Cody and Santana

   Have a seat. Take a look at this :) This couple are friends of mine. Santana is Biggest and Middle's instructor at Dreamcatchers. She has the patience of a saint, if you ask me. That is a lot of giggling girls. Cody is the director of CharACTers, and is extraordinarily talented. To top that off, he's not old (neither is Santana). This is a very accomplished young couple. I have found that the CharACTers theater family is a fabulous one, and I am super thrilled to be able to photograph productions with them. The girls are in some of their shows. They love it! Let me just tell you folks, there is a LOT going on in Gadsden Alabama. I am talking shows that will knock your socks off! You would be amazed at the talent.

   I love shooting artistic people because they aren't afraid to be expressive. These two are great examples, Santana loves the camera! I am always tickled to see where we end up during shoots. If I had a pull back photo of our sessions you might flinch at some of the locations. It just goes to show you two things. One is "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and two, "There is beauty everywhere, you just have to look for it".

   I had a lot of fun with you guys!

Check out the links to what these two do!

http://www.charactersentertainment.com
http://dreamcatcherstroupe.weebly.com/

	http://www.santanasstudio.weebly.com

2012? How'd you get here so fast?

   It doesn't take much, time just flies. Looking at other photographers photos this morning on my Facebook newsfeed, I realize how little my kids aren't any more when I see families with small children. It seems like yesterday when I started driving and gas was $0.98. It seems like forever ago, and yesterday at the same time that I met my husband. We will have been together for 15 years real soon! Sitting here with hair color on my head - FYI - you would think that brown hair is easy to match color to, uh, totally isn't. I consider my natural color better than a bottled color but these days I am seeing non brunette hairs popping up, you all know what I am talking about lol. So there you have it. We have arrived at 2012, not unscathed, but alive and well in the scheme of things. Can't complain! So what have I learned in all my years? Well, so many things apparently, just ask my honey - we just watched a bit of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - I rock (although he never believes me). I've told him countless times that I have loads of information in my head, all sorts of trivial nonsense...but in itself, it amounts to a lot of knowledge! But seriously? I've learned compassion, forgiveness, to laugh and be silly. I've learned hard work is what makes success. That success isn't always what you think it is, it's usually deeper. I've learned to push through diversity when I want to quit (except in the exercise department). I've learned it is OK to allow yourself to have and feel emotions. That no matter my frailty, God is for me (you know the rest - who can be against me). I'm not cookie cutter. And that is ok. I thought what I wanted was different than what I got. But as it turns out - I didn't know anything. I am so happy with what I have, I can't explain it. There is greatness in every day, sometimes you have to look for it.

                                 I know me. I push me. I. LIKE. ME. And that is enough.

For what it is worth...I am going to push myself more this year. I need to. Me, me, me. I, I, I. This is the sort of thinking you get when you lay in the best spot in the house until you can't take it anymore and are about pass out from the bone warming deliciousness. I of course, am talking about the "sun spot". The most popular spot in the house by far...you have to fight the dogs and the cat to get it. By the way, as I was laying there I thought of my sweet precious sister Lori...she do love her sun. Makes the mind start drifting to a beach day :)

So get ready my friends. You have all supported me on my photography journey thus far. You will never know how much it means to me. I am blessed! On with the show.

Starting on Monday, January 9th until Tuesday, January 31st I will be offering a Headshot promotion.

                I leave you with this...Be THRILLED with you! And don't be scared to love deeply.

Merry Christmas! So much to be thankful for!

 I love Jesus. Its hard to seperate him from other aspects of my life, and I don't think he would want me to. I try everyday, and I fail everyday (somedays way more than others). But he is there, always. I feel like an inadequate loser a lot of the time, but he doesn't think I am. It is hard to remind yourself of that when you look around, taking your eyes off of him, and just looking at what this world has to offer. Years ago, I wanted to try my hand at photography. I just thought I would go ahead and say, God, if this is what you want me to do, let this roll of film come out awesome. TADA! Na-da! Guess what? God apparently said no, I thought. Taking the obvious aside, you know, the very hard work of understanding and practing your craft (a pertinent note here, I had a film camera that was a "good camera", and I am sure that it was, I just never learned how to use it)...He didn't say no, he said just not right now. Fast forward approximately 6 years later ... a tragedy, in my opinion. We lost our daughter. What in the world was I going to do to help myself cope? Most of you know, when she was born, we were recipients of NILMDTS. Both it and she were a spark, a catalyst that God used to push me in this direction. God wasn't saying no, just not right now. How many times does this happen a day. He answers all prayers, but he isn't a genie. He answered my prayer of healing our baby. He healed her better than I could have asked for. She is perfect, with him. It was the start of an amazing journey. I am so thankful for it.

 For almost 2 years now, I have been working my tail off to get to where I want to be in photography. And let me say, it has been a very long 2 years. I am nowhere near where I want to be, but I am making strides. Enough to say that I actually enjoy looking at my work now, I am not frustrated by my work, I can finally take pride in it. Knowing that working hard is paying off is one thing. Knowing that God has his hand in it is another. I firmly believe that it is a gift that he has given me to help me heal and be a blessing to others. There is no other explanation to my being able to learn completely on my own, so much in such a short amount of time. Are there days that I have doubt and feel stuck? Of course! Who doesn't? I don't know where I will end up with this, but one thing is for sure. I have been a blessed woman for it, and have had wonderful people put in my life because of it. I pray that I have been a blessing to those I have come in contact with. 

 My number one job is to be here for my kids and husband. I am humbled and grateful for the ability to be able to enjoy my family and have such a killer job!

 May your Christmas be wonderful. May it be a time of reflection, hope, dreams and love. Merry Christmas to your family from mine. Can't wait to kick off a new year! Lots to come!

Much love!
~Brooke~

It's been awhile!

     Boy, am I behind on the blog, or what? It's been awhile! I have been very busy, and it has been great! Busy...with my kids and people that I like...priceless. The girls just finished with the CharACTers production of Beauty and the Beast. It. Was. Phenomenal. What a spectacular cast, great memories, and such a compassionate, helpful and genuine group of people. We are so blessed as a family to have access to this "family". All of those involved would say the same thing. Lots of fun and lots of heart. Now that this show has finished up, my brood is gearing up to head to Gatlinburg with The Dreamcatchers to do two shows there. We are awaiting Christmas, Christmas vacation and Christmas movies. So even though technically I am on "break" from business as usual...I am still plenty busy. The only difference is, my (not so) little chicks are with me.

   We contemplated selling our van for awhile. Such a nice vehicle, but for those of you that know me well...it just wasn't my bag. We sold our Prius (read here - GAS SAVER) when I found out we were expecting Vivian. I loved that car...which is saying something because I am not material driven. We bought the van since our five family unit would become a six family unit. When we didn't get to bring Vivi home from the hospital, frankly, every time I got in that van was a reminder that we got it for her arrival...and that it was in vain. Out with the old, in with the new! Two years of that dark cloud is finally over, and I have a FUN car! Yippee! I am a fun lady, and this car suits me (ok, it was my mans idea - he gets props HERE). Thank you baby :) My funky little wagen - no spelling error there - is a fuel saver as well. Not even broke in yet, and already 41mpg baby! Now THAT is what I am talking about. Money in my pocket is what I like...not money in the tank. My little pet ought to get 50+ mpg by the time it gets through its break in period. Swooning, oh yeah, swooning big time. Plus I just used the word swoon twice - because it's so nice - AND I don't think it is used enough.

    I am making plans, making changes, owning decisions, and baking cookies (true story). The cookies help with all the other things - which of course, are in regards to my photography. Have I mentioned lately how much I love photography? Jim and I were just discussing the other day, about portraits hanging in his aunts house...OLD portraits. One was of a very small child. I told him, pointing the print of our three girls on our wall "Our grandkids and great grandkids will be able to look at this canvas and say something about their moms and aunts/grandmas and great aunts when they were little girls. How cool is that?" And that is truly why I love it so much. Without photographs, how can we get a good feel of where we came from? How can we put faces with stories? Super cool. (I totally use the phrase "super cool" all the time, just ask anyone lol)

     More updates coming soon. I have a Freedom session coming up that I very excited about. I get to branch out a bit from what I normally do. Grow grow grow, and get out of the box!

I Heart Faces challenge - Furry Faces!

This is Edgar...Eddie Spaghetti...The Bearded Yodler...Edgar Schmedley. He is a dog of many names, and he is quite photogenic with his banded markings around his eyes. He is a food mooch like no other. He has selective hearing, being completely deaf one minute and can hear a spoon quietly clank against a dish from clear across the house. And he adores my husband. He is Jim's dog. He loves quiet walks along the river, the occasional bit of summer sausage or salami. Actually that sentence pertains to both of them, as these are activities they enjoy together :) This photo was shot with my Lensbaby. Where is he laying? On Jim's side of the bed of course.

My entry for this weeks photo challenge on I Heart Faces.

It's nice to meet new people!

     Today I had the pleasure of meeting some new people for our shoot today. I like to meet new people, especially ones that I have a great time with. I love that I get to do a job that I laugh whenever and at whatever I please. And having a Caramel Apple Cider at The Coffee Well wasn't a shabby little treat at all! I do love apple cider! It was delicious!

     Acton Bowen, my client this morning, is a guy who wears a lot of hats...He is an author, he speaks all over the country at churches, D-Now weekends, camps, schools, he leads a bible study, and he has a pretty sweet Olympics gig coming up too...there are too many great and worthwhile things to list here. Go check out his website - www.actonbowen.com . Being such a busy guy, he likes his coffee. And that is where we started our shoot. I absolutely love it when God links me up with someone who I have a lot of things in common with! On with the show....

I Heart [Faces]

 This weeks theme for I Heart Faces is Autumn Splendor. This is my entry :) I just received this image on canvas and it beautifully hangs in our living room. My husband said to move the (original, one of a kind) artwork and hang this there. He said he would rather look at our kids :) That is like 5 thumbs up, from this man of few words!

UPDATE!!!!

YAY! HOORAY! WHOOPEE!

This photo was voted a FAVORITE of Angie and Amy's! Thank you SO much ladies!

And now..................It's time to ROCK the "special" button :)

                                                              You have great taste ladies.

This was a favorite of mine too :)