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Rachel Maternity – Vancouver WA Maternity Photographer

August 22, 2022July 27, 2022BrienneKristenLeave a comment

Rachel Maternity – Vancouver WA Maternity Photographer

Welcome to Rachel’s maternity session!

This gorgeous creature is a dear friend of mine.

She was my youngest son’s elementary school teacher for two years, and I had the honor of serving her as Room Mom for both years.

There were lots of long talks over coffee about our curly hair, our food restrictions, class projects and more!

I had the pleasure of photographing one of her twin sisters beach wedding a few years ago as well. Rachel is so special to me.

We decided on Lacamas Round Lake Park, a location I often shoot at.

family maternity mini session outdoors personal Photography

Rachel’s maternity session was so simple and elegant. She has such a classic and timeless look! She reminds me of a character straight out of a Jane Austen book!

family maternity mini session outdoors personal Photography

Thank you

July 16, 2018March 15, 2021Brienne Kristen Photography3 Comments

I just want to say thank you to everyone for their amazing outpouring of support on my last post.

Grandma is doing better. we got her all settled into the rehab facility, and she is gaining strength. The physical therapist is saying she will be able to go home in a couple weeks.

I also want to let you know, that my family is reading all your comments…. both here and on Facebook.

I appreciate how many of you actually took the time to read the post, and leave a comment. that makes me so happy.

I will have a new update on grandma with pictures soon. and I will be back again with more yummy babies for you all. <3

grandma

July 7, 2018August 13, 2019Brienne Kristen Photography4 Comments

i’ve been super quiet lately.

i feel like this post is rather dramatic, but we’ve so been used to living a lifestyle of scrolling, liking, and hearting… that nobody takes the time to read anymore, and nobody really sees true emotion any longer.

with that being said…

my grandma isn’t doing fabulous.

she is 93 years old.

so my grandmother, has always been my ONLY grandmother. my mother’s parents died before she was even married, so we’ve only had my dads parents. my grandfather died about 20 years ago, and left a giant gaping wound in our family.

i remember as a child hearing the emergency sirens at night, and praying to the Lord… please don’t let it be my grandmother, please save her. even though she lives a solid 2.5 hours away from my house. 😉

grandma still lives in the same house she has lived in forever and ever. but now she has a wonderful 24/7 caretaker…. even so she still has the attitude of a 2 year old…. i do it myself.

when i found out that grandma was in the hospital with a pretty bad infection, i offered to drive my dad up to south bend to see what was happening. i’ve never seen my grandmother look so fragile. she isn’t able to speak a lot, and that frustrates her to no end. she is as sharp as a tack, and still gets around with the help of a walker. seeing her in a hospital bed, completely crushed me.

she was so scared too. she would cry every time my dad left the room. it was awful.

we went back up on thursday to transfer her from the hospital and to a rehab facility, where she will do physical therapy to regain her strength enough to go home.

i love my grandmother. i cannot even express to you the depth of my love for her. even typing this out, i have tears.

this is the newest professional image i have of myself and grandma. my husband actually took this one. i took images of the rest of the family unit, and all the other girls got pictures of themselves and grandma.

except me.

my grandmother HATES being in pictures. she used to tell me….. you’ll break your camera if you take a photo of me!

she is beautiful.

soon i know the Lord will take her. she’s had a wonderfully full, and long life.

and all i will have are the images to remember her by. much like she only has images of her husband, her sister, her parents, and her best friends. she has an album that she looks at every single day. the two days we went up, i spent time going through each image, and she would point out each person she could.

gone are the christmas eves at grandmas house with all the cousins. gone are the yearly beach trips with grandma. gone are the christmas cookies she would make each year, and give each child a little bit extra of their favorites in each bucket. gone are all the stray animals she used to feed on her back porch… at one time she had 7 stray cats and a one eyed raccoon mama.

but i have a million images that my dad made sure to take when we were little. and i have many images of grandma holding the babies, playing with the kids, and walking on the beach.

but i wish i had one of just her and me.

** back row: my sister, me 2015

**front row: marcie, grandma, britney (marcie and britney are sisters, we are missing the sisters sarah and brooke. i am the youngest of the 6 granddaughters)

family outdoors personal Photography

photographing babies in teals

June 28, 2018August 14, 2019Brienne Kristen Photography2 Comments

happy thursday everyone!

today let’s visit photographing babies in teals!

i love the teal color! it’s so universal, and i am thrilled that this color is acceptable for both boys AND girls!

today i have isaac in teal, and as you can see there are many different shades of teal which all work together beautifully.

as you know, i really don’t like to have a lot of distraction in my newborn images. i feel as though the baby should be the center point, and the props are just accessories.

teals are fun to work with, because it’s both blue AND green. this gives you some wiggle room in your set ups in case you don’t have the EXACT teal shades all around. and i think if you did the image may lack depth. also, teals enable you to get more “different” looks out of just one set up. adding a more blueish teal bonnet in one set up, and a more greenish wrap in another will give you some variety for the parents. this is a lovely technique if you have a particularly fussy tiny human or are on a limited time frame. 🙂

again, my bonnet here is from mama knits. i adore the dark and light variant hues in this bonnet she has made. this enables me to use it in multiple types of set ups.

the curls, of course, are again mama knits. her curls are truly a work of art. SO much care goes into her craft, and watching her husband work his magic as well is phenomenal. they are truly and amazing team who pride themselves on excellence in their work. ashlee hand dyes each item she creates. it’s amazing. her curls are the perfect addition to any shot, especially if you love the more natural feel in your images. i love how her curl fibers soak up the colors differently, so there isn’t a flat look to them. they each have so much depth! the curls are so universal as well! i have ashlee’s curls layered on top of a flokati in one image, and then place directly on the wood backdrop in another.

i am also using mama knits wild lamb layer blanket in the bowl shots. it’s a much brighter teal, but still ties in with the original more muted teal theme. her wild lamb blanket layers are perfect for these types of bowl shots, giving some texture and depth to the overall image while protecting the baby from the hard wooden surface. baby’s safety and comfort ALWAYS come first.

in the bonnet shots i am using the luneberry flokati in calabash, and i am SO incredibly pleased at how well this flokati color ties in with all my mama knits layers! how perfect is this?

the wrap is also from luneberry, in the calabash color. it’s a little darker teal color, but still coordinates well and gives a lovely finish to the image.

since i am certain someone at some point will ask me about the wooden bowl…. it’s not from a vendor.

living in the pacific northwest, we have a plethora of antique stores. this particular one i purchased at an antique store in hood river, oregon. i have about six different wooden bowls, all varying in sizes. it’s hard for me to pass up a wooden bowl, since the are so few and far between here! i am so picky about my wooden props…. i won’t purchase them from vendors UNLESS it’s willow and elm, who is mama knits beautiful mother…. and she’s also local. 😉 my husband, the wizard, also makes me wooden props <3

if you ever decide to come take a mentoring class with me, we will definitely be visiting mama knits, willow and elm, and of course the hood river antique stores. <3

xoxo,

olive

children mama knits newborn personal studio willow and elm Photography

photographing babies in greens

June 26, 2018August 14, 2019Brienne Kristen Photography2 Comments

hi friends!

today let’s talk about photographing the tiny humans on greens!

green is my favorite color. this color trumps all other colors for me.

i especially love using this color on tiny babies, it just portrays such a soothing image to me.

i love using different shades of sages and greens too, they all seem to work well when from the same family. i do struggle with pine green and evergreen, since they are a heavier color and turn an odd color when i edit as warm as i do.

also the wood drop is one of my favorites. i like using it with more bold colors like the darker sage i have baby wrapped in for the bucket shots. my husband actually made me this drop for about $70. it’s a floor and wall drop, made from cedar fencing. he actually stained it grey, and it came out this beautiful color.

if you’re willing to put a little muscle into your props, you’ll find you can easily make them for cheaper if you’re on a budget. i also painted my own bucket here, and have several painted in the exact colors i need in order to match my wraps, curls, and fluffs. i purchased a bucket from home depot, and found the right color paint in the sample size, then watered down my paint and did two coats on my bucket. i did a really light clear sealing coat, but just once since i didn’t want my bucket to be shiny from my studio flash.

i love being able to layer all my textures that are in same tones. i started with the mint wrap from inspired knits first, and added the bonnet from mama knits to my collection. then i added the curls from mama knits, and lastly the flokati from luneberry. it totally draws all the attention in the image to the tiny human, and not the props around him and at the same time giving a nice uniform and clean look overall. this collection probably took me about a year to build up to, and i am so pleased with it. this makes my decision making a breeze. i do have other bonnets in this hue, so i don’t have the same set up repeated over and over each time i want to use it.

xoxo,

olive

children inspired knits mama knits newborn personal studio Photography

photographing babies in grey

June 25, 2018August 15, 2019Brienne Kristen Photography4 Comments

happy monday friends!

last post we talked about photographing babies in cream, let’s look at photographing babies in grey!

honestly, grey is a color i really struggle with! i tend to shoot fairly warm in kelvin, and i edit pretty warm too! so that leaves my grey’s looking kinda blah… more greige if you will (which i understand is a pretty popular color right now)

all that to say, when i DO use grey in my images i edit a little more on the cool side to keep my grey’s GREY!

i am learning to love the greys, especially on babies with dark hair like this little fella! i feel the darker colors make baby pop a little more too, making them the center of the image.

less is always more for me.

i LOVE seeing other photographers with intricate images, using multiple props and such… but i find my style tends to be a little more simple. <3

i like having layers and textures in my newborn images.

using the fluff from the fabulous oh so fleeting always turns out amazing. she offers a wide variety of fluff styles and colors. if you’re looking to add some depth to your images, check out her shoppy shop, you won’t be disappointed. 😉

also… i’m loving the wrapped baby look.

i find i don’t do too much with nakey babies any longer. i’ve had momma’s not want a tush out, or other skin exposed…

so i’ve stocked up on wraps and bonnets from the absolutely amazing mama knits. i even have a bonnet and wrap set named after me in her shop! i’ve purchased MANY wraps and bonnets from a myriad of vendors, and hands down ashlee’s wraps and bonnets are always spot on for sizing, color, and stretch. she also custom makes sets! i LOVE having her custom sets made for me, because it ensures that ALL my colors coordinate! this makes my sessions go SO much more smoothly, and editing is such a breeze when all colors are from the same pallet. <3

hope this is helpful! and yes…. i type like i talk. 😉

here is baby isaac in grey <3

mama knits newborn oh so fleeting personal studio Photography

joshua 1:9

April 11, 2018August 15, 2019Brienne Kristen Photography4 Comments

Your love, in wave after wave
crashes over me, crashes over me
for You are for us
You are not against us
Champion of Heaven
You made a way for all to enter in

cause You make me brave
You make me brave
You call me out beyond the shore into the waves
You make me brave
You make me brave
no fear can hinder now the love that made a way

i am so proud of you, brave mama <3

family maternity outdoors personal traveling Photography

tori maternity

April 3, 2018August 15, 2019Brienne Kristen Photography10 Comments

hello everyone!

here is the first session of two that tori and i did during my trip to louisiana last month!

tori texted me before i flew out, and asked me if i would consider doing a milk bath session when i came down! i was SO excited! this is my first attempt, and i am very pleased

with the results! we had a lot of fun planning this out, and also during!

we sent her eldest boy out on a mission to cut us some wisteria blooms for this session. he also got us some gorgeous azaleas out of her yard. i love that we were able to use local flowers!

i hope you enjoy tori’s beautiful milk bath maternity session!

xoxo, olive

maternity newborn personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

new orleans

March 26, 2018August 13, 2019Brienne Kristen PhotographyLeave a comment

hello friends!!

i just got back from louisiana this week, and what fun it was! i’ve been to the south 7 times, and this was by far the most fun experience yet!

my friend tori, of tori courtney photography is expecting her baby girl in may! she asked me to come and take her maternity images at her favorite lake… and of course i couldn’t say no!

i headed out fairly early from pdx on thursday morning, with my beloved house of flynn bags. if you’re a photographer, or just even a bag lover… you should totally check out maureen’s bag collections. you can find them HERE. i love the evermore bags, the backpacks, the shoot cases, and of course the travlers wallet.

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

my flights were great, and my seatmates were all amazing. i love how the Lord always has someone for me to sit by. He never fails, each time. <3

friday was our photo day, and we were super excited! however the weather was a little uncooperative! there were thunder showers all day long! but we got a quick break and headed out to fontainebleau state park, and did some quick shots before the rain came back! both mom and dad LOVE to fish, and really wanted to incorporate the water in their session. how gorgeous is this location? so in love! <3

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

after our session, tori started talking about something called a snowball…. and low and behold it’s a SNOWCONE, but better! these have such a velvety texture!! they are so much better than the snowcones you get up here in the pnw! and the have a million flavors and add ice cream to them as well! i loved the little gummy bear on top too. needless to say, i was in heaven with the drive through snowball places…. and we sure went a few times!

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

the next day we had tori’s best girlfriend come over with her new little baby boy. tori and i had a mini newborn session in her house! we worked on lighting and posing, and wrapping. i am SO proud of my little grasshopper! (thanks sabrina! 😉 )

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

that night, nate went out and got crawfish. for the life of me i couldn’t figure out what crawfish was, until tori showed me a picture.

crawdad. it’s a crawdad. we used to catch these in the river up here and bring them to my mother, and she would eat them.

needless to say, this was an EXPERIENCE for me.

like a teeny tiny lobster…. but not.

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

mister nate showing me how to uh, “shell” them. tori took a video of me as well, but we shall leave that one out. 😉

**omgosh tori the toothbrush! her little man would carry around two toothbrushes all day long! he loved the way the suction cups would make a sound on everything!

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

so let’s talk southern bugs…

i’ve been to tennessee a couple times and oklahoma once, and south carolina once. and never ever ever in my life have i seen such giant bugs like there are in louisiana. i’m hunting a carpenter bee in these images, because i’ve never seen such a large bee!! we have bugs up here, but we also have a million types of spiders… so it’s kinda like natural pest control. 🙂

tori also took video, but we will leave that out as well.

i’m not scared of bugs, but DANG.

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

the day i flew out, tori and i took a trip to noew orleans.

now, i’ve been before. and i swore i would never ever go back. i do not like bourbon street. at all. you couldn’t pay me enough money to go back to that hell. and i REALLY didn’t like all the voodoo places. it’s not funny, and it’s not cute. it’s not something to play with. just walking by those places gets your spirit on guard.

however going to new orleans with a native was completely different. we hit the french market, which i had been to before… but it was different this time. she showed me all the fun things that i NEEDED to try while i was here. this market reminded me of pike place market in seattle, one of my favorite places. 🙂

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

she took me for a muffuletta sandwich! i’ve never heard of this before and it was amazing! they even had gluten free bread for me! i took the cheese off though… no cheese for me.

and now i’m addicted and desperately trying to find the olive salad and i can’t find it!

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

we hit aunt sally’s for praline’s which i had never had either! i will be ordering these for delivery…

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

i couldn’t pass this gem up.

and NO i didn’t try any.

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

our trip couldn’t be complete without a picture of us together.

i just love this woman. she has a special place in my heart.

she is such a beautiful woman of Christ, and she definitely has a divine anointing on her life. i cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for our friendship!

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

so my flight home… sucked.

i’ve never had such an awful experience with southwest airlines.

my flight out of nola was so delayed, i would miss my connection in LA. so they gave me a different flight with a connection in oakland airport.

that flight was delayed two hours.

we get to oakland airport, and all of us pdx travelers have a 3.5 hour delay…. because the last pdx flight had left 5 minutes prior to our arrival. couldn’t hold it?

needless to say, i was pretty ticked and tired. i toured all over the oakland airport wing i was in, got decaf and oatmeal because starbucks was the only thing open.

finally it was time to go, and we all landed at pdx at 1am, which was 3am my adjusted time.

our luggage had been sitting out in the rain, so everyone’s items were soaked, and my case was broken.

it was like living in the twilight zone. way to go southwest, you’re winning it.

maternity personal traveling Uncategorized Photography

overall i had a wonderful trip, and i am really looking forward to returning when baby lakeleigh arrives in may! i’ve not had super wonderful experiences in the south, but i have to say i do love louisiana.

i’ll be posting images from tori’s outdoor AND indoor images this week!

xoxo, olive

rainbow baby

March 7, 2018August 14, 2019Brienne Kristen Photography3 Comments

hello friends <3

today we are going to read about sweet jody. if you’ve been following along here then you will recognize this mama. if you’re new here, you can read jody’s story about infant loss here.

jody is back on the blog today with her rainbow baby story…

xoxo, olive

What is a rainbow baby?

A rainbow baby is a sweet blessing that is born after the loss of a previous baby. The term was coined to describe the hope of what is to come after a family has suffered through and survived the storm of the loss of a baby.

In my case, when I saw the word PREGNANT on that test, I was filled with an overwhelming slew of emotions all at once. There was joy and fear. There was love and sadness. I was afraid that people might think I was trying to replace my son Jack, who died shortly after birth when he and his twin sister Kate were born at 25 weeks. I was also nervous to tell people because I knew that some people would judge us for having another baby and think we were crazy. I was worried about how my big kids would feel and how my husband and I would feel. And I was extremely worried about my own mental health. You see, after Jack died, I was eventually diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. There was a time when I thought that PTSD only happened to soldiers, but then I was living it. The emotional flooding, the sleepless nights, the rabbit holes of thought where I would blame myself for everything that happened and cry out to God wishing I could go back and make a different choice.

And now here I was, pregnant with another sweet baby who was due in March just like the twins had been due in March. So many of these pregnancy milestones would fall right around the same time that they had with my previous pregnancy. I knew without a doubt that this would be a difficult road to walk and I was feeling anxious. However, I was determined not to let this disorder steal my joy. I had a strong desire to be present during this pregnancy and to enjoy my kids and be there to support them with their own emotional struggles. I didn’t want to spend the whole pregnancy living in fear of the unknown and the what-ifs.

So, I poured into my bible. I read and read and read scriptures that helped me remember that my trust belonged with the LORD. I memorized key verses that I could turn to in times when I was really struggling. I sought out a counselor and kept weekly sessions so I could learn how to process my feelings and be present in the moment. I prayed and journaled and I reached out to friends and family and asked for their help on the days when I was really struggling. Being a Christian and living with PTSD while pregnant with a rainbow baby did not mean that I never suffered with anxiety. There were days and moments that were terribly hard. There were times when I was blindsided with emotion. There were times when I woke my husband up in the middle of the night to pray for me or when I called my friends or my Aunt because it was too hard to do it alone. I needed to hear prayer. I needed them to stand in the gap for me. I needed them to have faith when my faith was failing. And they did! I had anxious moments but I didn’t live there. I had hard days but I didn’t let those thoughts steal my joy.

Now as I gaze at this beautiful photo of my daughter smiling down at my big belly, I am filled with thankfulness. Having this rainbow baby has been a hard road but it’s also been beautiful. We are all filled with a joyous expectation as we await his arrival. I feel like love has won over fear. What a blessing Judah already is and will continue to be!

maternity personal studio Photography