Love & Gratitude ... for YOU

Mega Gratitude, Y'all!  

It has been a busy summer of photo-shooting, film-making and fund-raising, and I am so very grateful for YOU. We are always stronger together, and this project is no exception. On August 10th we hosted a Fundraiser Party and a Rough-Draft Feedback-Screening of the film in SLO, and it was truly an epic experience. Thank you to everyone who made it so (I'll list all the yummy details below).  You all rock my world, and I feel quite lucky to be walking this path with you. Thanks to you, we now have the funds and the feedback that we need to finish this film... Yee Haw!

---

For my Sacramento peeps!  You are invited to a Rough-Draft Feedback Screening of Where There Once Was Water at the The Yisrael Family Urban Farm on Thursday, September 6th. We hope you'll join us!  There will be limited seating, so please reserve your ticket early.  

Get tickets HERE

---

Extra Special thanks are due to these lovely folks who helped to make our recent Fundraiser Party such a walloping success. Please show them your love & support if you are able...

Our Fiscal Sponsor, Ecologistics : www.ecologistics.org
Tablas Creek Vineyard & Winery : www.tablascreek.com
Zoo To You! : www.conservationambassadors.org
Cafe Musique : www.cafemusique.org
Florencia Ramirez & Eat Less Water : www.eatlesswater.com
Nature's Touch Nursery & Harvest : www.natures-food-templeton.com
Jada Vineyard & Winery : www.jadavineyard.com
Haute Skillet Food Truck : www.hauteskillettruck.com
Pepper Daniels & The Krush 92.5 : www.krush925.com
Kaori Funahashi : www.kaoriphoto.com
Tony Tran : www.tonytran.photography
Lonnie Scott : Bobcat Properties Farm

And to all the lovelies who donated to the Silent Auction, and to my helpers & besties... you know who you are... I LOVE YOU.  Thank you so much.

---

I'm excited for an upcoming film trip during which I'll be traveling throughout Northern California - grabbing the final bits and pieces to add to this expansive California Water Story.  This is an incredible process, and quite a marathon. It feels right and true and good. Thank you for your continued love & support, friends!  Let's continue to be the change we want to see in this world.  We need each other now more than ever. 

"To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right."   - Confucius

Grants, Music, and a Fine Draft

Yowza!  Onward, my friends, into the great unknown. We have reached a handful of milestones over the past couple of months, and I am delighted to finally share some of this exciting news with you! It is summer, life is full, days are long, and this remains a wild & wonderful time to be alive. I am grateful to share it with you.

---

Somehow, with editing superhero powers yet unknown to the universe, our magical and beloved Garrrrr (aka Garrett Russell) has turned a 500 hour Film Blob into a 100 minute Rough Draft of Ultimate Majesty. What a freaking honor to have this man onboard. Seriously, I am forever grateful. Gar - It has been a joy to work so closely on this project with you, friend. Thank you.

We just submitted a rough draft of the film to the Women In Film Finished Fund Grant, and will hear back about funding in November. In the meantime our rough draft is quickly becoming a fine draft. Our music library is growing every day and is full to the brim with super talented local musicians (I cannot wait to share our developing soundtrack with you, ohmyGawd).

---

Pepper Daniels interviewed me on KVEC about my journey and process making this film, and our conversation will weave throughout the final narrative of the documentary. It's a bit of time-traveling goodness. Check out that friggin' amazing film crew behind-the-scenes at our final big shoot for "Where There Once Was Water".

A big thank you to Pepper Daniels, my brother from another mother, and to KVEC and all my awesome radio family - so much love & gratitude for you all. And to my epic crew - Garrett Russell, Gabby Pajo, and Kaori Funahashi.... I love you so much. 

---

There is much afoot. Much on the way. Much to be excited about.

A "Where There Once Was Water" fundraiser party is in the works for August in SLO. There will be Live Music, Zoo to You animals, an Art Show, Silent Auction, and perhaps even an opportunity for you to give feedback on a rough-edit of the film. Details to come...

Some Kickstarter Rewards are starting to go out to my Kickstarter backers, so be sure to add my email addy to your address book so that you don't miss any updates.

And last but not least.... A "Where There Once Was Water" sister project is brewing. And I think it's going to be huge. (But that's all I'll say for now.) *wink

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves. 

Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”  

― Bruce Lee

---

Mini-Portrait-Sessions!

Mini-Portrait-Sessions are BACK!  Book yours while they last...

These sessions are great for families, couples, doggies, head-shots, kiddos, modeling, maternity, you name it.  It's a bit of double-whammy goodness : You get 40% off normal portrait session prices, AND 100% of the proceeds will go directly towards post-production of "Where There Once Was Water", Brittany's first feature-length documentary film.

---

Here's how it works:

1) You donate $200 to "Where There Once Was Water" (from the dropdown menu) on the Ecologistics Donation page….. HERE

2) You pick a desired date/time/location slot from the following list:

Sunday April 15th : Morning
Cuesta Park : San Luis Obispo, CA

9:30 am - BOOKED : Cathy D.
10:15 am - BOOKED : Jennifer S.
11:00 am - 
11:45 am - BOOKED : Sarah L.
12:30 pm - BOOKED : Natalie B.

Sunday April 15th : Afternoon
Morro Strand Beach : Morro Bay, CA

3:15 pm - BOOKED : Jewels C.
4:00 pm -
4:45 pm -
5:30 pm - BOOKED : Kristen B.
6:15 pm - BOOKED : Michael M.
7:00 pm - BOOKED : Mariah B.

Sunday April 29th : Morning
Los Osos Oaks Reserve : Los Osos, CA

9:30 am -  BOOKED : Josh M.
10:15 am - BOOKED : Andrew C.
11:00 am - BOOKED : Terra P.
11:45 am - BOOKED : Danielle M.
12:30 pm - BOOKED : Aja M.

Sunday April 29th : Afternoon
Sweet Springs Nature Preserve : Los Osos, CA

3:30 pm - BOOKED : Adrienne H.
4:15 pm - BOOKED : Shannon E.
5:00 pm - BOOKED : Jeremy B.
5:45 pm - BOOKED : Natalie R.
6:30 pm - BOOKED : Alice M.
7:15 pm - BOOKED : Ashley O.

3) You email/forward me a copy of your donation receipt & your preferred time slot to brittany@appsphotography.com

4) I give you a Mini Portrait Session (approx 30 minutes) on the date/time/location you select.  Approximately 2 weeks after our shoot, I deliver to you an online gallery of high-res image files, complete with 16 final images, BW & color, ready for print & web….

5) Taa Daa!  Everybody is stoked!  You get a portrait session at approx 40% OFF the regular price (16-proof sessions are normally priced at $350 plus tax).  And you help bring "Where There Once Was Water" to life!

---

Easy cheesy, lemon squeezy.  Let's do this!  Please feel free to spread the word!

Only the 22 spots listed above will be available.  First come, first served.  Please be sure to indicate your desired time slot/s when forwarding me your donation receipt.  Thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for your un-ending love and support on this project.  Cheers!

See more of my photography at www.AppsPhotography.com

May the 4th be with You

Happy May, my friends! I cannot believe how quickly 2016 is flying by. Wowzers. I have much excitement & many updates to share with you today ... yay!

First & foremost I would like to welcome to the WTOWW Family, Fialta, a huge-hearted & ridiculously talented local band. Check out their music here.

I have been a busy little bee lately... buzzing around the state of California, talking with a variety of folks about our state's water issues, and focusing, of course, on SOLUTIONS.

I talked with Creston-based Agriculturalist Hilary Graves about the sensitive nature of decisions made regarding the Paso Robles Ground Water Basin. I interviewed author Seth M. Siegel about his book "Let There Be Water : Israel's Solution for a Water Starved World". And then I hit the road north... spent a day hiking around Wilder Ranch in Santa Cruz, and then headed up to the big city to present photographs from my project at the San Francisco Green Film Festival. What a rush that was!

I came home in time to participate in the Earth Day Fair & Music Festival in SLO, then traveled south to spend a morning with Ron Wildermuth at the West Basin Municipal Water District talking about the importance of recycled water in our future water portfolio. I toured one of the San Gabriel Basin clean-up facilities, operating amidst the largest and most polluted groundwater "Superfund" site in California, with Ken Manning, Executive Director of the San Gabriel Basin WQA. And I spent an afternoon in Yucaipa talking with Steve Loe, the retired Forest Service Ranger responsible for starting the public outcry against Nestle's bottling operations in the San Bernadino National Forest.

I remain incredibly grateful for all the support & care as I continue on this journey. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Y'all are truly the BEST! xo

Whole Hearted Gratitude

“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

For YOU, for your trust & patience, love & support, and endless cheerleading, and for all the opportunities that await, I am grateful. This has been a wild ride. And I couldn't have done it without you.

Truly amazing. 474 backers on Kickstarter. $32,449 raised. 130% funded. You're the best! ;)

You'll be hearing more from me very soon, but for now please know how much I appreciate you. Your support has literally brought this project to life, and your trust means the world to me. Much Love, y'all. xo

We did it!

Yaaaaaaay!  WE DID IT !

In the final hours of yesterday's leap day, due to the love and support of over 344 awesome backers on Kickstarter, and countless cheerleaders, we have reached our funding goal. 100% funded! Can you believe it? Over $25,300 raised, with 5 days still left in the campaign. THANK YOU. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.  Honestly, you really are the best, and this film will now become a reality, thanks to YOU.

So many exciting updates to come, but for now please know this.... I am overflowing with gratitude, and feel exponentially fortunate to be surrounded by so many incredible people.

Please continue sharing the project over the next few days if your heart calls you to do so. The more money we raise, the better the film will be in the end, and the larger the audience it will reach. I appreciate all the love & support, to the moon & beyond... Cheers, loves!

home stretch

Friends!  You are AMAZING. In only two weeks time "Where There Once Was Water" has received a ton of local press coverage, and over $20,635 in support on Kickstarter. I continue to be humbled by your generosity and words of encouragement.  THANK YOU.

With just 11 days to go, we are now officially on the home stretch. Wheeee! Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing platform, meaning that we MUST reach our goal or no money will change hands, and the film will not receive funding. So I ask of you with a humble heart... If you are planning to pledge your support, or you are considering it, please consider doing so TODAY!  Every dollar helps, and every backer who pledges $10 or more will receive a download of the film upon it's completion. 

Much Love & Abundant Gratitude, xo, Brittany
 

Frolicking in the Forest

Thank you for being here...
I come bearing some rather exciting news. Coming in February *you* will have the opportunity to pre-order your very own copy of my documentary film, "Where There Once Was Water". Wheeee Haw! After spending some months on this project, I have come to realize that in order make this film a reality, I'm going to need help. In mid-February be on the look out for a super rad Kickstarter campaign and the official release of my first teaser trailer for the film. Holy smokes, I cannot wait to show you what I've been up to! Much Love, y'all.

---

"In an age when man has forgotten his origins and is blind even to his most essential needs for survival, water along with other resources has become the victim of his indifference." - Rachel Carson

---

---

I just returned from a road trip up to the northernmost tip of California. I soaked up the rain in those giant redwoods, and I came home saturated and refreshed - grateful for the natural wonders of our world. Along the way I filmed the devastatingly charred remains of the town of Cobb, I followed the Eel River as it wound it's way down the northern reaches of highway 101, and I filmed time-lapses of clouds flirting with the forest. I visited Shasta Lake - one of our state's largest, and an area of much dam dispute of late, and I stared in amazement at the reservoir's gargantuan bathtub rings.

The theme of cooperation, and little changes making big differences, keeps coming up. As artist & activist Sarah Bellum said to me recently in an interview, "We're all on this abundant garden planet together, and it's a lot easier if we work together". I had the opportunity to interview this inspiring and kind-spirited "Barefoot Trash Fairy" about her zero-waste lifestyle, the health of our oceans, and her work with the Surfrider Foundation. She's about to head out on a zero-waste bike tour up the coast of California - so, as you may have guessed, Sarah and I realized, pretty much immediately, that we were soul-sisters. Beautiful connections continue to happen through this project - I am grateful, and my heart is full.

I've been reviewing images and footage in preparation for the official project launch in February, and there's so much to share already! I am thrilled for the opportunity to give you a sneak peek of this work through my first teaser trailer for the film - set to launch mid-February alongside my Kickstarter campaign. Once launched, you will have the ability to pre-order the film. Your support will mean the world. Thank you for being on this journey with me!

Until next time... Namaste.