Hey all,

It’s been a while since I blogged. I’ve been traveling a bunch. I spent a week in Atlanta at the Professional Photographers of America conference and last weekend I went up to Pittsburgh to photograph Gayle & Ian’s engagement session. Aren’t they cute? The above diptych with the yellow brick is outside their house, which looks exactly like where you’d raise the love child of an Anthropologie catalog and that other magazine (the name of which I can’t recall, but it’s all cool & hipster like.) The magazine makes me think I too could build furniture out of reclaimed wood or UPS boxes… and then I remember that I’m bad at math and domestic sticktuitiveness.  I bet Ian could. He’s exposing the brick in their 1912 house. By himself. Hat’s off, dude. That’s a big job.

On the road trip to Pittsburgh I was accompanied by one of my favorite people in the world, Susan. She said that she lives through Gayle’s hipster life vicariously through Facebook. Basically, these two are way cooler than us. Well. At least me. Susan’s pretty cool.

Tonight we’re going to a cooking class. I’m excited. So, I gots-to-go.

Oh and this weekend is the Oscar Party, which is my Super Bowl. Let’s meet next week to snark on fashion!

This is Ali & Dave, whose wedding is on Sweetest Day in October. We hung out in Old Town over Labor Day weekend and these are my favorites from their engagement session. They’re one of those really healthy, vegan, cyclist couples that make running seem cute and romantic.  I run  I will run…if a bear is chasing me. Yeah, come to think about it, they make the cupcake I ate for breakfast seem like a bad choice. Whatever. Look, if I have to defend myself (which I totally don’t, but I will) the cupcakes were a birthday surprise from my good friend who stopped by to let my puppy out while we were at the Florence + the Machine concert. We got home sooo late from Meriweather Post Pavillion, that I just fell into bed without eating one. So, I mean…it would be rude not to eat one. After all, Susan went to all that trouble to pick them up from Buzz.

Last night was a great night for an outdoor concert venue. It was the first night you could really feel Fall in the air. Florence was great. The set is beautiful as is she in her lithe art deco / Grecian dress. I only wish she would’ve performed Between Two Lungs, but perhaps much of her first album calls for a more intimate setting.

The opening act was The Weeknd. Not spelled “The Weekend” because a third “e” would be lame. And a lot less confusing. He sings the hook on Drakes’s “Crew Love” His voice is amazing. Do check him out, only not on Spotify – he’s not there.

Okay, so tonight is puppy class and Saturday is Chris & Linh’s very much anticipated wedding day!!! I’ll have lots to share soon. Take care.

Think back to when you were in high school. Did you win a “Best” label in your year book?  Now, look at Tina and tell me she didn’t win best smile? If she didn’t, I call shenanigans. Tina’s intended, Dobromir, has a great sense of humor and makes her smile a lot.

Yeah. I like these two. A lot. I am very much looking forward to photographing their October wedding.

So…the last time I updated the blog, I posted images of my new kitty. Since then we added a puppy into the mix. Not just any puppy, but a Golden Retriever!!! I hope we can finally resolve the burning question “Is Ryan Gosling cuter than a puppy?”

For your consideration….

Hey Girl, it should be duly noted that Molly pup does all sorts of foul puppy things need not be mentioned here…y’know in case that sways the vote. Seriously. Plus, she’s crazy destructive. In under a minute Molly ran a 6 foot ribbon of toilet paper across the hall and bit a hole in my shirt. And that is why you never take your eye off the puppy.

So this is Linh and Chris. Cute, right? These two are a really sweet couple I had the pleasure of meeting when they were guests at Jesse & Katrina’s wedding almost two years ago. Linh loves cherry blossoms. Unseasonably warm weather caused them to bud almost a month early this year. The blooms are fragile and fleeting. I sooo badly wanted to deliver good on Linh’s dream engagement session with these blooms, that I was in an outright panic when a thunderstorm was predicted. Alas all was fine. Early morning on a weekday is the best time to avoid the foot traffic these gorgeous blooms inspire. Before they arrived I shot a time lapse of sorts…

Now, I hope I’m not throwing my girl under the bus mentioning her obsession over the new Bieber song Boyfriend. Chris can judge away, but I’m with Linh. I can’t get enough of this song. I don’t care if it makes me a 14 year old. Justin Timberlake’s thespian adventures left a gaping hole in my pop heart.

Speaking of pop music, this week is sectionals I mean semi-finals for District Karaoke. As this first season wraps up, I must say a big thanks to my amazing team members. I didn’t know any of these people 9 weeks ago and now we’re fast friends. It’s sad to lose some members to another League night or other pressing commitments, but I know they’ll continue to support Team The More We Drink The Better You Sound on our quest for world domination!!!

Team The More We Drink The Better You Sound. Thank you for not commenting on the weirdness that is my disappearing eyebrows. Photo credit: John Jacks Photographie

Saved By the Bell High-Fives!!! Photo credit: John Jacks Photographie

Game Faces!!! Photo credit: John Jacks Photographie

Photo credit: John Jacks Photographie

Here’s me singing the Rihanna hook on Run This Town. I realize now my outfit looked a little macabre yoga meets urban survivalist…but take notice of that eyeliner. I love eyeliner as much as I love Boyfriend. Nay. Greater.

Anyway, I am not, in fact, Trapped in a Closet but I do have a confession: I’ve always thought that engagement sessions were a little frivolous… en route to narcissistic. Now I love a good game of dress up as much as the next girl and I did just change which side I part my hair as a direct result of a RadioLab episode but deep down I’ve always looked at them and thought “Really?”

But now that has all changed.

Let me back up a bit. I’m in a bit of a persnickety mood today and I’ve been trying to think of something to guest blog about but all I keep thinking about is how frustrating it can be when your hired to do something then a client wants you to change everything to a style you’d NEVER do. Now, very thankfully, I NEVER have this problem with my brides. They look through my site and if they like my style and hire me we’re always both completely happy with the result. Sure, there are times when they will look at something and be like “Hmm that font just isn’t doing it for me” but I always find a way to ensure they get THEIR perfect wedding invitations in the end.

And then it hit me.

You can look at a photographers website all you want but you only get one shot on the big day. I also think it’s very hard to separate the photographs from WHAT’S IN the photographs.

I love this main photo from a wedding Brandy shot (I actually love all the photos but especially this one) but I can’t tell you how different a very small wedding in the mountains on a farm was from mine! But I still love the photo, it’s just hard to look at that and think how it would translate to MY ceremony.

Enter the engagement session.

You get a chance to see how YOU look in a photographers work and a much better of idea of what it will be like to work with them. And they get a good idea of how to work best with you as well. Some people are put in front of a camera and every shot is golden. Most of us need a little guidance. An engagement session can be a great time for each of you to get comfortable being on your respective ends of the camera and there aren’t 200 guests waiting for you in the meantime!

So there you have it. Bias averted. Engagement sessions are the way to go.

I know, right?

Ariel & David are adorable. Ariel is a special friend. I know I say that about many of my brides, but it’s because I’m still early in my career. My friends have paid me a great compliment to trust me with their weddings. I will always be grateful for the many ways in which they have facilitated my photography business. Ariel, in particular, has been a creative sounding board. We’ve almost developed a twin speak. She is one of the funniest women I know, and trust me, we share some really funny girlfriends. David is a super solid guy and he makes Ariel incredibly happy.

So, some of you will remember Ariel as the graphic designer of Ursula’s wedding invitations, favor tags and wedding announcements. Non? Need a refresher? Okay Here you go:

She also designed, my other bride, Katrina’s wedding invitation, but I don’t have an image of that. Katrina & Ursula work together, as did Ariel and I and yes, you’re right. It is getting a little incestuous. Anyway. Ariel does FANTASTIC work, as you can see. Her talent and taste earned her an upcoming internship at Martha Stewart’s Whole Living magazine. Needless to say all of Ariel’s many crafty friends have been dying to know what she would design for own wedding invitation. The pressure was high as many of her friends are in the wedding industry. Let it be known that I squealed like a wild banshee when this arrived in the mail.

A & D, you didn’t really think I’d make you wait until Wed, did you? Thanks for being such an amazing couple. You radiate a warmth to which others are drawn. I cannot wait for your wedding. I’ll be practicing my Celine Dion lyrics in case there’s a lull in the reception and you need me to throw down my camera & bust out some power ballads or the French Canadian version of “Whip My Hair.” Just kidding.

Only I’m not.

Hello, good people of the internets!

Apparently I’m psychic. Which is AWESOME for me! I’m going to use my new found superpower to play the stock market. Oooh, on second thought I better not say that. My husband is a stock analyst. I’d hate for him to pull a Martha and go to jail for insider trading based on my psychic powers. He’s too pretty to go jail. Just stating a fact. You’re probably wondering how I learned of such superpowers. No? Well, I’ll tell you anyway. Last night I said I was going to blog Ashley & Kevin’s engagement session. I wake up this morning to find that Ashley submitted my image to  Fresh Impressions for her save the date design. It was selected as today’s top postcard design. Yay! Kismet, I tell you. Kismet. Here is the design. It’s super super lo-res as I copied it from Ashley’s Facebook page (I hope that’s okay, Ashley!)

So, yeah. I pretty much love these two & their images. There’s just something about people from the Midwest!

Just a little sneak peek for Ashley. Blogging photos of a pretty brunette in cowboy boots demands a country soundtrack, cue the Dixie Chicks.

Ashley and Kevin live here in DC, while their families are back in Missouri. For this engagement session we had a lot of divergent ideas. We had to shoot at the DC monuments for the folks back home. There was also a vintage theme to tie into the couple’s planned Tahoe wedding. We were inspired by Mad Men, Old Fashioned’s, and Frank Sinatra.  This shot, however, wasn’t planned for. It was a stolen moment when the setting and the light just came together. It turned out to be one of my favorites. Ashley, I covet your boots, but I could never wear them as authentically as you.

Check back for more images from this session.

-Brandy

Oh hello!

I’m blogging tonight from a date night of sorts…y’know the kind of date nights with free wi-fi, craft beers, ambient house music and hipsters galore. It’s more of a “married couple working on separate projects at a coffee shop that serves good libations before returning home to watch Netflix” kind of date night. Honestly, I love these quasi-date nights. They remind me of college, when we did this exact same thing only instead of bougie wine, it was Vietnamese coffee at The Grind. I don’t remember enjoying myself as I am tonight. For one reason…yes, the wine helps, but second I’m not doing Econ homework. Yay! Give it up for being a grown up. I’ve been designing a wedding album for Raj & Jessica! That is WAY more fun than Econ homework, not to mention way more fun than what my date is doing. My husband is reading some depressing expository text on the history of financial crisis. Ew.

But I digress, the point of this blog post is not to make everyone jealous of our nerd love. It’s to share images of Ashlynn & Stephen’s recent engagement session!  Ashlynn & Stephen here are engaged, adorable and get this – Ashlynn is from my very own hometown of St. Charles, Missouri. I KNOW, RIGHT? Small world! We also share an appreciation of indie rock, a revelation which prompted an idea for the blog: a list of modern indie music perfect for weddings. I accept your challenge, Ashlynn and raise you a million dollars. No, kidding. I will share the penultimate indie wedding playlist soon. Very soon.

Ashlynn referred me to another couple I photographed last week, Kevin & Ashley also from Missouri. There is so much St. Louis up in DC, I’m kinda lovin’ it! St. Louisans are taken over. Pretty soon we’ll begin asking random strangers where they went to high school.*

*You know you’re from St. Louis if you get that reference. Now I just feel like dropping references:  Ted Drewes, South City Diner, Go Billikins, Steak & Shake on Hampton, Botanical Gardens, Shaw Arboretum, late night Laser Light Shows at the Science Center, Pick Up Schnucks, White Castle, Schlafly Beer, Sledding on Art Hill, Pancakes at Uncle Bill’s, CWE, Toasted Ravioli, Soulard’s, Farmer’s Market, Ice skating in Forest Park, Spying Christmas Trees in the window of homes in Lafayette Square, People watching at Coffee Cartel, and now I’m homesick and apparently hungry as most of my references are for food.

Kisses -Brandy