Logan & Codie Wedding

In short, Logan & Codies's day was filled with Joy. Looking at the pictures, you can see it on there faces. It's a look that sometimes comes up as a smurk, or sometimes you're so overwhelmed by it, you just have to close your eyes and laugh. That was the feeling the whole day. Absolute Joy.









Make sure to check out their HERE!

Peace. - Caleb

WPPI Top 10!

WPPI Top 10 from A Bryan Photo on Vimeo.

Here are some of our favorite things from the WPPI tradeshow! Be sure to watch all the way to the end and pick up some posing tips.

Scooters: Las Vegas

Scooters: Las Vegas from A Bryan Photo on Vimeo.

Last week Jeremy, Branden and I went to WPPI in Las Vegas! We made some fun videos while there...and this is only the first! We will post some more later in the week.

We brought our scooters to Vegas just in case we would wanted some good cheap entertainment. On Monday night, instead of going to a Blue's Traveler concert we decided to scoot the strip from the MGM (where we were staying) to the Bellagio (to watch the fountains of course!). And I ended up shooting a wedding...well, sort of.

Thanks to Patrick our intern for editing this video for us, and including some of the most incredible transitions iMovie has to offer.
Enjoy!

Coming soon...Our top ten from the WPPI tradeshow.

Melissa and Chris, Polaroids

I shot the wedding of college friend Melissa Walker this weekend! Their official post will be a month from now, but I wanted to share some of the polaroids I grabbed for their polaroid book.
Keep an eye out for their wedding!
Bj

Matchstic's "On the House"

I'm honored to be part of Matchstic's amazing campaign "On the House". Its focus is to give one deserving Atlanta non-profit a complete brand redesign. They have partnered with several other great vendors in order to make this non profit's brand even more robust and impactful.

I have offered up my photography services "on the house" as a part of the project and I'm really excited to see where it goes. I can't wait to work with this amazing team of professionals!

If you are part of a non profit in Atlanta, be sure to fill out the application HERE.


Here is a video of Craig and Blake of Matchstic talking about the campaign:


Matchstic's On The House- Part 1 from matchstic on Vimeo.

Taylor & Bradley, Jan 10th 2009

I was really excited to start my 2009 schedule with the beautiful wedding of Taylor and Bradley. Taylor's family has been dear to me for years. They are a Birmingham family who hired me for their son Cole's wedding and then proceeded to tell all their friends about me after his wedding (You may remember my post on Cole and his wife Anna from this summer). I can't tell you how many clients I got from that wedding! It is now such an honor to have now done Taylor's wedding as well! The day was gloomy, windy, and rainy but the wedding was gorgeous and intimate. These are a few of my favorites from their wedding day.

To view their album design, click HERE

Bradley and his Groomsmen:


The Birmingham Boys Choir was the highlight of the ceremony. They sang as Taylor walked down the aisle and it was the most emotional bridal entrance I have ever experienced!


Married!


The reception was at The Club which overlooks downtown Birmingham. I'm glad I got 2009 kick started with such an amazing party!

The Last Five Years, Cast Photos

Matt Godfrey as Jamie and Chelsea Reynolds as Cathy in The Last FIve Years


Here are a few quick shots from our show this weekend. It was a HUGE success and I'm thankful for all of you who came out to support it this weekend. It will not be our last! Matt and I are already talking about Round 2.
More photos to come later. I wish I could post a video of the show....but its illegal. Oh well.
Cheers,
Bryan

Meggie & Buck, Quick Shoot

I was in Rome last month with Meggie and Buck to talk about their March 28th wedding. While viewing the church, I grabbed my LOMO and shot off a quick roll of them outside. Here are a few of my favorites.
I can't wait for their wedding next month!

Carrie & Matt: Preview

The A Bryan Photo team is working throught the film from Carrie & Matt's wedding this week. However, I thought I would go ahead and give you a preview of their weddding....aka one of my most favorite weddings I have ever shot....literally.









Peace. - Caleb

Sarah & Jeremiah, December 20th 2008

You may have already seen the other posts I have done on the wedding of my friend and colleague, Jeremiah Sizemore. He and his wife Sarah got married and left on their honeymoon in an RV. They are currently traveling around the US for 3 months in said RV. While I have blogged on them several times I have yet to do an official post on their wedding day. So without further ado, here are some of my favorites from their wedding.

If you missed my previous posts on them, click HERE to view their engagement images, HERE to view their 8mm, and HERE to follow the blog related to their current RV adventures.

Jeremiah with groomsmen (plus some members of team ABP!)


The Ceremony at Sarah's home church. Jeremiah's sister, Sarah, stood as his "best woman".


Married!


A simple reception at the church post wedding. Check out the team photo! We are only missing my wife Ashley (and boys) and Chase's wife, Amy. Also, our gift to him was a Yashica T3 ( you didn't think we would let him shoot digital?!?) so they could document their travels.


Here is the latest video from their blog, on their way to Big Sur:


Finally, here are some film shots from their trip!






Miss you guys!
Come home soon!
Bj

Happy Birthday Dad!!

(Dad with his cousins, Ruth Ann and Lynnell. Chicago, mid 60's)

My dad turns 66 today and he's still this cool. Later this month, he and his college buddies are riding to the Florida Keys on their motorcycles for their annual bike trip. They started the tradition 3 years ago, and each year they pick a place in the states to explore. As all three of my brothers have said, "We will never be as cool as Dad." So Happy Birthday, Dad. Maybe one day I can attempt to be as cool as you.

If you missed my post on my dad on his last birthday, check it out HERE.

Love you Dad!
Bj

Guest Blogger: John Dolan

John Dolan

This is part two of my Q&A with Holger Thoss and John Dolan. I posted Holger's answers earlier in the week and you can view it HERE if you missed it.

Be sure to check out John and Holger's new blog, "Tableshots".

A Bryan Photo: You are both constantly pushing to keep yourselves from avoiding "the
wedding vortex". How do you define this "Vortex"?
John Dolan: The vortex is the expected, the picture you have seen 1000 times. You see it through your lens, you recognize it immediately, and you have to choose, "Do I settle for this easy shot, or do I try to see it a new way?" When you settle for the expected, you have slipped down into The Vortex of Mediocre Wedding Photography.

ABP: Can you give us an example of when you pushed the envelope and you
were pleasantly surprised by the outcome?
JD: I tend to get swept away by certain weddings. This one, fairly early in my career, took me on a great ride. The bride and groom both worked for magazines and they let me shoot as freely as I liked. The wedding was tender and honest and joyful and the photographs felt as if they made themselves. I pushed the envelope by being loose all night:


ABP: Talk a bit about the importance of carrying the weight of a couple's family history.
JD: It is simply this. I try to imagine that in 30 years, the daughter of that bride I shot last Saturday will be dying to know what life was like on the day their parents got married, perhaps because she will be getting married that day. The box of photographs is a form of marital DNA. It contains little slips of evidence of an ancestor.

ABP: Many modern wedding photographers wear themselves out on wedding days, often shooting 7,000+ digital images. You take a counterintuitive approach. Explain the idea behind "the less hard I work, the better."
JD: Quality not quantity. If you aim for 12 great photographs, hopefully you will make 88 good, solid images, and 12 greats. If you try to cover everything and hustle and sweat, you will make 3000 images that we have all seen before. Aim high and if you miss you still wont shoot yourself in the foot.

ABP: Say I'm a beginning wedding photographer. What are the three things you would want to make sure I know before starting out in this industry?
JD: 1. Batteries die when brides walk down the aisle. (It's physics.)
2. You can't pretend to like weddings. Either you do or you don't.
3. The wedding photographer is part of the wedding party. Act like it.

ABP: What inspires you?
JD: Watching people perform under pressure, with grace. A rookie's first major league at-bat. 7th graders in a Shakespeare play. A groom who can actually dance. A father of the bride who actually says what he has wanted to say for 27 years to his daughter.

ABP: What are your three favorite wedding images you have ever taken and why?
JD: I have only one. A portrait of my wife from the back, taken on our honeymoon, in her wedding dress. I finally got my turn:


ABP: What is your opinion of wedding photojournalism?
JD: Weddings train you better for photojournalism than the other way around. I think a core element to a good wedding image is sensuality. I want images that will make me hear and smell and taste the day. It seems to me many photojournalists are trained into objectivity and that is the last thing I want from a wedding photograph.

ABP: Most photographers dread the "family formal" time but this is one of your favorite times of the day. Why? What perspective did you both adopt to get excited about doing them?
JD: First, you can kill a lot of birds with just a few stones. You can very quickly please the mother of the bride (crucial), make historical groupings of generations, document the true nature of a family (stiff, wild, dysfunctional.) Also, little things happen. It is part of the ritual...the welcoming of the groom into the bride's family, the blending of the two families. It can be wonderfully chaotic:


Thanks John! Feel free to leave a question in a comment if you want to ask him something else.

More Wedding Polaroids, Anna & Paul

Here are a few polaroids from Anna and Paul's wedding on January 10th (captured by Caleb)! Full wedding post to follow soon.

Guest Blogger: Holger Thoss

(Photo of Holger Thoss by Cary Norton)

This past summer Caleb and I got the privilege of attending John Dolan & Holger Thoss' workshop on wedding photography in New York City. I have held their work in high regard for years and jumped at the chance to learn from these legends of the trade in a workshop setting. The perspective I gained from this time was invaluable. The main philosophy I took from these two was the importance of creating images that last. The first day of the workshop was spent going through a history of the trade. We looked at wedding photographs that are still captivating today despite being taken 60 years ago. What characteristics made these images still relevant? What perspective should modern day photographers have towards capturing classic and timeless pictures?

I am so honored that these two would be our first ever guest bloggers on our site, to share some more in depth ideas on their approach to our trade. I gave them both a list of questions and told them to pick the questions they want to answer.

Today I'm posting Holger's answers and tomorrow I will post John's.

These two, along with wedding and lifestyle photographer Philippe Cheng, share a studio in New York. Together they have started a blog called "tableshots" where they are sharing their images, inspirations, philosophy on our trade. Be sure to check it out and leave a comment.

Without further ado, the floor is yours Holger!

A Bryan Photo: What in your mind, makes up a classic image?
Holger Thoss: A classic wedding image to me has to have the following: A) showing a genuine moment that can be read by a culturally wide audience. B) A unique moment that can't be easily described with words. C) Capturing subtle, hidden emotions and gestures and translating them into a strong photograph. D) Taking a complex situation and transforming it into a single photograph. E) Making images that are different than the traditional compositions with a still easy to read message.


ABP: Can you show us a few examples of classic wedding images that inspire you? Tell us why they move you.
HT: The following one has a timeless radiance to it that I love and it shows a subtle but powerful moment.



ABP: You and John both constantly pushing to keep yourselves from avoiding "the wedding vortex". How do you define this "Vortex"?
HT: The wedding vortex: Taking somebody else's images and not your own.

ABP: Can you give us an example of when you pushed the envelope and you were pleasantly surprised by the outcome? (If you can provide an image it would be great)
HT: The first time when I decided not to take any flash pictures and just went for the slow shutter, grainy approach.



(It was getting dark and I just kept on shooting with out flash, risking to get the crucial after ceremony shot totally blurry - but I was surprised how well the shot turned out and I discovered "my thing")


ABP: Talk a bit about the importance of carrying the weight of a couple's family history.
HT: You have to make sure you are the perfect match as their wedding photographer. They have to feel that your pictures speak a language that they totally understand but are not fluent in expressing themselves.

ABP: Many modern wedding photographers wear themselves out on wedding days, often shooting 7,000+ digital images. You take a counterintuitive approach. Explain the idea behind "the less hard I work, the better."
HT: If you want to end up with 50 powerful images describing their wedding experience, do you need to take 7000 exposures?

ABP: How much weight do you place on physical products (prints or albums)? What advice would you give any photographer who is debating whether to make albums or just give clients a disc.
HT: OK, there is the issue of the historic value of the images - how do you make sure their kids and grandchildren will still be able to enjoy the images? I personally also need to create the final book after the wedding as the final presentation - it's the only medium that completes my vision truthfully.

ABP:Say I'm a beginning wedding photographer. What are the three things you would want to make sure I know before starting out in this industry?
HT: Think really hard what kind of wedding images you want to take and constantly question yourself.

ABP:What inspires you?
HT: Wonderful, amazing photographs; emotional people; breathtaking landscapes; light; drink and food; family and friends

ABP: Most photographers dread the "family formal" time but this is one of your favorite times of the day. Why? What perspective did you both adopt to get excited about doing them?.
HT: The cliché is so strong that it gives you a lot of room to break out of.

What are your three favorite wedding images you have ever taken and why?
Holger: Hmm, I probably have a hard time picking the "3" but okay I'll do it and see what comes out...

This was the quintessential shot of the brides emotion for me:


Okay, now I am getting repetitive and give away my formula but I love their body language and her expression just gets me:


This one is probably unexpected, but a good example for the un-formal, formal shot. At this wedding 2 very special families met and they totally elevated me. The image captures a certain beauty and strength in those people that I find captivating and contagious:


THANKS HOLGER!
These are so inspiring.
Do you have any further questions for Holger? Leave a comment!

Melanie & Patrick Polaroids

I am working on Melanie and Patrick's wedding images today. Here are the polaroids we put in their polaroid book before they left the reception. Images and post to follow later this month!

Cheers,
Bj

Caroline & Keat Wedding

I'm proud to present the beautiful wedding weekend of Caroline and Keat from this past November in Charleston. It was my first wedding to work with Calder Clark of Blue Moon Events, who graciously referred us to this couple. The events were beautifully designed by Barry West of Blossom Events. The wedding took place at Middleton Place, but we did all the prep photos in Charleston. The wedding was an absolute blast for my whole team (5 of us were there) and I'm so thrilled with how the images turned out.

View their album design HERE

Keat & His Groomsmen.


The ceremony on a wet afternoon at Middleton Place.


Married! The clouds parted for a short while and we were able to get some great shots before the rain started back up!


The reception!


Their 8mm was shot beautifully by Branden:


Caroline & Keat 8mm from A Bryan Photo on Vimeo.

Feel free to check out some of the images from two remarkable events prior to the wedding; Thanksgiving dinner at McCrady's & the rehearsal dinner at the William Aiken House.