:: michelle & richie : CELEBRATE LOVE ::

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 11:54am Posted in Specials

Here’s the thing about having your photos taken – it’s really nerve racking. Preston and I recently had family portraits done for Cameron’s 1st birthday (more on that later) and I once again found myself sympathizing with my victims clients. It’s not easy to be on the other side of the camera! But here’s the thing, if you’re going to be nervous, the best possible reaction to your nerves when a camera is pointed at you is exactly what Michelle & Richie did. They laughed. At me, at each other, at themselves… but they laughed. And THAT, my friends, makes for great photos.

I love this one…

I love my clients…. *sigh*

You know I love me some staircases…

I can’t decide if I like the backlighting or the flare better. Thoughts?

After a quick wardrobe change to show off their mutual team spirit, we grabbed a few more!

Michelle & Richie, thanks so much for giving me the opportunity to capture and celebrate your love! Oh, and thanks for laughing at my lame jokes too. You made my day!

:: b ::

by brienne2

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:: because sometimes you just have to have a little fun… ::

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 at 12:03am Posted in Uncategorized

Sometimes I do strange things to break up the monotony of my day. Well, let me rephrase that. The monotony of my EDITING day. Cameron keeps me on my toes pretty good and, despite the fairly regular schedule, every day is a little different and a lot of fun with him. HOWEVER. I have this whole other part of my life where I live in the photo editing world. Between editing my own photos and editing several other photographer’s work for The Post Chicks, I am working on A LOT of photos. So, sometimes, I want to have a little more fun than just color correcting, sharpening, converting to black and white, etc.

So, as you may have seen from one of my tweets today, I realized how lame I am while going through some of MY OWN photos. Let me translate “lame” for you. In this situation, it’s referring to my “wow, this is going to look soo cool and awesome” photo setup with a great couple turning into me realizing I’m a doofus and totally re-created the meadow scene from Twilight.

My shot:

The Twilight shot:

Go me.

Ugh.

SOOOoooo… I had a thought. I thought to myself, well, since we’re here, might as well go all the way, right? So my friends, I quickly You-Tube’d a video tutorial on how to sparklify and twilight-vampire-ify my photo. Et voila!

Sorry Michelle & Richie. I had to do it.

Not my best photoshop work, but hey, I figure (read: HOPE) this is my only time trying it out. If I get a whole bunch of photoshop-my-fiance/husband/boyfriend-to-look-just-like-edward-cullen requests, I might have to call myself a word other than “lame.”

Back to our regularly scheduled programming tomorrow… ;)

by brienne2

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Jen Francis - Hahahahahahaha. This made me laugh out loud.

:: michelle & richie and alexandria & vince : sneak peeks ::

Sunday, January 31, 2010 at 12:35am Posted in Specials

I had two Valentine’s Day Special sessions today – check out a few sneak peeks! I really really enjoyed myself and I’m hopeful that the two couples I worked with today had fun too – I love love love how some of the images came out! Can’t wait to share more!

Up first, Michelle & Richie::

Quickly followed by Alexandria & Vince::

If you’re still interested in booking a Vday Special session, there are just a handful of time slots available between now and the 5th. So book fast and let’s CELEBRATE LOVE!

by brienne2

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:: benjamin : newborn portraits ::

Monday, January 25, 2010 at 11:23pm Posted in Kids and Family, Personal

Ok, ok, I know. I’m like WAY WAY WAY behind on blogging. I had this fantastic idea that I was going to, oh I don’t know, hit the blog with a BANG at the beginning of the year. Watch OUT 2010, me and my blogification skills are comin’atcha! BOOM-SAUCE!

Yeah. And then I got pneumonia.

Ok, I’ll be honest though. I didn’t get pneumonia till like the 7th or something, so I technically had a whole week of non-sicky feeling days this year that I could’ve been getting my BOOM-SAUCE on. Buuuut……

And it’s not like I didn’t have good ideas. OH INTERNET did I have IDEAS for these awesome, amazing, blow-your-mind-and-your-socks blog ideas. It was seriously going to be epic. But I have discovered something about myself.

I am not 19 anymore.

Now, most of you are probably thinking, “uh, yeah. I hope not. You have a kid and you’ve been married for going on 5 years, so umm, yeah, that’d be weird….” But somehow this is very recent news to me. Or at least to my body. Because, see, I’ve always just assumed my body can just bounce back from things if I just tell it that it has no other choice. Like “hey you. body. yeah you. I know the holidays are exhausting and you just want to throw in the towel, but don’t you know that January is supposed to be a crazy, high energy festival of excitement and resolutions and PRODUCTIVITY for crying out loud?!?”. Despite Twilight-induced obsession with the age of 17 somehow being the epitome of life and health and vitality, I actually preferred 19 to 17 by quite a huge margin…. And usually, miraculously, my body listened to my demands somehow.

Until now.

Because somehow in the mix of this whole, oh I don’t know, HAVING A KID thing, my relatively respectable closer-to-30-than-20 age became a liability instead of a bonus. Which is kind of a huge bummer. Especially for my blog life.

And so it is that I find myself JUST NOW posting these photos from sweet, beautiful, perfect little Benjamin’s newborn session from 3 WEEKS ago. Sigh. Sorry Matt & Cherise!

Isn’t he ridiculously adorable? Holding his sweet little tiny cute body sent nostalgic chills through me.

Oh my! What a NOSE! Scrumptious!

Apparently, I’m not the only one who appreciates a cute little button nose. :)

Oh baby yawns. I love them.

Not to be outdone, Ben’s big brother had to show me he can be ADORABLE too. :)

Aren’t they a beautiful new family of FOUR? :) Congrats and the perfect new little addition to your family Matt & Cherise! Sam is probably the cutest 2.5 year old I’ve ever met, so I can’t wait to see Ben’s personality develop too.

And here you all thought that I wasn’t going to post pictures with that start to the blog, huh?

BOOYAH.

by brienne2

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laurie shepard - so so so cute! love these guys!

:: valentine’s day specials : CELEBRATE LOVE ::

Friday, January 15, 2010 at 1:36pm Posted in Back to School Deals, Business, Creative Couture, Engagements, For Photographers, Happily Ever After, Kids and Family, Personal, Publication Shoots, Uncategorized, Weddings

That’s right! Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Brienne Michelle Photography is running an incredible 75% OFF DEAL for couples sessions!!! I’ll be honest, I’ve never done this before, but I’m looking forward to working with couples of all shapes and sized to CELEBRATE LOVE through photography! Not married? Just dating? Been married for 35 years? I don’t care how long you’ve been together – 2 days or 25 years, it’s time to CELEBRATE! Book before February 5 and the cost for both the session AND the copy of all the images (ALL) is only $75! And in case you were wondering, YES, all sessions are in Santa Clarita.

If you’re not sure you want to do couple’s photos, but you still want to do a Romantic session or want to get cute photos of the kids for Grandma as a present for Valentines, solo sessions are only $50 til Feb 5 as well!!!

How to book — email me at briennemichelle at gmail dot com to get started and we’ll get it on the calendar! Last time I did discount sessions, they went fast so email me quickly! I’m looking forward to celebrating LOVE with you!!!

by brienne2

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:: michelle & richie and alexandria & vince : sneak peeks :: » Brienne Michelle Photography Blog - [...] had two Valentine’s Day Special sessions today – check out a few sneak peeks! I really really enjoyed myself and I’m [...]

:: the TRUTH about motherhood : part 10 ::

Wednesday, January 13, 2010 at 11:20pm Posted in the TRUTH about motherhood

:: To My Lovely Child ::

I hardly know words to write to you, baby boy. I love you, but that doesn’t seem enough. I adore you. Every morning since you were 10 weeks old I’ve woken to the sounds of your babbling to yourself. When I walk into you room in the morning or after a nap, you literally jump up and down in your crib with a huge grin. I can’t help but sweep you up and kiss those cheeks. OH THOSE CHEEKS! You’ve learned to help me put on and take off your shirts, to straighten your legs nice and straight when I close up your diaper, and to pull your arms out of the straps on your high chair or car seat when I say “arms out”.

You love books – oh MY do you love books! You’re perfectly content to climb up onto my lap with a book and wait for me to begin reading. You’re also happy to “read” them to yourself. Upside down or right side up, it doesn’t matter, as long as you can flip pages and pretend to know what the pages say (and usually SCREAM the words in excitement). You laugh much more easily now than you used to and you smile all the time. You’re a happy boy, Cam-man!

Your Daddy and I look at each other almost every day and ask the exact same question – Where has the time gone? Everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE told us that would happen. And it’s not that we didn’t believe them, it’s just that it really is that mind boggling. We’re constantly amazed by you. Your Daddy used to prop you up on his legs and just stare at you staring back at him and making small little practice movements with your mouth. It was better than TV, seriously, and you entertained us for hours like that. Now you “talk” (sometimes for real), play with toys, cruise around the living room, steal Mommy’s food, and tell your own baby version of jokes.

You have fun chasing around the furry little critters we’ve adopted into our family and grabbing their leashes whenever possible. You literally squeal in delight when Kipper comes and gets you after a nap with me. Don’t worry, I promise you that someday they’ll let you play with them.

We’re so blessed by you, kiddo. I know it’s cliche, but you bring a lot of joy into our lives. For reals. I think I’ve laughed and smiled more in the last almost year than the entire rest of my life combined. My heart has doubled in size and I find myself looking forward to the next stages with you.

Next week is your birthday. Which I’m still having a hard time admitting to, but I’m slowly coming to accept it. Nobody thinks you’re one when they first meet you – you look like a toddler who’s closer to 2 than 1, but maybe that’s because you got your Daddy’s head of hair. ;) It’s been an awesome first 11 & 3/4 months!

Oh, and by the way, you’re officially the cutest little boy EVER.

by brienne2

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Tami Case - Bri, What a beautiful letter to your sweet little boy who will soon be a year old and the photos capture exactly how you must be feeling right now. I have known Preston even before he was born and I see a lot of him in your little boy. It has been wonderful watching him grow in your photos over the last year. Thank you for sharing them with all of us. Happy Birthday, early Cameron ! Love, Tami Case A friend for a very long time of Laurie and Family

laurie shepard - awwww Bree -- you made me cry!!! I fully understand how your heart expands with love when you have a child. We love you and Preston and Cameron so much -- the heart keeps expanding.

Jenifer Francis - What an awesome tribute. Still can't believe he's a year. I totally agree - where did the time go??? Crazy. He's adorable times a million. Congrats on a successful first year! Happy Birthday Cam!

Kristen Leigh - Awwww, that was so sweet. Awesome post :D Seriously, lady, enjoy every.single.second. of him being "little" haha (even though he's a giant.)

:: janet & derek : sneak peek ::

Sunday, January 10, 2010 at 12:42am Posted in Engagements

sneak1

So a lot of times I start out blog posts with “I had the pleasure of working with ____ today”… and I always mean it. My job rocks and I love working with people to create beautiful images. But somehow that doesn’t do it justice when it comes to Janet & Derek. They’re so easy going, so ready and willing to smile or laugh and they don’t even bat an eyelash when I say things like “you’ll know you’ve got this pose just right when you feel really uncomfortable”. They made it all look beautiful and effortless which equals easy job for me! Pluuusssss, as an added bonus, they actually laugh at my lame jokes! I think I’ll call that a home-run. :) Here’s a few sneak peeks, but there will definitely be another longer post coming! I’m looking forward to their destination wedding in June!

sneak2

sneak3

sneak4

by brienne2

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Janet - Bri!! YOU ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!

Brienne Michelle - Thanks Janet! I hope you guys love them! Can't wait to show you more!

:: one-on-one photography lesson : sneak peek ::

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 at 12:59pm Posted in For Photographers

sneak

I met up with Crystal for a little one-one-one photography lesson up here in Santa Clarita and we had some fun learning about shooting in manual mode and practicing on Tatiana and even my sister. :) If you’re interested in one-on-one photography lessons or want more information about the next workshop, sent me an email at briennemichelle at gmail dot com!

by brienne2

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:: best of 2009 ::

Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 2:44am Posted in Business, Creative Couture, Engagements, For Photographers, Happily Ever After, Kids and Family, Personal, Weddings

It took me a ridiculous amount of time to narrow down my top choices from this past year. In total, I shot over 60 portrait sessions and 13 weddings this past year. Which is triple what I shot last year in portraits and almost double in weddings (let’s hope I do that again in 2010!). So when I went to pick favorites, initially, I had over 200 pictures pulled and literally something from every single session. Everything I had the pleasure to shoot this year has a special place in my heart and I take something away from the experience. Needless to say, I get attached to the images (and the emotions that get all conjured up when I look at the pictures again).

But honestly, no one would read a blog post with 200 plus images. Don’t even try to make me feel better about that either – you know you wouldn’t. Heck, even I wouldn’t. ;)

So I culled down the images again. And made it to 78. Which, despite being an uncomfortable process, was still too many. So I culled a third time and made it to 48. Now we’re talking painful. But still, 48 is asking too much for one post (you should be thanking me, trust me…). So with stress, pain, anxiety, and yes, maybe even a tear or two, I proudly present my TOP 12 photos of 2009 (because no matter how I did it, I just COULD NOT make myself do TOP 10…)!

Lightroom (top 12 01.jpg and 11 others)

There’s a story behind every single image that made it to the TOP 12, but ultimately, these are my absolute ultimate favorites from this past year (at this particular moment anyway). My TOP 12 can be found from the following blog posts:

:: first christmas ::
:: emily : maternity ::
:: jennifer & nathanael : wedding ::
:: jennifer & nathanael : engagement ::
:: ledesma family : portraits ::
:: nikhil & pooja : sneak peek ::
:: sona & nico : wedding ::
:: arlyn & jackson : newborn portraits ::
:: andrea & mike : engagements ::
:: jenifer & anthony : sneak peek ::

However, so that those other Honorable Mention images don’t feel totally left out, I made a nice slideshow of the images here.

This past year has been utterly incredible for me. I love how this time of year leads to reflection and resolutions and all kinds of thinking/wondering/worrying about the things that are to come. This next year will mark the official launch of THE POST CHICKS – a post-processing company for photographers that me and my business partner started when I went on maternity leave. It also marks, as of 10pm on 12/30/09, the official end of my (hopefully final) day job. I have never talked about my day job (mostly because it wasn’t terribly safe for me to do so) but for the past 3.5 years I’ve worked for an online game moderation company, from home, basically telling kids what to do and to, for the millionth time, NOT GIVE OUT THEIR PERSONAL INFORMATION (seriously parents, please please PLEASE educate yourself about online saftey and figure out what your kids are doing online and then tell them to KNOCK IT OFF!). As I am no longer a moderator/staff member, I can finally admit to being one (since now the kids can’t hack my system and make my life…. *ahem*… irritating). And while I’m scared to death uncomfortable at the thought of losing the steady income all together, I’m actually really really excited about the possibilities in 2010.

So here’s to jumping off cliffs taking leaps of faith, a better year, and the best of life for us all! May God bless you and yours in the coming year (and decade!) I can’t wait to see where we end up!

:: b ::

by brienne2

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Elissa - I don't know how you did it! I've been following you all of 2009 (and before too) and had many faves as well. You made good choices on your top 12 though! I particularly like that I know that family of 5 acting nutty and the owner of those fabulous green heels! I also like that we made honorable mention. Go us! Gotta say though, one of my fave images from the year is that wedding in the "wild, wild west". You have the bride in your top 12, but I LOVE the one of the bride and groom holding hands in front of that barn (that's in your honorable mentions). Go you! Here's to a beautiful 2010!

Jen Francis - I can't believe we (as in my fam) made it in not once, but twice!!! How cool is that??? I'm honored. You do beautiful work, Bree. Cheers to you and to Brienne Michelle Photography. Good luck in 2010. I hope I (we) make top 12 of 2010, too!!! ;-)

:: first christmas ::

Monday, December 28, 2009 at 5:36pm Posted in Personal

cxmas1

I love this time of year. I love the reason for Christmas and I love celebrating it. But this year was extra special. This year, for the first time ever, my husband and I celebrated Christmas with our son.

Our son.

It was full of wonder and excitement and anxiety and love and fun and every good thing (and a few that were just plain stressful). But overall it was, in a word,

Magical.

cxmas2

Happy Holidays to my readers that are celebrating (whatever it may be) this time of year. Merry Christmas to my readers who celebrate Christmas. And Happy New Year to all of you. May the magic, love, and beauty of this season find you and yours as it has found us.

:: b ::

by brienne2

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Jane Doe - The shots of your son in this post are amazing.. I love them!

:: best of 2009 :: » Brienne Michelle Photography Blog - [...] :: first christmas :: :: emily : maternity :: :: jennifer & nathanael : wedding :: :: jennifer & nathanael : engagement :: :: ledesma family : portraits :: :: nikhil & pooja : sneak peek :: :: sona & nico : wedding :: :: arlyn & jackson : newborn portraits :: :: andrea & mike : engagements :: :: jenifer & anthony : sneak peek :: [...]