“We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us.”— Ralph Hattersley

1. Babies

Cute, adorable, little bundles of snuggles and no sleep. Photographing babies can be pretty time consuming. Lots of time is spent creating a space for them that is warm and comfortable, and waiting for that perfect moment. For me it is right in between being asleep and awake. Little cuties.

 

2. Horses

If you have been following me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/brookerossphotography and my blog, you know that since I was a little girl I have been obsessed with horses. I am so grateful to combine my passion for photography and horses. It always gets me out of town and on a little adventure. Horses offer an escape from the world of business and lists. For me, photographing horses is so much like photographing people. They always let me know that they see me with my camera, and they give me lots of personality and emotion.

 

3. Big Beautiful Hair

Yes, yes, yes. My daughters Elina and Naomi have a lot of hair just like their mamma. When parents ask me tips on getting their kids ready for the photo shoot I always ask them about their hair. I recommend that hair is as natural as possible. Hair has a personality all of its own and I really like to capture that in my photos. I have always taught my girls to embrace their hair and I want other kids to see just how beautiful their hair is.

 

4. Water

I tell my wife all the time that we are going to have a house on the ocean, and I will be able to walk out of my studio and smell the ocean while sticking my feet in the sand. Until then, I will continue to find all of the coolest places in Minnesota to incorporate water into my photos. 

 

5. Kids at Weddings

Of course the happy couple is the main focus, but honestly, kids at weddings are usually running around and being themselves at weddings. Adults are relaxing after the ceremony, and the kids are excited to have freedom! A little cake, (or a lot) and they are ready to go!

 

6. Emotion 

Emotion is always the focus of my work, it is about how my work makes you feel when you see it. I work with Kai a lot, I know her personality and it is easy to capture that with my camera and instinct. Emotion can't be forced and I am in love with the concept of letting people be themselves and letting that be the story. 

 

7. The Skyline

I am such a sucker for a beautiful view of downtown Atlanta. The combination of nature with architecture is a little Gotham City meets master gardener, and I love it!

 

8. B&W

If I want pure, raw emotion, I go black and white. For my work, it is hands down the cleanest and most conveying way for me to express emotion to my client base. I take away color, saturation, and use contrasting shades of black and white to tell a story. I have always loved black and white and a have challenged myself to do more of it.

 

9. Dogs

Yep, I am obsessed with dogs too. I have been volunteering with my daughter Naomi at Safe Hands Rescue and it is so fulfilling to hear that my photos help get dogs adopted. Our family has two dogs that we adopted, Fat Boy and Duke. Both dogs are Miniature Pinschers and both very naughty. I may have to stick them on a blog post soon. If you are looking for a dog, or just interested in looking you can check out Safe Hands website http://www.safehandsrescue.org/.

 

10. The Minnesota Lynx

There, I admitted it. I like to go before games and photograph the players warming up, and occasionally run into them at different gatherings. The Lynx have had a profound effect on girls and women’s basketball. Photographing them and posting photos of them is an incredible thing for people to see. I remember taking my son Khalil to see Lindsay Whalen and Janel McCarville play for the Gophers when he was little and he said he didn’t know girls could play basketball. This sport has since became a huge part of our family. My wife is a head varsity basketball coach at a high school here in Minnesota, and we love going to Lynx games. Basketball gives young women an outlet, a goal, and something to look forward to.