Adrienne Brand Photography

On the eastern end of Long Island is a wide assortment of parks, camp grounds and golf courses. Many photographers collect in popular locations with wheelbarrows of props for fall sessions, maneuvering through paths and foliage to get to the best locations where they photograph their clients. I don’t have props. While I love the look of some of the images that result from creative additives, I’ve been fortunate enough to have families that know how to both dress and pose themselves in order to be the center of attention. This family was such a family. While situated in front of a beautifully soft rolling background of green autumn grass, this family posed in color coordinated - though not matching - clothing that both represented their personalities as well as set them apart from the typical family. I wish I could hire this mom to give you all tips on your next session! I’ve never seen pink work so well in a fall setting, and I would love to pick her brain on what her thought proce...

Call it my relentless need to get the photo that my clients are hoping for – I happily trail my client's peanuts until I get their perky little faces "on film." I've known this little lady since she was just a baby, and now she's running like a champion. We poked around the grounds of the Cutting Arboretum on Long Island until she tired herself out, stopping by a tree to poke at some "chachkies." You can't get moments like these back, and I'm so honored to be a part of her life. Welcome to Willow's 2016 Fall Outdoor Portraits! If you know Willow, tag friends and family to the image so they can see all her shots!

Voodoo Jungle Band is a premier cover band that plays across Long Island throughout the year. If you were lucky enough to catch them on September 30 in Williston Park, New York, I'm sure you enjoyed a great show. Check out their calendar online at voodoojungleband.com and meet me at the next gig!

I've been graced with seeing multiple sides of my son's personality, from serious nine-year-old businessman to a jokester who just wants to make his mom laugh. At the beginning of his third-grade career, I told my son I wanted to photograph him on his first day of school. After torturing me with the informal tie and a baseball cap, he explained that he would be wearing his tie on day two instead of day one. I very lightly tried to bribe him into wearing a more formal outfit for his first day-which he's usually very excited about. Video games? Later bedtime? No. He wasn't having any of it. He stayed with the hat that he loved from his favorite babysitter, and the tie-dye shirt that we had purchased on our cruise vacation. I do remember he did indeed wear his tie and collared shirt on the second day of school. But without this photo I may not have remembered the entire scenario. If your children are young, capture these moments now. Because the feeling from a conversation...

🔶 For his entire 9 years, my son has only known what it's been like to hve a family of two: him and me. After years of asking and us dreaming, I finally put words into action – with much anxiety – and booked a Disney Vacation for just the two of us. I was no longer going to allow fear to dictate lackluster vacations.  🔶 After a tremendous amout of research, planning and execution, we arrived safely at our room in Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. I was exhausted, my brain practically on-fire from concern. After inspecting our entire room, I returned to the bed to drop my bag. There, on the pillow, was this note.  🔶 My eyes instantly filled with tears and I was overwelmed with love for this child of mine who was so excited and grateful to have a mom who put her fear aside – multiple times – to make his life the best it could be.  🔶As a society, we dont get moments like this often. Our culture demands a full working and playing schedule that forces these moments to slip ...

On the Gold Coast of Long Island lies a park previously owned by a person who probably had ridiculous amounts of money. The estate is perfectly landscaped with fountains and even a cottage for the ghost of caretakers gone by. The slate walkway seen here leads back to the gardener's cottage, where our little boy walked before disappearing beyond the pink haze of autumn fluffery.

If you're lucky enough to have a summer home in the Hamptons, you may have already visited the Elizabeth A. Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Sag Harbor, New York, or as I like to call it, "The Chickadee Park." The birds and chipmunks are so comfortable there that I felt like I entered Snow White's kingdom.  This past weekend was slightly overcast, but it didn't stop us from visiting the park with our entourage of children, who chased the birds around like they held the keys to Disney in their tiny claws.  This sweet little blonde peanut is my aunt's niece. I caught her being playful on the railings of the bridge. I told the adults in our pack to keep an eye on her safety while I photographed her in action. This time, however, someone got a shot of me, too! 

Photographers are creative people, and we definitely want to bring our cameras everywhere. But even photographers need to unplug. The problem that I personally have with bringing my camera is that I won't be able to completely unplug when I'm supposed to be relaxing on vacation. If I don't relax, I'll end-up with a few problems when vacation is finished: I'll end up turning my vacation into a training session and put pressure on myself If I don't completely unplug and relax during my vacation, I'll still be burned-out when I return from vacation I'll have vacation images to go through when I get home that'll put off business One thing I like do to when I'm on vacation is bring a small point-and-shoot. These cameras are pocket-sized and can take the photo as well – though not nearly as impressive as my entire rig can – but will at least preserve the memory and allow me to later contemplate how I would have shot it professionally had I had a...

I love when parents bring accessories to photo shoots! Considering I have a full time job at a worldwide advertising agency in New York City, it's less I have to think about. It also breaks up the flow and sends us on another track, often with great results. A few of my clients have brought hats that have given them what seems like a whole new set of images! I photographed one little girl after Hurricane Sandy at Avalon Park in Stony Brook, on Long Island, New York. While the gas lines stretched down the road behind us, we walked the length of the pathway up the hill and through the woods. I photographed the girl and her sister the whole time, but when we put her hat on, another personality came out completely. Something about hats makes children concentrate more on the hat than their fear of the camera. So you end-up with more genuine photos of your kids. What's great about clients like that girl – besides the hat – is that she would perfectly pose  even before I was able...

Miss & Mini , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. I'll admit there are times when I just don't feel like photographing clients. This wasn't one of those times. When a client shows enthusiasm from the very beginning, is excited about the location, what they're going to wear, talks about their children, follows up with me quickly... you know it's going to be a great shoot. These two girls posed wonderfully before I could even get my entire statement out. Most of the time I would end-up saying things like, "Yes! That's it!" And now I know why photographers shout enthusiastic statements to models, we're just so excited about how well the shoot is going and how great we think the final images will be. This shoot was taken right after Hurricane Sandy on Long Island, New York. We were going to photograph the girls at Argyle Park in Babylon, but the water still hadn't left the park, and everything was in disarray. So we went to Avalon Park in S...

The Calm After Hurricane Sandy , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. A tiny bit of calm in the wake of Hurricane Sandy... With many Long Islanders not sure about how to proceed in the wake of the storm, this client held her ground and came out to have her daughters photographed. And they were magnificent! Well behaved, good listeners, loved them, and was very glad that we could finally get their shoot done! Well worth the wait! Thanks to Ken Thalheimer and Ed Dertinger from Photographers for Freelancers Meetup, as well as an old classmate, Marc, for helping me out with the location of Avalon, I hadn't been there for a while and wasn't sure where the actual location was. Thank you!

Starting Line for Cullen's Crusaders , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. Donating time is usually a grumbling situation for photographers, but not when it comes to a worthy cause like the Walk to Defeat ALS® events. When Karen Wood's boss, Vinnie Cullen, was diagnosed with Bulbar ALS, Karen rallied together Vinnie's co-workers, friends and family to form "Cullen's Crusaders," whose main goal was to raise money in an effort to find a cure for ALS. ALS, also known as "Lou Gehrig's disease, is a is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.* In July 2012, Cullen's Crusader's, along with Vinnie Cullen, his friends and family, enjoyed a night on The Moon Chaser, a sunset cruise off Captree Boat Basin, Long Island. They later gathered again at Eisenhower Park on September 29 for the Walk to Defeat ALS. Because of the tireless efforts of Karen Wood and Cullen's Crusaders, the...

The Generators (Band Photo) , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. It's not every day you get chosen to photograph a special event in someone's life. This particular event was an ALS Benefit Cruise off Captree Boat Basin. The Generators, a cover band from Long Island, New York, was the choice of enteratinment.

Looking for Mama , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. It's funny how natural light can work with an image. We sometimes take for granted the light that spills into a home through the window. Now, add to it a white bedspread that the baby leans on, and you've got the makings of a festive image. This little boy was looking for his Mama when I got this shot. It received many "FlickrAwards" on Flickr.com.

First Communion , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. A friend of mine had a great idea – photograph her son earlier than his first communion day in order to have prints made for the "Thank you" cards. So I came to their home where he was very dapperly dressed his his Sunday finest. Yet I've come to the conclusion that Mother Nature is an old bitty who refuses to cooperate. We tried shooting in the mist, but the drops became too heavy and we were forced to come inside. Being a more experienced photographer, I know what my camera can handle, so we propped him near the nearest window and took a few shots before heading off to a nearby park that sported a picnic area with covered pergola. This boy is a charmer. He's got the greatest personality and is so willing to help. As a photographer, it's what you want your clients to be; cheerful and cooperative. We snapped a few shots inside her apartment then headed to the park. This is just one of the images from that d...

Hi folks! Florabella Collection offers an action for the Facebook Timeline. The owner of Florabella seems to be generous, I'm pretty sure she'll allow you to create diptychs for your clients as well as yourself, provided you flatten the layers before you hand over the JPG. Here's a link to the diptych. (You may have to "Like" the page.) > Here's a link to the free Diptcych action > Florabella Collection on Facebook.  << Click there for more info on Florabella as well as free actions via Florabella's Facebook page. I plan to use the diptych for my photo fan page as well as my graphic design fan page (because I think I have all the time in the world *laughing). (Click here for more info on what an old style "diptych" is.) (Click here for more info and examples of contemporary diptychs.) My results / sample: This is the diptych that I made for my Facebook Timeline, using Florabella's action. (Sorry if it shows up a tad bi...

I've been getting more involved with freelancing portrait photography, and so have been studying about retouching more in order to enhance the images that I give to clients. What is retouching? Retouching includes photo manipulations including: fixing the white balance on your image so the color is more lifelike, replacing arms or eyes, removing items from the background, inserting updated product shots, changing model positions, removing light poles... Whether you realize it or not, most of us already do some level of retouching. Actions During the last few months I've come across some Photoshop Actions that have improved the quick skin retouching that I do on portraits, as well as the color and enhancement of the photos themselves. An Action is somewhat like an enhanced filter – instead of hitting one button you hit "Play," and it runs through an entire series of gyrations that you may later manipulate mainly through your layers palette. Example! The following t...

Children's Portraits by Adrienne Brand Photography I'm a child photographer in Long Island, New York whose photographed children in their natural environment, called "lifestyle photography." Lifestyle photography means that we meet at an agreed-upon location where I'll photograph your child. Many times this creates a more realistic expression on the faces of children because they're in their own environment, versus having formal portraits done in an unfamiliar studio. After seeing the video you'll have a better understanding of the difference between studio photos and lifestyle photography. Enjoy! Adrienne Brand

Profile of a Cousin , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. For five years I ran a large photography Meetup group in New York. One of the lessons that I took from the group still resonates with me today: Don't bother to try to keep up with the Joneses. If you haven't heard the phrase, "Keeping up with the Joneses," it basically means that you're trying to advance yourself at the same rate as others in your life. Which, for most of us, is a pointless endeavor because everyone's life is different, with different challenges and needs. I recall countless members purchasing new equipment when they hadn't learned how to use the previous piece. Not being a professional photographer, I often said nothing, but tried to absorb the information they'd happily give, and I'd be grateful for that. Most recently I realized that I too was trying to keep up with the Joneses, but not with equipment... with the end result. I'd peruse galleries on various sites, ...