Meet Mackenzie!

   It is time for formal introductions. Meet Mackenzie Nall, of Kenz Kosmetics. She is the MUA (makeup artist) that will be working with all of my senior clients. Not only does she have a great talent and skill for her craft, but she is sweet and fun. My clients are very comfortable with her and leave feeling amazing because she plays up their best features. This is exactly what I have wanted for my seniors, well, all of my clients actually, but my seniors especially. That is a tough age and time. And on this day, the day of your custom senior session, it totally shouldn't be. You should feel incredible and have an amazing experience. Mackenzie is a part of making all that happen. Here she is! It was totally windy, BAD windy - so we were cut short on our shoot. She is such a little thing, I didn't want her to blow away :)

How about some news?

   This year, I wanted to give something new and incredible to my seniors, I love them so! I don't fool around in photoshop, not a whole lot. I despise it. I say it all the time - the best you'll get out of me is you will look well rested, and like you are having a great skin day. These are two things I personally battle with. I am not a magician. I am not a plastic surgeon. I don't make people skinnier in photoshop. I am here to photograph YOU. And I hope you love yourself, as you are. That can be a hard thing for a lot of people, but in the end, time spent self loathing is time that is never gotten back. Quit hating on yourselves! All that said - who doesn't love to feel awesome? Who doesn't love a little pampering?
   After much consideration about how I can help my seniors feel awesome about themselves (without feeling like they need to be photoshopped in order to do so) I came to the conclusion that I would hire a makeup artist to spend some time with these kids and show them how to play up their best features. Below is the first session we had with our new MUA. Not only did [M] look GREAT - she FELT great. And just as I hoped, this definitely came through in the images. I hope you love them as much as I do. Next week I will have my MUA's session to blog. Her name is Mackenzie Nall - of Kenz Kosmetics. She was so good with my client! I really enjoyed the interaction between the two - when my client and her mom liked Mackenzie I could tell that this was just the thing I wanted to add to Brooke Bikneris Photography's senior sessions. Thanks Mackenzie! I feel like I am making great strides to seperate myself from others in my area, in a kind and good way. And this is just one more way to do so.

You know its a cold day when...

   When Middle says she wants to do pictures. I am pretty partial, but my girls are all just gorgeous - inside and out. I am a blessed woman. Middle and Little do NOT like to have their pictures taken. So when Middle says she wants to do them, I am scrambling to get my stuff together before she changes her mind! I will take it where I can get it! A quick trip outside and these are what we got. It was freezing out there, but you can't tell it. She is a natural. She noted that a jean jacket does NOTHING for you to keep you warm. And I am glad to report the gloves that I bought recently are excellent for shooting in. I forgot that I had them on! Yay!

I decided to check most of these out in black and white as well as color. I have been loving black and white lately. This shouldn't be a surprise to me, it's always been my first choice!

Hurry! Before the light goes away!

   A mad dash. A scramble. I blindsided Biggest with this statement as she got off the bus. "I just need a quick couple, so brush your hair!" Then it was "Hey You and You - (Middle and Little), here hold this." Some "My arms hurt - the wind is wrecking it - how much longer do we have to do this" etc... You get the picture. And guess what? I did too - a neat little handful from about 10 minutes of pure chaos. I had an idea I needed to try - that had little to do with the model or the pose. And I had such a small window before the sun was going to go away. Over all the complaining from my children, except Biggest, was the gorgeous light in my viewfinder. Wow. I have been observing the way the light falls on these trees in our sideyard. I see them from my office window. What a great location! Where are some great locations you have stumbled upon that you see everyday, and have just overlooked?

By the way. I have great girls :)

Oh man...Selfie time.

   I belong to a group online and collectively we are doing a 52 week project. And this weeks theme was "Self". Ok, I read this theme at the beginning of the year and have been dreading it ever since. I am totally, totally, totally uncomfortable in front of the camera. And I think because of that, my clients always feel utterly comfortable with me. I hear it over and over again. I am so thankful they feel this way!
   Having to do this (notice how we are towards the end of the week, you can tell how enthusiastic I was lol) really forced me to go toe to toe with my comfort zone. For the record, it is very hard to do a self portrait. The whole technical aspect is more time consuming. However, all in all, I am glad I did it. And it has really given me a push to it a lot more. Maybe (maybe) I will do it once a week. I think it really pushes me to do better. I am pretty comfortable in my own skin, I don't think anyone is 100% of the time. But try doing a self portrait and you will see where you insecurities are.

Putting on the other shoe!

   Wow. Don't you love it when things go viral. I'm not talking passing the flu around. I am talking something that flies around so fast on the internet that one post on facebook has over 600 comments in less than two hours. That is just on facebook. This isn't mentioning all of the other social media outlets there are. Any photographer who is reading this probably knows what I am talking about. Today, a photograph that was taken back in July of a newborn baby in a yarn hammock was passed around good ole facebook at breakneck speed. That photographer was probably out living her life, doing her day to day things when she came home to hundreds and hundreds of comments on her image. 98% of them negative and scathing. This post isn't really about that. That whole thing was beat into the ground. Skimming through that whole mess though, got me thinking about what if it were me on the receiving end of all those threats and "you should quit" comments? All of the shattering words.
   It certainly makes you say Thank You Jesus, for it not being ME. It makes you learn a thing or two. Hopefully. It definitely gets you thinking. However, it is me. It is you. How many times do you tell yourself you should quit. How many times do you allow shattering thoughts sneak in and steal your growth? Too often. Bottom line is, as I was going through my class today, I was thinking "I am just not going to ever GET it. I am not understanding these things, what am I doing?" Then I read through some of the comments on the newborn post. I felt bad for the photog. She had no way to defend herself. I absolutely agree that she should have done things differently. In all things, safety is paramount. Whether it be in your job, or your emotional well being, or your drive to live your life and chase your dream. You must safeguard your life. Safeguard your relationships. Safeguard your passion for everything. Don't let all the negative in. It only gets in if you allow it. A smart man learns from his mistakes. But a wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Today, I am wise. Tomorrow I will put my nose back to the grindstone. And tonight I will shut out all the negative that I have allowed my very own self to think.
  
   As a side note - I specialize in Senior and Couples portraiture. Those who photograph newborns must take extra precautions and educate themselves on the safety aspect of handling these little humans. What an overwhelming number of photographers do not know is how these popular newborn images are actually made. They are composites where there is always a hand on the baby, or at the farthest, a few inches. Please, when booking with a photographer to document this delicate and precious time in the life of your baby, ask them how they do these shots. If they don't use composites, find someone else. There isn't a shortage of photographers who specialize in newborns. Careful with those little babies!