We have a new (and vastly improved) blog for you to check out! Just head on over to www.brettjarnagin.com for the latest and greatest pics!

I'm going to leave this blog up so you can go back through old posts and see both my growth as a photographer and as a person. This site actually dates back to April of 2008 so it is really like looking at the archives of my life as a photographer!

The story continues on the new one :)

www.brettjarnagin.com

Awesome wedding. Awesome couple. Nuff said. I'll let the pictures do the talkin'!

I

LOVE this shot!

Favorite!

Plain and simple, these two rock.

They wanted to get pictures taken out at the oil fields that Kevin's family owns and Kevin works on. I really had no idea what to expect since I had never been out there, but we definitely made some pretty epic photographs! We also took lots of pictures in Casey, IL where they live.

Can't wait for the wedding, guys!

We've got a big ol' 24x36 inch gallery wrap of this one in the studio!

I'm so blessed to have such amazing clients. I really can't say it enough. Every weekend I get to spend the day with people I truly enjoy on what is the most important day of their lives. Jessi and Steven are a perfect example of my ideal clients. Laid back, fun, up for any crazy idea I have, and really just awesome people to be around. They live in Texas and I've actually only spent time with them on three occasions (Steven's sister's wedding, their engagement session, and their wedding) but I really feel like I have known them forever. I'm bummed that I probably won't get to see them for a really long time, but they will definitely be immortalized on my studio wall with the last image of this post. I'll get to see them every day!

Their wedding was in Rantoul and there are so many unique places to shoot there. There used to be a huge military base in Rantoul but all that has now been abandon and makes for some really cool locations. I said these two were up for anything and I wasn't kidding. One of the places I took the guys was some sort of abandon missile testing ground or something? I'm not really sure what it was used for, but we definitely had to go around a locked gate and do some exploring to find a door that we could get in through. The shot was worth it though!

The ceremony itself took place right next to a pond. The only problem was that it was about 5 billion degrees outside and it rained about 6" of rain the day before. So basically the ceremony took place in a pretty swamp :) I even suggested that we lay trash bags down the aisle and just have them slip and slide their way down to the alter! Some brides would have been depressed by the circumstances but Jessi (and this is why I love these two) laughed all the way down the isle as she slipped, sunk, and got the bottom of the dress all muddy. All that mattered was that they were getting married and they were surrounded by friends and family (and got awesome pictures!) - the rest was just minor details.

So without further adieu, here is just a small sample of my favorites from their wedding. Thank you guys SO MUCH simply for being awesome ;)

Work it.

This is the shot I was talking about in the abandon missile testing facility (or whatever it was) Definitely worth the trespassing!

The Backstreet Boys

Charlie's Angels

The Linden in Rantoul makes for a great wedding reception location!

Here is a little backstory on this image. These are my favorite type of photos to take but they can take quite a bit of time. Finding the perfect location is actually the hardest part. What I usually do is get all the lights set and then bring the couple out for the shot. Casey and I got everything set (after about 25 minutes of flashes not firing and random other problems) before I decided that the spot we were in just wasn't good enough. So we picked up all of the equipment (which weighs a couple tons) and hauled it a few hundred yards to another spot I had picked. Good call, me. Once we got everything set up we brought Jessi and Steven out for the shot. Even though it was about 9 or 10 p.m. it was still ridiculously hot out. To take a shot like this takes about 4-6 minutes and during that time the couple has to stay extremely still while we run around in the background with the lights (no those aren't photoshopped in people!) So I was running through the background trying to weave my light between the trees and in doing so I sweat a few gallons and smashed my arms up on the trees. We had to take this picture 4 or 5 times to get it right so by the end I was a repulsive, sweaty mess. Luckily, it was worth everything that went into it. This isn't just a wedding photo. This is art... and I love it :)

Many of you have already been introduced to Alisha who I hired earlier this year. She's since been promoted to Studio Manager (but what I like to refer to as "The Director of Awesomeness")

I took her and fiance Caleb's engagement photos a couple months ago (he's pretty awesome too) and we had a blast.

In an effort to post more blogs, I'm going to cut back on how much I jabber on. Everybody just scrolls down to the pictures anyway, haha.

Enjoy!

We put our lives in peril for this shot, haha.

So Casey and I have been wedding planning (well, mostly Casey) but I had 2 things I actually cared about. One was that we had an awesome photographer and the other was that we had a photobooth at our wedding. When I was searching for photobooths around here I couldn't find any! I'd had several brides ask me about them in the past because they had the same problem. Well, I decided to change that and bring some photobooth awesomeness to Illinois! So I ordered a photobooth, built a website, and am proud to announce BOOTHIFUL!

We actually got the booth on a Thursday and set it up here in the studio. We had a blast taking pictures (you can find them on facebook.) and I knew this was going to be a hit. So the next day I asked Micki and Austin if they wanted to have it at their wedding (which was that Saturday.) They were all for it so we got a box of props together and Casey even made a bunch of mustaches on a stick, which were everyone's favorite!

We got Boothiful set up at the wedding reception and everyone really love it. It quickly became the life of the party. The pictures really speak for themselves!

Make sure to head over to http://www.boothiful.com to check out lots more pictures and book Boothiful for your wedding! Also "like" us on Facebook to stay up to date with the latest news and photos!

The wonderful (and super fun) bride and groom!

Kendra and Zach had a ridiculous amount of funny pictures in the booth!

Jessi and Brad of Modern Memory Films hopped in Boothiful while we were setting the lights. They are definitely the best videographers you are going to find. Period.

Thanks again to Micki and Austin for being our first ever Boothiful wedding! We had an absolute blast with you guys!

A few weeks ago I got to take family and baby portraits for the Ponder family! Their little baby, Annelise, was absolutely adorable. This session was one of many firsts for her. She never been on a hardwood floor, never been in the grass, never been in a flower pot, never been gentle tossed up in the air by her father, and a bunch of other things. It was pretty hilarious. First time parents are so overprotective and it makes these first time photos even more comical.

We had a great time hanging out with Becky, Josh, and baby Annelise and can't wait to do her one year photos!

Last month I was lucky enough to get to photograph Mike and Beth's wedding in Dallas, Texas. We originally met at a wedding I photographed in St. Louis and apparently they liked me and my work enough to fly me out!

Mike and Beth are two of the kindest people I've had the chance to photograph. This was actually only the second time I had ever met them but they are the type of people you just feel like you've always known. They invited me to join them for their rehearsal and rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding. It was nice to get to know everyone and see what wonderful families these two come from! They really made me feel like part of the family.

At the reception Mike said in his speech, "You all told us we were crazy for flying our photographer all the way here from Illinois. Just wait until you see the pictures. Then you'll understand."

Well family, here's the proof!

Thank you guys so much for a wonderful experience!

Right before they saw each other for the first time

Want her to say yes? Get a lighted ring box!

We took these in their hotel suite.

Mike got all his guys custom bats as wedding gifts. (You may recognize his brother Chris Bonoil... Super Bowl champ with the Cowboys!)

This is a serious veil!

This kid has some moves!

Oh my blog, its been a long time since I blogged... 21 days in fact.

Wedding photography in Central Illinois is strange because there aren't many April weddings and there are TONS in May. Which means I basically went from shooting no weddings to having one every single weekend (sometimes 2) from now until fall. So although I've had lots to blog about, I haven't really had time to do it! I'll definitely be sharing all the weddings I've been shooting but for today I wanted to introduce you to a few of our senior spokesmodels. These girls were recommended to us by past seniors and basically we do a session with them, give them free wallets and rep cards, and then once their friends see their pictures, they book us for their senior portraits too!

Here are just a few of our favorites! I'll be trying (emphasis on trying) to blog more next month!

I love when couples really pour their personality into the first email they send me. For me, working with cool, fun, energetic, laid-back, and just plain awesome people means the world to me. Meg and Mark couldn't be a better example of the type of clients I want to work with!

Mark is a pilot and when Meg said that he would be flying here (he's from South Dakota) for the engagement session I was all over trying to get a chance to shoot with his plane. Wish granted.

We shot around Springfield for a couple hours and then headed out to the airfield. The sky was slipping away pretty quick so we really had to bust our butts to get the shots I wanted. We got some pretty incredible photos (despite being assaulted by gnats the whole time!) After that we hopped in the plane a took a little flight over Springfield. I've always planned on getting my pilots license but that sealed the deal for me. It was a blast! I'm actually going to call the local airport when I finish this to find out about getting flying lessons...

Anyway, after flying around for a bit, Meg and Mark invited Casey and I to dinner with them and her family, which was great. We met up with them and they are a really wonderful and welcoming family.

I love that I have really only spent about 3 or 4 hours with this couple and I feel like I've known them for years. I can't wait to shoot their wedding in August.

Here are just a handful of my faves!

I took a photo really similar to this one a couple weeks ago but didn't have both my flashes to make it exactly how I wanted it.

We actually got kicked off this property for taking pictures... ridiculous!

Mom's usually hate the shots where I cut people's heads off. Meg's mom loves it. That officially makes her awesome.

In the plane.

2,500 feet up!

Last shot of the day!

Let's go back in time a year...

I was working 80+ hours every single week, struggling to stay caught up with my work, and left with no time to grow my business (and its debatable whether or not I could even handle any more business on my own!) I was swamped, overwhelmed, and desperately in need of some help. So the search for an employee began. I was really just looking for someone with a great personality and who wasn't already settled in a career or in college full time. I had it narrowed down to about 5 people but none of them really seemed like a perfect fit. I spent about 8 months searching when, out of the blue, some random girl sent me a random message on Facebook asking if she could intern with me for the summer after she graduated college. I've probably got 20 messages like this over the past couple years but Alisha sent me a link to her work and I was pretty impressed. I knew this girl wasn't shooting professionally or anything but I felt that she was already better than most photographers around here and, with the right guidance and direction, could really be remarkable.

So I started "vetting" her so to speak. I contact people who knew her and asked about their thoughts on her. She got rave reviews! Everyone I talked to liked her and thought she would be perfect. Alisha is also graduating with a 4 year degree in Photojournalism and she's only 20 so that told me she is plenty motivated. Oh, and icing on the cake? She is interested in the business side of photography and was ready to read any books I gave her which was HUGE! Business and marketing is every bit as important as the photography itself. So anyway, she sent me that Facebook message Friday, we met up on Monday at a coffee shop to talk about her possibly interning, talked for 4 hours, and I ended up hiring her full time on the spot! She is an absolutely perfect fit for the studio and my business! It's amazing how things can change in the span of 4 days.

Alisha started working/training a about a month ago and I can honestly say she has blown me away. She picks up on things way faster than I anticipated and is already doing full edits on images and designing wedding albums! (and doing an excellent job) I'm even hoping to have her taking baby photos (she loves them) by the end of the year!

Not only is Alisha an awesome employee and addition to Jarnagin Photography, but she has quickly become a great friend of mine as well. I'm excited for you guys to meet her and I know she is excited to meet you as well!

So without further adieu, say hello to Alisha!

(and now when you people see me out at lunch with some random girl you'll know it is her! Ya, we get some strange looks sometimes, haha.)

Yup, she fits right in here with me, haha.

The best advice my dad ever gave me was to

"Find two things in life you love. Make one your career and one your hobby."

For a couple years in high school I was planning on making a career out of music, one way or another. I started teaching myself guitar back when I was twelve and have since picked up piano, drums, bass, and a little banjo and mandolin as well. I've always been more into writing my own songs than learning other people's and have been writing for about 8 years now.

Anyway, back in high school I was dead set on a career in music when I picked up a camera. That changed the course of my life forever (which is probably pretty obvious since you are on my photography blog.) So I became consumed with photography and music took a bit of a back seat. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy writing or playing shows anymore, it was just that I didn't care if I was playing music for just myself or 300 people. Its all the same to me. I have always played because I loved to play and if their happens to be an audience, well that's just peachy.

So for a stretch I got so busy with photography that I didn't write any songs for almost a year. When I took Casey to Italy to propose (you can read that post in the March section of the blog!), I didn't even plan on writing her a song for it until about a week before. So once I sat down and started singing, it pretty much just flowed out. Its always easy to write about things when your heart finds the words for you. Since then I've been writing again and playing the crap out of my guitar and piano. I actually think I might start playing shows again and finish recording the full length album I started almost 3 years ago.

Last night I ended up playing at a show at Common Grounds on an hour's notice, which was way better than last time when I had got asked to fill in for the headliner halfway through the show, haha. It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again sometime. When it comes to music, I have two things on my bucket list.

1. finish recording my full length album and
2. do a cross country tour.

So until those two things happen, I'll try and post some videos here and there. You can also check out my music myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/jarnaginmusic It hasn't been updated for a couple years but there are some songs there that you can't find here. You can also listen to "Montauk" which is the first song I ever wrote on piano!

"Just Let Go" (definitely meant to be played on an electric guitar with a full band but neither of those things were handy last night at 1 a.m. in the studio :)

"Without Your Hands"

I recorded this last year but never really shared it anywhere.

"Statues and Stones"

Statues and Stones - by Brett Jarnagin from Brett Jarnagin on Vimeo.

and here are a couple songs I performed at Common Grounds last night. I wasn't all that happy with the quality of the audio, but I recorded this on my little Flip camera so I wasn't expecting greatness, haha. Thus, the reason I came home and re-recorded them in the studio!

My (soon to be) niece, Lea, just had her first birthday! She is so adorable. I just love her to pieces :)

Here are just a couple shots from her birthday party!

She makes some of the funniest expressions! She was pretty excited about her presents. She didn't understand why she was getting them... but she definitely understood that getting presents is awesome!

Cake destruction.

She also got a little bubble machine as a gift. I think this might have been her first bubble experience. She was pretty amazed!

Here is a quick look back at Lea's first year in photos!

newborn

3 months

6 months

9 months

We'll be doing her 1 year shoot soon!

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I had the pleasure of once again photographing my friend and fellow musician, Jenna Jackley, this week. Jenna is currently recording her first album, "Little Bird" with another great friend of mine, Brad Eversole. You can check out some his recordings here. If you are in a band and want some incredibly high quality recordings, he is your guy - hands down.

Anyway, I've photographed Jenna a few times now and we always end up sitting in a field somewhere playing our songs for each other. We've been planning on getting together and writing some stuff for quite awhile now. Hopefully my recent life changes (read blog below) will allow for some time for that to happen!

Jenna has such an amazing voice and already knows who she is as an artist. At only 17 years old, the future is seriously hers for the taking. I can't wait for her album to be finished!

You can help her out by going to http://www.battleofthebands.com/jennajackley and voting for her to play at Warped Tour! You can also listen to some of her beautiful songs there.

Here are a few of my favorites from our shoot!

This one is definitely the album cover. The album is called "Little Bird" and she looks like a little bird in a nest! Too cute.

I'm not sure why I love this weird crop so much.

I've been doing photography full time for about 3 years now and I've been so incredibly blessed. I'm so grateful for everything that has happened in that short amount of time and everyone who has played a role in my growth as a photographer, a business owner, and most importantly as a person. Today, I turned a page and entered a new chapter of my life and it almost feels like a rebirth.

The thing about success is that it takes a lot of hard work to achieve and once it is achieved, it takes even more hard work to keep up. For 3 years I've been working 80+ hours every week, staying up till 6 a.m. editing, and generally just running myself into the ground. My goal for the past years has been to work extremely hard so when Casey and I finally start a family I don't have to work all the time and can enjoy the things that make life truly amazing - the relationships we have with our family and friends. So over the past 3 years (and even more so in the past 8 months) I've been burning the candle at both ends and I realized that if I didn't put out those flames, I was going to end up a puddle of wax on the living room carpet (and you can never get that crap out once it dries!)

What a lot of people don't know about photography is that only about 10% of a photography business is spent behind the camera. The rest is marketing, networking, editing, album design, emails, phone calls, etc. I've always thought I had to do everything myself. In a way, it is the best way to start a business because you understand every aspect of it and can do every task. But there comes a time when all those things are too much for one person and you have to "remove yourself as the bottleneck to your business." I realized that if I wanted my business to grow, (and more importantly, maintain my sanity, health, and relationships) I was going to have to bring someone else on board. I spent six months trying to find the perfect person to hire and, comically enough, she found me (through facebook of all things.) Her name is Alisha, she rocks, and today was her first day. I'm not going to talk about how awesome she is just yet because she is going to be getting a blog post of her own soon ;)

So, like I said, today was her first day and I can't wait to get her trained to help me out with everything. It just feels like a weight has already been lifted off my chest. It really feels amazing... Another HUGE life change I have made, is that I have moved my office out of my home and into the studio. I'm going to try my best to not take work home with me (well, not all of it :) Being in the office has fewer distractions and I use my time much more efficiently. Plus since I can more or less leave work here, I don't feel the weight of the work on my shoulders all day long. Its refreshing and it is exactly what I've been needing.

So in a way, today has felt like the first day of my new life. Today I took the first step to taking my life back and it is only going to make me a better photographer but more importantly a better person.

We tend to sprint through life racing to some "ideal" finish line (i.e. that cool gadget, our next car, that big house, retirement etc.) that really doesn't change anything. Take a minute, slow down, and realize that life is a journey and not a race. Its not the end that makes a life, its the path from start to finish and the people we walk it with that makes it worth living.

...

So on a lighter note, I wanted to share a few quick before and afters of the office remodeling. I'll be posting more of the studio soon but I need to order about 25 gallery wraps to cover the walls and the narrowing down process is pretty tough! Here is our (almost finished) workspace. Still need to put down some baseboards, outlet covers, and furnish it of course! (although we do have a desk, computer, and chairs in here now :)