Brenda Ladd Photography, Austin

When she's not peering through the state-of-the-art lens of her Nikon D2X camera, Brenda Ladd is snapping wide-angle, black-and-white masterpieces with one of her pinhole cameras, which have no lenses at all. "I'm not normal and neither are my images," Brenda boasts on her website, and she's right. Mixing candid shots with casual poses, Brenda's portrait work bursts with boldly colored shots of families and young ones and expertly framed black-and-white images of brides-to-be. More than 25 years behind a camera has given her an expert eye for beauty, whether during a studio shoot or an outdoor event, and her keen editing skills have caught the eye of local businesses, performers, and musicians too shy to grow their own mohawks. Her work has also found a home in several publications, such as Food & Wine, Austin Chronicle, and Texas Parks & Wildlife.