Brittany Dyan

Well about a month ago now I got together with Brittany once again to do another creative photoshot. This time it was set to a futuristic theme and I found a really intriguing park nearby for the location! Brittany did an amazing job once again and I have her to thank for how amazing her pictures turned out : ) Take a look.

Jenny Regali

So it's been a crazy month! My current living situation has put me without a computer or internet this entire month... but I have finally obtained full internet access so it's time for some updates..! A little over a month ago now I got together with a model from Chicago named Jenni Regali from MM. The photoshoot was very spontaneous and unplanned but I think they turned out really well for the setting, lighting, and hasteyness of it. And seeing downtown Cincinnati is always a beautiful sight at night : )

If you are interested, I've also been keeping up with my self portrait project (52 Weeks)... you should check it out here... !

More updates later,

Brooke

p.s. Hope you all have been doing well!

Now on Youtube

http://www.youtube.com/user/survivingoptimist

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to let you know that I've created a youtube channel for video blogging, behind the scenes, and for certain photoshoots! I'm really excited about the new opportunity, growth, and expansion for my photography and wanted to share with you now so you can check it out for yourself : ) Feedback is always appreciated ♥

Enjoy! Have a great weekend everyone.
Brooke

http://www.youtube.com/user/survivingoptimist

The Indie Gathering

This weekend was the Idie Gathering Film Festival up in Cleveland, Ohio. We took a 4 hour motorcycle ride up there leaving at 4:30am. We had breakfast at Cracker Barrel (best breakfast place e v e r) and I got to enjoy the speeds of 90 mph! Exhilerating. We got there around 10am and set up our booth and started immersing ourselves in creativity.

There were so many movies, people, and talent roaming around the Holiday Inn and there were 2 movies in particular I really enjoyed watching. One was called "The Artist" and the other was called "Bureaucracy" (click on those names and you can find more info out about them). The way they were filmed were very unique and interesting and I talked with both and made friends with the makers from The Artist and look forward to doing some possible future work with them!

I left the Indie Gathering filled with soooo mahy ideas but Sunday wasnt the best day I've ever experienced for sure. The ride home consisted of me dropping my bike at a gas station disabling the bike from changing gears for nearly an hour, almost got hit by impatient drivers twice, got stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for another hour, and the wind was so bad it was blowing my bike all over the road, threw the ponytail out of my hair, and nearly ruined all of it to a hot tangled mess! It's safe to say that I will probably never do a long motorcycle journey again lol. Either that, or it's going to be a LONG time.

-Brooke

Photoshoot: Katrina

I used to work as a preschool teacher and Katrina used to be one of my fellow co-workers :) Her oldest daughter Korinne used to be in my class and I haven't seen her in a year! Kids REALLY do grow fast! Her youngest's name is Addison and the last I saw her she was in a car seat. Now she's walking, talking, and very lively! Well, Katrina got in contact with me through facebook and asked to do a session with me last weekend and I've finally got them all finished :) They were soooo cute and fun to work with. Here are the best ones from their session ♥

The Overman Project

Earlier this year back in March I blogged about the film project my dad was working on. It's called the Overman and it features firewhips, live action, and was all done with green screen. (see my dad's videos on youtube) Well, my dad entered it into the Indie Film Festival up in Cleveland and he won the "Experimental Micro Film" catagory! So he's going to have his own screening, setting up a booth, and all of us are going to go up there the 3rd weekend of August. I can't wait! So to allow some promoting, I made him a movie poster that will be posted outside our screening room and some postcards we can pass out to people and I also printed some new business cards to do some networking for myself. So if any of you Ohioians or residents of Cleveland happen to be looking for something to do, stop by and see us!


Here's the poster:




I'm going to take a picture soon of my new business cards. I'm really proud of the way they turned out. Woo Hoo!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend :)
Brooke

Self-Portrait: Believe in Yourself

I've been noticing that due to the current economic situation, job situations, family situations, etc. that there is a lot of negativity that is plaguing people. I filled up some freetime writing down all these negative words and phrases that came to mind and turned it into a collage with newspaper and decided to make a self portrait out of it :) I had a lot of fun doing this and it felt as though it was it's own inspirational journey. Fighting back against all that stands against you is the greatest feeling I can ever experience. So this is my dose of hope, love, and optimism for you for today ♥




Enjoy,
Brooke

Relieved

I feel as though it's been FOREVER since I blogged! I've been working on getting a part time job to get some extra income and I got a job working in a local portrait studio as a photographer : ) I feel EXTREMELY grateful as this time in our current history seems to be making it harder and harder to obtain such advantages for your life. With this job I will be able to move out on my own in a few months time! I'm really excited!

In other news, I still have yet to put together a slideshow from my last wedding and I'm currently working on redesigning my website (it will probably be a long time until it's finished). I have a few creative sessions coming up in the next month starting my series "Defying Gravity" and I'm really looking forward to creativly exploring new concepts! I think I'm going to be bringing assistants with me so they can get some behind-the-scenes shots.

More updates later,
Brooke

Brittany Dyan

I got together with the lovely Brittany Dyan for a music themed photoshoot last tuesday. We got to play with some awesome headphones, a guitar, and bubblegum ;) Then half way through we changed outfits and we did more of a retro theme and I'm really happy with the way they all turned out!! She was awesome and I'm looking forward to being able to work with her again in the future :)

Holly Jackson-Hind

My sister is interested in getting into modeling and she wanted to do a creative shoot with me to see how she would feel and look. So this was her first test shoot and we made it a high-fashion goth theme. For her first photoshoot ever, I think she did really good! Check her out on Model Mayhem [Click]

Mr. and Mrs. Workman

Clare and Dereck had a small, outdoor wedding in North Carolina. I traveled a fair distance because Clare is my sister-in-law and they wanted me to be their photographer : ) Dereck is from North Carolina and so, we made their special day come alive ♥ Here's their best pictures.

Danielle and Jon Tie the Knot!

Danielle and Jon had a beautiful wedding on May 9th, 2009 and I felt priviledged to be apart in making their day memorable :) I put together a slideshow from their wedding photos to the song they first danced to as husband and wife (Don't think I can't love you by Jake Owen). Enjoy :)

(click on the video for it to start)

Erin Rachel

Last Friday I did a fantasy themed photoshoot with Erin Rachel which whom I met through Model Mayhem : ) She was absolutely fantastic! We had a very short shoot lasting only 45 minutes but I got so many great pictures! These are my favorites from the shoot:




This shoot has made me more excited for photography. Realizing even moreso the infinite possibilities that photography has to offer. Exploring the creative opportunities that surround the field... it's so exciting! I have more to edit and I will post even more on flickr.


Good Night : )

Summing up May

This month has been so crazy! Since my last shoot I did a wedding for a client, took a weeks vacation down to Cocoa Beach in Florida VERY spontaneously lol. Got to visit Disney's Epcot (one of my favorite places on EARTH), see space shuttle Atlantis take off, and visit Kennedy Space Center. My inlaws came into town from England for their daughters wedding (my sister in law) which was down in North Carolina... 7 hour drive away! And I was their photographer : ) My sister came home from England (her husband is also from England, as well as mine.. long story lol) and she has been gone for 4 months. So nice catching up with her!

Things are starting to calm down again and I've finally gotten my editing done from the last two weddings. I have a photoshoot tomorrow, and some family things this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to create some fun time! Things have been pretty stressful. I'm hoping to get some more business this summer and fall... things are going to get slow again : ( But always leaves time for creativity. I need to better market myself.. anyone have any suggestions?

More later : )
Brooke

Casino Spades

Yesterday I did a Punk themed photoshoot with a model I met from Model Mayhem named Casino Spades. We met up at this really neat 6 story abandoned building near downtown Cincinnati but when we got inside we soon discovered that the upper floors were inaccessible due to the collapse of the staircases! We crawled into the basement which was nearly pitch black and climbed up a set of stairs. It took us into a HUGE room where the walls were covered in graffiti and holes in the floors and ceilings offered unique ways to make use of natural lighting (YAY!!). There were lots of props, rubble, and debris that really added to the Punk feel in the photos! Casino did a great job offering lots of variety in poses, looks, and creativity : ) She was so great to work with! The photoshoot turned out to be a great success! Which I'm really happy for because the last 2 models I scheduled with ended up never showing up! Grr..

you can see more at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooketownsend/

First Shoot

Yesterday was Emily and Zach's Senior Portrait photoshoot. They contacted me a couple months ago wanting me to do their session this spring. They are brother and sister, twins, and they are awesome people who were really fun to work with! =) The session started at 3 and I was afraid weather was going to turn into a storm! Wind kicked up blowing trees almost over and it started to sprinkle. But once they got to the park the sun magically appeared and for the entire hour and a half session we had PERFECT lighting! I felt blessed. Thank you so much for letting me work with you! Here are some of my favorites from their shoot:






^I love her face in this one =P

Shoot the Hills '09

This weekend was the 8th annual Shoot the Hills photography competition. The contest started 1pm Friday and ended on Saturday at 1pm. The deadline to turn in all your images on a CD was 4pm saturday and they were critiqued and judged til midday Sunday. Then, the awards ceremony went on at 4:30pm Sunday. I participated last year and found it to be a lot of fun! This year, my husband and I made it into a little trip and camped all weekend. Found waterfalls, gorges, fields, beautiful nature and landscape photo opportunities :) Hocking Hills region of Ohio is the prettiest place I've ever been to. Amazing!

Compeition was tough this year! A lot of amazing photographers both encouraging and inspiring :) I only got one award this year (last year I wont 2nd place in two catagories.. but that was in point-and-shoot, not digital SLR because I didn't have my nice camera then). Got 3rd place in "Human Interest" catagory for the image above. These are the others I entered:

Entered in LANDSCAPE:

Entered in ABSTRACT:

Entered in WILDLIFE:

Entered in FLORA:

Had a lot of fun! Can't wait to do it again next year :)
-Brooke

Tax Day Tea Party

TAX DAY TEA PARTY: APRIL 15, 2009





Yesterday were the Tax Day Tea parties all across the country. Basically, people gathered to protest against Obama's socialist plans, raising taxes, and taking away more and more American rights and freedoms just making the country and all its rules, laws, and restrictions greater and more complicated. The fact that he's giving the federal government more power than it deserves and forgetting that the government works for US, the people of the United States, and not a way to show yourself off to foreign nations, leaders, and his followers. I had a lot of high hopes for Obama when he came into office, giving him a chance, but as the months seem to pass he seems to be all talk and no walk. And that's a person I have a hard time having respect for.

So anyway, even though I could go on and on, the tea party turned out a lot bigger than I was expecting! I went to the one in Cincinnati, Ohio and people showed up in the 1000's from all around the Cincinnati area and I met a lot of amazing, passionate people. And watching the news and doing some research, there were another 600 (so far calculated) tea parties that held similar results across the country! I got some amazing pictures and I'm greatful to have been apart of something to inspirational and motivating. The majority will be silenced no longer.