Stacy & Nate | Wedding | Lincoln, NE | b

I love that at La Brisa we truly immerse ourselves in a couples’ day. We start with the bride early in the morning and stay for some of the very last slow songs. What I love even more is when our friends and family trust us with such an amazing task.

I have known Stacy and Nate for over four years and each time I see them my life gets just a little bit better. Stacy is always making me laugh…or blush and Nate is a calm, collected and hilarious in his own right. Well, I started with the ladies at Sway in Lincoln, NE and worked our way to the Capitol building. HOLY CRAP do I LOVE shooting there! There were just so many opportunities to make great photographs! Throw in a rockin’ bridal party and incredibly loving family and you’ve got yourself an amazing wedding day.

After the ceremony, I followed Stacy and Nate and their entourage for a little bar crawl and finished the night off with a little unforgettable Karaoke by the bride. “I said NATE, WHAT’S GOIN’ ON!” I love that girl and I love that couple and I loved being a part of their day.

Thank you Stacy and Nate for having me photograph your wedding, I feel blessed that you wanted me to be there.

A HUGE shout out to Cathy Mores of Cathy Mores Photography for driving up from Manhattan, KS to shoot with me. You rock, lady!

Dress Designer - Alfred Angelo
Tuxedo - Tip Top Tux
Ceremony - St. Mary's Church Reception - Apothecary - Ridnour Room
Cake - The Cake Lady (lincolncakelady.com)
Hair - Sway Make Up - Sway
Shoes - Davids Bridal
DJ - Primetime Music and Entertainment
Caterer - Qdoba
Flowers - Flowerworks
tutu's and pettiromper on the flower girls was from Laurie's Tutu Boutique

You can view more images from their session on the La Brisa Facebook page by clicking HERE.

The B Family | Joy Session | Nebraska | b

I have been blessed with such a supportive hometown community back in Nebraska. Every time I have a chance to get back to the Cornhusker state, I love to work with as many clients as I can. I was absolutely thrilled when Amber contacted me to set up a Joy Session and ecstatic when she told me we had the opportunity to shoot on a sandbar. (For those of you who didn’t grow up in a land locked state, a sandbar is essentially land extending in to a body of water, and on the Missouri River those sandbars are our beaches.)

Avery and Ryanna were absolutely adorable and I can’t believe that they have grown up so fast. I had a great time with the Bacons and I truly hope you love your photos! Have a fantastic fall and GO BIG RED!

Thank you again for selecting La Brisa to photograph your amazing family. I hope that you LOVE your images and we cannot wait until next time!

You can view more images from their session on the La Brisa Facebook page by clicking HERE.

Out of the Country ~ Chris

Happy Monday everyone! Later today, I am headed off on a 5 day cruise out of the country with my entire family (yup, all of my nephews will be there)! I will have no access to internet/phone so I will respond to everyone after September 3rd. Have a wonderful week and a very safe Labor Day weekend!

Many blessings,
Chris

I have been staying at my in-laws house this past weekend out in Yorba Linda, CA and their house is sooo fun because of all their pets! Here is Kerby (dog) and Traveler (horse) just hanging out together in the backyard!

La Brisa 5 Year Anniversary Surprise Fiesta!

A week ago today, I was in Manhattan, KS for shoots and weddings and in the La Brisa Aspiring Photographer Workshop (APW) facebook group that we host, we organize Third Thursday social meetups for local photographers to get together and talk shop. So, last Thursday, it was quite rare because the entire La Brisa team, Autumn, b and I would be able to attend the TT event!

I had finished up my Joy Session early and headed over to pick up b from her Just B Exclusive event and then we headed over to Taco Lucha. Typically, we have anywhere between 6-30 photographers in attendance and we were hoping for a fairly large group because the three of us were in town.

Well, I walked into the back patio to find a TON of people just staring at me. I had no idea what was going on. And then everyone yelled something. To me, it sounded like “Surprise!” but apparently, everyone said “Thursday!” I immediately looked all around me to see who we were celebrating and I think I even started clapping for the mysterious person. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on.

I kept thinking to myself…”What is going on???” As well as…”What do I do with my hands?”

Scanning through the faces, I recognized sooo many people: fellow photographers, former and current clients, and awesome friends. I was ridiculously overwhelmed with everything! Autumn and b had organized everything. On top of that, they had put together a ginormous album of 5 years of La Brisa blog posts!

AND they put together a huge canvas wrap and had everyone sign it! 

They surprised me with a 5 Year Anniversary of La Brisa Photography party! Surrounded by cherished friends, I was unbelievably surprised. I spent the next 3-4 hours making the rounds and chatting it up with everyone. What an awesome night! It was definitely one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me (not including my wife, of course). What an absolutely wonderful evening! Thank you to Autumn and b for all of their hard work and secrecy for putting it all together! Also, thank you to Mrs. Mary Ewing for providing appetizers for everyone! I always tell you how blessed I feel to do what I do and this night was so humbling.

Along with EVERYTHING ELSE, Autumn and b created a video with congratulations from many people who were unable to attend the event intermixed with non sequitur ramblings by Autumn and b. It was hilariously awesome and I appreciated it so much! We are working on finding a way to share the entire 25 minute video and we will post it as soon as we figure it out!

Love these ladies!

Thank you again to everyone who attended and submitted videos! I love what I do and I am so entirely grateful that I have been able to do this for the past 5 years and I am excited to see what the next 20 years of La Brisa will bring!

You can view more images from the night on the La Brisa Facebook page by clicking HERE.

52WoA: Week 3 - Fragile

As a photographer, sometime you need to work on things outside of your normal purview and this project is going to help us (and you) challenge, grow and creatively develop your photography as a whole. Weekly for the next year, we will be sharing our images with you here!

For those of you interested in participating, PLEASE join us! The more the merrier! You definitely do not need to be a professional photographer, this is something you can easily do with your point and shoot, cell phone, ipad, etc. You can comment with a link to your image here on our blog or on our La Brisa fan page or you can tag La Brisa Photography in your image on your own FB page or use the hashtag #52WoA on twitter that way we can share your efforts with everyone else! If you are interested in joining our La Brisa Aspiring Photographer Workshop group on FB, please request to join as we will also be sharing our images there too.

Next Wednesday, August 29th, Week 4: “Junk” will be due. The image must be created between today and August 29th. Good luck!

Here are our Week 3 – “Fragile” images!

Things that are fragile:
fresh tattoos
my skin
fine china
balance
ecosystems

My wife has wanted the entire Willow Tree Nativity scene since she was really young. Well, this past Christmas, both of our parents pitched in and purchased it for her. It is STILL displayed in our house. And nobody is allowed to touch them.

Here is the entire list of 52 Weeks of Awesomeness!
1    Introduce Yourself
2    Asymmetrical
3    Fragile
4    Junk
5    Labor
6    Freedom
7    Pet Peeves
8    Fall
9    Joy
10    Travel
11    Architecture
12    Silhouette
13    trick or treat
14    Presidential
15    Honor
16    Style
17    Family
18    Motion
19    Inspired by a movie
20    Red
21    Gifts
22    Resolution
23    Winter
24    Numbers
25    Dreams
26    Claustrophobic
27    Gametime
28    Uncomfortable
29    Love
30    Overcome your fear
31    Minimalism
32    Music
33    Green
34    Spring
35    Foolish
36    Off Camera Light
37    Hero
38    Pets
39    Stars
40    Faith
41    Mom
42    Making Food into Art
43    Loss
44    Flora
45    Stranger
46    Dad
47    Summer
48    In the streets
49    Patriotism
50    What do you do for fun?
51    Travel
52    Self Portrait

52WoA: Week 2 - Asymmetrical

As a photographer, sometime you need to work on things outside of your normal purview and this project is going to help us (and you) challenge, grow and creatively develop your photography as a whole. Weekly for the next year, we will be sharing our images with you here!

For those of you interested in participating, PLEASE join us! The more the merrier! You definitely do not need to be a professional photographer, this is something you can easily do with your point and shoot, cell phone, ipad, etc. You can comment with a link to your image here on our blog or on our La Brisa fan page or you can tag La Brisa Photography in your image on your own FB page or use the hashtag #52WoA on twitter that way we can share your efforts with everyone else! If you are interested in joining our La Brisa Aspiring Photographer Workshop group on FB, please request to join as we will also be sharing our images there too.

Next Wednesday, August 23rd, Week 3: “Fragile” will be due. The image must be created between today and August 23rd. Good luck!

Here are our Week 2 – “Asymmetrical” images!

I choose to take the golden rule of symmetry and make lemonade with it. I think asymmetrical things are unique, and visually intriguing. Generally speaking, I love all animals, but especially the ones with asymmetrical markings, funny splotches, and colorings that really pop out at me, like this kitty's face, taken at the T. Russell Reitz Animal Shelter in Manhattan, KS.

This is Elvis Hsieh. He is quite asymmetrical in physical appearance and more so with his demeanor. We love him very much.

Here is the entire list of 52 Weeks of Awesomeness!
1    Introduce Yourself
2    Asymmetrical
3    Fragile
4    Junk
5    Labor
6    Freedom
7    Pet Peeves
8    Fall
9    Joy
10    Travel
11    Architecture
12    Silhouette
13    trick or treat
14    Presidential
15    Honor
16    Style
17    Family
18    Motion
19    Inspired by a movie
20    Red
21    Gifts
22    Resolution
23    Winter
24    Numbers
25    Dreams
26    Claustrophobic
27    Gametime
28    Uncomfortable
29    Love
30    Overcome your fear
31    Minimalism
32    Music
33    Green
34    Spring
35    Foolish
36    Off Camera Light
37    Hero
38    Pets
39    Stars
40    Faith
41    Mom
42    Making Food into Art
43    Loss
44    Flora
45    Stranger
46    Dad
47    Summer
48    In the streets
49    Patriotism
50    What do you do for fun?
51    Travel
52    Self Portrait