Best of 2010

Hey! Hope everyone had a safe and happy new years! I am so excited for what 2011 hold but am taking a look back in 2010 at some of my favorite images! I hope you guys enjoy...as always...feel free to comment on here or via Facebook! Have a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,
B

HOORAY! For getting married...can't believe it has already been almost 6 months! Love you Keyunta! Thanks Josh for our AMAZING photos...you ROCK!

Love this girl right here :)...She is sooo cute and is such a big girl now! Love you Ramirez family and we miss you guys!

My first wedding ever! I was one of 5 photographers that helped capture Ashton and Greg's special moments on their wedding day! I learned so much and had a great time even though it was raining and cold!

So glad they were willing to jump...this is one of my favorites...ever!! :)

Isn't she just gorgeous?!? YES!! :)

Yeah...he was on his phone but I totally love her reaction as she's walking toward her future husband for their first peak of each other before the wedding!

Aaron + Heather got married this past fall and I had the opportunity to shoot with LinneaLiz Photography which was a BLAST!

Check out their website at linnealiz.com














One of my favorite from the night! She got him good! :)

Thanks Mandy from Mandy Leonards Photography for inviting me along to assist on Megan' Senior Shoot! I learned a lot from you and had a great time!

BTW - Go check out Mandy's new website at www.mandyleonardsphotography.com

She totally ROCKS!! :)

   One of my favorites of the year...seriously...how cute is Megan and the light was perfect! :)

Megan totally rocked her shoot! Loved all her clothing choices too...super cute!

This is Haley...my first senior to shoot on my own! Thanks to my friend Laura for coming along for moral support and reflector holding! It was fun getting to know Haley and her family...and it was a grate learning experience for me to shoot on my own!

This is Arianna...she was just beautiful and had an awesome head of hair! I saw her yesterday and oh my goodness has she grown since October!

This is her sister Lexi and I had so much fun shooting her in the pumpkin suit! So CUTE!

This is Sarai and she was so funny at the shoot...she had a lot of fun playing with her friend Lexi and they both totally made my day with their CUTENESS! :)

BTW - Doesn't she have like the greatest smile?! LOVE!

This is Kelly and Ken! Kelly has been a good friend of mine for the past couple of years now and I asked if they would be willing to be my models for an evening and they said yes...I am so glad they did because they are such a cute couple and were so easy going and laid back and just a joy to shoot! I am so thankful for my friendship with her and I love the way their pictures turned out!

This is the Biasillo Family...Laura, aforementioned reflector holder, :) recommended me and I am glad they chose me to do their family portraits! We had a good time although it was cold and windy but we got some good shots...here is one of my favorites from the day!

Posted these recently on my blog but I love them so much! My cousins Amber and Kasey!

COUSINS - Me, Amber, Kasey and my sister Kori hanging out for Thanksgiving! LOVE IT!

This is my generation! My 2 great grandmothers, 2 sets of grandparents, my mom and dad and my sister! Loved having everyone together for the holidays and was so glad to be able to snap a few pics too! :)

My mom and dad! They have been together since high school! :) Although I won't mention how long ago that was...LOL! I am so grateful for such wonderful and supportive parents! Love you guys!! :)

My gorgeous sister Kori! I took her out into the pasture and shot her! LOL Just kidding...but really we did go out into the pasture for her little mini photo shoot! I had a such a good time and I was happy to make her look and feel beautiful!

Here is another one of my favorites from her session! There were so many to choose from too! :)

Loved shooting this family session! They were so fun and little baby A was ADORABLE! :)

Like I said...ADORABLE!!

This family session was shot at Traders Point Creamery which is fantastic btw! It was freezing cold and windy but we made it work and got so good family shots!

If you like organic food and are looking for someplace new to eat check out The Loft at TPC here:
http://www.tpforganics.com/

Had such a great time shooting the M family! Their son little B was soooo CUTE! I mean seriously...look at this pics...I don't think CUTENESS gets much CUTER than that! What a beautiful family!

Little B was hamming it up for the camera...Loved photographing him...he was a total joy! That smile right there is why I love my job! :)

Check out these amazing desserts from Parcha Sweets Bakery...Thanks Indy Photo Coach for the opportunity to shoot these amazing desserts!

Anyone looking for great desserts check out Parcha Sweets Bakery at http://www.parchasweets.com/

Anyone looking to learn your new camera you got for Christmas or just hone in on your photography skills or to gain new experiences and meet fellow photogs check out Indy Photo Coach for classes and private lessons at http://indyphotocoach.com/

Check out this little lovely...Tinslee! Thanks Rachel Vanoven for the opportunity to come and assist you! You are amazing!! :)

Say hello to baby Nash! He was absolutely perfect after we got him to sleep! Thanks again to Rachel Vanoven for a great learning experience!

For those of you looking to learn more about photographing Newborns check out her Facebook page for upcoming workshops also check out her website for client info and amazing pictures!

http://www.facebook.com/rachelvanovenphotography

Definitely one of my favorites taken in 2010! LOVE IT!

HOORAY for husbands who give AWESOME Christmas gifts! :) Love my new lens!

 

Thank you Lord for creating the person who thought "peanut butter and chocolate would go great together" and came up with the REESES! Amen! :)

Love good BOKEH! For those of you who don't know what bokeh is or would like to learn about bokeh and possible try it out with your camera check the link below

http://www.diyphotography.net/diy_create_your_own_bokeh

So thankful for a great 2010! I love my life, I love my job, I love my family and so thankful for all of my wonderful friends who made 2010 so special! 

Love you all and pray you have an amazing 2011!! God Bless!

PRE-GAME SOUP

Hello all! I love the cooler weather that comes with fall and winter because I get to make all kinds of soups, stews and chili's which I think are some of my favorite things to eat...EVER! Plus, everything is make is in 1 pot which those of you who know me well, know that I HATE DISHES! :) and having 1 pot to wash is pure Heaven! I make this soup once a week and it usually gets us from Saturday to Monday eating leftovers for either lunch or dinner. My husband and I love this soup so I thought I would share it with you...pictures included! :)

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 large pot, crushed red pepper flakes, oregano, herbes de provence, smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste, 1 lb of Laura Lean ground beef, 2 stalks of celery (diced), 2 carrots (peeled and diced), 1 yellow or white onion (diced), 1 garlic clove (minced), 1 yellow squash (quartered and sliced), 1 zucchini (quartered and sliced), 1 can of cannellini beans/white beans (drained and rinsed), 1 jar of Emeril's Kicked Up Tomato Sauce (found in pasta aisle but if you can't find it then use your favorite sauce), 1 box of beef or vegetable stock, 3/4 to 1 cup of detali pasta (short pasta)

Heat pot on stove med-high heat and add 1 TBS of oil or butter...
Take 1 lb of beef, add salt and pepper to season and roll into mini meatballs and cook through (about 5 minutes)

Add diced celery, carrots, and onion...soften for 3-5 minutes...add 1 minced clove of garlic and stir...
Add 1tsp crushed red peppers or 1/2 TB if you like things SPICY! Also throw in 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp smoked paprika and 1/2 TB of Herbes de Provence and stir...

Stir in Emeril's Kicked Up Tomato Sauce and add box of beef or vegetable stock and bring back up to a boil...

Toss in the Zucchini and Squash...add cannellini beans and stir gently...

Add 1 cup of ditali pasta (short pasta) Cover and let simmer with burner on low for 15 minutes...Turn off stove top and stir and let rest, covered, for another 5 minutes.

And SERVE! Should serve about 6 people...

ENJOY! Try out this recipe and let me know what you think about it and about my post! If you like it then maybe I can post a monthly recipe with pictures because I love to bake and cook! Anyways...Happy Eating! :)

BELILES | Family Portraits

I know Valerie from bible study and I was really excited when she asked me to take her family portraits a while back! Of course, when we scheduled it the weather had been perfect...not too cold, no snow, etc! Well, needless to say it was absolutely FREEZING the day of the shoot and there was a lack of sunshine and the wind was blowing like crazy! Val's family were troopers though :) Seriously...they braved the cold for a few short minutes and I think we got some pretty good shots! We headed back to their house to finish up the shoot and to get in out of the cold and take some pictures in front of their beautiful Christmas tree! Below are some of my favorite shots of the day...Enjoy your sneak peak Beliles Family!

My Totally Awesome Sister, KORI! :)

While I was home for Thanksgiving I talked my sister into a 45 minute photo shoot! She was more than happy to come and hang out with me in our pasture but then again who doesn't like to hang out in pastures right!! :)

Anyways...My sister is TOTALLY AWESOME! It's a lot harder to write about my sister than I thought it would be...I feel the need to explain a little bit more about her other than TOTALLY AWESOME so I thought it might be kinda fun to just list some words to describe her the way that I see her! So, here we go:

KORI A-Z - Awesome, Beautiful, Crazy, Daring, Entertaining, Fun, Grumpy(in the mornings!), Hilarious(seriously, just check out her Facebook), Imaginative, Jokey, Kind, Lovable, Misunderstood, Nice, Outstanding, Pretty, Quiet(when she first meets you), Rebellious(but she's working on that!! :)), Skinny(not like model skinny but but more like "she's half my size, wish I had her flat stomach, size 4-6 wearing jeans kind of skinny...Yeah...I am a little envious!), Tall, Unique, Versatile, Wacky :), X, well...I can't really think of anything starting with X so I am thinking eXciting will have to work!, Young, Zappy! It's a word...look it up!! :) Well...I guess we've come the the end of the alphabet but there is so much more I could tell you about her but I will save that for another time...

Kori - 


I love you and I am proud of you! And you are totally beautiful and I love the way these pics came out!


Love always,


Big Sis

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Eve was a bit chilly in Oklahoma...Dad and I woke up early and he made eggs, bacon, and cinnamon toast and then we were off to church to put in some shelving! If you are really that interested in looking at how totally awesome our shelving unit turned out please go to http://instagr.am/p/XFrD/  If not then that's okay too!

We always do Thanksgiving at MeeMaw and Grandpa's house and it is always full of fantastic food and great family fun! Aunt Lisa, Uncle Terry, and my cousins Amber and Kasey came out and we had quail and pheasant and potatoes, green beans, corn, salad, etc. It was DELISH!! And then we had pecan pie and pumpkin pie and of course we can't go a Thanksgiving with out Aunt Lisa's sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles! :)

After lunch we were totally full and just chilled out until picture time! We took a family shot of course and there are some pretty funny ones of us 4 cousins and then some sisterly love shown between Amber and Kasey! Overall I think we had a great Thanksgiving!! :)

Generational Family Photo Fun!

As I told you in my earlier post I chose to go home for Thanksgiving again this year and thought it would be the perfect time to take some family photos. I love pictures! I love taking them, I love being in them...just capturing that moment in time to have forever it totally awesome to me!

In these photos below are my 2 great grandmothers, Grandma Dee and Granny Babe, both sets of grandparents, MeeMaw and Grandpa, Grandma Jeri and Grandpa Chuck, my parents, Neil and Pam and my younger sister, Kori and of course my self! I was so glad to get all of us together and I think we came up with some pretty great shots!

All the ladies!!

My awesome family!

Grandma Dee...she'll be 103 years old in Feb! :)

Grandma Jeri and Grandpa Chuck

Grandpa and MeeMaw

Mom and Dad...They totally love each other...I promise!!

See...I told you so! :)

NEGLECTED BLOG!

Can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post! I have been super busy...Obviously! :) Hope everyone is doing well and is ready for Christmas because it will be here in 12 days! I mean seriously, where has the time gone!?!

In the past month I have been home to Oklahoma for a week, had family and friends travel up to Indy from Oklahoma and Texas and Louisiana, gotten ALL my donation money needed for my Africa trip coming up in January, teamed up with Help-Portrait to give back to the community with my photographs, taken some amazing family portraits, and enjoyed Colts Football! Which by the way I have not posted any of these to the blog! So behind...:( Hopefully these things will be posted by the end of the week! At least that's my goal!!

Anyways, I am so thankful for this time of year...spending time with family and friends, being a witness for Christ and planning great things for a new year! It can be overwhelming with all the hustle and bustle of the season but I am so grateful to be where I am today! For those of you who don't know I got married this past summer to an amazing man <3 and I am super excited to start new traditions with him as a family! I am a Dawson now which is totally crazy but reflecting back over this past year I realize truly how wonderfully blessed I am to have God, family and friends who support me and love me unconditionally!

So, thank you and I love you!

MORE POSTS...WITH PICS...COMING SOON!!

Have a blessed day!

Brandy