Zombie Bride Revisited!

Happy Halloween everyone! To celebrate, I wanted to repost our Zombie Bride video from last year.
Beware all who dare to tie the knot tomorrow...this could be you!
Have a spook-tastic weekend.

Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers

My friend Stephen Kellogg came through Birmingham recently with his band, and he invited Ash and me to come watch. I brought my trusty Leica M6 and a roll of Fuji Neopan 1600 to the show. If you have never seen this band live, please make a point to see them if they are traveling to your town! There is talk that they may do a show at the A Bryan Photo studio when they come back in February. I'm keeping my fingers crossed! If you have never been to one of the A Bryan Photo shows, check this out. It is always an incredible night of inspiration and community.

Here are a few faves:

Elizabeth & John (A Preview)

This weekend I shot the incredible wedding of Elizabeth and John in Montgomery. I had such a fun time with them at the wedding and reception (especially the portrait studio!). Here are a few digital shots that I loved. Can't wait to get the film back!

Thank You!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to work with Kathryn at Snippet and Ink on an incredible photo contest. Because Kathryn's blog is amazing A Bryan Photo offered a free photo (and 8mm) session during our trip to NYC at Christmas to a lucky couple or family. To win, one had to write and tell us why NYC at Christmas was important to them.
We also got other great sponsors to join in! Traveler's Joy donated $500 to the travel costs, Richard Photo Lab donated free film processing, and Cypress Albums donated a free album to the winner!

We had over 300 submit or email stories on Snippet and Ink! From those we picked 4 finalists that Snippet and Ink viewers could vote on. Click HERE to read the 4 finalists stories!

In the end a lovely couple named Annie and Jared won with this moving story:

At the start of summer, after dating for two blissful years, Jared and I began to talk about marriage. Or rather, I began to drop hints involving sweet engagement stories I had heard, and leaving my web browser open to the Etsy Weddings page…

Unbeknownst to me, Jared took the bait and began to plan an elaborate proposal to take place in June in Iowa City, where we live and attend graduate school.

Sadly, his plans were halted when we learned that my stepfather had terminal cancer and I would have to fly to California to help nurse him and comfort my mother in what would be his final days.

After a month of my being in California, Jared bought a ticket to come see me and to say goodbye to my stepfather. The night before he got on the plane he decided to write my mother to share his proposal intentions and ask for her blessing. He was nervous about broaching the subject at such an unhappy time, but to his surprise my mother and stepfather were thrilled. Their only request was that he propose while he was out in California, so that my stepfather could see the look on my face, and know that I was going to be loved and taken care of when he was gone. (My father died in 1994, when I was 12)

All of a sudden the elaborate proposal Jared had been planning was scrapped, and he realized he would have to do it all the very next day, and without a ring. So he made one out of yellow construction paper, glued on a tinfoil diamond and got on the plane. He was terrified.

When he got to California he suggested I take a break from my duties as caregiver and go pick strawberries. And there, in the corner of the pick-your-own-berry farm, he got down on one knee, presented the paper ring and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. You can imagine how I cried.

My stepfather died a month later. His death was a serious blow to my whole family, and my mother was truly crushed. In thinking of ways to lift her up out of her sadness, Jared and I have been planning to convince her to spend Christmas together with us in Manhattan, where my sister/maid of honor lives. We want her to be in a different environment, surrounded by those who love her this Christmas, not in the now-empty house she shared with my stepfather.

We have been planning to go on the 18th of December, so I almost had a heart attack when I saw this contest. New York this winter would mean the world to us, it would be a time for Jared and I to celebrate our newfound happiness and commitment (and to capture it through the utter genius that is A Bryan photography) and it would be a symbolic new beginning for my mother, who has been through too much. It would just be utter magic if it came true.

So, thank you for letting me share my story and for giving us this possible opportunity.

I can't wait for the chance to photograph this amazing couple and their family. I hope to meet and photograph more of the amazing couples and families that submitted stories last week. You are truly inspiring and we THANK YOU greatly! We still have a view spots available for the NYC Christmas sessions. Click HERE to reserve a spot or email info[at]abryanphoto[dot]com.

Halle Lipov's Bat Mitzvah Party

I had the chance to photograph my first ever Bat Mitzvah last month in Charleston. The entire event was planned by the amazing Kristin Newman Designs. I have never shot an event with so much energy and vibrance! When shooting weddings, I never get the chance to photograph these amazing colors. Here's a few of my faves.

Caroline & Keat (8mm Reprise)

In honor of Caroline and Keat's wedding being published in Martha Stewart Weddings this Fall, I wanted to repost their beautiful 8mm film.
Shot by Branden.
Enjoy!

Caroline & Keat (Martha Stewart Feature!)

I'm so honored to have another A Bryan Photo couple featured in Martha Stewart Weddings! I loved Caroline and Keat's wedding and think its a perfect fit for this beautiful magazine.










Major props to Calder and Catilin at Blue Moon Events who planned this incredible weekend. Be sure to check out their new blog HERE!
Their work is phenomenal and I LOVE working with their team.

Film is Not Dead Workshop!

I'm heading to Park City, Utah, in the morning to hang out at my friend Jonathan Canlas' workshop. Jonathan is an amazing photographer and I can't wait to hear what he has to say this week. Jonathan will also be speaking at the A Bryan Photo workshop in November!

Stay tuned for more updates from this week.
Cheers,
Bryan

Bowling

I lost to Chase in bowling because he has superior skills. This is the 8 lbs. pink bowling ball that I lost with. - Bryan

Kelly and Dan (A Love of Family Formals)

Those that follow this blog know that I have had a renewed love of family formals at weddings. As a photographer, I've learned to find the humanity in the chaos of these brief post wedding sessions. While the posed image of every family member looking at the camera smiling is a wedding photography standard, I love capturing what's behind those photos. I'm learning not to break from my style just because these pictures are typically sterile and mundane. They can have as much life & vibrance as other parts of the day.

I take all my nice clean color family formals with my Mamiya RZ 67:

Here's a photo of me with the RZ 67:


But while people are trying to get in place for the formal photos, I'm normally moving around taking Black and White photographs with my LOMO.
Here's a photo of me with my LOMO:


Below are photos with the LOMO. I especially love the images of the grandparents.







I am constantly trying to talk my wedding couples out of seeing each other and "getting the photos over with" before the ceremony. When couples try and control the pace of how images are taken they miss out on the biggest x factor that makes a wedding day memorable and fun: spontaneity. I'm a fan of the wedding day being natural; not just a big posed picture session. There is so much beauty to be found in the chaos and emotion of a wedding day, and you have space for it to happen.
Thoughts? Would you rather make sure you get everything and forget the chaos, or would you rather ride the wave that is your wedding day?