Another new arrival in less than a month

In case you hadn't noticed, my new blog has arrived!!! My new website was released a couple of weeks ago and now my blog has a new look to it as well. I am very excited to have a blog that is more suited to me rather than the standard templates. Some of the new features that come along with the new blog are a lot of items on the right sidebar. From time to time I'll be posting new links for some of my favorite things...and ANYTHING goes! Some of these things will be my personal favorites and some of the things will be favorites of my clients that I want to pass on to you.

To make my blog more unique I have a rotating banner at the top. Each time you refresh your browser, or return to my blog, you will probably notice a new collage. My plan is to put up a new banner featuring at least one wedding and engagement session a month. Be on the lookout, your wedding or portrait session may be featured soon!

One of the interactive additions will be my monthly polls. I'll be posting at least one new poll a month and they will last one week. I'll also have contests from time to time and the winner (usually the subject of the photo) will receive a prize. By having these polls I'm hoping it will give me some insight as to what you, my clients, want to see more of. For this month please vote on the following photos. The poll is at the bottom of my right sidebar.

I also want to take a minute to thank Madeline for helping me lay out this new beauty!!

First wedding of '08

This is, without question, my favorite wedding photo of Holly and Ryan. I could not believe how relaxed they both were yesterday...and that we were all able to stay dry!!! After the weather we've had for the last 10 days, and the weather we're supposed to have the rest of the week I was a little concerned about what the day would hold for us. Holly and Ryan were married at a beautiful church in El Dorado Hills (thanks to the wedding coordinator Ann who was such a big help!) and their reception was at-where else-Lake Natoma Inn. They opted to do all the photos prior to the ceremony and things ran like clockwork. This was such a great group of people to work with; from the grandparents on down to the flowergirls and ring bearer. The look on Ryan's face the first time he saw his new bride was so awesome. The two of them asked that no one else be in the church for the "big unveiling", so it was quite special to capture that.
With the way Ryan looks at Holly and the beautiful sanctuary, it was a really magical moment. I knew as I was working with everyone today that it would be difficult to come home and not immediately begin looking at all the great images we captured today; and I was obviously right, because here I am at 1:00 am posting them. I just was so excited to be able to share this gorgeous (inside AND out) couple with all of you. I told Holly and Ryan today that if they are any indication of what my weddings will be like this year, I am going to be one lucky photographer!!! For all their family and friends who are excited to see their photos, I won't have them posted for a couple of weeks, but I hope you enjoy the photos I've posted here as well as the slideshow link below!

A Great Couple!!

The slideshow will expire on February 27th.

Little Ones

Well, this is long overdue, but I finally have some photos of my niece for you to see. With the big bridal show last week and trying to get my new website up, I got behind on a few things.
The story of my niece's arrival is very special. My sister and her husband have been trying to have a baby for quite a while and, unfortunately, things weren't working out the way they wanted. They live in Colorado and have some very good friends, Amy and Karen who have adopted two children-Erin and Jordan. Erin and Jordan were adopted through a wonderful agency, so Stephanie and Mark began the adoption ball rolling. The end of October they received a phone call that a young African-American mom gave birth to a little girl. Emma made her debut about ten weeks early, and although she was tiny this little girl is one tough cookie!!! She came home shortly before Christmas, still being on oxygen (because of the altitude) and has been running the household ever since! While my parents were there visiting, Emma seemed to find her way in to my mom's arms on a constant basis (a fact for which my sister is now paying!:) Actually, when we were there, if Emma wasn't being held by my mom, my daughter Katie seemed to latch onto her. It's been about ten years since there has been a baby in our family, so I think everyone is making up for lost time!
During my visit I wanted to photograph all these adorable faces. I obviously didn't have my studio setup, but I created a makeshift area with a backdrop and lots of window light. I couldn't wait to photograph these kids in action! By action I mean, Jordan was running all over the place and being a typical three-year-old; Erin wanted NOTHING to do with her photos being taken; and Emma...well, Emma sort of did what all infants do :)
These three beautiful kids may not have come into their families the "conventional" way...On second thought they did-they were brought to their parents just like every other child initially is-in the hearts of their parents.

New Year, New Site (and very shortly...New Blog!)

Happy January! I still have some photos I want to post from Colorado of our snow mobiling expedition as well as my adorable neice Emma and Emma's two friends Jordan and Erin. However, as soon as I got home last Saturday (and faced the aftermath of what the storm did to our yard) I went head on into bridal show mode. The biggest bridal show of the year is tomorrow at Cal Expo and I wanted to put my best foot forward. I'm next to my favorite local videographers, Dolphin Dream Studios and my favorite venue Lake Natoma Inn will only be two buildings away! However, what I'm most excited about is MY BRAND NEW WEBSITE!!! It's the same address as previously www.debbiebrownphoto.com ), but I am even more proud of this one than the last! It will be able to feature some of my favorite sessions (click on the "spotlight" link), it has a shopping cart, and lots and lots of photos!!! I have some more things I want to add, but I just couldn't wait any longer for you all to see it.
Within the next week I hope to have my new blog up as well. It will be the same address is this one, but I hope it looks a lot less "generic" (thanks to Madeline Miller for her help for the last few months).
I have so many things to be thankful for in the last year, and it appears that 2008 will be even better!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO EXPLORE THE NEXT 11 1/2 MONTHS WITH YOU ALL!!!

Happy New Year...oh, and by the way-it's FREEZING!!!

I've been in Colorado with my family for three days now and I don't know when I've been so cold! Although, no matter how cold it's been, it's as equally beautiful! We're in Evergreen which about 45 minutes from downtown Denver. Yesterday was so windy that parts of Hwy. 70 were shut down. It was a strange site for this California girl to see the wind blow the snow across the freeway so much that it looked like clouds of dry ice...it was quite a site! Because of the altitude we stayed realtively close to town. It doesn't matter where we've been, even the most mundane areas are beautiful when covered with snow. Even the area behind the local Baskin Robbins was beautiful. I just assumed that all the ducks would fly south for the winter, so we were very surprised when we saw them swimming in the local water when it was about 15 degrees outside. Last night for New Year's Eve we enjoyed meeting a lot of my sister's friends last night at New Year's Eve. It was pretty low key (just the way I like it)-hot dogs and chili for dinner, card games and trying to out do each other on the Wii.
Today was a little warmer so we decided to venture out and went to Evergreen Lake. As we were walking on the lake there were times that it was a little scary because it was so slippery and we weren't sure how thick the ice was; oh, it was plenty thick enough all right, but not being used to walking on a frozen lake brought a little trepedation :)


After we froze to behinds off we drove up to Redrocks Park and it was SPECTACULAR!!! We ended up going later in the day so I had mixed feelings about the lighting. Although I didn't have sunlight falling directly on the rocks, the sun did begin to set, so I got some great color in the sky. I think we'll be going back here in a couple of days so I can get some sunlight on the rocks. Redrocks is a state park, but it is also an ampitheatre where they hold concerts. You can't imagine how incredibly gorgeous this place is. I'll be doing some photos in a couple of days that really show off the majesticness of this aweinspiring place, but in the meantime here are a few photos showing off the gorgeous sunset with Denver in the distance.