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to have Steve take a shot with this flag. It just seemed so appropriate for him and his humor. :)

One of my favorite things about Shoreline Village is all the different colors. I think that literally every building is a different bright fun color (bright red, yellow, lime green, purple, blue, pink, etc.). I LOVE when I get to play with some bright color.

I was also really excited when I saw this parasol sitting in the window of a little shop. I used to have a cute parasol from my trip to Thailand a few years back, but I brought it to a wedding (and used it in some amazing shots), but promptly left it in the bride and groom's limo (never to be seen again). When I saw this one, I knew it'd be perfect. AND it's just happened to match my business's theme/colors... double bonus!

It will definitely be showing up in future shoots...

And my absolute favorite from the day....

Steve & Annika - I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did! I had so much fun working with the two of you!

Another engagement shoot and baby updates coming soon!
~B

PS: If anyone knows anything about image hosting for online use, I'd LOVE to pick your brain. I'm really disappointed with how much saturation, vividity and brightness I lose from the actual image to what it looks like posted on my blog. If anyone has any ideas about this and/or advice, PLEASE email me: briennemichelle@gmail.com. Thanks!

Engagement Teaser

2008-09-20T21:42:00.000-07:00

I can't wait to show you more from this engagement shoot with Steve & Annika, but for now, here's a few teasers! I have another engagement shoot tomorrow, but then I'll be blogging the whole thing. :) It was seriously awesome!

Jessica Verma ~Creative Couture~

2008-09-16T17:49:00.000-07:00

It's always just a little bit unnerving to take photos for another photographer. Especially if this particular photographer shot your wedding. :) Jessica Verma helped me get my start in the photography business and was really instrumental in training me on my equipment and letting me 2nd shoot with her when I was brand new. And she really did shoot my wedding in 2005. So when she asked me to shoot her new portfolio stuff for her upcoming website updates, I was flattered and instantly nervous.

Of course, when you have a red-headed hottie to work with, nerves are unnecessary. Not to mention that she's hilarious, so it totally disarms you. I think they came out pretty good too. :) You'll have to take a look at her new websites when they launch. Here are a few teasers!

Thanks for thinking of me, Jess! :) It was a pleasure!
~B

Randomness.

2008-09-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

So I thought I'd post another one of my random blogs. It's Monday and it's sort of a random kind of day.

1. The Dude in Best Buy: So I'm standing there, looking at camera gear (what else?) and contemplating a new neoprene strap for my D300 when this guy walks up to me and says "Boy or Girl?". I tell him boy and he continues the expected conversation for a little while (when are you due? are you excited? I'll be you can't wait till the baby's here....) and then he takes a right turn. He says, "You know..." (and here's where I'm expecting the usual baby advice...), "...the only thing is that you can't put 'em back once they get here."

What?

He goes on to explain that the only time he goes back to see his family is when he gets another divorce (he's had several apparently) or files for bankruptcy and needs another $25,000 (something he's also done more than once).

WHAT?

Why this is pleasant conversation to have with a pregnant stranger, I don't now. File it under "more weird things people say when you have A Bump" I suppose....

2. Baby Update: So I'm 22 weeks in now. Over half way. Since I keep hearing it from all over, I figured I'd finally give in and put up a "belly shot". I guess to prove that I'm really pregnant and that, yes, I have a Bump. So here it is (horrible quality and all)

See. Told ya. :-p. I still haven't gained any weight, but clearly where that weight is located is shifting around.

I'm still oscillating between wanting more time to get everything ready and wanting to just meet him and hold him already. We have a crib now, mattress, jogger stroller (woot!), and 2 dressers. That's a lot of the big stuff. We're also officially registered now (with Target & Baby's R Us).

The baby is moving more and more now. Or rather, he's getting stronger so I'm feeling it more and more. Strong enough to start interrupting sleep even. But it's such a cool feeling. Preston and I went with my family (including my brother who was in town from Philadelphia) to a Brian Wilson concert at the Hollywood Bowl for my mom's birthday on Sunday which they used as a summer closer. Which meant fireworks (which I LOVE). Apparently now that Cameron can hear in there, fireworks are able to scare him too. He had been still for a while (sleeping most likely) but when that first firework went off, I got a nice jab to the spleen. Craziness.

3. Football: What up with football this last week? My team (USC) did well against Ohio State (woot! the game that I was most interested in by far...), but what was up with UCLA v. BYU? 59 to 0? Not that I mind seeing UCLA get creamed, but that's just embarrassing. And my other team (the Chargers) got robbed by a ref at the Broncos game on Sunday. And now the Eagles (not my team, but I have to show some love for Philly while my bro lives there) ended up losing to the Cowboys (of whom I have very strong negative opinions). What a crazy football couple of days. But football feels like fall, which I LOVE.

You know what else makes me think of fall? Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Yum!

Ok, that's all for now. More info and photos coming soon!

~B

When You Want/Need to Waste Time - Do This.

2008-09-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

This is one of those things you do when you're on hold with the phone company. It can also be used when you need to LOOK like you're hard at work on your computer, but in actuality, you finished everything you were supposed to do 47 minutes ago.... or if you're just stalling.

It's crazy fun (to me at least) and I have to give a special shout out to my friend and fellow photographer Melissa Jill for passing the little bit of addictive crack on to me (thanks a lot! lol) in the form of this website. All you do is put in a website URL and it makes a collage of all the words most used on it. Then you can tweak colors, layout, font, etc. or just randomize it to see what you get. Over and over and over.

So, if you have down time, are bored, or are easily addicted to things like this (like me), visit and have fun! :)

Lindsay & Matt ~Wedding~

2008-09-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

Lindsay & Matt are a couple after my own heart. She's detailed and focused, he's goofy and always smiling. And he always makes her smile too. And they're fans of The Office. Holla! They even had a "Dunder Mifflin Scranton" table at the reception. How awesome is that?

They held their wedding and reception at the lovely University Club in Pasadena - a gorgeous little location that had a combination of old California charm, thoughtful staff, and great photo locations.

I got there as Lindsay was finishing up getting ready with her girls. I think out of all the ladies there, her dress actually went on easiest - all of the bridesmaids literally had to use pliers to get their zippers to work properly on their gowns! I had to get a quick shot of Lindsay's awesome monkey socks though. :)

I loved this little sign hanging on the entrance to the bridal room. The whole day was packed with little details like this.

Another detail that I was quite jealous of was Lindsay's gorgeous pearl bracelet. It was simple and stunning at the same time. Had to sneak a pic or two...

The lovely ladies.

Lindsay enjoying a brief quiet moment. I loved the lighting in this hall. This, btw, is completely straight out of camera. Love. It.

Her flowers were gorgeous too. This is also SOOC - there will be several of those in this post today... I showed this photo to Lindsay right after I took it and she was so excited. I love it when I get to show a bride and groom that their hard work has really paid off!

Ceremony time! The outdoor garden/atrium was really beautiful. And the lighting was scrumptious. (SOOC again)

Her dad did really great and seemed genuinely happy for both of them as he gave her away (SOOC).

(still SOOC)

This one obviously isn't SOOC and I'm not sure how I feel about the editing. It's a little more than I usually do, but I kind of like it. Opinions?

A more formal wedding shot. I don't usually post the more formal ones, but I thought I'd put a few in this time. (SOOC)

A more fun, goofy one. I told them to "act natural and let some personality show" so what do Matt & Lindsay do? What any newlywed couple would do...

The gentlemen.

A few of the very happy newlyweds.

This is one of my more "signature" shots and I have it requested a lot. I especially love how her flowers just pop off the tuxedo black. (SOOC)

This one is turning into a signature shot too and is becoming more and more requested (esp. this season). I still love it though.

Another of the more "formal" ones (SOOC) - I do take some formal portraits. Mostly for the moms, but hey, you gotta have a few.

I had some fun playing around with their rings and trying to get a unique shot. I don't know about the ring shot itself, but the groom's Star Wars cake was pretty awesome. Nothing like a Millennium Falcon to complete a cake.

First Dance cuteness.

More ring shot fun. The groom had some awesome glasses (you'll see them again later).

Father/Daughter dance. One of the best shots of all time. Why? Because if you look closely, you can actually see the glint of the tear that is about to fall from his eyes. Kid. You. Not. I absolutely love being able to be there for that kind of moment.

I must pause for a moment to mention one of my favorite DJs of all time - Eugene Franklin. He's seriously unstoppable. I've worked with a lot of DJs over the years and no one beats this guy. He is talented, professional, hilarious, and knows how to get a party started. He doesn't have a website, but you can reach him at (310) 631.2421. He's worth every penny. Here's a shot I couldn't resist putting in - the bridesmaids requested Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" and everyone was totally rocking out. So what does Eugene do? He brings the mic out to the dance floor and lets 'em wail. Stud.

Incidentally, he's also the same DJ I worked with a few weeks ago at Mark & Joy's wedding. Here's one last shot of the fabulous party!

Best wishes to you two! I hope you enjoy your honeymoon up the California coast! Thanks for letting me be a part of such a wonderful and special day. And special thanks to Michelle Rene for coming along with me and shooting 2nd!

~B

The Time Has Come - NEW Info!

2008-09-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Before coming to Santa Clarita, my husband and I literally moved every six months for 3 years. I have lived in Azusa, Santa Clarita, Glendale, Glendora, Rancho Cucamonga, Canyon Country, and now Saugus/Santa Clarita again since the beginning of 2005. Goodness.

So when we started preparing for the move from Rancho Cucamonga to Canyon Country, we had a little chit chat over boxes and packing tape that went something like this:

"You done with this?"

Dirty look.

"Me too."

So when we arrived in Canyon Country, the house hunt began unexpectedly, but in ernest. We didn't know that in another 6 months, we'd be moving into OUR home, but we did. And the moving is over (for a long while anyway). We bought our home in Santa Clarita (near Saugus) and moved in this past February. Good timing since I ended up pregnant (also unexpectedly) by May, but we couldn't be happier. We've settled in to Santa Clarita life and have begun to finally FINALLY let our businesses settle into SCV life as well.

That being said, the time had come for me to commit my business in a more tangible way to this new permanent location. The business phone number. I hadn't bothered changing it for a long time with all the moving (plus it was my business line when I was working in the music industry - still occasionally get calls from bands and artists looking for representation, lol), but I'm proud to announce that Brienne Michelle Photography finally has a 661 phone number. :)

Here it is, btw:

661-803-5811

My old number will continue to work for a while (family should hold on to the old number), but keep in mind that this is now the business line and all photography inquiries should start going there. And if you get a confirmation call about your holiday portrait session from that number, you'll know why.

Thanks! More updates coming soon about those holiday portraits! Book fast btw because I'm not taking ANY portrait shoots in December this year. :)

Much love to the SCV!
~B

Camille & Jean Claude ~Wedding~

2008-09-03T15:06:00.000-07:00

I love when weddings showcase an incredible love story, and Camille & Jean Claude's definitely did. Not only was their excitement and love almost electric, but their family and friends - especially the ones in the wedding party - were bursting at the seams with it too! I have rarely seen a group of people more excited, more supportive, or just plain more fun! And by the way, you know it's going to be a fun group when the bride wears RED shoes. :) (ps - that's one of my all time favorite shoe shots... and I do love me some shoe shots!)

They were married near Inglewood, but the reception was held at Samba - a fantastic Brazilian barbecue place on the water in Redondo Beach near the pier. Super duper uber bonus points to ALL brides and grooms that choose Brazilian BBQ. Seriously. Sooooo good.....

The gentlemen were rockin' it out Resevoir Dogs style in this kick butt alley. :)

Camille chose some very unique flowers for a very unique (and colorful!) bouquet. I loved the button mums. There were even some hidden in the folded leaves and down the side of the stems.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I LOVE it when the church allows me to go up into the balcony area. To all the church coordinators out there - hey, I'm a PK - I won't knock things over or do damage, I promise, so please let me get these shots!

(pps: that's William in the shot.... he's supposed to be there, don't worry)

Not my best work, but I loved the moment caught in this shot.

More of those unique flowers. :) I love it when a bride isn't afraid of a little color.

The PARTY Party. They were awesome.

A cute moment with Camille & Jean Claude - totally used the "over the shoulder hope they didn't see me" photo technique. I think it worked.

A little flirty moment.

**DISCLAIMER** If clowns scare you, skip this image.

If they don't, I actually thought this was cute. There were so many cool locations all along the Redondo Beach boardwalk to take photos. These ons I'm posting are seriously only just a tiny few of them. And the boardwalk patrons ROCK - they cheered and clapped for the bride & groom (and the entire wedding party) every time they walked by. It was actually a really fun experience!

One more shot of color. I loved the blue, I loved the charged emotion in this shot. I loved that it was getting dark and the light was changing every 2 seconds.

Special thanks to William Innes for taking me along. I love 2nd shooting and always schedule myself to do it about a half dozen times a year. This was my last one for the year (as far as I know anyway) and I really enjoyed myself!

Time to start the prep process for the next wedding on Friday!
~B

Boy or Girl? We finally KNOW!

2008-08-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

You may recall my previous update about the gender of the baby and the lack of cooperation from our child... ;) Monday's appointment turned out to be no different BUT we had an ace in the hole on this one - the prenatal cardiologist.

For those who don't know, my husband was born with a heart defect (officially called a "co-arctation of the aortic valve") that required open heart surgery when he was just 18 months old. He's had several procedures over the years to repair the problem and keep it in good shape - all of which has been quite successful. However, there is about a 5% chance of this defect being passed on to our baby, so we were assigned a specialist and this was round one of the special testing that they'll do. And that's where the ace in the hold comes in. Part of this first series of tests included a full & detailed anatomical scan. ;) And Peanut sure wasn't shy today!

So, besides finding out that so far everything looks totally normal and healthy with everything (heart included, though they'll keep an eye on it since it's so hard to diagnos at this age), we most definitely DID find out the sex of the baby......

Drum roll please.......

..............................

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!! Most definitely a BOY. The due date is still set for January 27 and the name we have chosen is Cameron! Happy bday to ME. :)

We're both very excited, but it's a definite gear shift! Stay tuned for more baby updates, pictures, and details about baby showers, etc. :)

~B

Mark & Joy ~ Wedding ~

2008-08-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the 17th, I was so blessed to get to shoot Mark & Joy's wedding at the Calamigos Ranch in Malibu (one of my favorite venues to work with)! Due to some tragic events, their original photographer was unable to shoot their wedding, so we met last minute and I ended up shooting their wedding for them. I can't tell you how glad I am that I had that pleasure! Mark & Joy are positively overflowing with laughter, fun, and good cheer (and so are their families, let me tell you!). They truly laughed their way through the entire day and it was infectious. You could tell everyone there was so happy for them. I took along my friend and fellow photographer Nathan Board - here's just a bit of what we got!

First for some details....

The bride and her father heading down the gorgeous isle

Told you it was gorgeous. :)

The beautiful Matron of Honor. Even though you can't see her face in this shot, I just loved it. I love the colors, the light... I love all of it.

Mark's mom looked on while he read his vows to his bride. She was very proud I think (and looked great!)

Everyone shared a good laugh when Joy pulled the strip of ribbon she had written her vows on out of the front of her dress.... It's not like those wedding gowns come with pockets you know!

THE Kiss.

Some ring action fun with the cake topper. :)

Always laughing together.

Everyone seemed so thrilled for them - and it wasn't hard to tell where Mark got his fun personality from...

And a little motion shot of their first dance. They definitely came into the Reception to "I'm Too Sexy", but danced to "Fly Me to the Moon". :) My kind of peeps.

Thanks to Mark & Joy for letting me be a part of such a beautiful day! It really was an awesome pleasure to be there and witness such joyful wedding! Hope you're enjoying Bora Bora!

Btw, if you want to see their full slideshow, *click here*!

~B

Melissa & Daniel ~ Wedding ~

2008-08-22T22:15:00.000-07:00

Melissa & Daniel had been dating for an INCREDIBLE 14 years before tying the knot. High school sweethearts, these two have been through a lot together - including the recent move to California. Even though they were camera shy, Jessica and I managed to get a few great moments. :) I'll start with a few details.

I love the recent trend of providing fans for the guests.

The lovely bride and her comical father (trust me, he was hilarious at the reception).

The ceremony location was pretty breathtaking. Minus the guys in speedos walking by (which you fortunately couldn't see if you were seated), the view, the sea air, and the sound of the surf was downright magical.

Some gorgeous light at sunset right after the ceremony. :)

One last image from the day.

Ok, off to bed for me. I'm headed out tomorrow to shoot a wedding with William Innes down in Redondo Beach nice and early. I'll be posting images from one of my FAV weddings of all time (last Sunday) later this weekend!

~B

Coming soon....

2008-08-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

I think I'm booked pretty solid today, but before I run out to shoot with the Alemany Football Team, I wanted to post a little teaser from last weekend's August 16 wedding with Melissa & Daniel! The full post is coming soon (hopefully later today)!

~B

April & Steve ~ Wedding ~

2008-08-21T14:07:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, August 9, I had the pleasure of working with Neil Vance from Pasadena. I hadn't worked with him (or his wonderful wife Gretchen) before, but I had a blast! I love working with new photographers and learning about their styles - I always learn something new. Neil also managed to book a FANTASTIC couple in April & Steve. They met at the Alta Dena Country Club (where they also held their reception) as lifeguards. In fact, many of the people in the wedding party also worked there. These two definitely had the vibe that only being together regular for a few years can bring. It made for some magical portraits too.

I got to start with the gentlemen before the wedding. We headed over to St. Francis High School where the groom and all 3 of his brothers attended. It was a gorgeous campus and it was cool to hear about all the changes that have taken place in the 15 years since Steve was there.

Actually, where the guys are walking above apparently used to be a pool. Crazy.

Steve had to take care of some last minute details (I think he was arranging the limo pickup at this particular moment), but it made for a funny candid shot. The other guys totally had to tease him.

Hanging out by the lockers...cuz they're THAT cool.

I loved the lights in the back of the church. It made it dark for shooting, but I loved the effect the light had on the mood as she was waiting to head down the isle.

My favorite shot during the ceremony

And this would be the shot that I got snapped at by the coordinator for taking. It was an honest mistake, but goodness, I have NEVER been given the "church lady snap" during a ceremony before ever. Or frankly at all since I was like 5. At least it was a good photo. :)

The cutie-patootie ring bearer. He thought this was what he was supposed to do when a camera was pointed at him. :)

And now for some DETAILS.... :)

Here's Neil getting his bouquet on. Schnazzy....

The beautiful couple

Thanks again to Neil & Gretchen for bringing me along and best wishes to Steve & April!

~B

Khris-Liane & Santiago ~ 8.08.08 Wedding!

2008-08-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, as promised, I'm finally getting caught up on some of my blogging! I had two weddings again this past weekend, so there is A LOT coming your way! Let me backup to the day of the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics (seems like forever ago now somehow...). I had the pleasure of working with Khris-Liane and Santiago down in Redondo Beach at the lovely Crown Plaza Hotel. Khris-Liane and Santiago had a beautiful wedding ceremony on top of the hotel on the Harbor Terrace overlooking the gorgeous marina and bay in Redondo. It was a great location and the weather could not have been better.

Here's Khris-Liane getting into her dress before the ceremony. Now, if you haven't been inside of a wedding dress before, let me tell you, it is WAY more work than it looks like. It takes a lot of maneuvering, a lot of people, a lot of breath-holding, and a whole lot of laughter & patience.

Khris-Liane was all laid back and smiling until she saw herself in the mirror for the first time. Then the tears start. There is something sort of overwhelming the first time you see yourself as The Bride on your wedding day. The girls tried to help save her makeup. ;)

A moment of calm before the wedding storm...

They made a smart choice to use tiki torches instead of candles for an outdoor ceremony overlooking the beach - they actually staid lit during the entire ceremony!

More details...

The MEN:

That happy newlyweds

What a ring!

Ok, that's all for now! Best wishes to Khris-Liane & Santiago! More wedding stuff (from 8/9, 8/16 and 8/17) coming your way!

~B

8-9-08 Teaser!

2008-08-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

I had hoped to have enough time to post from my 8-8-08 wedding and my 8-9-08 wedding today, but that won't happen. I'm actually getting ready to leave for my wedding today, but thought I'd at least post a teaser!

April & Steve were married in a gorgeous ceremony last Saturday, August 9 in Pasadena. I'll share more of the details (including a bag piper!) when I post more of the images. In the meantime, I'm off to shoot in Laguna with Jessica Verma!

Have a great Saturday everyone!

~B

Roger & Veronica ~ Wedding

2008-08-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

I'm a little behind on blogging my weddings this season due to business (and occasional lameness), but I'm getting caught up, I promise!

Last month I shot Roger & Veronica's wedding in Monrovia (reception at Monterrey Hill) and it was beautiful. This was the first wedding I shot where the entire ceremony was NOT in English at all but fortunately, I'm familiar enough with Catholic ceremonies that it wasn't a problem. ;) The church was GORGEOUS.

Veronica wasn't feeling too well after the ceremony, but we still got in a few beautiful portraits. This one was one of my favorites because it was almost accidental. Well, I took it on purpose, but Veronica was staring off towards her new husband. I love capturing things like that.

Ok, one more. The entrance to the Monterey Hill Restaurant is really beautiful and I had to take at least one shot there.

That's it for now. I have a few more weddings to post, plus I'm shooting 2 this weekend (including 2nd shooting for Jessica Verma again! I love shooting with that girl!), so I should probably get sleep. I didn't used to have to care how late I'd be up blog surfing and blogging, but I guess those are things I need to care about now. ;) I HAD to stay up to watch Phelps on his 7th race. That man is UNBELIEVABLE.

Have a great night!

~B

Shootsacs are Awesome.

2008-08-14T14:47:00.001-07:00

I'm not real big on promoting specific companies on my blog usually. It's not that I don't have opinions about what I like and don't like, but I rarely feel comfortable doing it. One of the very few exceptions is Shootsac (by Jessica Claire). I held off for a long time after Shootsac was realeased before getting one, but found I just couldn't live without one after I borrowed Dane Sanders' bag while shooting with him. I can't imagine shooting without one now. As a style conscious girl, the giant ugly camera bag was so not working for me. Especially when I'd accidentally send a 5 year old ring bearer flying when I turned to fast and my camera bag would hit in the chest.

So I came across this video put together by Matt & Katie of Shadowplay Photography in Australia and I had to share it. She even has one of the same covers I do. ;-p Enjoy!!

Katie - Shootsac Promo - HD from Matt E on Vimeo.

Free to Succeed Tour, 101 in 1001 and Catchup!

2008-08-12T17:53:00.000-07:00

I have so much blog-catchup to do, it's ridiculous! :) I have a list of things to blog sitting on my desk, and since it's so long, I'm going to put 2 of them at least together. I did want to give an update on the Free to Succeed Tour first though!

I went last Wednesday, August 6 down to the Sheraton near LAX. What an awesome experience! David Jay never ceases to amaze me, and kudos to him and his team for making the actual presentation of the material so enjoyable also.

So many of us spend HOURS upon HOURS doing editing, business related stuff, and generally sitting in front of our computers all day long. It's nice to not only reminded to CHOOSE freedom from that, but to be shown HOW to do that, without sacrificing your business, your social life, your family, or yourself to the job! Most of us got into this business because we wanted to take amazing photos and loved the glamorous thought of it all - we didn't necessarily want to spend 40+ hours a week just editing a single wedding.

After DJ took us through some basic changes to make to our workflow using various software programs (like the love of my life, Lightroom), it was the fashionably fierce Jasmine Star's turn to talk about branding.

I have to say, I think Jasmine's presentation challenged me at least as much as DJ's. Branding has been a veritable nightmare project for me and has taken more time than I thought to get the majority of my business presence in line with my message. Jasmine challenged us to really work on finding who we are, what we like and WHY we like it so that we can apply that to our companies. She also encouraged us to really think about what our individual assets and liabilities our business-wise. You can bet a post is coming soon on that... But above all, she encouraged us to K.I.R : Keep It Real. ;)

At the end of the night, I was totally amused when I saw a particular scene unfolding in the back of the room. I knew Becker was there - I saw him come in not long after I sat down, but I didn't expect him to totally hi-jack the crowd to show off his [b] school stuff. Lol.

He and DJ are good friends and actually, the [b] school is one of my addictions, so I thought it was actually kinda cool, but it made for an amusing picture.

So, this little tour date actually factors in to my 101 in 1001 list too! :) I'm WAY behind in updating my blog on it, so I'm putting a whole bunch of them in this blog. Here we go!

#1 - Print & hang recent photos in my client proofing area - DONE!

I printed out several photos, had them mounted on gator board, and put up shelving so I can rotate photos based on the client when they come in (wedding, portrait, kids, etc.). :)

#11 - Attend 2 major photography workshops - CHECK! I can officially add the Free to Succeed Tour to my previous workshop from earlier this year - Missional Photography lead by Dane Sanders, Mike Colon and Jessica Claire down at RHU. Woot!

#18 - Finalize & Implement my branding - CHECK! After figuring out MY style, going couture, redoing my website, jumping on the "life. styled" wagon, settling on a color scheme, getting new photos, redoing stationary, getting new lables and packaging, new business cards, making over my blog and printroom sites, and finally USING all of that, I can finally say that my branding is done (for now) and is in the implementation stages!

#23 - Scout for local locations - DONE! Having lived up here for a while now, I've scouted venues, and found some really cool shooting locations (like Bridgeport, Mentryville, Placerita Canyon, etc). I feel pretty good about my options. :)

#25 - Market specifically to the SCV - CHECK! I have taken out a few ads already, and have begun working with local publications as well. I also offer discount to SCV residents (or those who want to visit me up here!). I'm still undecided on the SCV Photographer's Association.

#29 - Get the client TV internet capable - CHECK! I actually used this feature at an album design session last week! It rocks!

#31 - Organize my office necessities - DONE DONE DONE! I was super excited to get this one done. I begged and pleaded with my album designer (and most likely future Studio Manager) until she came up and helped me tackle The Beast. I can now proudly say I actually know where everything is, it's organized, labeled and in proper locations. :)

#52 - Shoot the cover of a magazine - DONE. This one is way cool for me. Not only have I been able to shoot the cover for the SFV News Magazine, I am their official cover shooter - so I get to do this every month! Woot!

#53 - Figure out how to post videos to my blog - CHECK. As some of you have seen recently, I have been posting videos already so this one is no surprise.

#73 - Contribute to the marketing and photography for my church - DONE. Actually, I'm doing this for 2 churches - mine (His Way Community) and my parents church (West Valley Christian Center).

#79 - Be referred to as a "Lovecat" by another photographer - DONE. Technically. I was talking about my List with my friend and fabulous photographer Jessica Verma and she decided that she'd just call me a Lovecat so I could knock it off my list. Unfortunately, she hasn't read Tim Sanders' book, so I'm not sure I should count this one... lol.

#84 - Shoot at 1,000 Steps Beach - CHECK. I actually did this not that long ago for a family portrait shoot. ;) It was GORGEOUS and I definitely intend to use it again.

And last, but not least of my updates to the List:

#90 - Get canvas prints made - CHECK & DONE. I actually did this a while ago too, but hadn't taken a picture to show anyone. My clients and friends who have visited have already been looking at this for a while. :)

So see, I'm not a total slacker on the List. I'm just a total slacker about blogging about it. That's all for now though. More blogs coming your way this week! Including 2 weddings.

~B

Things I've Learned So Far...

2008-08-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

So I'm officially settling into my second trimester. Hallelujah. But partially for my own mental benefit and partly for the sake of sharing (esp. for friends and family who are far away and are curious), I thought I'd take a minute to reflect on my experience so far. If you don't care so much about the personal things, or you aren't really a baby person, I won't be offended if you skip this blog. ;-)

I've gone through a myriad of the "usual" symptoms so far. I spent most of June and July nauseous (so fun) and discovering strange things like the experience of hating coffee and chocolate. My nose was suddenly in overdrive (I can pretty much tell you the ingredients of almost anyone's dinner two tables away at a restaurant without looking) and that meant that certain smells = instant nausea. Most of those have faded (though cigarette/cigar smoke and burned toast still seem to have that effect), and fortunately, I'm able to eat more again.

I completed my entire first trimester without gaining an ounce (probably a good thing given my pre-pregnancy size) but still managed to get enough nutrients that my anemia is in check. This is especially good since I'm unable to take iron supplements. Pernicious Anemia really stinks (a side effect of the Hashimoto's Disease) and taking the normal prenatal vitamins made me REALLY sick. It took 4 tries to get something I could actually take. Considering how limited my diet was for a while there, I was thrilled to learn that all is going well. In addition, my Hashi's seems to be in pretty much a full remission, my thyroid dosage is functioning very well, and all my antibody levels are doing great. The nausea wasn't fun, but my body seems to be functioning NORMALLY for the most part. And for me, that's a HUGE deal!

I'm finally able to eat Mexican food again. That's BIG for me. Seriously. I practically live on the stuff, so that makes me a happy camper. I do feel like a Hobbit though. I can't ever eat very much at one time, but I have to eat really often or I'll get sick (empty stomach = BAD). So I have First Breakfast, Second Breakfast, 11-zies, Dinner, Tea, Supper..... It's taken some getting used to, but it works.

The fatigue is lifting. It still hits me at unexpected times where I suddenly find myself thinking "Wow, the sidewalk would be a fantastic place for a nap right now" or eyeing the benches in the mall, but it's better than it was even a few weeks ago. And I have begun to discover what the conversation about Hormones is about. I'm usually aware of when it's completely irrational (like when I want to football tackle the random lady on her smoke break outside because doesn't she know that's bad for my baby!?!?!?).

There are definite pros and cons to pregnancy. A lot of the pros are obvious - including one I just got to experience the other day. I finally got to feel my baby moving. S/he is quite the Olympian and I had a bit of heads up of what to expect, but there is absolutely nothing that can replace that little swishy-swirly-popcorn-popping-in-my-stomach feeling. At first you kinda cock your head to one side and go "Was that...I mean....wait...really?", but it kept happening and has continued to happen since then. It just kind of makes me grin to myself and think "For reals???". One of the cons that probably bugs me most is the lack of personal space anymore. I know I'm an American and therefore used to much more personal space than many cultures would, but the feeling of turning into some magical buddha who's belly must be rubbed.... eesh. I don't remember if I was a "belly rubber" before, but I will NEVER be one again. Due to both Hormones and certain things in my past, I've never been one that likes a lot of touching unless it's someone I know, so total strangers coming up to me and rubbing my belly? Definitely weird. I'm considering it a learning experience though. It's truly not worth correcting some people about and it's not worth hurting feelings, but I do know how I plan to be with other pregnant women from now on. To those I have belly-rubbed in the past, I am truly sorry.

All in all, the excitement is building and my husband and I are both enjoying the daydreaming stage. :) Every now and then he laughs because I have to point to my growing stomach and whisper "Baaaaaaaby". It's pretty cool and pretty mind-blowing. More updates later. And maybe belly pics. Maybe.

~B

Jen & Anthony: Engagement Session!

2008-07-29T23:10:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of working with Jen & Anthony who drove all the way from the Bay Area to do their engagement shoot! Their wedding isn't until next July 4th (Jen's fav holiday), but they have a fabulous engagement party scheduled for next month, so we decided to get some photo action in early! We met up in Ventura at the pier (after dodging Kevin Costner traffic and road closures - apparently he has a band now and was filming a concert.... odd...) and got going right away!

They tried to tell me that were nervous about the shoot, but they totally had me fooled! Nothing but gorgeous natural smiles all day. These two are seriously adorable!

And PS - how fabulous is her adorable green dress?

Then we headed UNDER the pier - which is one of my favorite places to go with a pier. There's something so cool and intimate about it, even though there are still tons of people around.

Now normally, when we do a cute dipping shot, I have a quick chit-chat with the groom and it usually ends with a statement like "...and then dip her as far as you're comfortable". Normally that equals a few inches - a foot if I'm lucky. NOT ANTHONY. I think he said something to Jen like "I can't promise you won't get wet" and then went for it! Gotta love that!!

After we walked back to the cars, we noticed that we could totally access this AWESOME railroad bridge. If you've ever driven up the 101 freeway towards Santa Barbara before, you can't miss it. It goes right over the freeway. I've ALWAYS thought it'd be awesome to shoot there, but never knew how to get to it. I was way excited to find out we were parked right next to the entrance, so we headed in there. I took a couple that I really loved there, so here they are!

After wrapping up at the Ventura Pier, we jumped back in the cars and headed to CSU Channel Islands, Athony's old alma mater. Now, before we go further, let me fill you in on a few tidbits of info about CSUCI. First off, and maybe I'm the only one who didn't know this, but not only is it NOT on the Channel Islands, it's not even close. It's not even near water. It's in a canyon. In a desert. Surrounded by mountains. Oh, some other info - the well that is up on one of the hills overlooking the campus is the same well used in that freaky movie "The Ring". And before it was a school, it was a mental hospital - the one the song "Hotel California" is about.

Ok, back to pictures. :)

Btw, if you're noticing a green theme, it's because it's Jen's favorite color, their wedding color, and if you look at one of the first few pics, you can see her GORGEOUS emerald and diamond engagement ring. :) Fabulous.

I LOVED this hallway. I call it "The Hallway of Glory" because of that awesome skylight right at the end. It's like the perfect natural spotlight. Love it.

A little time in a beautiful courtyard. The architecture on the campus is really awesome.

A little fun with herringbone brick. Why not?

Anthony is Lebanese so they had necklaces made with both "Jenifer" and "Anthony" in Arabic. Doesn't it look beautiful written out?

After enjoying the old school California architecture, we headed over to the modern library. :) I just love stairwells....

Sunset at the library.

And of course this session ended like it started (and like most sessions do!) - with a bit of fun and teasing. ;) When Anthony says he's done, he's DONE!

So that was a super-uber long post, but it's not my fault - it just happens when I get to work with a fantastic couple like Jen & Anthony! Best wishes to you both for your upcoming party and, of course, the wedding next summer! So excited!!!

~B

Baby Update

2008-07-28T23:37:00.000-07:00

So I had another OB appointment today. They said that, assuming the baby cooperates, we'd be able to find out the gender of the baby. Knowing the stubbornness and michieviousness that runs in both my husband's genes and mine, I wasn't holding my breath about a "cooperative baby". ;) And did I know my child already? Oh yeah.

The doc (whom I love by the way) was laughing again at just how acrobatic this little kiddo is (s/he is getting into the Olympic spirit already - Peanut has some definite moves) and of course, that made it difficult to get a good look, particularly at around 15 weeks. SOOOO, here's the basic news. The doctor said that though she "wouldn't commit", she's definitely "leaning girl" right now. I asked if I should hold out hope for my boy still (I want a boy, Pres wants a girl), and she said "No. But I still won't commit". Sigh.

But I'm not that easily intimidated! I'm still hopeful - I mean, after all, if they're going to get it wrong one way or the other, they'll make the error of saying girl when it's really a boy. Really.

So we'll get the final confirmation at my next visit at the end of August (in time for my birthday!). So if you still want in on the votes/bets, get 'em in before then. ;)

~B

Engagement Teaser!

2008-07-26T23:28:00.000-07:00

So I should definitely be sleeping right now, but I was so excited about the engagement session I did today with Jenifer and Anthony that I couldn't wait to post at least ONE photo from today. I promised myself I'd only do one, and I'm sticking to it, but rest assured, more are coming! Jen & Anthony were a total blast to work with and I'm confident we got some seriously fab photos. :) So here's a quick teaser!

I love stairwells..... :)

~B

MY Family Photos

2008-07-25T15:12:00.000-07:00

My parents' church is in the process of updating their website (a headache that I'm sure SEVERAL of you can sympathize with - kudos to Patrick for taking it on) and that means a lot of new photos. Especially since their church is the first in the state (and possibly the nation) to GO GREEN! That's right, they had a ton of solar panels installed and are officially generating their own energy (and a little extra too that goes back into the grid!). You can read more about it at the church's blog.

Anyway, new photos usually exciting to me - and it means I'm in process of completing #73 on 101 in 1001 list for TWO churches (woot!), but this particular photo shoot was extra fun for me. Since they need updated photos of the pastors and staff members in the church, that meant I got to take some headshots of my parents! I've secretly been hoping to do this, but knew I'd need a reason to do it. I was very excited to have one. :)

So here is my lovely parents - I'll be you can't tell which one I look like a mini-me of. ;)

My mom, Cheri (LOVE the black, white and yellow!):

And my dad, Ken. :) Doesn't he look pastorly (yes, I invented that word...):

Don't they look way too young to be grandparents? Also, even though I clearly got my mom's eye color, my dad's eyes mean that I do have a blue gene in there somewhere. And since my husbands baby blues are super blue, I'm REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping for a blue eyed child... *crosses fingers* Here's to hoping!

Thanks Mom and Dad for letting me do this - I hope it was as painless as I promised!

~B

Back to School Specials & Holiday Deals!

2008-07-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

I've been getting a few emails recently and a few new print ads have come out (or are about to) about the specials coming your way. I thought I'd put it out there so you know they really are coming!

In August and September, I'm offering a myriad of Back to School deals (can we say $50 sessions?) and packaged print specials (wallets, 5x7s and 8x10s bundled together for great savings). Everybody has to get those annoying school photos for school, but that doesn't mean you have to send grandma THAT picture. :) Let the school have it for the yearbook and get GREAT photos of your kids for the family. I'll guarantee your kids will enjoy it more too. And for Senior Portraits, I'm running some awesome deals on that too (including half off on the popular "Trendsetter" package that features unlimited locations!). Scheduling for these shoots will be posted soon, but if you want to get your school photos in, feel free to email me and we'll get you booked. Sessions booked before August 10 get a special 10% discount ON TOP of the other discounts (holla!).

For Holiday Portraits, it's pretty much total madness. But this year, especially due to my pregnancy, I'm organizing a little better. It might feel early to be thinking about it, but I'll only be taking bookings in October and November for the holidays (which means you'll definitely have everything in plenty of time - bonus!), but I won't be taking any last minute calls this year for December. I'll be offering lots of deals (including some free sessions) and 15% off ALL albums for all holiday portraits! I'll be scheduling these as well, so make sure you get booked EARLY. Seriously.

Ok, more info coming soon - you'll see a whole new page on the website soon with all the info, but feel free to email if you want the info sooner or if you want to secure your booking at briennemichelle@gmail.com.

Keep smiling!
~B

If You Didn't Want Kids Before...

2008-07-23T15:06:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted up recent photos in a few days, but don't worry, I'm getting to that. I just came across this video and HAD to post it. If you didn't want kids before, this video will probably make you want to at least borrow one. A cute one. So sit back and enjoy a good laugh. :)

I could listen to that all day long. :)

~B

I am NOT a Cowgirl.

2008-07-20T12:51:00.000-07:00

Let me see if I can make this clear. Yes, I went to Canyon High School, so in that sense, yes, I'm a Cowgirl, but not when I'm shooting a wedding! And I don't mean the outfit either (though I can also assure you that boots, spurs and hat stay at home for weddings too - oh wait, I don't think I own any of that. Maybe the hat).

One of the things I stress to my clients about my style is that I LOVE it when I get to the review session and my newlywed couple sees a beautiful image from the day (esp. the ceremony) and says "Oh my gosh! I didn't even know you were there!". That, my fabulous friends, is how I know I did my job RIGHT. I want to capture everything, every detail, but I want to do it like a ninja. You never saw me, I wasn't there. I have highly honed cheetah reflexes for exactly this purpose. Lol.

For those who are concerned or possibly aren't sure exactly what I mean, let me give you a sample of exactly what I DO NOT EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER do! :)

For all my upcoming and potential clients out there, know that I solemnly promise to remember that it is YOUR day, YOUR wedding, and that you lovingly invited YOUR guests to be a part of it. And that I can get the shot without having to resort to being a Cowboy (or girl). Also, know that I never wear jeans to a wedding. Ever. Unacceptable. (Oh, and PS - is he wearing a fanny pack?)

I am curious though - anyone out there have a photographer like this show up? I'd love to hear stories. :)

~B

Jeff & Sherrie - Wedding!

2008-07-18T23:12:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had the wonderful privilege or shooting with the beautiful and talented Jessica Verma - one of my fav photographers and people! We were both blown away by the transformation of the roof and lounge area at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. The design and details were handled by one of my new favorite event companies, Contemporary Catering - headed up by Nathaniel Neubauer. They did a FABULOUS job of transforming the roof and lounge area of the museum into an absolutely gorgeous space (fyi, their website is undergoing a re-design, but the current one still functions!).

Here are just a few of the details...

The groom was pretty stunned when she came down the isle.

Sherrie seemed pretty excited too. She was beaming the whole night!

I thought this was such a beautiful moment. I'm not entirely sure why, but it sort of had that fairytale-esque quality to it.

Ahh, the Kiss.

Photographers and aspiring photographers out there remember, sometimes the moment right AFTER the Kiss is almost cuter and more intimate...

A cute moment down in the galleries... (PS - I LOVE it when museums let you shoot in the actual galleries!)

Speaking of the galleries... this was one of the exhibits and I thought it was interesting on so many levels. :)

The flowers were absolutely stunning - the very tops of the centerpieces had to stand between 6 and 8 feet above the top of the table. And, to make it even better, Sherrie's father was the florist in charge. She picked the flowers, but didn't see the design until she came into the reception for the first time. You can bet she was totally blown away!

You can't see the tops of the centerpieces, but curly willow continued on up for several more feet. The tables, the design and the view combined for an amazing location!

Enjoying that gorgeous view of Pasadena City Hall at sunset. Nights like that remind me of why I love California.

Awwwwww

First Dance cuteness

And one more because Father & Daughter were just too adorable!

Congrats to Sherrie and Jeff! It was an absolutely beautiful night - what a great start to a hopefully AMAZING marriage! Enjoy Thailand for the honeymoon!

~B

Courtney & Justin - Wedding Album

2008-07-17T22:28:00.000-07:00

So I'm about to embarrass myself. Courtney & Justin (as you'll see in the design) got married in 2006. That's right, over 2 years ago. And their wedding album is just now getting done. Isn't that horribly sad. There are reasons and excuses, but nonetheless, the album design is done now and I'm SO THRILLED that it's finally finished. :) To see Courtney & Justin's full album design (10x10), simply *click here*!

It's always interesting to me to look back on how far I've come and how much my style has changed. Courtney & Justin had a beautiful wedding in Laguna Hills and I remember being stunned by the detail and décor, especially at their reception. It's funny me to think back on it in a way and think what I would have done with the details now vs. what I did then. I hope I can say that in 2010 and 2012 and 2014...etc. How far have you come in the past couple years? Have you revisited yourself or your work from years ago?

~B

He's here! Baby Corban Daniel

2008-07-17T16:12:00.000-07:00

After literally a month of being in labor (yay for contractions that never end), Christen & Dan welcomed little Corban Daniel into their lives on Tuesday night! Some of you may remember Christen from her awesome beach maternity shoot a few months back - well now you can see what Corban looks like without the belly in the way. ;) I didn't take this photo (provided courtesy of Erica & Robie - I believe it was taken on Dan's cell phone or something though...), but you can already see his adorable cuteness!

I just wanted to wish a very special congrats to the new family! You can bet more pics of this kid will show up here. ;)

Much love to all THREE of you Christen, Dan & Corban! I hope the waiting was all worth it and that the recovery is quick! Blessings to you and your beautiful family.

~B

Ron & Anna - Engagment Session!

2008-07-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday, I had the pleasure of working with Anna & Ron - two absolutely adorable people who make an even more adorable couple. Ron & Anna met when Anna started working with Ron's family in the financial industry. They kept him secret for a while, but finally word got out that there was "a brother" that she should meet. They've been together for almost 4 years now and I am so excited for their wedding this October in Beverly Hills!

Ron is my kinda guy - a poker player, an electronics guru (he had THREE flat screen plasmas covering an entire wall in the living room so he could see all the games at once), and always ready to laugh. Anna and I had our fair share of things in common too - love of shoes for starters (and that's a BIG one for me!). She is just one of those super sweet people that you can't help but feel instantly comfortable with.

We met up in Huntington Beach at Ron's home, and I mistakenly assumed that Huntington Beach = beach shoot. SOO wrong and I was SO excited about that! As soon as Anna said "We're not really beach picture people, we wanted to do something a little different", my ears perked WAY up. :) So we all loaded up and headed to the Irvine Spectrum and then to a cute little miniature golf course. :)

We started out on the carousel of course. :)

The Spectrum was chock-full of great little colorful areas to take cute romantic pictures.

I love Hollister's shutters! They're always fabulous for photos.

We had to take these shots at the miniature golf course with the Eiffel Tower. Anna & Ron will be heading to Paris and Rome for their honeymoon this October, so it just seemed so appropriate. :)

And one final one - I love that Anna & Ron didn't even bat an eyelash when I said "Ooh! Let's take a few pictures with this school bus!). PS - LOVE the yellow and black! ;)

Aren't they fantastic! So excited for October! Thanks for being so awesome you two!

~B

New Website is LIVE! - #48 CHECK!

2008-07-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited that my new website is finally LIVE! Several of you already know the headache I've been going through with my previous design (which was nice, but outdated) and trying to create a cohesive look to my blog, printroom, and website. Finally I'm able to do that! Not only that, but I'll be able to continually update my website at anytime (so keep checking for updates!). I'm also working on a promo video for the front page and will definitely be thrilled to release that! PLUUUUUUUUUUUS....... This also means I get to check off #48 on my 101 in 1001 list! I actually have a few more of those to check off and blog, so that'll be coming soon too. ;) Back to the website.....

How can I do all this? Simple. Two little words (and one fav photographer/friend) - Showit Sites (thanks to David Jay). His website (and the fabulous Jasmine Star) have their websites done with the same program so that'll give you an idea of just how awesome it can be (and where I hope to end up shortly!). You can download the program for free and start playing around with it right away if you're interested. There's even a cool video tutorial or two on the Showit website to demo how it works. I highly suggest watching it - it's not too long and it'll blow your mind. Especially if you've ever had website headaches like me! It's seriously awesome - I can't thank DJ enough for taking on this major undertaking (and all the people on the Showit team).

Check it out, leave comments and tell me what you'd like to see changed, added, or updated! And check out Showit Sites!

Our Baby!!!!

2008-06-26T15:25:00.000-07:00

So today I had my first OB appointment. Huge milestone, I know. I was excited, nervous, and fortunately, mostly nausea-free! Thanks to "What To Expect When You're Expecting", I was fairly well informed (I thought) on what to expect but I was surprised that I got to do an ultrasound! Little did I know I'd get to see my baby for the first time today.

The other surprise we got was that I'm even further along than we thought. No more is the February 14 due date. They've moved it to January 25! That puts me at just past 9.5 weeks (woot! that means I'm closer to the end of the first trimester and, hopefully, morning sickness). The baby was all squigly-wigly and moving around (soo cool to see) and I could see his/her little heartbeat too. :) Seriously, it's such a cool, weird, exciting feeling.

I've been sometimes sick, sometimes fine for most of the time now. I have days that are mostly great and then BAM! - I'm sicko for 2 days and it's miserable. I still have major food/drink aversions - coffee mainly (though I'm happy to say some forms of chocolate are back on the menu), beef, most meat, anything spicy, etc. I basically live on fruit, cereal (thank goodness milk is fine!), and a few other staples like potatoes. Btw, "morning sickness" is a TOTAL misnomer for me. When I get sick, it's either all day, or only at night. The fatigue is definitely pronounced, but Hashimoto's definitely helped prepare me for that part of it. It's a little bit different fatigue too - it's not so dehabilitating, but more like, all the sudden I just really wanna take a nap or at 8:30pm I just know I'm ready to sleep for the night. Crazy, but not horrible.

It's still crazy to think that there's a little life inside of me but Preston and I are really really excited and happy. And totally scared that we'll be responsible for another human being. But mostly excited.

For those of you who are interested, YES we intend to find out the sex of the baby AS SOON AS WE CAN! Lol. It's killing me that we don't know already, but we'll have to wait until at least 12 weeks and probably 15. Assuming the baby cooperates. And we'll probably let everyone know the name choices too, but in the mean time, we're just glad that everything is going good, it's looking like I will NOT be classified high-risk (WOOOOHOOO!! no amniocentesis!) and all is happy and healthy so far!

Please continue to keep us in prayer (all 3 of us!) - it's always appreciated!

Here's one more of the cute little peanut!

Website WONDER

2008-06-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned previously, my website has been having....issues. But that is soon to be a thing of the past (already you at least don't get the silly "oops" message)!

Once it's for sure up and going, I'll share more about how it came about and how my super cool fully-editable up to date website works! In the meantime, here's a few sneak peeks!

I can't wait!!! Woohoo!!!!

Website Problems

2008-06-17T14:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm not entirely sure what's going on, but if you've tried to visit my website in the past day or so, there have been major problems (thanks to everyone who contacted me to let me know!). I've spent some serious time on the phone with GoDaddy, my hosting service, and I still don't have an answer. I'll be updating as I get more info, but in the meantime, feel free to stick to the blog for a while. I'll get it fixed. Or be moving to another service. :( Wish me luck!

~B

Family Portraits - Courtney, Justin & Jack!

2008-06-16T22:38:00.000-07:00

As promised earlier, here are the rest the teasers from the gorgeous family portrait shoot from last Friday (the 13th). Nothing but GOOD things on this Friday the 13th.

We met up at the absolutely stunning Montage Resort in Laguna Beach and got started right away. I should mention, Courtney and Justin were one of my fav couples from early 2006 so it was a real pleasure to meet there little guy Jack and do a shoot with their family. Here are some of my favorites (btw, there's a lot! their family is just TOO cute!)!

I love that he kept this hat on for so long! Usually they rip 'em right off, but he totally seemed content (for a a little while anyway) to just leave it on. Yay! Don't you just love his dimple!

What kid doesn't love it when their dad tosses them in the air?

Ok, this is one of my favorites. Jack totally blew me away when he managed to put on his own shoes all by himself and they were even on the right feet! Of course, it's hard work when you're that little, so sticking out the tongue is a necessity!

Isn't the beach at the resort GORGEOUS!?

I love this one. So sweet.

And the whole family version. Such a cute family.

A few seconds later. Jack didn't much care for the "big wah wah" because it was so cold. He totally loved the sand though!

And one final cute one of just mom and dad. Still in love and going strong. It's not hard to tell where Jack gets his "adorable" from. ;-) Btw, I thought the coolest part of shooting weddings was getting to be there at that incredible, beautiful moment when they say "I do" but I might have to rethink my position. Being there to shoot the family portraits with the same couple a few years later... THAT is truly awesome.

Congrats again Courtney & Justin (and Jack!) - and thanks so much for letting me work with your family again. It was a true pleasure!

~B

A Very Special Happy Father's Day!!!

2008-06-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

Today is a very special Father's Day. First of all, happy Dad's Day to all the dads out there! But I want to wish a VERY special Father's Day to MY HUSBAND!!! It's his first. ;-)

Yup. It's true. I'm pregnant. And if you know my husband and I very well, you know that we were pretty shocked. We certainly weren't planning this, but God has his own agenda sometimes. So, let me share some of the specialness with you.

As previously mentioned, I have an autoimmune disease known as Hashimoto's Disease, which primarily effect the thyroid. The thyroid effects everything in the body, including the reproductive system, so we knew I was less likely to get pregnant as it was. Add to the Hashimoto's the birth control aspect and our plans to wait another few years, and you'll start to get a picture of just how shocked we were.

However, since the first time our doctor told us of possible complications, we placed it in God's hands. We figured He's bigger than us (and a pill) and knows what is best. We decided to trust His timing and continue with the plans we had originally made, allowing Him to change our minds if He decided to. Well, He did. And we feel very blessed.

Since we found out about a week and a half ago (doctor's confirmed on Tuesday, but we waited till today to tell our parents - story on that to follow) we have been continually impressed at God's timing. One significant aspect was the medical insurance. Some of you know my husband changed jobs about 8 weeks ago. We had medical insurance through his previous job, but it specifically excluded pregnancy (for the first year). His new job immediately gave us medical coverage, and it covers EVERYTHING, including pregnancy from the get go (even if it's determined a "pre-existing condition"). The timing couldn't be better. ;-)

We decided, after doctor's confirmation this past week, to tell our families on Father's Day. We figured we couldn't pick a better time and got a couple of "Happy Father's Day GRANDPA" cards for our dads (along with cute "I Love Grandpa" bibs). We had lunch with my family and dinner with Preston's and snuck those cards in all sneaky-sneaky. And boy were they surprised! Needless to say, everyone's happy all around (my grandparents happened to be out too, so we got to tell them as well) and the phone calls have started to the rest of the family. It still feels a bit surreal, but we are truly truly happy.

I'm feeling pretty good for the most part. I spent about 10 of the past 12 or 13 days pretty sick, but after going through 3 different kinds of prenatal vitamins and discovering what I can't and can't eat (or smell), I'm finally feeling pretty good - just exhausted. Strangely, the smell of chocolate and ESPECIALLY coffee make me extremely sick - which was our first giveaway something was off. But all in all, I'm doing pretty well. We'll get a more firm date from the OB in a few weeks, but for now they're estimating I'm due sometime around Valentine's & Preston's birthday (his is February 15).

Sooooo..... thanks for bearing with me during my last couple weeks of craziness (and the ones that are sure to follow). And if you see my husband, or have a chance to email - wish a happy Father's Day too. ;-) More updates to come!

~B

Sneek Peek from Today's Portrait Shoot

2008-06-14T00:23:00.000-07:00

I'll be blogging the whole thing later on, but for now here's a few sneek peeks from today in Laguna Beach!

Tons more fun images to come later! Now for some beauty sleep before my wedding tomorrow!

~B

Lame-oh Lame.

2008-06-09T22:22:00.001-07:00

Lame-oh lame. That's how I'm describing myself currently. I can't tell you what a crazy whirlwind I've been on this past week, but I can tell you it has been intense. I'm in the process of picking up all the pieces and desperately trying to get organized again, but WHEW, a girl gets overwhelmed easy these days. Look, here's my overwhelmed face:

So, in the spirit of Becker and Mondays, here are a few miscellaneous thoughts.

#1 - What the HECK is up with the officiating on the Lakers vs. Celtics games? It was annoying the first game, but last night? Holy cow. That was just plain horrid. I don't care if you hate both teams, it's obvious something is wrong when one team gets 38 free throws and the other gets 10. Powe had more free throw attempts than the entire Lakers team. Lame-oh.

#2 - Why do dogs shed so much? I know we're going into summer here, but MAN. Keeping up with my pets and their hair right now is ridiculous. Maybe it just shows up more on tile or something, but for crying out loud. I'm tempted to teach them to sweep or something.

#3 - Sometimes church ladies impress me to no end. Not always, but this weekend, at our new church, I was so impressed with the love and generosity the "church ladies" showed to our Pastor's wife. They went in together for her shower and got her the crib, mattress, swing, car seat, AND stroller. How awesome are they!?

#4 - $200 for the 3G iPhone (8g)? For Reals? That's ALMOST enough to tempt me to go over to At&t. Not quite though. They'll have to build a tower near my home since At&t and Verizon still don't get service here.

#5 - I stink at organization. For those of you who know me best, you know how much I have prided myself on this in the past, but the time has come for me to admit I stink at it now (with the exception of certain areas). If any of you have organizational tips or feel like coming over for a few hours, I need some serious help!

Ok, that's all for now. More updates, info, and craziness coming soon. I actually have tons of photos I need to blog and a wedding coming up this weekend, so there is definitely more coming to the blogosphere. ;-)

~B

Christen - Maternity with Style

2008-05-29T01:46:00.000-07:00

"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....

2008-05-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-05-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

**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

2008-05-20T17:38:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-18T17:40:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-05-16T10:47:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-11T15:57:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-08T14:08:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-07T13:20:00.000-07:00

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

Vanessa - Kids Kouture

2008-05-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the priviledge of shooting not one, but TWO Kouture portraits. The two I worked with are cousins and we shot some of it together and a lot of it separate, but at the same location. If you're interested in this, there's a discount involved, so email me to get it setup! There's an EXTRA discount if you're in the Santa Clarita area too! Back to the portraits... I'll be blogging them separately, so I'll start with Vanessa first.

She's got to be one of my favorite kiddos I've worked with yet. Gorgeous, funny, and a reader like me, it didn't take more than a few minutes for us to start laughing and playing. I shot over 600 images of her in the space of about an hour, so clearly we were connecting! Here are some of my favs:

Trampoline goodness!

I love her smile! This was a candid moment while I was checking light, but I really loved the moment - she wrinkles her nose the exact same way I do - yay!

This was actually the backside of their fireplace at her home. I love brick.

Her sandals were adorable. They were actually a bright aqua color (so summery!) and I kind of wished they had some in my size...

I always try to encourage parents to let their child choose something that is a favorite item or sums up their personality or favorite thing to do. It's helpful for me to get to know them and it usually makes the kids more comfortable too. Besides sticking to natural light whenever possible, I also strive to capture kids the way the REALLY are - their personalities, their attitude, their take on life (as opposed to stiff poses portraits with backdrops, etc.). For Vanessa, she wanted to have her book (I SO get this kid!) -

Vanessa also told me that she's growing out her hair to eventually donate to Locks of Love. How amazing is that! She has gorgeous hair too. It's so impressive to me that an 11 yr old thinks about things like that and wants to help other kids. Only a few more inches to go and she can cut off the required minimum of 10 inches!

Sometimes capturing their personality means capturing this! (LOVE it! - and don't think I didn't take that as a challenge to show her I could roll my tongue while crossing my eyes too!)

Btw, this beauty looks just like her mother!

So gorgeous! Her mom & dad are totally going to have to beat the guys back with sticks in about 5 years....

Thanks again Vanessa & fam for letting me do this! I'm so thrilled to work with you ANYTIME! Pics of Vanessa's cousin Brandon coming soon.... ;-)

~B

Good Friends, Good Times, Good Price Hike?

2008-05-03T18:25:00.000-07:00

I got to be a NORMAL GIRL today! I got up at my normal Saturday morning time (6:45am - I know, I'm crazy) had my coffee (currently Pike's Place Roast from Starbucks - pretty good actually) and eventually got dressed to head out. I love slow mornings. Mostly because I'm ALWAYS slow in the morning and I prefer it when the rest of the world just cooperates with me. And coffee. I need coffee.

I headed down to Sherman Oaks and had lunch with some of my fav fab people - namely Sandra & Matt and of course my hubby. Some of you may already know it, but Sandra, besides being an amazing friend (no seriously, she really really is), she's also my uber-talented album designer. It used to be a regular thing for us to meet up at The Habit and talk business (or whatever else came up), but it's been a while. So this was a real treat for me. :-)

It's always good times when the four of us get together, and of course I had my camera (do I go ANYWHERE without it?) Sandra & Matt are hilarious - especially because Matt doesn't care for it too much when I take his picture. ;-)

Actually, that seems to be a theme with the guys. Preston doesn't care for it much either. ;-)

He still likes me though. ;-) Or at least puts up with me most of the time.

By the way, she gets the question a lot when she's out and about, but let me just put it to rest right now - YES, IT'S REAL. And the camera isn't adding 10 lbs. here...

Can't you tell why we get along so well? This is our ferosh face (well, kinda...):

So Sandra is also basically my business partner and Studio Manager now and she's been on me for a while now about my prices being too low for my costs and what I'm offering, and I finally listened. I've come a LONG WAY since I first started, and it really was time. So, effective today, the prices have changed! Check out the website for new info.

Whew! Well, happy Saturday everyone!

~B

Renaissance Faire - YAO!

2008-05-02T18:34:00.000-07:00

"YAO" is a way of life. :-) It all started because of Steve. I seriously blame him. Every time he gets really excited (which is often) - ESPECIALLy about a great shot, he lets out this primal howl. Something like "YAOoooooooo!" and it's been totally infectious. By the end of the day when we were all down in LA, we were all letting out "Yao"'s along the way.

So though Steve was "Yao"-ing all day when we went to the Renaissance Faire, I was a little more frustrated. In fact, I thought about not blogging this trip at all - I didn't feel like I got anything blog-worthy at all - but I half-promised. So, here they are!

The Poxy Boggards (I believe):

The Washing Well Wenches:

Richard from "Sound & Fury" - one of my FAVORITE acting troupes (though they are not for young ears....like many things at the Faire)

An unexpected (and funny) moment during their final number:

This dude had a great costume - it looked like he was ready to jump off a building and try to fly. ;-)

This is probably my favorite of the day - this woman was hilarious!

The Queen (Queen Elizabeth I):

Only the costumes give away where this is for me. It's such a funny and "Old America" type shot.

Much better than I could do!

Haha! I wish I had had this when I was a drum major in high school or college:

This kiddo was hilarious - he LOVED the camera and practically attacked Steve before trying some horizontal vogue moves -

And a colorful drumline shot. ;-)

Ok, that's all. Wedding images from last weekend coming soon!

~B

Clarity & The Marxist

2008-05-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

All right, so I've gotten several inquiries and emails asking me about "The Marxist" and my post from Tuesday. Some of you I told the story to in person, but I figured I'd just go ahead and tell you what's up here to clarify everything nicely. I had more than one person thing they were supposed to recognize The Marxist as a celebrity, so let me put your minds at ease - and hopefully amuse you at my expense along the way. ;-)

I have been taking that photography course in Costa Mesa led by Dane Sanders, but I get down there WAY early to beat the traffic and then I just chill in the starbucks for about 4 hours (hey, they have internet...). So 2 Tuesdays ago, this guy sits down about 2 tables over and is reading. I didn't hardly notice and kept working on my stuff. After about 20 minutes, he finally gets up the courage and starts talking to me - he tells me that he saw me with some blond the Saturday before at South Coast Plaza. I smile, tell him it wasn't me, and turn back to my stuff - HE KEEPS GOING. He starts telling me freaky details about what me and the blond did for a while (like 15 minutes) and I start to really feel bad for the girl who he thought was me.

But he doesn't say "the girl" did this or that, he says "No, because YOU went over here and then YOU did this, etc." CREEPY. So I gently remind him again, IT WASN'T ME and he moves to a new topic - bachelor's degrees (what?!?!?) and how he has one in sociology. He starts to show me the text book he's reading and how cool it is because Karl Marx contributed to it. He then proceeds to discuss Marxism for a while (hence why I call him "The Marxist"). I finally excuse myself, grab all my stuff and get the heck out.

So this past Tuesday, who comes in and sits down? HIM. I couldn't believe that he came back (with another Marx book) and sits down right next to me (I found out later he came back on Thursday after I met him the first time too, just in case...). After about 5 minutes, he says hi, I wave, but this time I have headphones on (universal symbol of DON'T BOTHER ME). He finally gets up the nerve and leans over and says "I see you have a phone. Can I get your number?" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! I told him "I don't feel comfortable with that. I'm married." (I did have my left hand resting on my chin the entire conversation the previous week, but he apparently didn't notice the ring...).

Then get this - he says, "Oh. Really? How long? Is it like, you know, serious?" HAAAAAAAA! I couldn't believe he actually said that. So I smiled REALLY big and said "2.5 years - which is amazing cuz it still feels like the honeymoon!" and I winked. Yes, I winked. ;-) He got real quiet, waited about another 5 minutes of fake reading (you know, where the pages never turn) and then left. I always attract the crazies.... Anyway, that's why you don't recognize him. If you ever see him, get the heck away. ;-) Unless you like Marxism, then by all means, settle in with a good cup of joe. ;-)

A brief note to my gentlemen readers: variations on pick-up themes like "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere" and "Do you come here often" and "Can I get yo' digits" don't usually work. And please, please, PLEASE train yourself to look for wedding rings (ladies too!) - it'll save everyone a lot of embarrassment.

Also, for the record, STRANGE transactions take place in Starbucks. The past 4 weeks have been quite eye-opening for me. Perhaps I will share more of my adventures (including the story about the priest, and the man who hired the prostitute - those 2 are NOT connected) at a later date. ;-)

Thanks for reading!
~Brienne

Rejuvinated!

2008-04-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

The past for weeks have been amazing. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed my RHU intensive course on Missional Photography - it has really been a blessing in my life in so many ways! I have learned heaps in mechanics, ethics, and guts! I've also been blessed with new and deeper friendships and memories that will rest with me for a long time to come. Thank you Dane, Mike & Jessica for the hard work you put into hosting & teaching this intensive - you three ROCK!

Ok, so as a quick recap of the final class, I wanted to mention a few things. We had a wonderful guest contributor, Wendy, who came and spoke to us about poverty. Not the poverty that most of us think of, but true social, political, economic and spiritual poverty and the lies that are told and believed surrounding each of those. Here's Wendy speaking to the class.

She sparked a really interesting conversation about exactly what we take photos of and how we portray poverty. It was truly fascinating. For more information about this, visit www.povertyunlocked.com - that's Wendy's site.

Here's Dane & Jessica enjoying a random moment - I just liked Dane's expression. It reminded me of all the other smiles and laughs the class shared during the past month.

Ok, enough sentimentality... So we took one final opportunity to go through submitted photos and c&c a little bit. They took turns guessing if the submitted photos were taken by someone who knew the subject or not...

Afterwards, we all took advantage of one more time to say thanks, exchange emails, take photos and give & received hugs (and maybe eek out one more bit of advice). Here's my buddies Nate and Steve talking to Dane one more time.

Thanks again to Dane & Rock Harbor for putting this on and doing all the work to organize and present such a fab class. I feel like my photography received some much needed rejuvination! So when I seem to get lame again, feel free to kick me in the pants and remind me about this class!

That's it for tonight. Ren-Faire and wedding photos from this past weekend are coming soon! :-)

~Brienne

Adventures at Starbucks

2008-04-29T16:35:00.000-07:00

I'm lame - my ferosh is officially diminished (temporarily anyway....). I don't feel like I accomplished my assignments this week for my final class tonight. I am tempted to blame it on shooting a wedding this Sunday, but that would add to the lameness I think. But suffice it to say, I'm EXHAUSTED (in the happiest way).

In the meantime, while I contemplate my diminished fierceness, I'm sitting in Starbucks in Costa Mesa. I drive down way early to beat the traffic. I did however take some shots here just to help my recovery to my previous status. :-) And I was enjoying the starbuck-ian artwork...

Btw, if any of you know the story from my visit to this same Starbucks last week (and my hurried and somewhat comic escape from The Marxist), may I just say - GUESS WHO JUST WALKED IN AND SAT DOWN NEXT TO ME. I don't know whether I should be flattered or scared. Well, he perseveres anyway. I definitely just snuck a pic....

Ok, back to my latte and photo editing.

Team YAO - Feel free to Join Us!

2008-04-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone - if you're free and want to join us for some shooting action today, "Team YAO" (as the undefined group is affectionately known) is heading out to the socal Renaissance Faire today. There should be innumerable portrait opportunities there!

We're planning to meet up around noon and drive in together to save on parking costs (aka cram as many bodies into as little cars as possible), so if you're interested call or text my biz cell: 626-905-9555

Woot! Hope to see you there!

PS: The images above, in clockwise order starting from the upper left were taken by Bruce A. Ward, Rommel R. Muego and Richard Lowe respectively.

Should I Be Concerned?

2008-04-24T22:52:00.000-07:00

At this weeks' class at RHU, I found myself amused and slightly concerned. I noticed while I was listening to Mike speak that Dane had a certain mug under his chair....

Now, as a hard core Office fan, this was a disturbing sight - especially since I like Dane.

Hahaha! I asked him about it and he mentioned that his assistant gave it to him. NOT A GOOD SIGN. Ha! At least he didn't buy it for himself like Michael... Now if I ever see Dane with peanut butter all over his head or hosting a "Rabies Awareness" Run/Walk, then I'll REALLY get concerned!

Much love Dane!

Week #3 Winner

2008-04-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

Last night at week #3 of Missional Photography: More than Pictures at RHU I went along with some of my blog buddies (namely Captain Chipmunk and Human Pudding...) and submitted my Taquito picture. :-)

Guess it was a good pick - Dane picked it as his favorite. :-) Thanks for the input from everyone! I haven't figured out where yet, but we're planning on going back out this weekend for another photo adventure with "Team YAOoooo". If you want to come with, let me know and I'll get the info to you! And I'm definitely open to suggestions!

This week's assignment (the final one :-( ):
- Get 2 portraits of 2 different people -- one we person know, one we don't
- The portraits should be our best attempt to create a "defining" portrait of the person (one
shot to tell exactly who this person is - as much as possible anyway)
- You can use any lens, but it has to be the same lens for each portrait.
- No photoshop (or lightroom), etc.

Any volunteers?

Woot! This is going to be fun!

Photojournalism Downtown

2008-04-20T00:22:00.000-07:00

I don't even know where to begin, but this one is going to be a long one, so bear with me. :-)

Yesterday, four of us decided to take the train down to Downtown and get our photojournalism on (thanks to our Missional Photography course). We spent a few hours wandering all around Union Station, Olvera Street, Chinatown and everywhere in between (not as much area as it sounds). We came armed with our gear (under 85mm lenses as per the assignment) and set out to get permission for as many shots as possible. Surprisingly, it wasn't nearly as difficult this time around. It even got less scary as time went by. Yay!

Lucky for us, Saturday was the 50th Celebration of the market on Olvera Street. There were celebrations going on everywhere - I was excited to snag this spontaneous dance between a few performers during another bands' concert in the square. My gaining permission went something like my pointing at my camera and then them and getting a nod and a wink.

Then it was off to taquito-land. One of my favorite lands by the way. ;-p After a brief explanation by Steve and Nate about them not being "together", I got permission to take some shots of the cooks. They were aweseom! I'm trying not to think about all that oil though.... Worth it for the food!

We continued our wandering, and Steve seemed to make a lot of friends. We didn't think it would be nice to let him know they weren't all real....

Btw, we're committed to our photography. ;-)

Again, Steve makes many friends....or "YAAAOOOOOoooo!" as he would say...

More dancers after after their performance. They were so awesome - we asked to take their photo and they smiled, said yes, and started voguing. This is what we call "BAMF"

Now this one I felt sort of bad about. When I asked him if I could take his picture next to his taxi, he agreed, but then had to grab his sunglasses to add to the "cool". I think he thought we were going to use his taxi though...

Nate wanted some camera time too...

The floor of the Chinatown station. :-)

Ok, so Nate REALLY needed some camera time.... He's single ladies!

This guy was one of my favorites. He was so blatantly honest. When we asked him if we could take his photo, he readily agreed and then pulled out his favorite "prop" - his pocket vodka. There was something tragically real about the entire exchange (he even told us he was about to buy more). He was missing most of his teeth, clearly had some problems, and yet retained a general love of people he didn't even know. It's amazing where you find little glimpses of God - bits of eternal peeking through - even in an unstable drunk man.

We ended with some fun taking pictures of each other (gotta keep practicing our portrait shots!) with this awesome painted tile wall just outside Olvera Street. Michelle went first.

Nate took these ones of me. I'm surprised the flesh on his hands didn't burn off while he was holding my Nikon... ;-)

Sorry I put my watermark on your shot Nate - force of habit. But NATE TOOK THIS SHOT, I promise! - clearly I didn't, I'm in it....

Check out Nate and his crazy shooting style. He even manages to hold his ice cream sandwich while shooting.... Nice.

Ok. That's all for now. But trust me, that isn't the only shots from today - there are sooo many! If you have a fav from this post that you recommend for my print to submit this week, let me know! I'm going to have a hard time picking!

More to come!
~B

PS: We're thinking we may make this a regular monthly thing. If you're interested in joining us for a fun day of random shooting, comment or email me to let me know. :-)

Missional Photography Intensive #2

2008-04-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

As we delved into Week #2 of the Missional Photography: More than Pictures intensive course at RHU, we tackled the topic of exposure. I was so impressed with Jessica Claire as she grappled with this rather huge subject and tried to condense it into roughly 90 minutes. Whew!

She used several of her own images to illustrate her points and I found myself realizing that I must prefer over-exposed images. Most of the stuff that is "properly exposed" looks dark to my eyes. But that's part of why I'm taking this course! - to see with someone else's eyes and really dive into my own photography and what it is (and isn't) accomplishing.

Here's Jess teaching (with a great shot of hers from Jamaica - does she take a bad one?) and Mike shooting her from the shadows...

This course is really challenging me in ways I didn't expect. I've learned a couple of things about myself: one of them being that I tend to judge the value of my work by comparing it to the work of others. Aka, my work is "bad" because someone else's work is "good". That makes me kind of lame. The other thing I learned is that I'm very reliant on my longest lenses. This is good in some situations, and even appropriate sometimes, but not always. This week, Dane challenged us to use only our shorter lenses (85mm and below I believe) and really work hard to immerse (special word of the night ;-p) ourselves in what we're shooting. And I'm a wee bit of a coward.

I want to honor the dignity of the people I'm shooting and their story that I'm am responsible for telling, so I really want to lean into this. But man it's hard! Do any of you struggle with this? Does it terrify you even a little bit to approach a total stranger (with or without a camera)? If it does, PLEASE share with me how you deal with it! I'd love pointers. :-)

Look at how laid back Mike is when he shoots! LOL - even his feet are coming out of his shoes. Also, I want that lens (*drools*)

I had some requests to post the assignments for those of you who haven't been able to get to the workshop (btw, you are still welcome to jump in even for the last two weeks if you're able!), so here they are...

We have to continue to shoot 100 photos a day and are assignment this week is much like last week (bringing in a 8x10 print of our best storytelling shot), but this time, it should reflect our conversation on exposure and we can't use long lenses. I'll post my choice or let you vote on the options.

Fab!

This Week's Submission

2008-04-15T16:16:00.001-07:00

Ok, I know I said I was going to take a vote, but I ended up getting some advice from another photographer and my husband, I went ahead and went to print. Here it is!

Keep in mind, we're supposed to be trying to capture a story - something that makes you wonder, that begs a question, or displays tension via the subject, the conflict, or the setting. I hope I accomplished that. I LOVE feedback though! So tell me, what does this photo make you think?

Mishka -- for the heck of it...

2008-04-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, seriously, can you believe those eyes? One of the fun (and sometimes intimidating) things about having friends that are photographers is that you get to take pictures of them occasionally. It can be sorta scary to take pictures of a photographer and let them see the images, but fortunately I don't have to worry about that with Mishka (Michelle) - it's impossible to take a bad photo of her!

Mishka and I were supposed to head to downtown LA for some photo fun, but my stomach decided against train travel and I ended up spending most of the day in bed. I did rally towards the afternoon (barely) and we headed to the Valley for some quick shots (LA trip coming soon....)

One more just because her eyes are THAT amazing. ;-)

Options for the print photo coming soon to a voteing-blog near you! Can't wait to get your feedback!

~Brienne

Inspiration.

2008-04-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

I have a secret addiction. Blogs.

I seriously surf them constantly. I might need an intervention. But I love looking at other people's work & art and I love seeing the world from their perspective - even if only for a minute or two (usually like an hour or more.... lol).

I was reading through one of my favorite photographer's blogs, Me Ra Koh (she's AMAZING and really hysterical - if you're a mom, you NEED to read her stuff) and came across her post on Julie Watts - a BMX racer turned mom turned photographer.

Every now and then I see one of those images that burns into my brain and inspires me to create. This image taken by Julie was one of those images.

Me Ra posted it and I immediately followed her link to Julie's blog to read more about it. She's done a whole series on belly dancers (a not-so-secret past time of my own - briefly...) and I was blown away. I love how she played with light and shadow (esp. shadow). It inspires me to play more with that and to take some risks with the lighting in my photos. I'm usually so concerned about my metering and exposure, making sure everything comes out just right. But shadow has its own fierceness too.

Thanks for the inspiration Julie! Keep up the fabulous work!

Photography for Storytelling

2008-04-09T14:51:00.001-07:00

Last night I had the immense pleasure of taking the first of four classes through RHU on Missional Photography. This intensive is awesome for a several reasons (three of which you can see in the photo above!). It's led by Dane Sanders, Mike Colon and Jessica Claire (a dream team if I ever saw it) and focuses on the storytelling aspect of photography (a style especially appropriate for missions work).

We started out by watching a brief slideshow of some of Dane's photos from a recent trip to India. I was really struck by several of the photos, but not for the reason I originally thought I might be. I was of course drawn to the emotion and the intensity of the images, but what really struck me was the duality of the eternal and the moral caught in photos.

Photography is truly amazing to me - you capture a moment in time FOREVER. You literally let that moment taste the eternal. There is something so inspiring and humbling about that to me. It's the closest thing to eternity that we can experience on earth. I can look at photos taken by Matthew Brady almost 150 years ago and those people, in that moment, still live. And there's the other side of it. The mortal side. To take at a photograph is to capture the shell of the person. To me it's a reminder that this body is just housing - there is not soul in a photo. You may glimpse a glimmer of it in their eyes, but it does not contain it. The combination of those things is amazing to me. That's part of the importance of honoring a person by telling their story in photos as well.

I'll be blogging about this weekly I'm sure - and you can expect a lot of photos over the next 28 days - we have assignments to take at least 100 photos a day between now - and we have to choose the best one each week for telling a story. Maybe I'll put up my top 5 and have you help me choose! In the meantime, here are a few more images from last night...

Dane teaching some of the basics:

Mike explaining aperture and depth of field while Jessica looks on:

That's all for now. Definitely MUCH more to come over the next several weeks though! I'm so excited!

~Brienne

An Old Love...

2008-04-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know, I am actually also a musician. Photography is obviously where my heart is, but I've spent almost 17 years now playing the trombone. In fact, I actually got my degree in Music Business and spent some time working in the music industry. It didn't take long for me to move into the realm of photography - in fact it was while working for Columbia Records and Sony/BMG that I fell into photography - but I spent most of my life believing music is where I'd make my living. I'm very glad to be wrong. ;-)

I love music, but the pursuit of it as a money-maker took much of the enjoyment out of it for me. Now, because it's simply for fun or the pure enjoyment factor, I get to play trombone only when I want to. I have had the opportunity to do this again semi-regularly thanks to Doc Opfer at the Master's College in Santa Clarita. I have had the extreme pleasure of playing with the Master's College Winds and we just finished the Spring Concert.

By the way, if you're still wondering which one is the trombone, here's a shot of my friend John's:

And here's a shot of conductor, Doc Opfer (he's always smiling!):

Doc is incredibly enthusiastic about what he does - his love for both his job and the students he works with is contagious - and it really came out in the song selection for this particular concert. He chose several tunes depicting life across America (Silverado from the movie of the same name, American Hymnsong Suite, Midway March by John Williams - from "Midway", Eric Whitacre's Ghost Train, etc...) and installed a giant screen behind the orchestra. He used it to show film clips and photos of American life timed to the music we were playing. I wish I could have gotten a picture of the screen, but it was behind me and I was supposed to be playing....

If you've every wondered what it looks like from the Band/Orchestra side during a concert, here's what we see...

The trumpets warming up for the Silverado solos....

And of course, one of the best parts about this is that I get to play with my husband! I had to sneak a photo of him since he was in the row in front of me....

It was a true pleasure to play with Master's College and I hope to do so again in the future! Thanks for the great concert!

~Brienne

And the Winner Is...

2008-04-04T01:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know if any of you have been as obsessed with "Make Me A Supermodel" as I have (that and "Project Runway" have been my fav shows for the last several weeks...), but I was SO excited and shocked at the results! I totally thought Perry had this one in the bag, even though he wasn't my first choice. And as much as I loved the Bromance of "Bronnie" (I'm TOTALLY ordering a tshirt, btw), I was THRILLED that Holly - my girl! - won the whole thing! I thought her super chic Audrey Hepburn look was couture-fabulous from the get-go, so I am so glad she won! Even my fav, Christian Siriano from Project Runway thought she was the bomb. ;-) My two favs on my two fav shows won! Woot! Ok, back to REAL life.....

Congrats Holly!

And They Lived Happily Ever After...

2008-04-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

My fierce album designer Sandra and her super cute hubby Matt did a "Happily Ever After" session with me back last November. You'll remember it - it was the famous in-Big-Bear-Lake-while-it-was-freezing shoot (hence why I call her "fierce"). One of the photos from that shoot has opened more doors than I ever thought possible. When you look through their album, it won't be hard to figure out which one... In any case, she's just now been able to put together their little (and awesome) book - "And They Lived Happily Ever After...."

The reason it took so long you ask? Because I've sorta had my album designer scrambling lately (it's true - just ask her). She's hardly had a free moment lately, but somehow she managed to get her own album designed. And of course, it's amazing. I am definitely ordering my own chic sample album out of this. I hope more of my clients out there will consider doing a shoot like this - I can pretty much guarantee you won't regret doing it and you come away with some editorial style photos that have your friends and family's mouths gaping! You get a lot of "You did what?" and then they see the photos and start asking how they can get it done too. Trust me, it's always a big hit. And your kids and grandkids will think you are so cool later.

To see Matt & Sandra's full album design, *click here* and enjoy!

#28 - CHECK!

2008-04-02T15:17:00.000-07:00

This weekend I had the privilege of hosting my family's winter birthday party. ;-) Which means.... I get to check off #28 on my 101 in 1001 list! I have been looking forward to hosting my family for a long time and I'm so excited that Preston and I are finally able to do that. My aunts, uncles, parents and grandparents have been so generous over the years while we were growing up to host our family get togethers while we were all kids. It's definitely cool for me to be able to jump in and help now.

We played this awesome game called "Catch Phrase" - if you haven't played it, you totally should. The bigger the group the better too. It's absolutely hysterical. It's kinda like Taboo to the max.

Check out my grandpa (who IS santa clause, by the way - he posed for a couple of magazine ads so I have proof...). He was pretty awesome at the game, I have to say.

My cousin Lauren was totally rocking it. She kept score for us too. She also quickly became Sophie's new best friend.

Ok, and for those of you who don't know, my family is sorta Norman Rockwell sometimes. We tend to sing a lot whenever we get together. I've told this to people before, but they don't always believe me. Here's proof.

Happy birthday again to the winter birthday peeps!

~Brienne

An Ode to a Punk.

2008-04-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

I alluded to it in my previous blog about some not so fun stuff this past weekend, but I didn't want to put it in Nikki & Chris's blog - that was happy stuff and this was afterwards anyway...

So, after I finished shooting for the night, I walked back to my car and found a lovely surprise waiting for me - my car had been broken into. :-( I drive a convertible, so I don't ever keep anything valuable in my car, but that didn't stop this punk from throwing a cinder block through my passenger window. They did a quick smash and grab job and didn't even take the radio/cd player. They did take the two bags sitting on the passenger seat though - which contained my makeup. Talk about insult to injury.

I had to hangout until the cops got there and then file a police report. Officer Medina was fantastic and very helpful - even laughing at me when I hummed the Law & Order theme while he fingerprinted my car... I was lucky that the perp didn't cut through my convertible top (that's REALLY expensive to get fixed), but I'm still really annoyed he took my makeup. After making the report, and after Officer Medina fingerprinted the door, he moved to the inside of the vehicle. That's when we discovered the rock (aka cinder block). After teasing me about my habit of hauling large rocks around in my car, Officer Medina finished his report, and gave me a pair of gloves to start cleaning up the glass. By the way, that glass defied all laws of physics. It got into every little nook and cranny, behind the seats, under the seats, in the a/c vents, EVERYWHERE. I managed to cut only one finger, adding injury to insult to injury, and cleared enough of the glass out to drive home mostly safely. And the punk broke my cup holder. Jerk.

Before leaving, the Officer had to take the rock into evidence that had been thrown through the window. Ironically, since it was in my car and therefore "in my possession", he had to give me a receipt for it in the event I want to get it back. I'm sort of tempted to do just that...

In any case, I have my car back now, with a new window. I even learned some things during all this. For example - NEVER keep anything in your car that has your address or personal info of any kind on it (credit cards, license, registration, insurance, check book) because apparently identity theft is the number crime to result from car break-ins. Also, keep your car clean. If it's dusty (like mine was), it's REALLY hard to get good fingerprints off of it. Anyway, I wanted to take a moment to dedicate a short little poem, and ode, to the pathetic, pedantic, pissant punk that broke into my car (yes, a real P3Punk):

Oh pathetic punk,
you who are so sad and lame
who's desperate need for makeup
led you to smash and defame

Oh poor fiend & giver
your generosity amazes me to no end
you willingness to part with such a lovely rock
makes my heart melt and bend

Oh mean pathetic person
who took out your anger on my cup holder
I left you a bag full of glass for your trouble
I hope you grow up to be something better when you're older.

Ok, so my writing skills are pretty bad, but I wanted to give myself some closure (since we all know that the fingerprints won't yield anything... Maybe I will go get that rock back...

Nikki & Chris

2008-04-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

I love weddings. I really seriously do. Chris & Nikki's wedding was stunning, beautiful, chic, and crazy fun. They met in Chicago, where they grew up, and decided to move to Los Angeles together in pursuit of the film and television industry. They decided to have their wedding out here as well, and were joined by their closest friends and family from Chicago. They even hired a bus to shuttle everyone to and from the wedding.

The entire day was held at the beautiful Marvimon in Los Angeles. I was new to this location and was totally blown away - it's fierce and fabulous! It's actually where the owners live, but they vacate on the weekends when it's rented out for parties, events, filming, or weddings. It's an awesome 1920's warehouse that an Italian race car driver used for storing his crazy cool sports cars. The current owners bought it, renovated it into the gorgeous location it is now, pulled off part of the room to make a garden area, tossed in some fab-mod elements, and started living there.

Not only was the location amazing and the couple adorable, but they had AWESOME food. Chris and Nikki are both fans of the Food Network show "Two Dudes Catering", so they decided to all up chefs Jon Shook & Vinny Dotolo and have them cater their wedding! Because of the coolness of this particular location, the kitchen is out in the main room and everyone was able to watch them work. They created some amazing appetizers, including some totally kick butt mini-hamburgers. ;-)

All in all, the day was pretty awesome. There was only one downside, which I will blog about later, but in the meantime, check out some super cool photos from the fab day! (PS - there are a lot!)

The very appropriate art above the kitchen...

Bling!!!

Those AMAZING mini-hamburgers.....

Mother/Son dance.... she was SO happy for him!

And of course, some reception details! That's Vinny and Jon at the bottom. ;-) Also, they had these chic lamps (I have one at home that was identical to one of them - made me feel so hip). And of course, I had to experiment with photographing the fun disco lights...

Whew! Ok, that's all for now. ;-) More details on how the night ended later. ;-)

~Brienne

Collaboration is a Beautiful Thing. :)

2008-03-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

I love my husband. I don't talk about him enough, mostly because I know it embarrasses him a little bit, but sometimes I just can't help it. Today is one of those days. ;-)

My hubby & I are a great team. This is something we knew before we got married (it might have had something to do with the decision to marry....lol), but has only improved and frankly, gotten cooler since then. I love working with him. We have always been able to work together well and today was no exception.

For those of you who don't know, my husband is a musician. Not in the rock band type way, but in a more legitimate sense of the word (legitimate as in classical, not to imply that rock is illegitimate...). He plays the french horn primarily and works in orchestras and film music. He also does engineering (the dude behind the controls) for a lot of recording projects. One of the projects he works on semi-regularly is for a film composer collective in LA. They had him record some string music today for a movie and I got to take some shots while he was working! This is especially cool for me because I'm getting to help him as he puts together his website and advertising info for SC Sound Labs - his recording/engineering/mixing company. Here's a sneak peak!

Hard at work...

The session...

All the gear is sorta cool looking. I love this mics...

One of the composers conducting the strings:

Getting set for the next cue - you can see part of the movie running on the screen next to him.

I mostly just liked this angle a lot. I like watching the sound waves come up on the computer screen while they're recording.

There are a few more, but you'll have to wait till the debut of the website to see that. ;-) I'll be sure to post up info as soon as that goes live. In the meantime, if you or someone you know needs recording work done, feel free to contact my husband at: preston.shepard@gmail.com. He works with all types of groups, so hit him up if you have questions.

On a side note, I'd like to thank all of you who have been praying for me and keeping me in your thoughts lately during my relapse with Hashimoto's Disease. I made a choice early on that this disease, though it effects my life, it will NOT define me. I push through the rough stuff and live my life anyway. I know I have to take care of myself and be better at that, but I'm pulling through. I am pulling out of the worst of this relapse, which has been longer than most, but it's improving. Thanks again to all of you - I really really really appreciate it.

Blessings,
~Brienne

Video Fab-ness

2008-03-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Well, it's not so secret, but it's not so public either. I guess it is now... ;-)

During this past weekend shooting Joel & Rebecca's beautiful day, I brought along my assistant/album designer Sandra and had her shoot some video. Things are changing, upgrading, and, in my opinion, just generally getting freakin' awesome around here, so I wanted to take things up a notch or two. Some of you might say I'm "going all David Jay" and you might be partly right! I'm putting together a promo video (coming soon), that shows my potential and future clients a little more of how I work - you'll actually get to watch me shooting! I'll also be including interviews from past clients, and show the images I'm shooting while you watch me in action.

I'm not really one of those "keep the cards close" kind of girls, so I like to be as open, honest, and available as possible. I know that a lot of people (photographers included) are interested in how I work, so I sincerely hope that this is a helpful tool for my clients and fellow photographers - or at least a fun way to spy. :-) Keep watching here on the blog for when I post it up! It'll be going on my website as well.

Ooh, AND I upgraded to the D300. I was going to make a whole huge blog about it, but thought better of it. I did have to throw this shot in though. ;-) Brian Black agreed to shoot 2nd with me this past weekend (he shot all three of these images) and was showing his jealous side.... I LOVE what this camera can do. Next on the horizon? A D3. Mmmmmm....

Joel & Rebecca's Wedding!

2008-03-15T23:00:00.000-07:00

I have been looking forward to this wedding for a long time and definitely wasn't disppointed! Some of you may remember Joel & Rebecca from their awesome engagement shoot a few months ago, but if you didn't see that, let me refresh you!

Joel & Rebecca are a pair of incredibly sweet and talented people. They are both musicians (and let me tell you, it runs in the family!) and both come from really strong, loving families. It was really a fantastic day! If you want to see the slideshow, *click here* .

Here are some of my favorite shots!

The flower girl before she put on her dress -- too adorable!

I was inspired by Grace Ormonde's Wedding Style magazine for this one. ;-)

Best wishes to the Bride & Groom - enjoy Hawaii for the Honeymoon!

~Brienne