Holiday Favorites.. Episode One

I love Christmas. No, I really truly do. I love everything, I love red velvet bows, I love cheesy Christmas movies, I love classic Christmas music, I love it all! But, some things I love above others, and since it's my blog, I thought I'd share! :)

Christmas Movies:
I love lots of Christmas movies, but there is one, that I hold in esteem above all others. If you ask me my number one favorite Christmas movie of all time, I can answer you, without hesitation... Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer!

Why Rudolph, you say? Well, it's cute, it has fun songs, it's a good length, and most of all, it teaches that not everybody has to be the same, and that differences are good! Can you really GET any better than that? I think not.



I have all sorts of sweet Rudolph loot too, figurines, ornaments, a furry singing rudolph, a tee shirt.. You name it! Bless my husband for putting up with my weird Rudolph obsession!

Christmas Music:

I love lots and lots of Christmas music. Although generally my music tastes tend to be pretty alternative, I love classic Christmas music. But one man owns my heart as far as my favorite Christmas songs. That man is the one, the only, Elvis!



Elvis singing Blue Christmas is one of the greatest sounds that will ever come across the human ears. I love Elvis in general, but Elvis + Christmas = freaking AWESOME!

If you don't already have an Elvis Christmas CD (for shame!) here is a nice inexpensive one on Amazon that you can get in time to enjoy the soothing voice of Elvis for your holiday season.

I have more favorites (can you believe it?) that I will share as we get closer to Christmas. Please feel free to drop me a comment sharing some of YOUR favorite holiday sights and sounds!

Jeanette, Jeff and JJ - Rockstar family session!

Oh my goodness! I had so much fun with this family. Not only are they tall and gorgeous with ridiculously blue eyes, BUT they love to laugh, and love to have fun. They were totally down with whatever wacky ideas I had and let me tell you.. someone needs to give JJ his own TV show. That kid is a natural! Thanks for braving the chilly air you guys!

Here's a sneak peek.. it was so hard picking just a few, because there are so many awesome ones!




See what I mean with the blue eyes?


This makes me giggle. lol!


What a gorgeous kid! I mean.. uh.. devilishy handsome young man ;) Just in case you think he was all serious looks, take a look below:


Personality, he's got it!


This was Jeff's request and I LOVE it!


Cutest mom and dad ever!


Muscle man pose!


Told you they were lots of fun! Thanks for hanging out with me today you guys and I will have lots more photos to show you soon!

Brandy and Katie part duex!

Next up we have more of the wonderful Brandy and Katie from their session on 11.09.08. These two are super sweet and we had a lot of fun roaming around Deep Ellum.





Lots of smiling and laughing, which I LOVE!


A-MAZING mural + sunflare = WIN! Brandy and Katie were excited about this sweet mural as I was!






I always love a good vertical/horizontal contrast. :)


Katie..


...Brandy!



Heading out to a family session that is sure to be lots of fun this afternoon. We're going to have to do lots of running around to keep warm on this chilly winter afternoon!

Stay tuned for some sneaky-peeks later on tonight. :)

Jayme and Matt part duex!

Now that I was able to play a little catch up and finish editing several sessions, I will make some overdue posts full of goodies..

Starting with Jayme and Matt on November 8th.





They have a cool house!


Jayme's fave!




awwwwwwwwww!!








Yummy, yummy fall colors!!



More coming soon!

Music Video Friday - Holiday Edition

I hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving with their family and friends!

Since the holidays are upon us, I will gladly be moving the Music Video Friday into holiday mode!

First up.. we have U2 - Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home).. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving (early!)

Since it's unlikely I will be on to blog tomorrow, I wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of you out there in blog-land!

I am thankful for a lot in my life, more than I have the time to write about! I am taking these few days off school to buzz around like crazy getting stuff done.

There is something I am VEEEEEEERYYYYYYY thankful for.. The best thing that ever happened to me.




Woohooo.. my hubby is a hottie!



Be back on Friday afternoon. I hope you all have a GREAT Thanksgiving and have fun shopping if you're crazy enough (like us) to brave Black Friday.

Announcements: Updates for the New Year and Nice and Naughty sessions!

Well, we're staring at the face of a new year. That means it's time for a little house cleaning around here! Brandi Thompson Photography will be undergoing a few changes for the New Year!


Portrait Pricing is changing!
This will be more of a structure change than a real price increase. Portrait sessions after the new year will start at $200 dollars and include a $50 dollar print credit. Details will be available to those interested in booking sessions in 2009!

Contracts and Retainers
Signed contracts and retainers will be required within a week of booking your session to save your portrait session date. I have not currently been requesting contracts, but due to the increase in requests for dates, this is the best way to ensure everybody gets what they want!

Gallery overhaul!
During the holiday season I will finally have a chance to add lots of new photos to the site galleries! So be sure to check it out after January 1st!

Nice and Naughty Sessions!
Brandi Thompson Photography will now be offering unique boudoir sessions. Our boudoir sessions are for ladies who prefer a classic, girly pin up style! Think Vargas and his nice, yet naughty pinup girls.

We are currently running a super special until January 17th, 2009 for ladies interested in helping me build my boudoir/pin up portfolio. Get up to two hours of session time AND a 5x7 press printed book of your favorite photos to present to your sweetie for only $150! You must approve a minimum of half a dozen photos to go into a password secured boudoir gallery that will be shown to future clients.

After January 17th, Nice and Naughty sessions will be $350. If you are interested in booking a session at a mega discount, please contact me for sample images.

Love the ones you've got

There is something about my Granny that I can't put my finger on. I feel so much love for her that my heart might burst. Perhaps it's the fact she is one of the least judgmental people that I have ever met in my life. She has never exhibited anything in front of any of her grandchildren that would begin to resemble negativity or hatred. She always has listened, and she's always loved us.

My family comes from a very humble background. We are not perfect people. We aren't the people in big houses, driving nice cars, and wearing expensive clothes. I regret that I don't know even more about where my Granny came from. But she always wanted to talk about us, and not about herself. We were always so important to her.

Yesterday, we went to my Granny and Papa's house for a thanksgiving get together. They live about an hour and a half from me, outside of a small East Texas town called Mineola.

My Granny has had a lot of health problems over my life but she had been doing so well for quite a while. Yesterday, I was shocked to see her. I don't want to go into details, but she is very sick. My heart felt like it was breaking. Of course, I want nothing more than for her to overcome and get better, and be there for many more years to come. But, I've never seen her this way. It's a lot for my spirit to take. Like I said.. I love her more than I can possibly explain.

Sorry, this is a rather down blog entry from yours truly, but I just had to share because afterall, I believe that this art is about love.



Granny with me and one of my little brothers.


Granny with myself, a little brother and two of our cousins.


Granny and myself at her birthday celebration earlier this year.


Love the ones you've got, while you've got them. Call your grandparents, call your parents, call everyone that matters and let them know that you love them.

Coming soon.. Champagne's maternity session!

This soon to be Mama is gorgeous! She's expecting her little boy in about a month!

Music Video Friday - John Lennon

The one and only...

John Lennon - Imagine

The weather outside is frightful..

Okay, perhaps it's not actually frightful. Not here in Texas anyhow! Perhaps for some of our friends up in the Northern part of the country. But it is getting cold! Tonight we are supposed to hit a low of around 33, which means I will surely be burning a fire. Brrrr!

I am super excited for the holiday season. I love.love.LOVE to decorate for Christmas! I love Christmas music, I love cheesy Christmas television specials (You can ask my Husband.. I'm sort of obsessed with Rudolph).

Ah... just next week indicates the start of house decorating, tree trimming, Christmas carols and oh yeah..

...dog decorating!





Okay.. so this isn't the most 'flattering' shot in the world, but the way he looks when he's sitting like that just cracks me up! I had to include it.


Nothing says I love you quite like the look of utter annoyance.


What are YOUR favorite Christmas traditions?

Some favorites..

I just wanted to post sort of a variety of shots that I haven't posted before.. :)

Sarah and baby Savannah


Rebekah, from the gorgeous Rebekah and David's wedding:


Erin, Josh and Ben:


Stephanie and Kyle


Jessica and Daniel



I have only THIRTEEN more days of classes. That is actual class days, excluding weekends, but it helps to shave off as much time as possible ;)

Coming up in the next few weeks we've got lots of goodies for you including maternity, family and a wedding.. oh my! :) See you soon!

New Contest - ALL ABOUT LOVE!

What I love about my job is that I capture exactly that… LOVE. T

The love of couples for one another, the love of a parent for a child, it’s what makes the world go ‘round.
So, this is the theme of our next contest. We’re going to make it easy. To qualify for a free session you must do the following:

1. Send me a picture of you with someone you love. I don’t care who it is. It could be your fiancé, your husband or wife, your grandmother, your baby, even your dog! Be romantic, be sweet, be mushy, be silly, be unique… Be whatever strikes you. But you MUST have a picture to play this game!
2. Tell me WHY you love this person. How you tell me is up to you. Write a paragraph, or three, write a poem, whatever strikes your fancy. I want it to be all about you! Just remember you are doing this for votes, so make it stand out!
3. Do the above things by December 6th, 2008.

Once I have received the entries, voting will run from Dec 7th to Dec 14th. The loyal blog viewing audience, AND all your friends and family can vote for one week. Whoever has the most votes wins a FREE session. Plus, as a bonus, everybody who enters qualifies for %15 off a portrait session. So, in the end, you are all winners in my book!

Now get to it.. Send me those entries!

..Back to your regularly schedule chaos.. :)

Lizz and David are troopers..

Baby, it's cold outside!

Okay, well, it's cold in Texas-speak, which means as of right now it's about in the mid 40's and the high today was only somewhere in the 50's. That's frigid!

Lizz and David actually live way on the other side of Fort Worth, and I live North of Dallas, so we met up in the adorable downtown Grapevine. I had been wanting to shoot there for a while, and this was a perfect opportunity to meet up there. They have started putting up their holiday decorations and it was just a really festive atmosphere, particularly being chilly!

Despite the wind and low temperatures, I had lots of fun running around Main street with Lizz and David, who are about as cute as cute can be! We even stopped for coffee to warm up. Yum!

Here's a sneak peek for you guys!





Helllllllllo blue eyes! I love some yummy light!


Snuggling up close, awwww.


I love me some old industrial buildings.


Love.love.love.love this shot. Hands can say so much!


I had so much fun with you guys! I love my job.. Can life get much better than creating art while hanging out with super cool people? I think not!

Swamped..

Just to let everyone know, if I am a little slow over the next week or week and a half.. I am NOT ignoring you. I am just up to my eyeballs with school work. We only have a few weeks left and it is mega-crunch time. I have three papers (all group projects, my favorite .. har har) and two presentations due next week alone, and a bunch of other stuff due very soon there after.



But, that should probably say week.. not day :P

Music Video Friday - Talk Talk

I was listening to this yesterday and I thought it'd be a nice song for today's music video!

Schedule Updates

Just wanted to post a quick schedule update for anyone thinking of scheduling a shoot. I am still open Saturday, November 29th. That is the LAST weekend date I will schedule in November. If you absolutely want to do a session in November, I can probably squeeze in a couple of weekday shoots, but you have to be available at 3 PM during the week, in order to work with our shorter days!

Due to the fact I am now working as a full time photographer, I will be booking through the end of the year for the souls brave enough to come play in the December weather. Which in Texas could always be 75 degrees, you never know! My remaining weekend days in December are as follows:

Sunday, December 14th
Saturday, December 20th
Sunday, December 21st

Please contact me if you are interested in squeezing in a portrait session while we have these GORGEOUS colors in the trees!

Get your knives ready..

Just when my missing Project Runway starts to get bad, finally, tonight is the premiere of the new season of Top Chef. Who will we love to hate this time? Who will get unfairly booted off before their time? What kind of crazy challenges will they come up with this time? And what kind of inappropriate-for-the-kitchen clothing will Padma be wearing?



Of course.. I suppose if you look like Padma, you can wear whatever you want! :P

Women in Film Event - We've Got that in Development

Tonight I went out to photograph an event for Women in Film, called "We've Got that in Development". It is primarily an organization for women in the TV and film industry, but they do have photographers and other people as members as well. Although I know nothing about the TV/film industry, I found the speakers all very interesting, as well as intelligent and witty!

The event was held at the super-cool AMS Pictures building. It was one of the most interesting buildings I've ever been in, that's for sure. They had all sorts of areas that looked like different sets, such as a diner, a barber shop, a little movie theater and more.

I am a tired photographer, but I wanted to post a handful of shots before I head to bed.







The lovely announcer, who's name I have sadly forgotten (someone tell me and I'll post it!) and the moderator Tammy Nguyen Lee.


Mary Pelloni and Elaine Frontain Bryant


Karen Barnes and Kim Clemmons


If you are like me, you probably didn't recognize these ladies' names, but to help you out, here is the info from Women in Film's website:

* Elaine Frontain Bryant | A&E - Vice President, Non Fiction and Alternative Programming (Paranormal State, Psychic Kids)
* Mary Pelloni | Pelloni Entertainment - Executive Producer/Producer (Bridezillas, Paul Mooney, The Roseanne Show)
* Kim Clemons | AMS Pictures - Senior Writer/Producer (Bridezillas, Growing up Gotti, Crossing Over With John Edward)
* Karen Barnes | HIT Entertainment - Senior Vice President Development and Programming (Barney)
* Moderator - Tammy Nguyen Lee | AMS Pictures - Director of Development & Distribution and WIF.D Programs Co-Chair

That is quite a list of talented women! I was glad to have a chance to listen to what they had to say.

That's all for tonight, night night to all in blog land.