Kristin Brown Photography » Logan UT Wedding & Portrait Photography

  • hello.

    welcome to the online journal for kristin brown photography! i am a wedding & portrait photographer based in northern utah. i blog about my photography, life with my wonderful husband, and all the big and little stuff in between.

    feel free to explore my recent posts, the information in the menu bar on top, or dig back into the archives. i'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment or send me an email to say hi! thanks for coming!

02.29.12

life right now • weeks 7 & 8

Although my last two self portraits obviously didn’t get posted on the blog while I was gone, I still made sure to take the photos themselves on the right weeks — I would have been so mad at myself for missing any this early in the year!  So to catch up. . .

WPPI was incredible this year. I took SO many classes, along with a two-day workshop, and crammed so much knowledge into that week. I took lots and lots of notes and felt so excited about what I was gaining from these speakers. It wasn’t just the technical stuff, but I ended up feeling so inspired by the photographers.

And I feel like I’m finally starting to understand that even though there are so many successful people teaching so many different things, I don’t need to (and can’t) run my business like they run theirs or take my photos like they take theirs. The purpose is to take little bits and pieces from each photographer that fit my vision for my business and photography and combine them with my own knowledge and ideas and let that become what shapes my business.

I left with so many notes and ideas and exciting plans for the future of my business and photography. I can’t wait to put things into motion.

P.S. I do apologize for the crappy iPhone photo that is Week 7′s self portrait. Taking the time to set up the self-portraits I usually take would have been VERY time-consuming and VERY embarrassing for my photographer friends to witness. :)

I’m about to get all romantic on you. After eight days away from my Kenny, I could not believe how nice it was to be together again. I couldn’t stop hugging him and kissing him and telling him everything I’d bottled up and didn’t have time to tell him on our short phone conversations while we were apart.

Kenny and I are both very independent people. We do okay being apart if we have to be — we just find things to occupy ourselves and we don’t really fall to pieces. And after my teary goodbye to Kenny the day I left (the day after Valentine’s Day! It was brutal!), my mind was just focused on other things. And I did miss him, but I was so wrapped up in everything else that I didn’t really have time to think about it too much. But when he and my parents showed up at the airport in Las Vegas to pick me up on the way to California, I was just SO HAPPY to be with him again. I’m independent, but obviously I still REALLY need that guy. When we first got married, it used to scare me a little bit (just how much I needed him). But now I’ve realized that it’s okay to need the one who matters most to you. :)

P.S. Disclaimer on this photo: I never said the self portrait had to only include me! Also, I didn’t actually set this up myself. My dad took it for me (after I told him what I wanted)!

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This post is part of my Project 52 for this year — a project where I take one self portrait each week of the year that represents “life right now.” To read more about it, see here and to see the past weeks in the series, see here.

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02.28.12

back to real life

I am home! After two back-to-back wonderful trips that kept me away from snowy Logan for 11 beautiful days, I have finally returned. It feels like I was gone for SO long.

WPPI in Las Vegas was so great — long, but so packed full of amazing things. And you know how we were supposed to go to Mexico? Well, our plans had to change last minute. Things were just not working out for the places we were going and with the remote destinations we fly to, things were just going wrong. . . questionable weather, runways being closed, etc. So we went with the flow and decided that since we all had the time off anyway, we’d go to Carmel, California, which turned out to be SO. FUN. I loved it there. I still got my fill of the ocean and time with Kenny and my parents, plus it was a lot shorter of a flight and a less stressful trip in general. So even though I was pretty sad to miss my Mexico trip again (two years in a row — what are the chances??) I loved the way things ended up. I have lots of photos to share from both trips soon, but I have to catch up and get back in the swing of regular life first. :)

Happy Tuesday!

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Catherine - February 28, 2012 - 9:17 AM

Carmel is one of my absolute favorite places in the world, glad you had two great vacations!! :)

02.18.12

at wppi

What?? It’s Saturday? How have I not blogged for five days? Oh right, because Tuesday I was stressed to the max about leaving town for two weeks, Wednesday I was on my way out of town, and Thursday and Friday have been packed full of learning from the amazing Cliff Mautner at WPPI. And in between, I haven’t had a laptop and only scattered internet. :)

So, this is just me checking in and letting you know I will be pretty quiet around here for the next week or so. I do have access to email until Thursday, but after that, emails will be returned when I get back on February 29th. Happy weekend!

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02.13.12

suddenly…

. . .my week looks like this:

My vacations are here! Wednesday I fly to Las Vegas for WPPI (a photography conference), then next week my parents and Kenny are picking me up on their way to Mexico, where we’ll spend six more days. I’m SO excited. . . but I just can’t really figure out how it got here so soon!

I am now trying to plan two weeks’ worth of outfits for two very different trips and figuring out how to cram it all into one small suitcase (without any large bottles of liquids so I don’t have to check a bag–which is difficult since I’ll need two weeks’ worth of toiletries). I’m trying to make the extremely difficult decision on whether or not to take my iPad to Mexico (where there will be no internet/cell service and lots of sand which Kenny is SURE will horribly scratch my screen). I’m also trying to finish up a ginormous to-do list before I go. And I need to get a gift and plans ready for Kenny for Valentine’s Day tomorrow.

In other news, I had my first engagement session of the year on Saturday and it was so much fun. I’m getting so excited for my year of weddings. We also went out with some friends to Firehouse, where we devoured their 36 inch pizza, which was of course, delicious. (Just to be clear. . . I only had 2 pieces. I’m still a lady!) This weekend I have also been reading Organized Simplicity and have been inspired to clean all the clutter out of my house before we move. (Why did I think this was a good project to start before I leave on vacation for two weeks. . . ?) Our house is also empty of groceries and it’s really hard for me to want to go buy any when I’m leaving town. . . even though Kenny is sticking around. :) I should probably be a good wife and stock up for him before I leave.

So, that’s my week. I swear, I’m not complaining about going on these two awesome trips back to back. . . even though it does cause me a little stress. :) I’m SO excited to take a couple vacations during these dreary January and February months and it’s TOTALLY worth all the busy-ness before getting on that plane!

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Katie Warner - February 13, 2012 - 1:50 PM

…do I get to see you before you leave?

02.10.12

life right now • week 6

I feel like there are two Kristins. Good Kristin and Bad Kristin. The good Kristin is happy and nice to people and generally pleasant to be around. She gives people the benefit of the doubt when someone does something that could be offensive and tries to not worry when she has a bad day.

But sometimes. . . something happens to entice the bad Kristin to the surface. Bad Kristin is easily offended. She thinks that everyone is ganging up on her and has collectively decided to be mean to her on the same day. She assumes the worst of people and doesn’t want anyone to talk to her. And the worst part?? She sort of even enjoys being mad.

Bad Kristin was visiting this week. I had a few awful days that tested my resolve — tested whether all these amazing things I’ve been learning over the last little while would actually be put into action when things got hard. Luckily, my bad self was only around for a couple days before I snapped out of it.

But it got me thinking about these two sides of me and wondering how to encourage the good self to stay around and the bad self to stay away. But I’m pretty sure I know the answer. Expect bad things to happen once in a while. When they do, remember what keeps me happy and balanced — having time to pray and ponder, eating healthy food, getting enough sleep, spending quality time with Kenny, having productive time working, and making time to relax. If I keep doing those things, even when I have an awful day or someone makes me mad, Good Kristin is bound to overpower Bad Kristin quickly.

I also maybe could remember that when it’s not easy to bounce back from the bad moods, watching Friends and eating a donut are perfect tools for the transition. :)

(Does my self portrait make sense?? You know. . . the two sides? Get it. . . ?)

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This post is part of my Project 52 for this year — a personal project where I take one self portrait each week that represents “life right now.” To read more about it, click here and to see all the past weeks in the series, click here.

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Tara Siddoway - February 11, 2012 - 12:55 PM

Ha-we ARE the same person. Weird. And I totally get how sometimes it can just seem easier to just be mad and irritated and that trying to be happy and cheerful is just too much effort. Life is up and down all the time, and there’s nothing wrong with watching Friends and eating doughnuts when that’s all that appeals to you! Hope things are going better!

Belinda Olsen - February 13, 2012 - 11:31 PM

What a beautiful portrait! I love this post and relate to it on many levels. :) ‘friends’ makes any time, a funny time!