Casey and Travis are friends of friends and former clients, Devin and Daniel (whose wedding can be seen HERE) were absolutely wonderful to work with. Their sweet baby has made his debut and is adorable. I was so honored to get to be a part of this special time in Casey and Travis' life. The anticipation of their first baby was something wonderful I am sure. 

XOXO
Briana

Danielle and Josiah tied the knot back in July and received their pictures soon after, but then I moved to college and blogging got pushed far behind on my to-do list. Their day was so beautiful and special, and I want to make sure it gets shared with everyone. <3 

Danielle's hair and makeup was flawless, and she smiled all day. Danielle was the most radiant bride. 

Danielle shared a special reveal with her bridesmaids. There were tears and lots of hugs. <3 

On either side of a door, Danielle and Josiah read the letters they wrote each other and then prayed together. 

Josiah's brother Nathan officiated the ceremony, and he did an incredible job. There was something so special about having personal stories shared from the brother's point of view. At this point, Nathan fought tears as he said that Danielle was the most perfect girl he could have imagined for his brother. Then Danielle fought tears, and these two shots are some of my most favorite from that day. 

Mr. and Mrs. Josiah Peeler! 

Instead of cake, Josiah and Danielle celebrated with lots of pie!

Closing their day with prayer. <3

It was an honor to get to be a part of Josiah and Danielle's wedding day. They are a couple so in love and who honor God in everything that they do. I've had an amazing time working with them, and I hope we'll get to work together again soon in the future! <3

Hello, friends!

I'm currently sitting in my dorm room, watching the sleet fall, and hoping classes get cancelled tomorrow. So in lieu of studying, I'm thinking about photography things. (Side note: I'm pretty sure artists/creatives' brains don't ever stop thinking about their craft.) I think a lot about the wedding packages that I offer, how I could offer something differently, and what I can do to get the best images possible from a wedding day. Through my experiences over the past 2 years with weddings, I have concluded one thing that helps with the smoothness of the wedding day and the images I'm able to capture. 

An engagement session with your photographer. 

Disclaimer: Please know that this is NOT an attempt to just book more sessions. This is NOT pointed at any past, present, or future client. This is a post to help educate brides, mine or another photographer's, with some knowledge I've acquired from photographing weddings. :) 

Because of the current trend to make every online article a list of "X number of Reasons Why XYZ", I've decided to follow suit and post my 5 reasons why booking an engagement session with your wedding photographer will make your wedding photography experience the best it can be. 


1. You get a trial run with your photographer. 

In some ways, the engagement session is a trial run for your wedding. You get to see know your photographer in person rather than just via email. You get to see how your personalities mesh. You get to see how the session goes overall and if you enjoyed working with that photographer. 


2. After an engagement session, you will TRUST your photographer.

You've probably booked the photographer's services eagerly. But then you and your fiancé show up to the engagement session nervous and uneasy. It is your photographer's job to put you at ease and get you to relax in front of the camera. Most people haven't had lots of professional pictures taken, especially romantic photos of affection. And that's perfectly normal to be a little uneasy! Even after your photographer has gotten you to warm up to the camera, there is always a twinge of uncertainty until you have seen the pictures. 

In my experience, the dynamic of the relationship between the couple and me changes immediately once the couple receives their photos. The difference is now the couple now trusts me. They now know what it's like to be in front of my camera. 

Each photographer creates a different experience at their sessions, and until you have shot with your photographer, you won't know what it's like. After an engagement session, my clients know how I shoot, and how their pictures turned out. Then they instill trust in me. They see the results of their session, and they have faith that I will take care of everything else the day of the wedding. My most favorite comment is when a bride has worked with me prior to the wedding and then on the wedding day says "I'm not even worried about pictures at all. I don't have to think about it because I know you'll take care of it all." That. Is. HUGE. When a bride says she's not even thinking of the pictures and can enjoy her day, it's clear there's been a deep trust formed with her photographer. 


3. There will be consistency in your images.

Each photographer has a unique style. Sometimes you can't place a finger on exactly what it is about a photographer's style, but you either like it or love it or maybe prefer something a little different. If you look, there will be someone whose style you love and whose photographs take your breath away. Book that photographer. If you're so passionate about your wedding photos looking that way, it only makes sense to want your engagements to match. It is really great if someone has offered to take your engagement photos, but will they match your wedding photos? Having your wedding photographer photograph your engagement session will create a consistent style of photographs hung in your home or put in an album.


4. Communication becomes easier with your photographer.

Remember the new bond of trust after a bride receives her pictures? It becomes easier to ask her photographer's opinion on any aspect of the wedding day. Now the bride knows that her photographer is going to take care of her, and she wants to know the best way to schedule the wedding timeline. She wants to know the best order for reception details. Your photographer can give advice, and suddenly wedding planning just got easier because you have someone with experience helping you. I love when my brides and I get to talk about all the details. I want to know everything about the flowers and bridesmaids dresses and how you want to play a certain song at this certain time. Your relationship with your photographer will be strengthened through the planning, and your wedding day will go so smoothly because communication is key! 


5. You will likely have loved your wedding photos because of all the positive experiences you and your photographer have shared. OH and you will also have gained a new friend who will likely want to photograph your life events like anniversaries and babies. :) 


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I hope this sheds a little insight and helps you have the best experience possible with your wedding photographer! 

xoxo
Briana

Oh. My. Miss Emery was an absolute HAM for her pictures! She was, without a doubt, the smiliest and easiest toddler I have ever worked with. I'm so glad she was in such a great mood because her pictures were so cute. She's so expressive! I hope I get her in front of my camera again really soon! :)  

Ali is one of my best friends, and I was happy to shoot Christmas pics for her sweet family. The sun was going fast, but we still got some good shots before we lost all our light! :) 

xoxo
Briana 

These guys have been big supporters of me from the beginning- they were my 2nd ever session! I'm so grateful for families like theirs. I also really love getting Christmas cards with pictures from sessions I've done, and they had a super cute card with these. Bonus points. ;) 

xoxo
Briana

This awesome family kicked off my Christmas minis. I've had so much fun working with Amber and Jonny during this year with engagements and save-the-dates, and I'm so excited for their wedding this spring. It was great to get to work with their whole family too! Cheyenne and I are friends and graduated together, so I hope I can get her in front of my camera more often also! I just love this family, and they've been so awesome to me. Brides-to-be like Amber really make my job so fun and worth it. I can't wait to be a part of their exciting times coming up. Yay for weddings! :) 

In case you weren't aware, I really love my family. A whole lot. They've really all supported me in everything I've done, and when I had the idea for these Christmas minis with their truck, Craig and Drew were willing to let me use it. I traded the use of the truck for pictures, and that's why these were done! I really haven't had the opportunity to shoot much this whole semester, so it was great to stretch my creative juices with the Christmas minis. Here are a few of my favorites from their pictures! 

I just love the giggles. 

Still so in love. Love <3

These get me teary each time I look at them.

Again with the giggles. :)

XOXO

I had so much fun working with Erin, Eric, and Emmalyn over the past year. I got to watch this sweet girl grow up while capturing it all. I wanted to put up a little post of my favorite shot from each session. I love these guys, and I'm so glad I got to shoot all these for them! 

This post written at 11 pm is likely to be full of rambling, lots of pouring out my heart, and lots of self pep talks. Bare with me if you feel so inclined. 

In 2 days, 5 years will have passed since I first picked up a camera as a photographer. I may have shared my "story" a long time ago, but I'm not sure that I have recently. Well, here it is in the July of 2009. 

I had a close friend in elementary school who had a sister a few years older than we were. A few years later (I was 13), her sister, Amanda, was going to school for photography (or had just graduated maybe?), and she asked my mom if she could do a photoshoot for the 3 of us. Mom whole-heartedly agreed, and we were so excited. We planned our outfits, went shopping for a few new pieces, and got ready for our photo session. The shoot arrived, and I loved every second of it. I absolutely loved being in front of the camera, and I loved the whole experience. I loved how it made me feel. I had enjoyed having our pictures taken so much, but something was slightly intriguing about what it would be like to be behind the camera. I specifically remember thinking it seemed magical and maybe even mysterious. Only you got to see what the shots looked like, both in person and in camera, and there was a just a little part of my gut that thought that might be kind of neat. But I ignored it.....

For a couple of weeks. We got back our proofs, and we just loved our pictures. (I'm fairly certain I've used the word "loved" 86,000 times. Also, I didn't realize my "story" was going to turn into a novel...Whoops.) Completely enthralled with the whole photoshoot idea, I decided I wanted to see what it would be like to be the photographer. So I called on my aunt and uncle and cousins. Angie, my aunt, has always loved pictures, and she was on board. I loaded up all kinds of props I bought just for the shoot (a flower windmil and lots of other "necessities"..) I was going to shoot these pictures with my mom's camera which was most definitely not a DSLR. It was a top end point and shoot, but it was most definitely only a point and shoot. I knew absolutely *nothing* about lighting or composition. I only knew posing from what poses Amanda had used with us. But regardless of the things I didn't know, I shot that session, and I was on top of the world. I came home and did the only logical thing to do next. I made a Facebook page. I decided that I didn't want to be called "Briana Owen Photography". I just didn't like it. (insert giggles) I'm fairly certain Angie came up with "Pictures by Bri"- a nickname I was called occasionally, but it was kind of catchy. I deleted the bad pictures, and uploaded the good. I got so many compliments on my pictures, and I was on cloud 9. I was in love with every shot, and I had found what made my heart happy. 

I began taking pictures of everything. My house, the trees, flowers, any random object of interest. I did that for a while but began to lose interest. Around October, a family friend, Andi, sent me a message about wanting me to take some family pictures for her. I was so excited to get to shoot a real photoshoot again. (There's more details to this already heavily detailed story like how our camera was left in a public restroom on the beach a couple of weeks before the shoot. Devastated, both because I had lost my camera for photography and I had lost all the beach pictures I had taken, we bought another camera. Soon after we bought it, we got a call that our camera bag had been found and it was being shipped home by a sweet older man. Well, 2 cameras isn't the worst thing to have..) I was nervous before our shoot, but I was really excited. I felt like I had shot pretty solid pictures, and I got home and began to edit. (I had discovered the free editing website Picnik at this point.) I worked so hard, and I edited every picture with care. I was learning how to adjust the saturation, and I diligently attempted to find the exact saturation needed. Looking back, I had *neon* pictures, but I was happy with my work.

Rolling around towards Christmas, my mom asked what I wanted, and I couldn't really think of anything. She suggested a "big" camera. I weighed the options, because I didn't feel like it was a necessity. I was cranking out pretty stellar images (insert small snicker here), so who needs a big, fancy camera, right? Plus it was expensive. I couldn't think of anything else I actually wanted though, so I decided that that might be a good idea for my photography. Christmas came, and I got my Nikon D3000. If you ask why I chose Nikon vs Canon, I'll simply tell you it's because it was on sale at Walmart..

I feel like that was my true birth as a photographer. From that point, I began learning everything I could about my camera, and I knew from all of the research I had done, I wanted to learn manual. That seemed to be the absolute rule. I read books, I read open forums, I googled everything. I began following photographers' pages to be inspired and to learn from what they posted. I remember a few of my own break through moments. I had attempted a 365 project (a photo every day. Yeah, I never got past day 8. Any time I ever did it.) There were ideas for themes and one was the color purple. I had a cute pair of purple shoes. I was photographing them, and the images were fine, but they just didn't have anything special about them. All of the sudden something clicked, and I thought to take the picture from an angle, with the top of one shoe as the focal point. I know that that's not really an important story, but it was such a break through. From then on, I could see that the angle and composition creates interest. 

During this period in the beginning, I noticed a Facebook friend's pictures. We went to school together, but we hadn't ever talked. Carly posted beautiful pictures of holly berries in focus and the background out of focus. I sent her a message to ask her how she was able to do that. She was so sweet and helpful, and she told me we should get together so she could teach me and we could shoot. We went and shot together, and I was finally understanding so many camera concepts. After that we talked pretty often about pictures, shooting, camera gear, and so many other things. Now she's one of my best friends, and we shoot weddings together. Able to understand each other's photographer's woes, we've always gotten along so well, and I'm so glad I decided to message her about the pictures of the holly berries. 

A name change (my photography. Not me. ;) ), an online workshop, an in-person workshop, and several online learning opportunities later (as well as relentless googling and asking other photographers I was forming acquaintances with), here I am. I'm still constantly googling and asking other photographers stuff. Actually the reason I started this post was not even to write all  this. I was planning on venting about the current bump I'm at in my journey and my current project. Clearly this post is WAY too long to begin with, so I'll save that for part 2 of this. I still am so far from where I want to be as a photographer, but I have come thousands of miles from where I began. I cannot imagine where I would be without photography.

I've required a creative outlet my entire life. The "Crayola aisle" has been my favorite aisle of Walmart since birth. Drawing, scrapbooking, a little sewing, baking (that one was huge. I was going to own my own bakery.), painting. All of these hobbies came and went. (Granted, I still love painting when I get a chance.) Nothing ever lasted 5 years. Nothing ever so completely satiated the constant creative thirst like photography. It's who I am. I am a photographer. Not many people are so blessed as to truly find themselves and find something they love so completely. Especially at 13. While I don't currently plan to be a full time photographer (I'm going to school to be a Spanish teacher. Yeah, I know. In all reality if you think I can ramble for days about photography, you should get me started on my passion to teach..), I do plan on having it be a part of my life for as long as taking photographs makes my heart skip a beat. I will always be thankful for Amanda Burns (Amanda Burns Photography) for unintentionally helping me uncover one of my biggest passions. I can't really imagine how I would have found it otherwise, so I will always be indebted to her! I feel like I should leave this post with a) a thank you if you got through this Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix length blog post and b) encourage you to find what makes your heart happy. If it's photography, or even if it's not, I hope that maybe I can encourage one person that with hard work (Not just a little hard work. 5 years of hard work.) you truly can make your dreams come true. Reach for the stars.

xoxoxo
Briana