More Fall Mini-Sessions!

Friends! Due to popular demand, I have opened up ONE MORE ROUND of Mini-Portrait-Sessions for the Fall… Book yours while they last!

These sessions are great for families, couples, dogs, head-shots, senior portraits, kiddos, modeling, maternity, you name it.  And 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.

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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, November 11th : Morning
Morro Bay State Park & Marina : Morro Bay, CA

9:15 am - BOOKED : Ruzena B.
10:00 am - BOOKED : Jeremy B.
10:45 am - BOOKED : Daisylee S.
11:30 am - BOOKED : Elizabeth A.

Sunday, November 11th : Afternoon/Evening
Cayucos Pier & Beach : Cayucos, CA

2:15 pm -
3:00 pm - BOOKED : Helen B.
3:45 pm - BOOKED : Trudy S.
4:30 pm - BOOKED : Kimberly P.

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!

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

Only the 8 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

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!

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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

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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. 

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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

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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

#DeFundDAPL

Bank of America is one of many banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline, and I just cannot be a part of that...  So I spent some time yesterday removing my money from Bank of America and depositing it into Sesloc Federal Credit Union.  And, yes, I most definitely told BofA why, complete with a personal letter to the manager. 

I hope you'll join me in taking your money out of the big banks funding this atrocity. Find a local Credit Union - invest there.  Money talks.  And if we all leave (can you imagine?!), the banks will eventually listen.

Here are some helpful tips to Close Your Accounts with Banks Funding DAPL:

1. Go to your bank and publicly close your account(s) with banks funding the pipeline: Wells Fargo, CitiBank, Bank of America, US Bank, PNC, SunTrust, Chase, BNP, RBC ... Click HERE for a complete list of all the banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Submit a letter to management stating your reason. 
You can use this prepared letter.

2. Take a picture in front of the bank with your wallet in hand and a sign saying #DeFundDAPL - then post the photo to all your social media networks, use the hashtag #DeFundDAPL , @ tag your bank, and share these links with others, encouraging them to do the same. 

3. Take your participation one step further by: contacting CEO's and/or organizing your own event at www.defundDAPL.com , and Join the Movement @ fb.com/DeFundDAPL

On the day we call "Thanksgiving"

This is Bill. He's a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. His people have lived on and cared for this land for hundreds of years. I met him in the early morning hours on my first day at Standing Rock. His dog Angel introduced us, as dogs do. I was overwhelmed with the energy of this sacred place, and was walking towards media hill to acquire my press pass. I was unsure what the days ahead would bring. Bill's first words to me... "Thank you for being here." 

Tears immediately welled up in my eyes. "We need you," he said, "All of you. All of our allies, from all over the world. It really means a lot to us that you are here." And in that instant, I'm pretty sure my heart exploded within my chest. "Thank YOU for inviting us," I said, "It is a true honor", and I meant it from depths of my being.

Land sacred to these people is being destroyed. Again. This is nothing new. They stand in prayer. To protect the Water. To protect Mother Earth. Arms outstretched. Hearts wide open. 

This photo is from the day we call "Thanksgiving". Law enforcement was stationed on top of Turtle Island, a sacred site for the Standing Rock Sioux. Their ancestors are buried on that hill, and the police are stationed up there, parking, driving, walking all over it. There are snipers, there are guns, mace canisters in hand, fire hoses, all at the ready. All at the ready for the prayer & ceremony that is about to take place on the banks of the Cannonball River. 

Bill & his tribe, along with 300 other tribes, plus thousands of non-Native allies, are standing up for all of us. For Life. For Water. For your children. For Indigenous sovereignty. For peace. 

The Natives are fulfilling a prophecy - that the youth would rise up, and that people of all colors would stand together - to kill the black snake. Because the black snake brings with it great sorrow and great destruction. This prophecy is now - the black snake is DAPL - the Pipeline. This is happening in real time, and I still cannot quite find the words to illustrate the immensity of this movement. These are the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota. This is The Great Sioux Nation. This river is their relative, and they will stand and pray until the black snake is defeated.

Standing Rock Reflections

I am home, held within the sweet caress of my husband. I am warm, I am resting, and I am grateful. I am overflowing.

It all feels a bit like a dream. Standing Rock. My brothers & sisters there are now living within a winter that has arrived with a fury. Just 24 hours after our departure, a foot of snow covered the ground, and the cold there will bite you to the bone.

I have much on my mind and in my heart. Overflowing. Much to share, and not exactly sure where to begin. Many who are headed to Standing Rock are asking for advice - and I think it makes sense to write a blog post specifically geared towards addressing those questions - not as any voice of authority - but only to share what I experienced, and to aid other allies in their preparations to the best of my ability. Expect that soon. xo

The situation on the ground there is changing daily. The Army Corps of Engineers has issued an evacuation notice for the main camp, known as Oceti Sakowin Camp, for December 5th. There are currently thousands of people camping there, and they have no intention of moving. There are over 2100 unarmed Veterans arriving on December 4th to Stand in Solidarity with the Water Protectors, and to act as a "human shield" between the lawless law enforcement and the Water Protectors. Various authorities in North Dakota have 1) asked local shops in neighboring towns to refuse service or supplies to anyone who is a part of the camps, 2) stated that emergency services will not be available to anyone in the main camp after December 5th, and 3) stated that law enforcement will be ticketing & fining people upwards of $1000 for delivering supplies the main camp. 

Whether or not you like pipelines, whether or not you drink water, regardless of how you feel about this whole situation, at the most basic human level, this is WRONG. Peoples lives are in danger. This winter can kill. Cutting off supplies in the dead of winter. Forceful eviction. Violent attacks during prayer and ceremony. Treating human beings this way is wrong on every level, and unfortunately this treatment is nothing new for our Native Americans. It's time we stand up. It is time that we Listen, Learn, and Lend a Hand, in whatever way we are able.

As members of the human race, we have a right to protest. We have a right to free speech. And our Native Americans most definitely have every right to pray, on their own land, to hold ceremony, and to peacefully assemble. They are standing up for YOU. They are praying for our Mother Earth, for our water, and for YOU. If there is no clean water, there is no life. They are asking us to listen, to forge a new path, to build a new future.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for joining me on this journey. Thank you for listening as I process. Thank you for divesting your money from banks funding this madness. Thank you for calling those responsible for these crimes against humanity. Thank you for being you. 

If you would like to follow the story, as it progresses on the ground, I recommend following any/all of these folks.... Dallas Goldtooth, Kandi Mossett, Indigenous Environmental Network, Indigenous Rising Media, John Wathen.

More to come. Much Love, y'all. xo

Standing Rock : Nov 27

"It's like being ripped from the womb", she said, and I think she was right....

Amidst tears, we packed up and drove away from Standing Rock today. I left a piece of my heart by that river. I prayed by that river. Sang songs to that river. Met people who are willing to die for that river.

The coming days, for me personally, will be full of driving and reflection. And I will share what I can as it comes to me. The coming days, for the tribes and their allies in North Dakota, will be full of prayer, of ceremony, of biting cold wind & snow, and an uncertainty about the future. 

For now what I want you to know is this... there are beautiful people all over the world, and an impossibly huge number of them are gathered at Standing Rock. 

I have been touched in ways I cannot yet explain. I am grateful. And I will do all in my power to get these voices of our Native People out into this great big world. Heart to heart. Human to Human. 

The shortest distance between a human being and the truth is a story, and I am honored to have been trusted with so many stories to share. 

Much Love, my friends. Much more to come. xo