Joel & Rebecca's Engagement Guestbook!

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE my album designer? Sandra really really rocks - I still think that hiring her is probably the best decision I've made for my company - it certainly was for 2007!

Anyway, I was so excited when Joel and Rebecca decided to do an engagement Guestbook for their wedding because their engagement shoot really really rocked. For those of you who aren't sure what it is or haven't really thought too much about it, an engagement guestbook is a really awesome idea to consider. It's somewhere between a photo signing matte (where the guests write their names or a small message on a matte surrounding an engagement photo), and a traditional guesbook (the little book with lines). The engagement guestbook is a great way to show off more of your photos (instead of having to try to pick just one), plus guests can leave their messages on a variety of pages for you to read later and treasure as a super cool keepsake. Some people struggle with where to put a big photo and signing matte and others are really not sure what to do with the traditional guestbook (or just never pull it out again to look at). This sort of takes care of both problems, providing an easy to store and/or display book with awesome photos and something that is fun for you and others to flip through later.

So, without further adieu, here's the full layout - click here to see their slideshow proof! :-)

~Brienne

It's Almost Time!!!

Wow! It's been too long since I blogged, but man have I been busy! Our escrow clock is ticking and time is running out! We move into our FIRST HOUSE in just 3 days! As promised, I did take some pictures at our final walk through last week, but I haven't had time to post them with all the packing!

I finally threw some together so you can see a cool "before" gallery. You know there will be plenty of "after"s! Check it out!

The outside of our lovely home:






The downstairs (part of the backyard, kitchen, great room, and front door) - my drapes rock.





Here's a close up of that super cool built-in section for the TV - my flat screen will look fantastic - and all my old cameras will be displayed around it in the niches:






The master bedroom and my AWESOME master closet with it's own window :-p





The totally awesome master bath - you can't see how cool the tub and shower are or the giant plantation shutter over the tub, but you get the idea :-)



The guest bathrooms (double sinks in the one with the tub/shower)!:



WOOT! More to come! Now, back to packing!!!

Jada & Jelani are MARRIED!

Yesterday I had the EXTREME pleasure of shooting Jada & Jelani's wedding! Even before shooting their engagement session at USC, I knew this was going to be a beautiful wedding and I was not disappointed! Jada was absolutely glowing and Jelani, though sorta bummed about being pulled away from the games, seemed pretty impressed with his bride too (and he looked pretty good himself!).

Check out some of my favorite images from the day - and scroll down to get the link to their online slideshow!

The dress...




The ADORABLE shoes....



No, she wasn't my assistant for the day, but sister of the bride Hana had to get in a shot or two also :-)



Jada putting on those adorable shoes.... ;-p



Some of the beautiful bridesmaids - including the other sister of the bride, Gavin



In the words of Becker, I don't like to talk about my flare... :-)



More of the beautiful couple



I always love taking this shot - inspired by the beautimous Jessica Verma



And the WHOLE wedding party



The gorgeous ceremony right at sunset overlooking Los Angeles



For more photos, including some fun reception shots, check out their slideshow! :-)

Congratulations again to Jada & Jelani (and enjoy the honeymoon in Jamaica!!). I offered to shoot with them on their honeymoon for free if they'd just fly me out to Jamaica with them, but they passed. :-( Lol.

~Brienne

Rebecca & Joel's Engagement Session!

I have to tell you, I've been looking forward to this particular engagement session for a while and I am SO happy with how it turned out (hence the reason why I'm awake right now and not sleeping like I should be)!

Joel & Rebecca are an adorably cute couple and they had fantastic ideas on where to go for their engagement session that we decided to just go to them all! We started out and Downtown Disney, then traveled to downtown LA to Olvera Street (and had some mighty-fine taquitos I might add!) and then walked over to Union Station. Whew! It was a long day but absolutely worth it! Well, I think so - I hope Rebecca & Joel think so too!

Check out some of my favorite shots - there are a lot!










Look at that bling!



























Whew!! Thanks again to Joel & Rebecca for trekking through such a long day! I am soo excited for March 15! And for the Engagement Guestbook design - which you know I'll be posting here! :-)

NOW I can go to bed. ;-)

~Brienne

Izabel Turns One!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of shooting little Izabel who has just turned the OH-ONE. :-) She's such an adorable sweety, I had to put up pictures of her with her little dress and cake! You may recognize this cutie-patootie from the header at the top of the page too. ;-)

Check it out!




Cake? Where?







I think the candle goes right.......there!




I'm just a brown-eyed girl....

#13 - check!

In my 101 in 1001 list, I stated that I wanted to enter some of my photography into a contest. Today I entered THREE photos in the Open Source Photo Contest. I'm so excited! I may enter a few more, but I'll stick with these three for now.

I'm telling you, voting on this thing is totally addictive. I love that I get to vote too! If you're a photographer (professional or not), take a look at this thing and join up! I may enter some of my work in other areas (nobody says I can't fulfill an item on my list more than once!), but I'm excited that I finally did something in this direction. ;-)

So any other listers out there? I wanna hear about it if you're doing it too!

#15 - done and done!

I just completed #15 on my 101 in 1001 list! And I totally beat the time limit too. :-p Here are the books I read (all of which I HIGHLY recommend):

"How to Make People Like You in 90 Seconds or Less" -- which is actually a really fascinating study about body language and all that - sooo cool (and written by a photographer!)




"The Tipping Point" - I've already blogged about this one I think




and my favorite so far, "All Marketers Are Liars" by Seth Godin




All were definitely beneficial and I recommend them to anyone who is looking for more knowledge and nohow for their business.

I intend to keep up this trend - I think I might go for a few more Seth Godin books. He really knows what he's talking about and is on the front edge of how the market works right now. I'll keep you updated on any others I come across!

Woot! another one down and only like 99 left to go!

~Brienne