Adrienne Brand Photography

Remember the old slogan, "Just do it!" from Nike? According to Greek mythology, "Nike" is actually the goddess of victory, so I'm guessing their subliminal message is that if you wear Nike sneakers, you'll be victorious. Well what about, "Just find the time!" What product will make me victorious in finding time? My friends would all agree that the most whining I do is over my lack of time. They've got a million great ideas that would help with my freelance graphic design and photography, but my response is usually, "Awesome. Now if I can only find the time." A project manager friend of mine told me to just prioritize whats on my list. Awesome. Now if I can find the time to do that ... and does "prioritize my to-do list" go on the top of my to-do list? So far I've done an outstanding job rewriting those to-do lists. I've read several hundred times that creating lists only gets you so far — at some point you'...

Ah, it's the most wonderful time of the year! The summer is in full swing, your kids are outside in the sprinkler and you're contemplating your calendar for the start of a new school year. So why would you be thinking, "When is the best time to hire a photographer for our holiday cards?" Because most photographers start booking their fall calendars in the summer. Is it too early to photograph my holiday photos in the fall? Absolutely not! Fall foliage is an awesome backdrop for photos! The only other time that would be better for holiday photos is in the winter, but you'd have to hire the photographer AFTER the holidays are over, and that's obviously too late if you want to mail holiday photo cards to family and friends. So when should I hire the photographer? When should I book the photographer? One of the biggest issues that folks have when hiring photographers is actually the initial contact. It's difficult to ask a photographer what y...

Rollin In The Heep , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. Out east on Long Island is the Harbes Family Farm, where each year they hold a Sweet Corn Festival. This year my son and I went, mainly because he loves the grounds and all the children-friendly items. This is a great spot for children's portraits because its not typical, yet not really distracting. If you have a client who is more toward the country side, I would suggest finding a farm similar to Harbes - if not Harbes itself - and photograph the portraits there. Just remember to ask the owners if you're allowed to photograph on the grounds... and bring business cards! Happy Shooting!

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Winged King Tut - 2011 Coney Island Mermaid Parade , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. I received the best compliment this morning! Art by Davey, the maker of this fabulous Winged King Tut costume, which appeared in the 2011 Coney Island Mermaid Parade, wrote this via Flickr: "what amazing shot!!! King tut Gold thank you again ...great composition...!!!!!!" Considering how difficult it is to shoot people in parades, and how many photographers end-up getting the same stale images chock-full of background noise, I consider this a huge compliment! Davey is going to post it on his website, http://www.artbydavey.com/ Thanks so much, Davey - all the best to you and your fab costume! Happy Shooting! Adrienne

2011 Coney Island Mermaid Parade , a photo by PhotoGraphicGirl on Flickr. At the far end of the throngs of mermaids at the 2011 Coney Island Mermaid Parade was a group of friends dressed in red ensembles. What I loved about this group of young folks is that they seemed to be having an awesome time, and they didn't give a rat's butt about the fact that they weren't really mermaids at all. What I love about these images is that they're not perfect. Blown out, very contrasty... I threw a filter on them and I love it. Why? Because it shows their emotion more than the costume or the background or the perfection of rest of the half-naked people at the parade. I love this group of mermaids and this photo. It's one of my favs from the Mermaid Parade. Thanks for the real emotion girls! Rock on! Adrienne

2011 Coney Island Mermaid Parade , originally uploaded by PhotoGraphicGirl . I have to say that so far, this is one of my favorite photographs of the 2011 Coney Island Mermaid Parade. And this image was caught with Nikon's 18-55mm f4-5.6 zoom lens. It's a kit lens. This year the parade was chock-full-of-photographers. In fact, there were so many photographers that the costumed parade-goers often looked confused and slightly overwhelmed. One thing I would suggest if you're in this situation as a photographer is to definitely bring a zoom lens. While the prime lens will produce wicked sharp images, the chances of you actually getting the composition that you want is slim. Why? Take the 2011 Coney Island Mermaid Parade for example: there were so many photographers in the way that when I moved, I bumped into other photographers who were right on top of me. Within an hour I switched back to my D80 with the zoom. The zoom - as a matter of fact - that is a KIT lens. Folks may scof...