Personal

Welcome from Brant

Hello! Thank you for taking an interest in me and what I've been up to lately.

As you browse through my entries you will encounter a mixture of things. First you will find personal images and stories. I have three incredible children who make cameos throughout the blog. Hopefully my documentations will be a fun memoir for them to look through one day to have a better understanding of what I did in my life.

You will also find images of the most recent weddings I have photographed. You can always view more images on my professional website, www.phoenixphotography.com. However my professional site doesn't allow me to tell you my thoughts about what went into the images or the stories behind them. My clients have some of the most beautiful weddings but what makes them special are the people and the stories woven into them.

As is evident I love to take photographs. In fact, I have been a paid photographer since I was 16 years old (1986 for those of you counting). As a result, you will also find images of my other interests and hobbies, and on occasion, a few embarrassing moments of my life. All in an effort to show you a little more about who I am.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I did not point out my gratitude to the most important person in my life, my wife, Rachel. Her dedication and love is what has helped make this passion turn into a career. She has given me the most beautiful children in the world and inspiration to continue "capturing life as it happens."

Thanks again for stopping by. Enjoy!

I've Moved!!!!

As of July 2008, Phoenix Photography has become Brant Bender Photography. I invite you to visit me at my new home, brantbender.com and brantbender.com/blog. Don't forget to update your bookmarks and RSS feeds...See you over there!!!

Brant

Posted at 02:05 PM Read More

Mon - May 5, 2008

Dance

This past Sunday all three kids participated in a dance preview of their upcoming recital during Fiesta de Los Penasquitos. This was Amanda's first time on stage and she seems to fit right in! We had a great time watching all three of them and many of their friends as well.

Posted at 02:21 PM Read More

Sat - March 1, 2008

Punta Mita, Mexico 2

In all my excitement updating the blog yesterday I forgot to include a few of the cool pictures! This is especially fun because my daughter, Brianni, took the second and third images in the post. I look forward to her taking over the family business someday :-).

Brianni Bender originals!

Posted at 01:28 PM Read More

Fri - February 29, 2008

Punta Mita, Mexico

The kids were off from school for "ski week" so the family packed up and headed off to... Mexico! Four Seasons Punta Mita to be exact (which is 45 minutes north of Puerta Vallarta) with white sand beaches, no snow. Rachel's parents, sister, nephew, and my brother were all with us and it was such a relaxing, fun vacation for us all. The weather was beautiful (it rained almost every day in Poway while we were gone), we watched humpback whales go by every day from the back patio, and the food was fantastic. On our last day, eight of us went on a guided horseback ride through countryside, the beach and a nearby village called Higuera Blanca. This was an incredible experience! We've been back a week and we all wish we could still be there. Daily conversations with Amanda have included her saving up her "tickets" so that we can "get on another plane and go back tomorrow." :-) Hope you enjoy the photos... (oh, and check out hole #3b on the golf course - yes, that IS an island!!!)

Posted at 03:14 PM Read More

Wed - November 21, 2007

NAR Las Vegas

Last week I was in Las Vegas photographing this year's National Association of Realtors convention. In the past I've had the pleasure of photographing Tom Brokaw, former Presidents Bush and Clinton, Dr. Phil and Norman Schwarzkopf (to name a few). This year was just as good as I was assigned to cover TV and comedy legend Bill Cosby and Lou Holtz of Notre Dame football fame. Both are amazing speakers and very motivational.

Posted at 06:38 PM Read More

Tue - October 30, 2007

Fire update

I can't believe it's been a week since we were evacuated and the support has been overwhelming, thank you. We returned to our home (still standing) Wednesday and have been working hard to get it cleaned up from the ash ever since. We are doing our best to get things back to everyday life as we try and recover from the fires and helping Rachel's parents as their home was destroyed. Like everyone here in our community, we feel so blessed to be surrounded by family and friends. Many have asked how they can help...friends of ours (Jeff and Jacki Lake) have started a foundation to directly benefit the fire families. Helping Hands Disaster Relief Foundation 858-395-4747, jefjaxlake@cox.net

Posted at 10:00 AM Read More

Tue - October 23, 2007

Fires

For those of you that check my blog on a regular basis I wanted to give you an update on what's going on with our family during these fires. We were evacuated early in the morning on Monday and went to a family friends house in Del Mar until we were again evacuated about 8:00 p.m. We are currently at the Carlsbad High School evacuation center in their gymnasium. We are traveling in a family pack of twelve and doing fine, but tired. There was a recent report that our home is currently ok, but we are not yet allowed to return. I truly can't thank everyone enough for all the well wishes via text, email and phone calls. With some luck we'll be able to return to our home tomorrow or Thursday.

Posted at 11:23 AM Read More

Wed - August 22, 2007

Bender Family Portrait

Some of you may be thinking you've come to the wrong blog. Well, you've found the Brant Bender Blog, but this is not the usual entry for me. Recently I had the pleasure of being on the other side of the camera. When I tell friends and family that we had our family portrait done the first question I get is..."who did you trust for that?!" My answer is I went to the best (he recently won the San Diego Portrait Photographer of the year, 2007, from the Professional Photographers of San Diego County :-). Kevin Connors from Coast Highway Photography did such an amazing job and we all had a fantastic time. Kevin was great with the kids and really made it a lot of fun. I can't thank him enough for his professionalism and his attention to every detail. It was overall a great experience for my family. Then we finished it off with the most amazing prints that now hang in our house, a 40" of the family and a gorgeous 30" print of the kids. Oh yeah and bunch of 5X7's and some 8X10's :-). I hope these posted images do the final work justice.

Posted at 09:18 PM Read More

Tue - June 12, 2007

Dirt

Amanda thoroughly enjoys herself while at brother Davis' baseball games... Recently she entertained everyone in the stands as she played with sticks, made cakes in the ground and then stood up in front and declared, "I'm dirt!" And, as the picture shows, she wasn't kidding! No, that's not chocolate... it's good old baseball park dust mixed with a whole lot of cute.

Posted at 10:20 PM Read More

Sun - May 20, 2007

Davis rookie baseball

This has been such a fun season for Davis (even though I would love to see him on the Cardinals :-). There is a considerable difference in both the players and the game now that we've moved up to Rookies. Davis is playing many positions (as they all rotate each inning) and even had his first go at catcher this past weekend. The best part is that he loves playing the game and is eager to work at something he enjoys so much. Coach Cory presented him with the game ball on Saturday for his hitting, staying focused and good listening!

Posted at 11:15 PM Read More

Wed - April 25, 2007

San Diego Skyline

Before I posted the images from my wedding Saturday I wanted to get this one on the blog. I'm not much of a landscape photographer so I suppose this is my attempt at it (although it was taken during the reception of a wedding :-).

Posted at 03:56 PM Read More

Mon - March 26, 2007

Kids

It's difficult for me to put in to words how I feel about my children, but fortunately I have the gift of photography on my side. Looking at these images I can truly get a sense of their personalities (you should see the out-takes :-). I've mentioned in past entries that I can't believe how big they are getting, so it's nice to stop during my hectic day and take a few pictures of my kids; capturing the moments of our lives and not just my clients' :-).

Posted at 11:13 PM Read More

Fri - March 2, 2007

London

At the end of last year I went to London with my brothers, Scott and Patrick. It was a four day trip packed full of sites. We saw Westminster Abby, St. Paul's Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, Abbey Road, Millennium Bridge, 221B Baker Street, Capital Radio, Trafalgar Square, Harrod's, The Globe Theatre, The London Eye, Big Ben/Houses of Parliament, Covent Garden, 10 Downing Street, Dover Street Restaurant and Jazz Bar and took in the George Michael concert at Wembley Arena. Yes, you read that correctly, George Michael in concert :-). We had an absolute blast and we're all anxious to go back!

A special thanks to Scott and Patrick for going on this crazy adventure with me.

Posted at 09:47 PM Read More

Sat - November 11, 2006

Presidents

I had a wonderful opportunity today to photograph two past presidents at one time. I'm in New Orleans photographing the National Association of Realtors convention and former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton spoke to the members of the association. The topics ranged from energy to the relief efforts here in New Orleans.

Posted at 06:07 PM Read More

Tue - November 7, 2006

Halloween 2006

Rachel and I can't believe that another year has gone by. It seems like just yesterday we were taking out Brianni the "Tiger ki-ki," long before Davis as Buzz Lightyear or Amanda as the little caterpillar. And now we've moved on to Grecian princesses, Bionicles and monkeys. As is true every year, they had a great time and came home with lots of candy for Mom & Dad :-).