Sweet Little Family Sneak Peak

Had a session with this super cute little family yesterday. It went great, though we struggled with the family pose due to a rambunctious two year old. Are two year olds supposed to be anything other than rambunctious? I didn't think so.

Here are a few of the first shots from the session...

The lips! I love the squashed little lips!

Did I ever mention that I have a thing about babies ears? I love em'! LOVE em'! It's how I got started in photography...remind me to tell you that story one day. It's true.

We were able to do a few of Baby M outside which made me very happy. I'll post some of those when I get to them.

B

E-Session Completed

This is the couple who survived the awful storm with me last week during their shoot which ended abruptly due to power outage.

We tried again yesterday and the weather was beautiful. We got some great shots and I was happy to be out of the studio.

I wrapped up the editing last night...yes, last night...even though we just did the shoot LAST NIGHT...because I'm AWESOME! And humble.

A few of my favorites...in no particular order...

Can you say "sexy"? And I'm totally diggin' the reflection of the clouds in the window.

Love the eyes and the little bit of lip showing in this one.

Just cute. And classic. And I love the colors.

Awwww. I shot this one from an airplane.

Awww again. We almost got ran over several times for this shot.

It was worth it.

Go here to see the rest from both days of the session. Or click the last picture.
B

Another sunset...another sunset picture...

Have you ever heard a fox? Not a "fox" as in someone who is "fox-y" but an actual fox.

I hadn't, until tonight.

We have chickens. If you have ever read a child's story book you know that foxes like chicken.

And they are sly.

We have one missing chicken to prove it.

As I sat editing this sunset picture I heard the fox out in the field screaming/calling/howling (not sure what it's called). It's a little on the creepy side.

I guess not as creepy as if I were a chicken, but still creepy.

I digress...here's tonight's sunset picture, but this one (despite it's original beauty) has been heavily edited. Can you say texture?

I can.

Enjoy your night and may your thoughts be with the chickens.

B

The View From My Study...

Ever since the May 8th storm we have no trees lining our back fence line anymore.

Which is a good thing.

Now I get to see things like this while I'm sitting at the computer tirelessly working away on pictures for my wonderful clients ...

How refreshing. I love the mix of the colors. Beautiful. Simple. Beautifully simple.

I took this Friday night and it's not edited at all. It's SOC (straight out of camera), except for a crop. The colors were really this deep and velvety.

Wow. Our Creator is an awesome artist.
B

Stormy Clients Sneak Peak Take One...

Just a sneak peak of my SCC's (super cooperative clients) mini session. "Mini" because of the loss of electricity due to severe weather half way through their shoot. We've rescheduled and I hope to get some outside.

Until then...

Here's a more traditional shot for those of you who didn't like the other pose in the chair.

Awwww. How cute!

And this is my favorite...of course, because it's the weirdest. But I love it. LOVE IT! shrug.

More of them to come after our "Take Two" session. :)

B

You will want to have me commited after this post...

if you don't already.

Can you guess what this is?

It's snowing in my bathroom! Not really...but doesn't it look like it?

I was putting away toilet paper last night as the setting sun was shining through my bathroom window and I saw this (though it was in color)....

That's the toilet paper in the background.

And I thought to myself, "Ooooo. Pretty. Must take picture." Or something along that line of reasoning.

I'm not sure I captured it the way it really looked to me, but the toilet paper dust was just dreamy. Yes...I said dreamy toilet paper dust. Where's the straight jacket?

Oooooo. With the arrangement of sticks in the background it really looks like snow. Pretty toilet paper-dust-snow.

It's the little things in life that amaze me.

And as a little bonus for reading this insanity click the last picture to see an amazing video. It captivates me every time. I particularly enjoy the parts where she's under water and where they're dancing. And the song is rockin' too.

Did I pique your interest?
B

Another first for a photo session...

This time it didn't involve curious, chair eating horses (see previous post), but it involved a severe thunderstorm...

This cute little couple was at the studio for their engagement session Wednesday night. We had just started getting into the shoot when it started storming like crazy.

Since the kids were in the house by themselves I decided to ask my super-cooperative clients if they would mind going in the house with me to wait out the storm. (Yeah, that's it, I was worried about the kids being afraid...it had nothing to do with the fact that I'm storm-a-phobic).

The super-cooperative clients (SCC's) and I went in the house and watched Little Rascals with the kids for about 15 minutes till the storm let up a bit...or so I thought.

We had just gotten back out to the studio and taken about 5 more shots, when.....KABLOOEY! No power. Yep. No juice. No voltage. No energy. Nothing.

sigh.

We're rescheduling.

This is one of the shots I managed before the power outage. It's not for everyone, but I LOVE it! The look on her face makes it. I'm not sure if I like the black and white better or the urban look, but I definitely LOVE it.

The positive side of this story is that I get a second chance. :) So if you've got any tips or suggestions for next time feel free to give me a holla.

And for all of you traditionalists out there...don't worry...I got regular, plain old head shots too.
B

A Different Kind of Tutorial...

This isn't a photography tutorial or even a tutorial on how to look good in a picture, but it's very educational and beneficial for every one who sees it. And isn't that what this blog is all about? Education?

Oh. It's not? Hmmm. Must work on that.

Even though I hate creating entries with no picture, I just don't have the time to find one this morning. So you'll have to be happy with this pretty little link...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBJV56WUDng

Click it. Watch it. Learn. It will change your life.

And it's so easy even a monkey could do it.
B

For those of you losing sleep...

The girl on the right is GWLS from the comments section...
and her partner in crime, A. I don't think they like this picture as I showed it to them and they both just grunted (a very feminine, sophisticated, fashionable grunt...of course).

But I think it's cute.

And it's my blog...so there. (But seriously, GWLS, if you hate it, I'll take it down...I'm not evil)
B

Our District Convention last weekend...

Here's a view of the audience from our seats. It looks sparse but this was early in the morning as people were still arriving. The attendance on Sunday was over 6,000 so it was definitely more full than in this picture.
Mercede (so prim and proper)...

Summer (she's leaning over because Aunt Megan was tickling her)...

And last but not least, London (he is such a nerd, but he just can't help it)...

It was a great weekend, though I feel like my brain is going to explode from all the interesting points/scriptures/thoughts that I'm trying to remember.

Up next...sneak peaks from the e-session that I'll be shooting in about an hour.

B

I have got a serious problem.

I'm out of control.

Hi. My name is Brandi Priester, and I'm a shoot-a-holic. I don't know when to stop. I just keep shooting.

For instance...this young lady has 97 proofs from her senior session. NINETY SEVEN! This is NOT normal.

I have got to figure out a way to narrow it down or shoot less. sigh.

I've completed editing the session...you know the drill. Here are my favorites from the last few locations.
This was a blast and look at the cute puffy clouds in the picture!

Oh my. I LOVE this one. LOVE IT! It's that power pose with the shadow in front of her and the sun shining through the trees. It just captures me.

What a sport! She was completely willing to get totally submersed for me. I hadn't tried this before, so I wasn't sure how they would look but I think it's rockin'.

I love how the light is hitting her here. And the pensive look...remember how I love the pensive look?

Oh mama! Look at that look! And the sun hitting her eyes? Ma-velous. Simply ma-velous, dah-ling.

Click the last picture to see a video slideshow of almost all of her images (watch it fullscreen and in HD if you've got it) and click here to see her proofs on the proof page later on this evening.

Enjoy!

B

Horse Invasion...

During Jordan's senior session we encountered a problem...
The horses decided they wanted to get chummy and Jordan obliged...

But then they decided that my green chair looked yummy...

We headed back behind the fence because we didn't know if they might be killer horses in disguise at which point this little beauty decided to start eating my chair!

I mean he was really trying to eat it! He kicked at it and then started chewing on the arm and the cushion. I was afraid he was going to ingest part of the vinyl and choke on it. I don't know horse CPR. I should really learn...for times like this.

After he gave up on the chair he vented his anger on the creek and then lay down in it...

We waited patiently for them to make their exit, which they did after about 10 minutes.

It was very exciting. I don't think I've ever had a horse crash a photo session before. Now I have. I can check that off my list of things to experience in life.

It's a long list. I've missed out on a lot. wink.

B

In the process of wrapping up last week's senior shoot...

I know that Jordan is anxious to see the "field shots" so I'm trying to keep her happy until I can finish up the shoot. So far she has 60 proofs and I've got about 30 more to go. I know. I'm obsessed. I can't help it. I shoot because it's fun and I edit because it's fun, so I end up with a ridiculous amount of shots. But, don't ya love it!? I thought so.

Here's the one she was most anxious to see...Sa-weet! It's one of my favorites.
And this one. Diggin' the eyes, but I'm mostly diggin' the fact that you can just barely see her lip through the flowers and that her hair is barely hanging in her eye. To me, that just makes this image.

Classic beauty...

Woo, mama! It's like, totally dreamy dude.

And this one is my most favorite so far. The hand in the hair, the flower, the tiny hint of a smile, the green grass, and the light...ooooh, the light shaft coming through the trees. And I actually PLANNED that. I did. I promise. Ask my assistant...she helped.

Hope you're happy so far, J. I think they rock (and I haven't even started the ones in the creek yet). Woohoo!

B

Rockin' the Texture

I'm now officially obsessed with texture. I hope you don't get sick of it.

This is from the Grand Canyon last year...
and here's Matt and the girls investigating something on La Jolla beach in California. Yes. That's a blue chip can that Summer's holding...kinda ruins the whole "painting" thing, huh?

Pity. I still like it because it isn't posed but looks like it was. And because my hunk is in it (look at those arms...mmmm).
Sorry.
B

GWLS...Put your hands in the air and turn around slowly...

I haven't read the complete works of Sherlock Holmes for pure entertainment. I'm a sleuth, a spy, a bloodhound...just call me "B, P.I.".

Following in the footsteps of our beloved Mr. Holmes, I sat in wait. (However, unlike Mr. Holmes, I did NOT snort cocaine while sitting in wait...*read the book if you have no idea what I'm talking about). I carefully digested infinitesimal clues, cast out a bait, and then kicked back to let the perpertrator come to me.

And she did.

Which brings us to an interesting junction. I know who GWLS is, but I don't know what GWLS means. Hmmm. What to do, what to do. I'm in a quandary, really.

As much as I hate to use my photography powers for evil, GWLS has left me no choice. My hands are tied. It must be done...

I need a comment with an explanation of what GWLS means in 48 hours or I will be forced to post a wonderfully embarassing picture of GWLS that I've kept on file in expectation of a moment such as this. **Please note...I would ONLY do this to GWLS because of our wonderfully close relationship (we are like family aren't we, GWLS?)....my clients need not fear.

You have until 10PM Thursday night.

For those of you just tuning in...I'm not sure I can explain the above insanity but if you read the previous posts you can probably figure it out.

To wrap this up on a more sensible note...
Here's another sneak peak from the J-meister's shoot. Lovin' the gaze.

B

It's a sneak peak and a scenic...

Say that five times fast. :)

Introducing the b-eau-tiful Jordan...


Her shoot was a blast...and we encountered some interesting situations which I will share in a future post along with pictures to support my hair brained story.

This is NOT my favorite from the session (I already know which one will be my favorite but haven't got that far yet because I have a twisted, methodical way of editing my sessions) but you WILL be seeing it soon. And she looks gawgous...simply gawgous (or gorgeous if you want to be a stick in the mud).

And this...

is my three munchkins sitting on a wall overlooking a gigantic ravine on our trip out to California last year.

If you're wondering, I'm dragging up these year old photos because I never got a chance to play with them after the trip and I needed some landscape/outdoor shots to experiment with this new texture thing I'm trying.

I'm not sure I'm getting it "right", whatever "right" is...I think that's kind of like the word "normal". What IS normal? I would NOT know.

At any rate...I think I like it.

B

Oh GWLS...you're KILLING me!

Killing me, I tell you!

Considering that I haven't figured out who you are (yet), I will be very careful in how I word this but...

You are PURE evil. A bunch of evil wrapped up into one little acronym.

I need a hint. Something trivial, even...just something!

Here's what I DO know about you:

1. You have DSL through SBC internet services.
2. You're using Internet Explorer version 8.
3. You have Vista.
4. You live within a 200 mile radius of St. Louis.

Just call me Sherlock.

For those of you who have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about...some clever little individual has secretly disguised themselves under the acronym GWLS in my comments section. Upon asking them to reveal their identity they blatantly ignored me and instead made a cute little comment about how beautiful my picture was. As I said...pure EVIL!

Well, as I've said before (many times, as those of you who know me can attest)...

"Yankees? In Tara? They're not gonna lick me!...yet! I'll lie and steal and cheat and kill..." Or some variation of that wonderful speech from Gone with the Wind (it also makes a cameo in one of my all-time favorite movies Shag).

It's my determination speech. I use it quite a lot.

I will identify you, GWLS...I will (shaking raised fist into air).
B

A Question and An Answer...

Let's shake things up and do an answer first!

The answer is to the question, "How do I save a picture from your blog?"

Easy peasy. Right click it. Click "Save Picture As" and then save it to any where on your computer (except the Recycle Bin...don't save it to the Recycle Bin, please).**

You can try it on this picture. This was from our trip to California last year. Yes, LAST YEAR!...do you have a problem with the rate at which I process my images? I didn't think so.

And since I don't have enough of a web presence what with my website, my blog, my smugmug account and emails...I decided to create a flickr page to share/view/store my mish mash pictures like the one above. You can get to it here.

The only picture that is currently on it is the one above, so don't get too excited about seeing any major works of art...yet. I will TRY to create works of art though...just for you...and to prove my husband wrong (he doesn't think I'm an artist).

And now for a Question...

Who is GWLS? I can't work it out. They/You obviously know me and have commented on numerous posts but I can't get the initials to mean anything. Reveal yourself! Or at least give me a hint. Pretty please with sugar on top?

**Please keep in mind that my photographs are just that...MINE (I never did like to share). If they have a watermark that means don't print them unless you ask. If there isn't a watermark, then by all means, knock yourself out! Print away and spread the word about Priester Photography. Most of the images that I put on the Flickr site will be free for the taking (or printing, however you wish to look at it). But obviously my clients pictures are NOT for printing as that's how I feed my family...well, not so much FEED them, but keep them equipped with the latest camera gear anyhow. wink, wink

Just because you can't PRINT them, doesn't mean you can't SAVE them though. You can save them, share them, email them...whatever your pretty little heart desires...just no printing or trying to remove my watermark. Please (with a big cheesy grin). Thank you.

If you see a picture that's watermarked and want to barter/buy/borrow it, just drop me an email and we'll see what we can do. Deal? Deal. I'm a very reasonable person.
B

Finished!

I just wrapped up the images from this sweet little family's session.

These aren't necessarily the best of the session, but they're my favorites none the less.
Oh. The pensive look. I totally, 100% love it!

Did I mention that I love the pensive look?

I think this one would be the opposite of pensive. But I love it too....but wait! It has my other favorite thing...MOVEMENT! I love movement! Do you feel like you know me better now? I thought so.

And this is just too sweet...the big girls looking at each other while the littlest is doing some sort of happy dance and the poor, lone boy looks on. I dig it.

You know the drill...click the above picture to go to the slideshow and click here to go to the proofs (under Ramsey Family).

Sorry if the video is blurry/grainy. It's not that way on the dvd, but sometimes it looks icka on youtube. You could try hitting the HD button to make it a little more clear. Just lettin' ya know, because I didn't want you to think that I'd post anything less than perfection. :)

Up next will be a question and an answer.

Not question and answer...but A question and AN answer.

B