for those of you who have been following my journey for a while, remember sara? she was a senior a couple years back.. well, now she is a mom! this is her sweet little girl!
she was such a perfect little girl. she slept just about the whole session!
xoxo,
we are in the mood for another blog right? we’ve got a lot of catching up to do after all. here’s a maternity session with a lovely lady named marina. funny story, my name was marina for two whole days. my mother originally named me marina michelle and i spent the first forty-eight hours of my life named marina, and right before we left the hospital my mother changed my name to michelle nicole. needless to say, i adore the name marina.
also, i adore dogs, and briana told me a funny little story of how this gorgeous dog that marina and jeremy have only wanted to jump in the pond at the session. any one with dogs know how hard it can be to get them to cooperate, especially when it comes to something like pictures! alas, there is a picture with that stunning husky, and it’s definitely my favourite!
enjoy!
xx,
michelle
Last Wednesday we did our normal thing; I pulled together a blog, she did some editing, we did some more website rearranging and we got to talking — wouldn’t it be awesome if we did a behind the scenes post on the blog? Coming into this, I didn’t know much of anything about photography, all I knew was that I loved blogging, and I thought it would be so cool for her clients to learn exactly what happens behind the scenes!
There’s so much that goes into capturing memories for people, you want them to be absolutely perfect because your photographs are something that they will have forever. It all starts when a client gets in touch with Briana one way or another (usually by Facebook message or a text) and they discuss how they heard about Breakfree Photography, what exactly they are looking for in terms of sessions, and what packages are available.
In the days leading up to the clients’ session, Briana makes sure to keep in touch with them, exchanging ideas and discussing potential location. The night before to the session, batteries are charged, memory cards are located, and equipment and props are packed up. I remember when she was on the hunt for a new camera lens because she wanted sharper, cleaner images but camera lenses can be on the super pricey side. When you run a photography business, however, top-of-the-line lenses are an absolute must. One of our managers at Chili’s found her a deal for the exact lens she wanted on eBay, and I know that she loves it, she was so excited to show it to me after it came in the mail!
Once the session itself is over, it’s time to begin the editing process, which is more than just some hours spent behind the computer, it literally begins the moment the session ends. Briana starts looking through the photos of the session in her car, mentally making note of the ones that she would like to keep as part of the gallery. Once she gets home from the session, the pictures are immediately uploaded onto her computer and she begins editing them through Photoshop.
Since briana and I started working together, I’ve been present for a few editing sessions and it’s such a fun, but exhausting process.
when you are looking at a picture on a 27-inch imac, you start to notice little imperfections that you didn’t notice in real time or on the back of the a camera, and said imperfections must be corrected. for some pictures this takes a bit more work than others, but one thing that always happens is when briana finds a stunning picture with an imperfection, she does her best the correct the imperfection and make the picture even more beautiful. she puts up little sneak peeks on facebook of the most adorable moments, makes me a collage that will be apart of the blog, then uploads them to the client gallery.
it’s such a long and rewarding journey, but it’s worth it to help people build lasting memories.
xx
michelle
Wednesdays have become the unofficial day for friend dates between briana and me. I usually come over her house in the late evening and we chat, eat, chase a few bunnies, and get a bit of work done. I’ve only been working with briana for about a month, but it seems like we have gotten quite a bit done; we’ve developed a schedule for her blog, I lend a hand with editing (by lend a hand, I mean I am a sounding board for her as she bounces ideas off of me), and we’ve re-done her website! In short, I sort of help her with her blog and website, and she helps me learn new skills that are sure to be super useful in LA (but let’s not talk about that… she’s sad I’m leaving and I’m going to miss her like crazy).
briana usually arrives at the location early to scope out the area for perfect backdrops for the session. One of my favourite things about briana's pictures are the lush greens that she always includes — stunning view of trees, bushes, shrubs, and grass that complement her natural style so well, and make the photos looks breathtaking. Once her clients arrive, briana will play with the children, chat with the couples, joke with the high school seniors — whatever is needed to help them feel more comfortable.
Take it from me, photo sessions can be a little awkward. You become so overly self aware; what you hair is doing, what your feet are doing, whether your smile is too big, or too small, how your clothes fit — you are your own biggest critic. I have no children of my own, but I can imagine how infants and children would act around a new person, and how embarrassed or self-conscious a parent would become if said child began to act up. But I can promise that briana has the patience of a saint, and just wants everyone to be content.
aloha breakfree-ers, it's me again — michelle!
i’ve got another blog here for you guys to showcase more of briana’s gorgeous work. brittany is a current senior at chisum high school and seriously one of the cutest humans in the world. when briana showed me these pictures, i literally exclaimed, “she’s adorable!”
the shoot was apparently super windy, but they managed to get some good shots any which way. brittany and briana knew each other from cheer years ago, and hadn’t seen much of one another afterwards. thinking that brittany wouldn’t remember what she looked like, briana was slightly worried that brittany wouldn’t recognize her! needless to say that she did, and this beautiful session ensued.
brittany seems like such a warm and genuine person and it shines through in these photos — enjoy!
xx
aloha breakfree-ers, michelle here! briana introduced me in the previous blog with those beautiful pictures she took of me. i am the world's worst model, and she is talented enough to make me look like i've been doing it my whole life. that's the thing about briana she is so insanely talented -- evidenced by these stunning engagement photos of cadie && steven.
briana knows both steven and cadie through school; high school and college respectively, and cadie won a contest ages ago to have photos taken by briana, and the pair of them agreed on bridals, but ended up doing engagement pictures after some discussion. but, only on one condition... if there could be some cows in the photoshoot! behold these beautiful photographs.
enjoy,
xx
