stephanie browne | contemporary lifestyle & location portraits | loomis, california

Redirect...

2011-02-12T00:21:00.000-08:00

If you're seeing this post, your browser should be redirecting you to my new and improved blog! And if not, you can visit it here:
http://www.stephanie-browne.com/blog

a walk on the beach in december

2011-02-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

happiness with my sister in puerto morelos, mexico...

some caffeine....

2010-12-19T18:08:00.000-08:00

hi, i'm home. from Stephanie Browne on Vimeo.

Megan and Steve

2010-11-22T12:54:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful and intimate beach wedding last month. Here are a couple shots from throughout the day:

(side note: this post-ceremony hug might have been the most genuinely joyful embrace I have ever seen...definitely brought a tear to my eye)

After the ceremony, we headed down the beach to catch the last of the light:

Yosemite

2010-10-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

I love fall. Here are a few snaps from Yosemite...

a few autumnal details

stalking Timmy in an amazing field

stayed here. it was old and charming :)

I found this huge rock and decided to photograph it. Pretty sure no one has ever seen it before....juuuust kidding. Half Dome from Glacier Point, featuring an unfortunately cloudless sky.

Tim in the woods.

Tim got some sweet shots, viewable here: Tim Dolen Photography

Still alive...

2010-10-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

I haven't been blogging at all lately, but I'm still here! It's break week for me in Santa Barbara, which I have never been more thankful for. I just came back from Yosemite, which was amazing. Living on the almost-Southern California coast I get a little distraught over the lack of seasons, but fall was in full effect there! For now, here are some flowers. If you don't share my love of flowers, I apologize - for me, nothing offsets the apartment blahs quite like a floral arrangement!

book: The Time Traveler's Wife

2010-09-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

Here I go, I'm about to ramble. I am a major bookworm. This habit has diminished somewhat since I've been at Brooks, but in the past few weeks, I've been attempting to schedule some time in for reading - I mean really, I can stand to cut out some facebook and twitter time to make room for time to read. I purchased The Time Traveler's Wife on a whim, having already seen the film when it played in theaters. I knew the book had to be better than the movie, not that I didn't enjoy the movie (it even featured Broken Social Scene!) - but the idea of someone traveling through time and living life un-chronologically (yet still chronologically, in an unconventional sense, I suppose) requires much more depth than a two hour film can typically convey to an audience. So long story short, I bought the book and read it over my week-long trip to Washington, and I loved it. I'm hoping to continue reading and blogging about reading, as silly as that sounds ;)

Fort Warden

2010-09-05T22:20:00.000-07:00

Last week I went on a little day trip to Port Townsend and a lavender farm in Sequim, Washington. My day-tripping crew consisted of Tim, Dorothy and Karen. Before dinner in Port Townsend we ventured off to Fort Warden, and I snapped a few random frames (mostly photos of people taking photos...hmm).

A latte.

2010-08-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

Coffee isn't just something I like to drink. I'm at the point where I honestly NEED coffee. I get that splitting headache around 2:00 PM if I haven't had coffee in the morning. I think this is probably classified as an addiction. So when the opportunity to sip on excellent espresso presents itself, I am a very happy girl. Such an opportunity arose during my last trip to Santa Cruz...when my mother introduced me to Verve Coffee Roasters. Delicious.

Summer vacation, revisited.

2010-08-18T10:53:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome summer break in Santa Cruz and Washington (two months ago?!) - and I finally have some more photos to show for it. Here is a bit from Washington:

This is a cute phonebooth, isn't it?

It's dark in the forest. Tim and Greg, frolicking ahead on the trail...

Golden beams of light :)

Christina and Sam

2010-07-27T11:34:00.000-07:00

Where to begin? Christina and Sam are absolutely adorable together and a COMPLETE joy to work with. Karen and I went up to Gilroy yesterday to photograph these two for an assignment - they just got married at the beginning of the month! We had a ball out in the gorgeous properties Christina took us to, which was so awesome of her :) Together, Christina and Sam are Whittaker Portraits...be sure to check them out!

Karen directed Christina to "take a photo" of Sam in the top image in the triptych - cute, right?!

Love should be fun.

2010-07-21T08:39:00.001-07:00

I enjoy goofy couples....here are Tayler and Grant sharing a few giggles:

Hi, blog world.

2010-07-07T11:52:00.000-07:00

I honestly just plugged my computer in for the first time in 9 days and got really overwhelmed - I've got some catching up to do.

This vacation has been amazing though - a week in Santa Cruz and a couple weeks in Washington state (...enjoying my first ever sunshine-y Washington day? Amazing!) have definitely rejuvenated me!

What I did yesterday:

Tim and I hiked up Mt. Townsend, which was no small feat for me, as I am completely out of shape. The awesome view more than made up for all the huffing and puffing and pouting up the trail!

PS - The ever-so-wonderful Dorothy Huynh took out her camera with Tim & I in Seattle last week, I love the photos! They are HERE if you want to check them out. You should.

A summer morning...

2010-06-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

Is there anything better than a warm, calm summer morning? Okay, maybe there is, but it's still at the top of my list of favorite things. A recent trip home for my sister's high school graduation was a perfect way to start the summer off right...

I love my mom's espresso maker. I contemplate stealing it every time I go home.

Pretty sweet pea blossoms, courtesy of our friends the Fergusons.

Mr. Cat (that's really his name), taking a morning snooze. I rescued him when he was a kitten about 12 years ago, he seems to have found the fountain of youth because I swear he has looked the same for the past 10 years.

Sharing cupcakes and sipping coffee. (cupcakes from Icing on the Cupcake...delish...check them out if you live in the Rocklin area)

The garden...so good to sit outside and watch the hummingbirds.

Time for a facelift! ...& stuff.

2010-05-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

I have a new header up, you might notice...this is a part of a slow-moving internet makeover which is very much a work in progress.

I'm currently in a class called MPV161 - a video class, which is definitely a step outside of my comfort zone. I've learned a ton so far, although I haven't been able to spend as much time as I'd typically like to behind a still camera. Video is much more challenging than I anticipated - I prefer focusing on one frame at a time! New photos will be up soon, and possibly a video or two.

CAKE

2010-05-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

Divine Desserts (located in my little hometown of Loomis, California) makes a deee-lish chocolate cake. All of their cakes are most likely...divine. It's in their name, after all.

Bethann

2010-05-12T18:24:00.000-07:00

Bethann led us through her extraordinary property for her portrait session. There was so much flowery goodness happening! Pretty girl + wildflowers = WIN.

Lupines and lavender! If the lavender had been blooming, I think I would have had a cerebral aneurysm. I love lavender that much.

[EDIT: Now that I look at it...that center plant doesn't look like lavender. Can someone confirm/deny this? Horticulturists, I need your help.]

Bethann's mom had a good eye for locations and suggested we shoot in front of this wall. which came with its own convenient posing stool. Perfect.

I've been skipping through lots of grassy pastures this week...

2010-04-28T11:50:00.000-07:00

Just a few shots from a session a couple days ago:

Happiness is contagious...can't help but smile when I look at that last set.

Home.

2010-04-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

I've been home for a few days, and it's been amazing - I love springtime here!
I cut and arranged these flowers, I miss gardening...

Guess who!

2010-04-21T18:17:00.000-07:00

Know who I can always count on for a really good-looking last minute model?
Karen, of course...

This assignment was supposed to showcase our personal style of portraiture.
Right now I'm in the midst of the last week of my POR242 class (Advanced Portraiture/Babies, Kids & Families). I hope to be blogging my favorite shots from the class shortly.

New website UP!!

2010-04-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

So I've been working on this website for way too long and it's finally live!

It's still in progress, but head on over to check it out!

http://www.stephaniebrownephotography.com

Light from a window...

2010-03-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

These two are gorgeous, aren't they?

a little escape

2010-03-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

just for fun.
click through for a larger view :)

before and after the sun set. I love whimsical purple things...

L & A

2010-03-20T12:57:00.001-07:00

I shot this sequence today of this little dude peeking over mom's shoulder. How adorable are his expressions?

And a new session begins...

2010-03-14T19:29:00.000-07:00

Edit: Whenever I scroll down my blog and glace at this photo, it makes me cringe/laugh!

I shot a self portrait for prep week in my current class, POR242 (Intermediate/Advanced Portrait Techniques...I think). I must say that I'm not awesome at posing, or photographing myself. But here it is, in all its' glory:

I feel like I'm literally living on the internet today.

2010-03-06T15:21:00.000-08:00

New Facebook business page:
Stephanie Browne Photography on Facebook!

Be a fan?
I'm so terrible at marketing myself. I set the page up in November and finally decided to publish it today. And now I can't bring myself to use the "suggest to friends" button. Soon I will work up the courage to do it - I've already attempted to send out the message 4 times today, but keep hitting the cancel button. Not entirely sure why this is such an ordeal for me. Maybe tonight I'll do it, maybe not. ;)

Hello, break week.

2010-03-01T18:37:00.000-08:00

I love a good vacation. It was off to a good start today, check out Tim's blog here if you'd like the run-down.

Here's something I picked out from Diana's senior session last month. I didn't notice it while editing down the first time, but when I revisited the photos, the look and mood of this shot appealed to me.

I smell ribs cooking, so I'm out.
:)

:)

2010-02-24T15:02:00.000-08:00

Me & Tim. Tim & I? However you say it. This is about to get framed & hung on my wall, it was something I'd been meaning to photograph for awhile. The photo I'm holding was taken by Dorothy Huynh the last time we were in Seattle!

Karen Obrist Photography!

2010-02-19T14:23:00.000-08:00

Karen Obrist and I started school at Brooks in the same session, and I've probably photographed her for more assignments than anyone else I know (her face is all over my portfolios....it's because she's so good looking!). She is a great friend to me and a great photographer as well, make sure you check out her website! These photos were taken for her bio section.

We had a fun shoot, and got some good coffee afterwards! Well actually, I got good coffee, she got some sort of questionable smoothie type drink. And Mr. Tim Dolen came along to provide good (sarcastic) commentary along the way :)

Valentine's Day consisted of:

2010-02-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

the desert, a fun 395 drive, my favorite photographer and a much-needed getaway.

Backyard Bowls!

2010-02-12T15:05:00.000-08:00

If you haven't been to Backyard Bowls in downtown Santa Barbara, you really should. That is, only if you love fruity/granola-y/thick acai smoothie goodness...which I do. Yum.

Teen Lifestyle Assignment Pt 2

2010-02-10T18:23:00.001-08:00

Here is Diana's senior session! I made a few diptychs...meaning I technically have more than eight images, but I basically count a diptych as one image. I can't help but make them, some photos just really need a buddy...

Oh and I started to add an annoying little watermark, not because I think anyone's going to steal these (ha), but because it's a good habit to get into. Plus, if these somehow wind up in a google image search, it's quite obvious where they came from with a watermark.

Isn't Diana pretty? :)

Teen Lifestyle...aka The Senior Portrait Assignment, Pt 1

2010-02-08T22:22:00.000-08:00

My beautiful younger sister, Diana, came down to Santa Barbara for the weekend to model for me! I'm lucky to have such a wonderful little sis :)

I love shooting senior portraits. Many people find them to be boring and uninspiring...not I. So, imagine my delight when I found out we had a senior portrait assignment in my portraiture class! I've only had the chance to edit this little set I'm about to post, I have more on the way. The assignment requires 8 photos, and within those 8 photos there has to be some shot in the studio, some outdoors, head shots, full length shots, 3/4 shots, and only 2 (TWO!!) horizontal shots. I will admit that I'm kind of stuck in my ways when it comes to composing and shooting horizontally about 80% of the time, and if it isn't horizontal, it's usually square format. Perhaps it's because my eyes are side by side and not stacked on top of one another...just a thought.

Anyway, here are a few photos - not sure I'm even going to turn these in, especially the second set, but I LIKE THEM.

Since I have nothing to post myself...

2010-01-30T09:40:00.000-08:00

Check out Tim's blog, where he is posting updates on the Winter X Games!

Washington!

2010-01-25T20:14:00.001-08:00

I love Washington. It's absolutely beautiful. I've only been there twice, and both times I felt as though I should have taken so many more photos. The northwest has such a different atmosphere, especially to someone born and raised in California! Here are a few shots I enjoyed:

This is Tim, on a fun little hike - he is so ridiculously cute, I couldn't help myself ;)

Breakfast at the Dolen residence!

Diptychs are my favorite. The ocean is my favorite. Tim is my favorite. This eerie atmosphere is my favorite!

I don't know how many of you have seen The Ring (it scarred me for life), but this little ranger station reminded me of that movie. Kind of creepy.

Another pair of images from the only hike we went on (I wish we could have done more, but there's always next time)...Tim almost stepped on this little guy. Best viewed large (if you're interested in woodland amphibians)!

Have I been terrible at blogging? Yes.

2010-01-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

I can blame it on a few things, such as not really liking my computer setup at the moment, feeling like it's time to switch my blog to some sort of new format/layout, or just being too busy - but the fact remains that there are photos to be blogged! Here I go.

Fun and exciting stuff since my last post: I took an awesome trip up to Washington state to visit Tim and his family (blog post to come), and I started my first portraiture class in upper division which has been amazing (I've learned so much in the past two weeks!).

Following are four shots from my first assignment, which was a refresher on outdoor lighting techniques (flash as key, flash fill, additive/reflector fill and natural light). Here they are in no particular order:

Make sure you keep an eye on Tim's blog in the coming week, he is covering the Winter X-Games in Aspen, CO for Skiing Magazine's website!

PS - The photos above are of the lovely Karen Obrist (as are many of my photos), check out her blog here!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T17:01:00.001-08:00

Some images from my grandparents' house this Christmas - my sister, Diana, took the one on the left :)

Diana - c/o 2010!

2009-11-20T20:35:00.000-08:00

My little sister is just about all grown up.

I shot her first set of senior portraits a couple weeks ago (more to come later - benefits of having a photog sister, I suppose), and have been slowly editing them since. I'm excited for the next few sessions with her as the year progresses.

311.

2009-11-16T00:01:00.000-08:00

In all honesty, I'm not a huge fan of this class. However, I thought I'd post what I shot this week...none of it is spectacular, but at least it is DONE!

Celebrity/Character:

(the lovely Tayler Enerle as Taylor Swift)

Novel Illustration:

(Orphan's Quest...that path probably looks really familiar...ha)

Stylish Produce:

Cambodia, Part 1

2009-10-21T16:50:00.000-07:00

Over summer break this year (end of June, beginning of July), I traveled to Cambodia with Agape International Missions. Agape is involved in the fight against child trafficking, and being a part of the work they do for even just a few weeks was phenomenal.

Many of the people I met in Cambodia were the most beautiful individuals I've ever been acquainted with, in appearance and in spirit. The following images are a few of my favorites - as of now, I don't really care to photograph children in America, but there is something so precious about the kids I encountered in Cambodia. I wanted these images to remind whoever stumbled across them that children are not commodities.

Agape International Missions

2009-10-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

I had quite a constructive portfolio review yesterday, and it was really encouraging! One of the suggestions I received was to continue blogging - and to write more of a narrative with my work. I almost became an English major before discovering photography (and I love to write!), so there is really no excuse for me to be posting photos with lame captions such as "I shot this today, haven't shot anything in awhile, enjoy!". My first little foray into this new blogging adventure will follow shortly...

Portfolio

2009-10-16T19:10:00.000-07:00

I didn't shoot much for my portfolio, but I am really happy with this new set of images from the past few weeks. Off to print some more...I accidentally bought $150 in ink credits last night at the lab - I think that'll last me awhile!

Crunch time!

2009-10-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

Our portfolios are due on Monday, and I'm shooting like a crazy person today. My portfolio is a kind of half and half thing, half people/portraits half travel. I'm not sure how well that's going to go over, we shall see. I'm really loving everything that I have for it so far. Back to work...

Family

2009-10-12T15:01:00.001-07:00

Nice looking family, right?
I did a shoot of my aunt/uncle/two cousins last week on the beach, and have been slowly editing since then. I think this is my favorite of the set.

Editing...

2009-10-11T23:19:00.000-07:00

I did a quick portrait session of my sister in the mountains in August, and I just took another look at the images...decided to do a bit of an artsy edit with this one tonight.

Cousins

2009-10-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

These are my two younger cousins - they're growing up so fast (making me feel old!). They were hungry and anxious for dinner, so I had to work quickly...gotta love seeing brothers and sisters laughing with each other, not fighting.

Tim Dolen

2009-10-10T17:17:00.000-07:00

Watching Tim's style develop over the past year has been amazing.Tim is a well rounded photographer, but when given the choice, he prefers to shoot action sports. He's been producing some ridiculous(ly good) work lately for his portfolio, and if you're reading this, you should check out his new blog:

Finally!

2009-09-29T00:13:00.000-07:00

You could say I've been in a bit of a slump, photographically. I finally shot today! Here's Karen, my wonderful friend/ex-roommate:

BREAK WEEK

2009-08-31T21:18:00.001-07:00

[view LARGE]

I ended up pretty burnt out at the end of this last session, so I was definitely looking forward to taking off for the mountains with Tim to meet up with the fam this week. We've already had our share of mishaps and adventures (Tim's car needs to go to the VW hospital, Yosemite wildfire, breaking in the new Subaru, etc), and the week is still in progress...I'm hoping some more fun photos come out of it!

Can I just say...

2009-08-23T12:43:00.000-07:00

I have a few photographer friends that I am absolutely positive will be successful in their endeavors, one of those people is Dorothy Huynh.
I could write on and on about Dorothy and the multitude of ways she inspires me, but I just wanted to say check out her latest:
http://dortheaofoz.blogspot.com/

color workflow.

2009-08-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here is some stuff I've turned in this session. I'm struggling somewhat, feeling like I'm not growing at all/developing any sort of style, but the only way to remedy that is by shooting more, right? I'm not very happy with anything I've done lately.

Small website updates.

2009-07-28T23:36:00.000-07:00

A little bit here/there.
stephaniebrownephotography.com

Oh how I love photoshop...

2009-06-17T15:19:00.000-07:00

Compositing is my friend. Before and after. I am really not proud of this, but it's just extra credit ;)

1/3 done.

2009-06-10T15:45:00.001-07:00

After this class is over (8 days, ya'll!), I will have completed my first of three years at Brooks. It's gone by so fast! And I hear that the next two years go by even faster...
I was thinking about this because I was at Cota registering for next session, and in front of me was a girl with her 101 grade sheet...and then I realized it's already been a year since I was shooting and reshooting Day in the Life :) Good times, good times...

(Correction: It's been 11 months. Close enough.)

What a month...

2009-06-08T14:41:00.000-07:00

LS is almost over. My head is totally not in this session right now, so I'm hoping I can pull it together these next two weeks and produce some satisfactory work..after all...it's BIG $$$ to be at school here, I need to be working hard.

I second shot a wedding for the first time on Saturday, with the amazing/wonderful/oh-so-lovely Dorothy Huynh. I'd like to thank her for the opportunity because I feel like I learned a TON about shooting weddings, what to do, what not to do, how to prepare, what I need to bring next time.

I ran out of CF cards several times. I have one 8 GB and three 4 GB cards, but I have a 5D Mark II which is the CF card slayer. Next time I photograph a wedding, the candid getting ready stuff will be shot as JPEGs and the more formal portraits I'll still shoot in RAW. That'll save me a lot of time, effort, and memory. Also...a P-22 would be nice. And a vertical grip. And a few extra batteries. And the 85 1.2. And a Q-flash or two. And possibly a monopod. Aaaaand...yeah. There's a lot of equipment that I don't have that would definitely make shooting a wedding easier.

:)

School.

2009-05-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

I took a few sessions without GE classes...now I have 12 GEs left to take, 12 core classes to take. Yuck.
Brooks is going by so quick.

rain from home...

2009-05-15T00:44:00.001-07:00

more rain.
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

I always figured I'd move to LA after graduation.
But as this year has progressed, I'm not sure it would be the right place for me. I'd miss the seasons. I'd definitely miss the rain...and the calm and the green...
I have a while to figure it out

LSLSLSLSLSLS...

2009-05-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

Haven't uploaded anything in a looooong time...
I should put up another video of the rain I shot over break. It's like really boring. But whatever. If I could be a professional rain photographer/videographer, I would be.

Coming soon is an epic time lapse I've been working on that will cover all of our black glass shooting, anyone who has been through LS knows how many hours that is...black glass 1 & 2 in 2.5 minutes? Should I shoot a time lapse for the other assignments as well? I think I might. Might as well, my poor 5D is starting to feel left out.

Well then...

2009-05-09T00:05:00.000-07:00

The Jesusita wildfire is really cramping our photo style...for us Brooks students. At least those of us who are depending on using the studios and/or checkout this session. School is closed through Sunday, we were supposed to start a really huge assignment (black glass 1, if you are familiar) this weekend but couldn't because of the closures. Yuck.

Huh part 2.

2009-04-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

My post yesterday left me feeling a little unsettled, so I hunted down a few examples from the past 5 months or so where I shot something purely for my own satisfaction (and happened to like it enough to upload it).

I have to do some more of that before LS so I don't go crazy.
I think a good example of balancing one's own personal work and creativity with their professional work is Chase Jarvis...(chasejarvis.com)
He has an awesome commercial portfolio and is always working all over the place...yet always finds time to shoot for himself as well. I think that speaks volumes about how much he loves photography.

Huh.

2009-04-28T20:42:00.001-07:00

ivy drip
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

I used to shoot stuff like this!
Yeah it's not awesome, but it was fun...
What happened to shooting stuff for fun?
Hopefully I'll find time for that at some point.

Final Six.

2009-04-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

Soon!

2009-04-20T08:17:00.000-07:00

I'm going to print my final six today and then I will be DONE with LP!
I'll post them up here on Wednesday (we're having a little gallery reception and for once I'm showing a little restraint by waiting to post my set online until then).

:)

I now understand why people need personal assistants.

2009-04-09T12:36:00.001-07:00

contemporary glam - kailey :)
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

Trying to book artists, musicians and other models, reserve studio times, check out equipment, hunt down props and wardrobe, returning unused merchandise, printing and mounting and uploading and drawing up lighting diagrams and keeping track of model releases and paying bills fixing websites and assisting other photographers and driving up and down and back and forth and color matching and editing and retouching and playing phone tag and making LOTS of coffee...that is my life right now.

Woot!

WEEK FIVE

2009-04-08T18:34:00.001-07:00

karen
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

I knew from the beginning of the session that this was going to be a stressful week...
Assignments I'm working on:
Contemporary Glamour
Studio Musician
Studio Artist
Final Six

Tonight I'm shooting Contemporary Glam...which I'm excited about :)
I've actually really been enjoying shooting studio portraits, which is good, because I hated them before. But now that we're allowed to use more contemporary lighting styles (vertical clamshell, my fave), it's been so much more fun. Anyway, I have to get everything ready to go shoot, including my 3rd cup of coffee ;)

I have a minute!!

2009-03-25T13:46:00.001-07:00

christina.
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

So basically this class (201 aka Lighting People) is hectic. I say that every session, but I really mean it. I'm not in the studio today (as of now), so I'm catching up on everything else I have to do (call my mom, laundry, lab homework, printing, lining up models, etc). I feel like I'm actually learning a lot, I've never had fun shooting in the studio, but that's pretty much all I'm doing for the next few months so I guess I'm going to have to get used to it!

I had an amazing trip to Washington with Tim this past weekend for my birthday (21! woot!). So much fun.

When I finally shoot something somewhat cool in the studio I'll post it up....but until then....

And we're off...

2009-03-14T00:39:00.000-07:00

LP (PHT 201, Lighting People) is already super hectic.

Here's something I did this week:

I'm planning on working on a lot of stuff for myself this session. It'll be up here soon.
(hopefully.)

Lightroom 2...prep week...etc.

2009-03-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

It's prep week again, which at Brooks is considered our "break" week in which we have no classes...but they still manage to give us assignments. I don't mind, besides the fact that our prep week assignments are usually meaningless busy work, usually written reports on well known photographers or something along those lines.

I usually use prep week to organize myself or test out some new gear...hoping to get a new lens next week, as always ;)

I used to use Adobe Lightroom when it first came out. I had some bad experiences with it, including my catalog becoming completely corrupted after tripping over my power cord and shutting off my computer on accident while importing, which I believe I blogged about at the time. That pretty much turned me off from using Lightroom, so after my hard drive crashed, I didn't re-install it. I have, however, kept all my files in a neurotically organized file structure, which worked well for using Bridge instead. I actually started using Aperture last year and liked it more than Lightroom, but I never purchased it past the 30 day trial. My instructor this session, Chuck Place (awesome teacher by the way), informed us that Lightroom was becoming a more and more powerful tool, especially since the release of Lightroom 2. With the thousands of files I have to keep track of, the multiple hard drives I have to use, and all of the backing up I have to do, things were becoming much too time consuming with Bridge. I needed a better system to do all of this in...which led me to buy Lightroom 2. (by the way - $99 for a full student version, or $99 for an upgrade from Lightroom 1.x)

So far, I'm loving it. It's an awesome solution to all of the issues I was dealing with, the biggest being the fact that I have to store all of my photos on external drives.

2009-02-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

One thing I really didn't expect when I came to Brooks was to meet so many amazing people here.
It's always sad when one of them leaves school...

Dorothy Huynh is one of those amazing people.
I'm so glad I got to shoot her for my last assignment before she left!
Dorothy, you're awesome...don't ever quit shooting! ♥

End of LT!

2009-02-22T16:00:00.001-08:00

editorial layout - spread
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

I'm thinking about starting to put together my comp book, which is due tomorrow ;) Maybe I should get on that?

Overall, I loved 200/Lighting Theory. I learned more than any other class so far, it was super technical but fun. I wish there were more creative assignments similar to Editorial Layout (the assignment I shot this photo for), because I only really like 3 of the assignments I shot.

Anyway, next class: Lighting People!

I've been bad at updating...

2009-02-12T11:16:00.001-08:00

This is just a sample....
Originally uploaded by timtim_011

LT has me busy. That is a set shot from last night...unfortunately not my set, this was for Tim's editorial portrait. Q-flash, 2 580 EX II's, 1 SB-800, a couple of P-22s...

Funny story...
I had been using my Nikon SB-800 flash still, even after switching to Canon, because I loved that thing. It was awesome. It never did me wrong. And it had a nice guide number of 110 at ISO 100, which is higher than my 580. I used it for almost all of my technical assignments in LT. Well...it was lighting up behind the tire last night, we forgot it was there, the car got moved aaaand...it ran over my SB-800 and pocketwizard. OOPS. So now for the time being, I have one flash and one (?!) pocketwizard. Ha ha ha

I still haven't gotten to shoot portraits with my 135 yet...

2009-01-24T02:46:00.001-08:00

_55A1640
Originally uploaded by timtim_011

...but Tim did :)
He shot this of me for his TTL assignment...I still haven't shot mine.

(another) new lens

2009-01-23T14:02:00.001-08:00

135L
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

I got the 135 f/2L lens the other day...
It's amazing. New favorite for sure.
School is going...mostly technical assignments thus far, so nothing too exciting to post right now.

explore'd

2009-01-16T02:11:00.001-08:00

golden gate.
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

:)

more on school and stuff later!

great success!

2009-01-08T13:07:00.001-08:00

:)
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

...

2009-01-06T01:13:00.000-08:00

I've been having a bad few days. On the bright side, my camera is sitting next to me.
Tim is driving up to hang out with me and we are going to shoot some epic photos :) :) :)

Did I really just do that?

2009-01-02T11:05:00.000-08:00

So. My 5DII is so close I can almost smell it. It's out for delivery in Santa Barbara, so I called Calumet and asked them to next day ship it up here to me. It seems lame to next day ship something from Santa Barbara to Sacramento, but really, it's cheaper than me driving there to get it myself, which I'd probably do if I had to, because I'm that ridiculous. So that's that.

If I had to do it over again, I'd definitely just order through Adorama. I love the people at Calumet, but Adorama = no sales tax, and in the case of this order, way less weird random hoops to jump through.

:)

happy new year!

2009-01-01T13:10:00.001-08:00

fern....
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

make it count.

Point Reyes

2008-12-30T11:33:00.001-08:00

rolling in
Originally uploaded by ;) Stephanie Browne

If you like hiking around coastal forest areas, I recommend you visit Point Reyes. It's just north of San Francisco in Marin County...I go at least once every year. I went yesterday with the fam, and it was gorgeous as usual. I should have taken a time lapse of this fog rolling in, it was pretty sweet...next time, I guess. Which will probably be next week :)

PS - The Station House Cafe in town is a-ma-zing.

okay, a blog post for real.

2008-12-27T17:43:00.001-08:00

abstract.
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

So I've been in Northern California since Monday...it seemed like as soon as I got here, I got sick. I'm better today though :)

My uncle is buying my D80 off of me and I'm glad it's staying in the family. I get a sentimental attachment to these things sometimes.

I really need to go out and shoot some cool stuff! I took some photos of my sister last night in the middle of the street (which I posted below). I think we're headed out to Point Reyes on Monday, which is one of my favorite places to go out, hike around and shoot photos.

Not much going on here!

BORED MUCH?!

2008-12-27T17:24:00.001-08:00

Pack up, but don't stray...
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

I'm so bored.

Help?!

(I'm not used to vacation.)

SHIPPED

2008-12-23T16:19:00.001-08:00

me & sis.
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

Merry Christmas to me...Calumet did the unexpected and shipped my camera today.
That means I'll have a week to play with my 5D Mark II before I go back to school! That also means I have a week and a half to wait for it to bounce from Chicago (ground shipping) to Santa Barbara, then up to me in northern California.
Whatever, I'm excited!!

adorama vs. calumet...it's a race.

2008-12-19T19:55:00.000-08:00

I called Calumet in Chicago. They told me I wouldn't be seeing my camera for about 90 (!!!) days. Um...not havin' it. So I ordered another 5D Mark II from Adorama. We'll see who comes through first...my money is on Adorama.
We'll see.

(I've heard I'm being slightly neurotic about getting this camera.)

end of the session!

2008-12-18T12:42:00.000-08:00

103 was so much fun. Bradshaw is an awesome teacher.

I went into Calumet today...word is they're shipping out tomorrow - hopefully I get my camera at the end of next week. Not to be a scrooge or anything, but Christmas is going to slow down the whole process. It's all good though, I'm excited to go home and relax for awhile! :)

Merry Christmas to all y'all
♥

edit: fairly certain that i'm not going to get my camera until at least january 2nd. ground shipping, chicago - calumet/santa barbara = 4 business days. ship from calumet to home = 2 business days. blahhh! :(

explore'd

2008-12-15T10:17:00.001-08:00

word association - seasons 2
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

This photo made it onto flickr's explore the other day - finally something that I shot since starting at Brooks made it into my top 10 "interesting" photos. I mean, why pay $4,460 per session if you can't even get anything you've been shooting onto explore?! ;)
Flickr is weird.

just finished...

2008-12-15T03:24:00.000-08:00

...putting together the binder for our theme assembly project.
All that's left of the session is studying for the final, which I haven't done yet.
Oh, and some lame accounting project.

It'll be nice to go home and relax...hopefully WITH MY 5D MARK II.
No, I haven't stopped thinking about it.
!
I decided I'm going to get the 85mm f 1.8...since I need a prime, something sharp.
It's an awesome portrait lens...and I wanna take awesome portraits! And no, I don't have enough money to get the 1.2 :(

I'm excited for Monday. Another business day, Calumet is open, Canon is hopefully shipping some bodies out...I hope...

It was pouring rain tonight. I was caught by surprise.

5DII hurry! dpreview, school and other things.

2008-12-13T13:44:00.001-08:00

the sky was epic
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

I'm terrible at blogging. My entries are few and far between, and when they occur they're about 2 sentences long. I'm about to change that right now. I've been immobilized today due to female reasons (TMI?), I'm popping the painkillers left and right. So this is the most exciting thing to do right now.

I got my first piece of Canon equipment yesterday - the 24-70 L lens. I checked out a 1Ds from school so I could play with my new lens. Yes, a 1Ds. It's a dinosaur. I'm surprised it hasn't fossilized yet. I made sure it was set to shoot RAW files, I upload them on my computer and they're TIFFs. OLD SCHOOL! Anyway, sweet lens. If only checkout had a 5D for me to play with. Hint hint Canon! You best be sending some new bodies our way.

My Nikon feels abandoned. I'm not sorry.

Anyway, I'm borderline delirious right now, so excuse the incoherency of this post.

I'm waiting on my 5D Mark II still, obviously. One of my personality flaws is obsessing over my new gadgets, and being incredibly impatient to get them in my hands. Last time I was in Calumet, I was told that fingers were crossed for a before Christmas delivery. That would be AWESOME but I'm not counting on it. There are so many people who pre-ordered before me, although I've heard that Calumet is going completely out of order as far as pre-orders go, so that could be good for me. I'm hoping I'll have it for at least a week at home so I can shoot some cool stuff in Marin county and maybe take it up to Tahoe or something. And I have to get used to it before I start class again so that I'm not totally lost. My skill level began to eclipse the abilities of my current camera, my Nikon D80. What I'm expecting to happen is the 5D Mark II will magnify MY inabilities - but at least I won't be able to blame my problems on my camera anymore.

Speaking of cameras and problems - the forums at dpreview.com are drowning in posts about the "black dot" issue with the 5D Mark II. There are more posts with photos of blown out highlights and tiny black pixels next to them than posts featuring people's actual work with the camera. Aggravating. I'm beginning to think that the number of people who have the camera at the moment and are actually putting it to good use is extremely small. If all you're going to do is cry about it, then give it to someone who is going to actually use it and appreciate it.

Hm...so I have one week of school left before Christmas. Weeks 6 & 7 are usually the most boring to me, because we're usually not shooting anything fun, if anything at all. We're mostly putting all of our work together and creating presentations. Hopefully I'll get out and shoot some fun stuff in the next week to counteract all the boring-ness.

I think this post is sufficiently drawn out and ramble-y.
♥

week 7 is here.

2008-12-11T22:31:00.001-08:00

the path.
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

I'm into the last week of 103. The class went by so fast, overall I had a lot of fun and learned so much. I'm waiting on my 5D Mark II. I have no idea when it's going to come, hopefully soon...I have a few trips planned out for when it arrives.

It's so much fun to go out and just shoot for yourself. I get asked often if I'm burned out on photography at all - the answer is no.
:)

2008-12-11T22:20:00.000-08:00

two thousand nine hundred nine and 24/100

2008-12-08T13:35:00.001-08:00

one light portait
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

canon 5d mark II is coming soon...watch out!

Switching to Canon

2008-11-26T13:48:00.001-08:00

straightaway
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

I love Nikon, but I need to upgrade my camera body and I'm planning on going full frame - Nikon just doesn't have the competitive edge right now. I got a call from Calumet and they're just now getting the 5d Mark II's in their warehouse...ahhhh. I have one on pre-order.

moving along...

2008-11-24T00:45:00.001-08:00

word association - seasons 2
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

103 is awesome. I love this class. I feel like my work is becoming much stronger in this class compared to my work in 102 (bleh). Check out my flickr by clicking here. I have a bunch of new stuff from this weekend. More to come, of course :)

THIS guy...

2008-11-19T18:22:00.001-08:00

carefree? eh
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

...got electrocuted by a hot light at the studios yesterday.

In other news:
The Tea fire in Montecito was pretty intense, but it came nowhere near me. No...I didn't get any photos (I'm not in the VJ program...ha ha), but we did go up to check it out about an hour and a half after it started. It was crazy.

I don't get why people told me 103 was super easy. It hasn't been difficult, but it's been extremely hectic! We have SO many assignments to shoot, I've been in the studio all week.

by the way...

2008-11-17T17:39:00.000-08:00

that LA night shooting video I mentioned:

hola!

2008-11-17T17:35:00.001-08:00

word association - health
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

I just got my macbook pro back after being in the shop for a week...$500 to fix it. Lesson learned....get AppleCare!!! My top case was busted and my airport card wasn't working (I had to sit on the washer to get internet in my house). My computer almost feels new :) This is what has gone wrong with it since I got it:

power cord frayed and melted the port where the magsafe cord plugs in
battery died (typical)
hard drive crashed
wifi stopped working (would work intermittently)
top case broke (trackpad and mouse button constantly spazzed out)

So yeah. AppleCare for me next time I buy a new computer.

Other than that, 103 is moving along really fast...more on that later.

one oh two.

2008-10-20T22:08:00.001-07:00

week 3 creative
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

So it's the last week of 102. I know I haven't written anything about 102 yet, and it's not because I've been ridiculously busy or overwhelmed...I've just been feeling drained of all creativity because of these large format technical assignments. The class is WAY over-hyped, it's not as hard as everyone says it is. A few days ago I went out to LA in the middle of the night to shoot...I didn't get any shooting done, but I'll upload some video of the trip here.

My computer is slowly but surely dying. I'm typing this in the lab at Cota, my Macbook Pro highlights anything that I mouse over, making it really hard to do anything productive.

:(

home was nice.

2008-09-08T17:36:00.001-07:00

stephanie - headshots
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

I went home for prep week and shot some portraits for friends. Today was my first day in 102. My class is at the Montecito campus (which I heard was sold for 14 million....not sure if that's true?), which is nice. I'm honestly terrible with everything large format, and this class is basically made up of large format technical assignments, so it should be interesting.

:)

brooks institute in real life (pt. 1)

2008-08-26T23:52:00.001-07:00

architectural detail reshoot
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

It's the end of my first session, and I figured I'd write a little bit about Brooks for whoever might be researching the school online as I did. My roommate and I were discussing the overwhelming amount of negative opinions about Brooks on the internet...here is my response to some of the criticisms of the school:

1. "The school isn't fully accredited" - True. If you switch schools, I don't think anything transfers, credit-wise. I'm not sure that I could get an MFA anywhere other than Brooks after finishing my bachelor's degree there...but I honestly don't care. If it's a big deal to you, then don't bother with Brooks until they're fully accredited. The skills I learn at Brooks are far more important to me than college credits.
2. "It's expensive"/"They will screw you over with loans" - The second statement is the stupidest and most widely used complaint about Brooks on the web. Only YOU can screw yourself over with loans. Don't be an idiot. Yes, Brooks is expensive (tuition alone is about $4,500 per session - that's about $27,00 per year). If you can't afford it, go a different route...
3. "Brooks is owned by CEC....blah blah blah" - Yes, they are. Nothing further to add.

So far, the school is amazing. It's extremely fast paced. I haven't been bored yet. Most of the people in my session will probably drop out. I'm not one of them. I'm having a blast, because photography is what I love to do.

putting together final 10...

2008-08-26T01:25:00.003-07:00

solitude
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne

the session is almost over!

josh - window light

2008-08-26T01:25:00.001-07:00

josh - window light
Originally uploaded by Stephanie Browne