rebecca & zak's red white and blue wedding {elizabethton tn wedding photographer}

Where do I start?  Well first of all - I have officially made it through 'wedding season'!!! And I'm still alive!  It has been a VERY busy, but VERY fun and rewarding couple of months!  And what a finale - Rebecca and Zak are awesome.  I can't really think of a better word (that might have something to do with the fact that it's almost 2 am).  I was able to meet and get to know them a little better when I did their engagement session back in May.  Rebecca had told me about a few of their plans and I was so excited to see everything put together.  Well let me tell you it was even better than I had imagined! I LOVED the details and little touches that were put into everything.  If you haven't realized already - I am COMPLETELY OBSESSED with details.  AHH... I love details.  LOVE them!  I love when the personality of the couple is put into the decorations and the overall style of the wedding.  

This was probably the most relaxed I have ever been at a wedding.  When I arrived, I walked into the bride's area to find Rebecca calmly watching tv with her sister, joking around and having fun. Zak was outside working on finishing touches with other family members.  I never once saw either of them any less calm than this.  And that goes for the rest of the family members too.  Everyone was super nice, fun and flexible.  I loved it.    

The ceremony took place up on a huge hill overlooking the mountain scenery.  Rebecca had wanted there to be the least amount of civilization as possible.  Everyone was shuttled up the hill on hayrides pulled by tractors.  The seats at the ceremony were bails of hay with linen on them.  They were married underneath an amazingly beautiful pine arbor the Zak built.  There was a small band playing... fans for guests.  It was perfect.

Then at the reception there were games: horseshoes, disk golf, corn hole and more.  Delicious pork, fresh fruit, chicken and pasta salad were served.  Daisies in mason jars were the center pieces.  Then of course there was fireworks, sparklers and these awesome things I had never heard of - biodegradable floating lanterns of a sort... I'm getting carried away here.  Basically it was what I would re-do my wedding to be like.  It was beautiful, intimate and fun.

Here is a very lengthy preview - if you could even call it that.  Congratulations again to Becca and Zak! Hope you two are having a blast on your honeymoon!!!

danielle & matthew - full post {morristown tn wedding photographer}

I have been jam packed with weddings the past several weeks, which has been awesome - but I feel like I'm constantly playing catch up!!  I appreciate everyone's patience with me as I work hard to get everything done in a timely manner =)  I already posted a sneak peek of the beautiful Danielle and her fun purple and yellow Morristown wedding... but here is the full post!!  A mini walk-through of their special day.  Their reception was at the Rose Center in downtown Morristown.  This was my second time shooting at this venue, and it was nice to have the familiarity.  Everything was perfect.  My favorite part was the candy bar.  Such a cute idea!!  Enjoy - and congrats again to Danielle and Matthew!!!


 

whitney + michael - sneak peek {jonesborough tn wedding photographer}

First of all, I must say that I love Whitney!!! It has been so much fun getting to know her over the last several months.  It all started when I met both her and Michael close to a year ago to talk about their wedding plans...  Then we had a blast taking their engagements up at Roan Mountain State Park, as well as her bridals in downtown Jonesborough.  I feel like she's not just a client, but a friend - and it was so much fun to be able to watch her and Michael tie the knot.  It was a beautiful and emotional ceremony.  Here is a small sneak peek of the day to tide you over while you wait for the pictures to be ready...  Congrats guys!!

givin you moore - sneak peek {johnson city tn family photographer}

This is the totally adorable Moore family... and also some of my good friends.  We had a super fun time this evening - the kids did great, especially considering that one of them was asleep in the car when they got there, and the lighting was a photographers dream...  Here are a few of my favorites - more to come soon!!  Enjoy!! {leave comments please - I'm in need of some comment lovin!}

what to wear {helpful hints} johnson city tn photographer

I get asked a lot: "What should we wear?" for a photo session.

The answer: Rich colors, interesting textures, and layers. 

Most importantly - you want to coordinate, NOT match. 

And remember, if you feel good in it, you'll look good in it.

I'd be happy to come dig through your closets with you if you can't find anything or are completely indecisive {like me}.  What you wear adds and in lots of cases determines the style of the session.  It's kind of a big deal.  No pressure. =) 

this is for YOU. {thoughts on pricing}

Once photography was simply a hobby and a passion...  But now I look around and feel so fortunate to do what I love for a living - and I love every minute of it (well, almost every minute)!!  Over this past year I have been so blessed.  Brandilyn Davidson Photography has been expanding quite quickly during the past several months.  In light of this, I have decided to completely restructure the way I offer my products to clients.  But before I do, I thought it would be helpful to share some behind the scenes info on the editing process and the amount of work that goes into producing high-quality images from what may seem like a relatively brief photo session or event.

Most professional photographers will spend anywhere from five to over twenty minutes (!) thoroughly editing each individual image from your session.  Each image undergoes a series of fine-tuned adjustments to important aspects of the photograph such as cropping, tone, exposure, contrast, white balance, and sharpening - just to name a few.  Many photos require additional work - including but not limited to: blemish removal, color and texture effects (ex. vintage, retro, black & white), skin smoothing, background editing, etc.  I've included just one example below:

 

 

Taking the info above into consideration - a typical wedding package includes roughly 200-300 finished images and can take up to several weeks to complete.  This makes the seven or eight hours a photographer spends actually taking photos on the wedding day just a small fraction of the time required to produce the final products. 

 

 

In addition to the time spent taking and editing photos, another reason going with a professional isn't cheap is because professional photography equipment and editing software is extremely expensive.  A high end DSLR can cost several thousand dollards just for the body - before it even has a lens on it!!  A good lens often runs well over a thousand dollars - and most photographers have several.  Then there's computers, hard drives, memory cards, flashes, reflectors, bags, etc. etc. etc.  Further more, you must take into account years of schooling, interning, classes, tutorials and all that practice practice practice!!!
 
So, even though professional quality prints can seem pricey -  just remember - you're not paying for the ink and the paper it's printed with/on.  You're paying for the talent - the time and the artistic energy that has been put into that very image.  For you.  If you want a cheap 19 cent Walmart print - well then that's what Walmart is for.  If you want a high quality image that beautifully captures you and your loved ones in a moment in time - a moment that will last for forever... well then that's what professional photographers are here for.
 
I welcome any and all comments.  If you have a question, please feel free to leave it below and I will do my best to answer it.  Thanks for reading!!!                                                                                   

tina & jae - sneak peek {chattanooga tn wedding photographer}

This was an extra special wedding for me.  Not only was I the photographer, but this was my sister-in-law!!!  My hubby, sister and daughter were all in the wedding.  It was a little crazier than normal, but it was so much fun having an extra special connection and of course a higher level of comfort with this wedding.  It was a great day.  For now, I'm just going to post a sneak peek and then tell you more about the day when I get more of the pictures done - but I know several people who are DYING to see pictures - so here they are!!!! I love you Tina and Jae - hope you are having a BLAST on your cruise!

danielle + matthew - sneak peek {morristown tn wedding photographer}

Again, I continue to be overwhelmed with how incredibly awesome my clients are.  These two families were so sweet, genuine, loving and fun.  It was such a pleasure to be a part of Danielle and Matthew's special day... I almost teared up watching them see eachother for the first time in the chapel.  I've decided they should make a movie out of their story... they've known eachother since they were four and have basically been in love ever since.  So sweet!!  The wedding was only yesterday, but I wanted to post a quick sneak peek to give everyone something to look at while you wait.  This was wedding 2 of 3 in a row!!! So needless to say, I've got my fair share of pictures to edit over here!!  Okay, enough babbling, here are the pictures!  The one of her bouquet and feet is my absolute favorite.  Thanks again guys!!