Monday, February 28, 2011

Alyssa & Danny | Attraction Session | Las Vegas, NV | Chris

While I was in Las Vegas (where apparently, Brisa and I caught the flu), I had the pleasure and privilege of photographing Alyssa and Danny's engagement session with my awesome photographer friends, Erica of www.ericamay.com and Tammy of www.tammylynnphotography.com! Alyssa and Danny are incredible. We met at 5:45am. Yup, 5:45am. It was still very much dark. Ideally, we wanted to get some gorgeous sunrise images at the Red Rock Canyon, but once we started driving into the conservation area, we soon realized that we'd be creating snow images instead! Regardless of the freezing weather or the falling snow, Alyssa and Danny did whatever we asked of them without ever complaining and actually looked like they were enjoying themselves! =)

I absolutely love working with other photographers just to see different styles, perspectives and approaches to photography. Be sure to check out the images at the very end to view some of the behind the scenes of them in action!

Thanks again so much for having us photograph your engagement session! You can view Erica's fabulous portraits of this session here - www.ericamay.com/blog











This concept was inspired by Hassas Photography














Behind the scenes






Friday, February 25, 2011

Q&A with Travis Williams Photography

Happy Friday everyone! In the latest of our Q and A series, I am humbled to feature Travis Williams Photography! I "met" Travis through a fantastic photography forum, www.fredmiranda.com, and I am excited to show off his incredible work with all of you!

Have a wonderful weekend! =)

Let's start with a little bio, tell me about yourself.

I'm a Wedding and Senior Portrait photographer based out of Tucson, AZ. My desire to tell a story and celebrate life's greatest moments with my clients, friends and community is what motivates me each day, each photoshoot. 
 My Story starts here: http://traviswilliamsphotography.com 
 Recent work can be found here: http://traviswilliamsphotography.com/blog 
My life is lived online here: http://facebook.com/traviswilliamsphotography
My story unfolds daily here: http://twitter.com/travisthepinata

How did you become a photographer?

I became a photographer when I became aware of the impending arrival of our first child in the summer of 2005. I knew I wanted to get good photos of my own kids and this desire sent me off on my journey to record lifes great celebration moments. My path to become a full time professional photographer was one I didn't know I would walk until it happened. I was selling cars as an auto broker and loving life. I enjoyed my day job until the economy turned south in the fall of 2008, at that point 2 years into my photography career I was content to 2nd shoot weddings with other professionals and work with the occassional High School Senior or family on portrait sessions to supliment my income and sustain my photography hobby. By the Fall of 2008 it was clear that selling cars was no longer going to cut it and I was already facing the fact that more and more people were asking me to shoot sessions with them. I had a choice to make, and that choice became clear. The beginning of 2009 brought my full time pursuit of photography as a profession. I like to think of myself as a professional story teller.

Why should I book you as a photographer?

My actual photography skills are the last reason you should hire me. I'd like to believe that my clients hire me first and foremost because they know without a shadow of a doubt that I am going to add more to their wedding day, than i'm going to detract. I'm going to be more fun than one should legally have on any given day, and in the end: I'm a professional and will get it right the first time and will work with them to create a wonderful collection of images that will give them memories that will last. I believe that photography skills only make up about 30% of the skill sets I believe I employ on a wedding day shoot. I believe that my people skills, my client expectation management, time management, priority management, planning and listening skill sets are among my greatest assets.

How would you describe your style?

I'd like to think of my work as: Clean, Crisp, Natural and Authentic - I don't do much "photoshop" to my images I prefer to stay more natural !

What's in your camera bag?

I'm a Nikon guy... good or bad, love me or hate me! I'm shooting a D700 for my wedding/portrait camera.. and a D300 for my sports, event and backup portrait camera. I use 4 lens' on a daily basis: 28-70 f/2.8 - 85mm f/1.8 - 50mm f/1.8 - 80to200 f/2.8 - I have an assortment of Nikon flashes and I use alot of speedlights for my off camera work using Pocket Wizards to trigger them.

If you had to pick your favorite piece of equipment, what would it be and why?

I'm a sucker for my 85mm f/1.8 portrait lens. I love the depth of field and such. I'm looking forward to getting a f/1.4 version of that lens and a 24mm f/1.4 next. Actually my most favorite equipment is my rigid framed reflector. I use it every shoot and really have grown to love using it to help me tweek natural light.

What advice would you give to aspiring photographers?

I really enjoyed working into weddings in specific by shooting with other talented photographers. 2nd shooting was the ultimate "learn in the fire" situation for me.. very helpful to get an upclose look at a wedding day in action. I was lucky enough to have 3 pro photographers invest in me early on. If you can find those around you to mentor you it's a good way to go. Also I think it's worth mentioning that running a photography business is so much more than shooting photography. I believe that there are several aspects of running my business that actually fit me even better than the actual photography part of my business. In actuality I am a professional relationship builder. I love building relationships more than just about anything... that and connecting people. I love hearing stories and retelling them with the photos to accompany them.

Engagement - I love recording the connections between people this one has that intimacy that I love


Aftershoot - I dig selecting locations and themes that really meet people and their relationships where they intersect with their passions. This image was described best as "She's not just marrying him, she's marrying the military, he the pilot and that damn airplane!" I agreed and felt the comment really spoke truth.


Wedding - I am blessed and lucky enough to shoot year round here in Southern Arizona and the Sonoran Desert. Here's a classic example of a sunset we have on a regular basis and trying to backdrop a wedding client against Tucson's best.


Senior Female - You are what you hobby or passion for! Here I've found Kaycee's fun, playful side backdropped against her love for her high school softball !


Senior Male - Tyler and Football go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly - here I've chosen to backdrop him against another southern arizona sunset. Shot on location just 100 feet from the football field he played on friday nights in the fall for 4 straight years.


Email us (info@labrisaphotography.com) about your upcoming wedding or to schedule a portrait session!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Thursday by La Brisa!

If you've been following La Brisa Photography for a while, but haven't been photographed by us, you might wonder what all the hubbub is about the word "Thursday." Well, instead of saying "cheese," we ask our clients to say "Thursday" when we want them to smile. The "ay" makes your mouth smile more naturally. I guess it has become our trademark and so each Thursday, we'll be sharing images of our best Thursday smiles! Enjoy! =)

Abby & Mason | Joy Session | Houston, TX | Chris


Are you on Facebook? Of course you are! Check out the La Brisa Photography Fan Page to view the latest teasers, helpful articles and more!

  Help me reach my goal - 50 States by 2015!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Snowy Sunrise Engagement Session

A quick teaser from the snowy sunrise engagement session at Red Rocks Canyon. It was absolutely incredible.


Email us (info@labrisaphotography.com) about your upcoming wedding or to schedule a portrait session!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Viva Las Vegas!

Brisa and I are in Vegas! Completely random story. Brisa has a veterinary conference that she will be attending and invited me to tag along for the week. I, of course, said yes. Then we matched up dates and her conference is at the same time as the 2011 WPPI Las Vegas event! What a coincidence, right?

My wife's veterinary conference just happens to be occurring simultaneously with one of the largest wedding and portrait photographer conferences in the country? WHAT? So while she's off becoming way smarter than I will ever be, I'll be at the tradeshow checking out new vendors, testing equipment and networking with a TON of awesome photographers. Yup, I'm super excited!

On Sunday morning, I had a sunrise engagement session that I am super eager to share with you! Go to www.facebook.com/labrisaphotography to view a few teasers from the session! We've already seen Cirque du Soleil Viva Elvis AND Brisa has already made a little money playing craps!

Two vacations (kinda) in two months for the Hsiehs? Who knew??? =)



Email us (info@labrisaphotography.com) about your upcoming wedding or to schedule a portrait session!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Q&A with Hoffer Photography

Tony and his lovely wife, Amy, are phenomenal photographers. They have incredible style which I absolutely love. Their work doesn't stay stagnant, they continue to evolve and push their creativity. Please join me in welcoming Hoffer Photography in the latest Q&A series! =)

Let's start with a little bio, tell me about yourself 

I'm a really tall dude who looks nothing like a person who spends his time at weddings. My wife Amy and I work together and we shoot weddings, engagements, portraits, commercial work, families and lots of other stuff. We live in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, PA and work all over the country (and occasionally in others). You can see our work on http://hofferphotography.com and our recent work at http://hofferphotography.com/blog. We're also releasing a Workflow DVD that you can find at http://photographerworkflow.com and take part in a group workshop which you can see at http://genesisworkshop.com

How did you become a photographer?

By accident. I had a career (that was going relatively well) as a graphic designer and got a camera for a hobby with no intentions of using it. One summer my mother volunteered me to shoot some Senior photos for a coworkers kid. The next year my mother-in-law volunteered me to shoot a wedding for her coworker. That same year, we ended up shooting 7 weddings. The next year it grew to 25 and I eventually left my job. Since then, we've been shooting 40+ every year and lots of other stuff on the side.

Why should I book you as a photographer?

Well there are lots of reasons why people book photographers (personality, prices, location), but we really want people to book us because they think that we're the best photographers that they can find. That certainly may not be the case for everyone since tastes can vary greatly, but our goal is that every client that books us does so simply because they think that our work is better than anyone else's. So if you think that, you should book us. And if you don't, then you shouldn't :)...

How would you describe your style?

A jumbled mess. We try to focus on everything and nothing at the same time. Really, our biggest goal is to have a wide breadth of knowledge and skills so that we can change it up for different clients. The things that seem to stay consistent are our bold colors, fun-loving people, and lots of freedom in the way we play with light.

What's in your camera bag?

We currently have 2 5DMark2's and a 5D classic as well as a variety of lenses from Canon and Sigma. I shoot mostly with a 35L and an 85 f/1.4 from Sigma. Amy shoots mostly with a Sigma 50 f/1.4 and a 135L. We take a ton of lighting gear, from speedlights to strobes, gels, modifiers and lots more tricks that we never seem to use as much as we want to.

If you had to pick your favorite piece of equipment, what would it be and why?

My favorite things are probably things that I don't use very often, but that are PERFECT when I do. Things like gaffers tape, Honl speedlight grids and a stiff-frame reflector. Also, I'm really digging the Motibodo keyboard for Lightroom editing.

What advice would you give to aspiring photographers?

Being an aspiring photographer is a COMPLETELY different thing than being an aspiring photography business. Photography is a great, fun and interesting hobby. A photography business is running a small business with instances of photography mixed in. This is something I wish I knew going in. We love our career, but only because we like running a business too, not just taking photos.... but that's cool too :)

This is from a few months ago. We love shooting far away and incorporating environment... Having the small bridal party was ideal for this.


I get really proud of images like this because it looks simple enough, but was definitely a bit of work and I think our clients really feel like themselves in it.


Amy took this and it's one of those shots that we try to grab whenever we can because I'd love to have something like this for our walls.


This is atypical of our normal work, but last month we took on a huge portrait project to try to stretch ourselves and get some photos of our friends. This was one of my favorites...


This is from our most recent wedding and I just loved having the ring bearer in there. These kids were all over the place, so it was a really good moment to summarize the day I felt...


Are you on Facebook? Of course you are! Check out the La Brisa Photography Fan Page to view the latest teasers, helpful articles and more!

  Help me reach my goal - 50 States by 2015!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Thursday by La Brisa!

If you've been following La Brisa Photography for a while, but haven't been photographed by us, you might wonder what all the hubbub is about the word "Thursday." Well, instead of saying "cheese," we ask our clients to say "Thursday" when we want them to smile. The "ay" makes your mouth smile more naturally. I guess it has become our trademark and so each Thursday, we'll be sharing images of our best Thursday smiles! Enjoy! =)

Lacy & Travis | Attraction Session | Junction City, KS | Brandi


Are you on Facebook? Of course you are! Check out the La Brisa Photography Fan Page to view the latest teasers, helpful articles and more!

  Help me reach my goal - 50 States by 2015!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Toni & Jarrod | Attraction Session | Houston, TX | Chris

For my latest engagement session, I met Toni & Jarrod at the The Heritage Society in the Theater District of Houston! We had a fabulous time running around the park and it was awesome getting to know the both of them and their INCREDIBLE love story. A story filled with compassion, hardship and beauty and I feel so much better about life just by knowing them. True story.

Thank you again for selecting me to photograph your engagement session and I wish you both all of the best!











































i LOVE this.


















Email us (info@labrisaphotography.com) about your upcoming wedding or to schedule a portrait session!