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Meet Brienne Michelle of Brienne Michelle Photography

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Brienne Michelle.

Brienne, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started out working for Columbia Records (Sony/BMG) in Santa Monica, in their A&R department. One of my jobs while there was to take photos of our artists to send over to the marketing departments overseas (for tour/promo prep). I had never taken photos of anyone in my life. I was engaged at the time and looking at photographers anyway, so I figured I might as well do it the right way.

After getting some advice and doing some research, I bought my own gear and then started asking photographers whose work I’d recently seen and liked for lessons. I begged, groveled, paid, and did whatever I had to do in order to shadow or learn from the photographers in my area. I assumed I might use the skills someday with artists I was managing on my own. Before long, the photographers I was learning from started passing gigs my way. It quickly became my most favorite part of my job and as soon as I was making more money doing that on the side, I moved out of the music industry for good to launch my own photography studio in the winter of 2005.

It’s been my full-time job ever since. I’ve expanded from wedding and portraits into fashion and underwater photography in the last 5 years and I love learning new techniques. Light Painted Portraits are a specialty of mine that, to my knowledge, is offered nowhere else in the state.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Smooth road? Ha! Hardly. Starting and running a business is never smooth (and I don’t think it’s supposed to be). I’ve struggled and failed and succeeded and failed again just like anyone else who keeps at something like this. And 3 years in, right about when I started to find my rhythm and build up a steady clientele year-round, I found myself unexpectedly pregnant with my first child.

Working from home might sound great to a lot of people (and it sure has its perks — yoga pants for “business attire” anyone?), working from home full-time as a sole proprietor while also being the main caregiver for a new baby is insanely hard. And lonely. And right about the time I got my bearings again and had it figured out, we had our second child (and let me tell you, 1 + 1 does NOT equal 2 with kids at home…). There have been plenty of bumps along the way but it’s also been incredibly fulfilling and exciting. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Please tell us about Brienne Michelle Photography.
On the surface, I’m sure my business looks like most other photography studios in LA. I offer coverage for weddings, portraits, seniors, headshots, lifestyle, etc. As well as a few unexpected elements too — like underwater portraiture that I have designed to make (safely) available to anyone who wants to try it, as well as art therapy sessions and my personal project, Light-Painted Portraits. I believe in a respecting my clients enough to make sure that I can truly handle whatever they throw at me. I have studied and learned my gear, I’ve honed my technical skills, and I’ve learned what I do well and what I should pass on to another photographer.

But my favorite sessions are the ones that help change someone’s perspective, even it’s just for a moment. I want my clients to glance at the imagery they have displayed on their walls and catch their breath a little and think “I can’t believe that’s me”. I want my couple’s to see only 2 people in their photos, not 2 people + a photographer. I crave authenticity in my work and I let the personalities of the people I work with drive the session. It inspires my creativity and it honors them as humans. Underwater photography is unique in its ability to instantly shift someone’s perspective because the experience is so intrinsically different than any other photo shoot they will ever be a part of.

They open themselves up to glimpsing the true beauty they possess simply because they are open to seeing themselves as art. My light-painted portraits are one-of-a-kind because, though they are a single-frame photograph, they are done in 100% darkness, the subject staying completely still, breath held, and only what I as the artist “paint” with specialized light tools will be revealed in the final image. The completed portrait resembles an oil painting and requires no editing at all. In all my work, my driving goal is authenticity, and endurance (I’m not a trend-chaser).

I want the images I create to be something that captures just enough of that person, at that time, that when their great-granddaughter finds that photo someday, they’ll feel like they understand something of that person.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
I would have dug into the business side of running a photography studio earlier. Learning to lock in my follow-through, find my own voice in my work, and then consistently put that out there is so key. There’s also a lot of not-fun parts I dragged my feet on really learning (like taxes and website coding and organizational systems to keep the business running smoothly…). I think it’s absolutely fine to be an artist, but if the goal is to be an art-based BUSINESS, the business side is way too important to neglect.

Pricing:

  • Wedding coverage (which always includes the digital image files) begins at $3500 (with 2 photographers)
  • Underwater Sessions (including professional makeup + pool rental) begin at $290 (images purchased separately)
  • Standard Portrait Sessions begin at $250 (images purchased separately)

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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