EXTRA!! EXTRA!! WE HAVE A NEW BLOG...

Because there are a few Brooke B's out there

( I found out after googling...yay internet)

I have decided to change to a NEW name that is all my own!

Please follow me at:

BrookeBakkenPhotography.blogspot.com

Same photographer...Just a NEW name!

To start off the new blog right,

I am doing a GIVEAWAY so make sure to check it out!

LOVES!

B

Brady at 8 Months {Utah County Child Photographer}

I can't believe this little guy is already 8 months! Time is FLYING by! 

He is on the verge of crawling. He pulls up on you or anything he can. One day very

soon, I will be chasing him all over the house I just know it.

He is my big ball of energy! He laughs constantly, he is super tickle-ish and I LOVE

his little laugh. I might be a little bias though because I think it sounds just like mine! Now I know

what people mean when they say my laugh makes them laugh, because every time he laughs, I die laughing too!

He LOVES to watch cartoons in the morning. I love it too because I get to cuddle up with him before

we have to start our day and part ways. His favorites are Special Agent Oso, Handy Manny and he LOVES

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I could sing each theme song to you by heart, that's how much we watch it!

He loves books and loves to eat them :) He loves his kitty Lucy, although she isn't as fond of him...we 

get a little rough with our kitty because we are so excited to pet her!

This little boy is such a fun kid to be around, and has captured my whole heart!

I love you Brady Michael Bakken. Happy 8 months my love!

He would ONLY smile like this at Daddy...Not at me!

Love that tongue!

There is the tongue again!

My Lil' Cutie {Utah County Child Photographer}

Brady was in quite a goofy mood last night, so I wanted to take advantage of all his smiles and giggles.

Since he has been teething big time, we have been a little on the irritated side

(for example the pics from this weekend at the graffiti-NOT a happy camper), but not last night.

I am pretty sure he is my biggest fan and thinks I'm hilarious, which is a boost to my confidence :)

I sure do love this little kid! He is on the verge of crawling any day now, so I am trying to take advantage 

of taking his picture while he is still in one place!

Most likely this is picture overload....But these are the ones that I actually narrowed it down to!

Straight Up Gangster {Utah County Child Photographer}

Seeming that Brady lives in good ol' Provo, Utah I think it is safe to assume he will never be a thug. He won't have songs to write like Eminem coming from 8 mile or anything of the sort.

But I couldn't resist taking some photos near the tracks complete with graffiti. We can at least

pretend for the whole 15 minutes that I took his picture,

that he is the complicated bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks! 

He OFFICIALLY has had ENOUGH!

Look at that face...I think I am getting the look of death!

No mom...I refuse to smile!

We were teething BIG TIME this weekend.

So much drool and some serious whining going on!

But I sure am excited to see these top teeth appear soon!

Sneak Peek {Utah County Family Photographer}

This has taken me WAY too long to put on the blog, but here is a sneak peek of the rather LARGE group pictures I took a week ago. I have never taken pictures of a group this big or with this many kids. The sun was rather bright that day and they were all really good sports. The kids were SO dang cute and I loved watching all of them have so much fun with their cousins. I would definite;y do more big group shots if every group was as amazing as this one. Guys thanks for being so patient with me and I hope you love your sneak peek! There is definitely more to come! Enjoy!

Divertimento Foto Venerdi (Fun Foto Friday)

This week's Fun Foto Friday is in Italian....

What seems like forever ago, I was able to go to Italy for almost 2 weeks with the BYU soccer team.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to play in any games because a few months prior I tore all the ligaments in my

knee. Actually I pretty much ruptured them. Anywho, I was still super grateful for the opportunity
to travel and see such an amazing place! Italy was CRAZY cool, and I want so badly to go back with my family.

I loved all the history and all the architecture there. Seeing so many cathedrals was amazing and I'm not even Catholic! I had 2 amazing roommates while in Italy, Ali (UH with the JUNK!) and roachy roach coach!

There was never a dull moment with these 2 and memories I will always cherish!

These are 2 of my favorite photos from the trip...

This is from the bell tower in Venice. Venice was one of the coolest cities we went to.
This is where you see famous scenes in movies with all those pigeons...
I didn't dare run through them...filthy!
But anywho...I just LOVED the view from up there!

This was a fun little place called...Bellagio, Italy.
We were in Lake Como, Italy and took a little boat ride to get here.
There were so many cool steps and ally ways here and so many cute lil' shops.
Oh and I just so happened to see my BROTHER here!
Um, what? Ya that's right.
He traveled to Germany around the same time we went to Italy.
Apparently you can get here by going through Switzerland as well.
So there I was on the other side of the globe and what do I hear?
A large man screaming "Brookie" to get my attention.
CRAZY! But quite the memory!

A Boy and HIs Wagon {Utah County Child Photographer}

BrookeB Photo Boot Camp has commenced. This is definitely a new experience for me. 

I am used to working out and getting in shape physically, between playing soccer, running track, gymnastics and being a Junior Lifeguard in the summers in Ca, I have always been in "shape". After playing soccer at BYU came a new kind of "in shape". I no longer had to be able to play for 90 minutes straight. So the time in the gym changed. It no longer became about sprints but about toning my body to the way I wanted it to look. I also had to change my diet BIG TIME. I no longer could eat anything and everything because I would just burn it off later.  There was no later unless I wanted to spend 3 hours in the gym. No thank you!

Anywho, without me rambling on this is a new kind of "in shape" for me. I am working on my exposures,

working on finding the best lighting, but also working on making the not so yummy lighting work.

I know that I will not always have the best shooting scenarios, and I need to feel like I can shoot in anything.

Yesterday I went outside and  did some shoots in broad open sunlight. The sun was still a little high, but Brady

was gettin' a little cranky so it was now or never! So we went on the side of our house and took a few

clicks of the camera and I tried to adjust exposure the best I could. 

It is amazing to me how much the exposure can affect the white balance (skin tone) in a picture.

I will be working on this as well! Like I said....Boot Camp has commenced.

Here are the results from yesterday....

I mean look at this face!!!

He has this thing with sticking his tongue out lately...

And there it is again!!

My Ray of Sunshine {Utah County Child Photographer}

To say yesterday was a bad day for me would be an understatement.

I have actually had a couple of those within the last week, all on unrelated

topics, but I guess when it rains it pours. 

One of my many woes, was feeling inadequate as a photographer.

Maybe I just want to be amazing all at one time, and when I see the photographers I 

aspire to be like and all their awesomeness, I get a little down on myself. I need to remind

myself that Rome was not built in a day, and neither will my photography skills.

I need to practice, practice, practice. And then practice some more.

So yesterday after work that's exactly what I did. I took my adorable little boy, my trusty Nikon

and my favorite lens and cruised over to the random warehouse by my house.

On a bad day, Brady was my ray of sunshine. I worked on getting my exposures right, my white

balance correct and then remembering to have fun. 

His smile made me smile, and watching him observe the cars as they drove by was quite

entertaining as well.  He was mesmerized by them to say the least.

So here is what practice looked like last night....

 Love that smile!

This is the sequence of him watching a car drive by....he is so focused!

The Giraffe is DELICIOUS!

Brady, I love you to the moon and back!

Thanks for letting mommy practice and take pictures

of how adorable you are!

Fun Foto Friday

Guess what day it is!!!??? Fun Foto Friday!! I somewhat dread/really look forward to this day each week.  We have a love hate relationship really.  On one hand it's FRIDAY!! YAY! But on the other, it's letting the general public on a not so secret confession.....I am a total nerd. I make funny faces. I take crazy self-portraits and now I am posting those less than beautiful pictures for everyone to enjoy! But you know what? I actually love it.

Some of my fondest memories I have taken the craziest pictures. Each picture that I am doing something 

less than flattering has a story behind it, so I can see that picture anywhere and remember exactly where I was or

what I was feeling. That's what I love about photography. It has a way to capture emotion in an instant.

Take these photos for instance....

Our roommate and friend Jamie had just been married in the SLC temple

and we were a little excited her based off of these cheesy grins on our faces....perhaps?

Not quite sure what look we were going for here BUT I do feel bad now for the photographer

trying to take one giant group shot of everyone on the steps of the temple, meanwhile

2 idiots are in the back somewhere making ridiculous faces.

So to Jamie, I am sorry if you got any crazy group shots with these two faces in there!

We love you! <3

Traci,

Thank you for allowing me to post all these ridiculous faces. I honestly don't have a single one 

without you in them! We make me laugh! :) We are awesome!

The Beautiful Holly {Utah County Maternity Photographer}

Holly and Alex will be bringing a beautiful little girl into this world any day now! She will no doubt be loved and have beautiful skin! I was so grateful that Holly contacted me to capture this special time in their loves. I love the way that Alex looked at Holly and made her smile and light up inside. He no doubt will be the same way with his little girl. Alex and Holly I hope you love your pictures and will look back on them in years to come and smile and remember how excited you were for this new adventure!