Ashley Brawner Photography

Hey guys!

Sooo… I know I said that I was going to be WAY better about blogging this year, and soo far.. I have not been!

BUT!! ((and yes, thats a big but)) It is because I have been busy with shooting you guys

and… launching a new line of photography, as well as putting in more time on my commercial work

my website is now live, www.ashleybrawner.com

its not 100% completed (and yes, its really a lot more work to do a website than you would think) but its there.

all that being said, I am going to be catching up my shoots from Jan 1 and maybe even a few of my favorites from 2010 (we shall see)

thank you & goodnight… stay classy my internet friends and blog stalkers

Happy New Year!!!

And… Just a little update for you all…

2011 has some BIG things coming up!! I already have almost 20 weddings on the books from this month up until November and several months that I am not taking anymore weddings (dont want to get soo busy that you dont get all the attention you deserve for one of the biggest days of your life!) Soo… without further delay, here are some updates for you guys broken out by category

Personal: I will be maintaining what you call a 365 photo project… I will be taking a picture a day, sometimes it may be whats going on in my life, a highlight from that day, something that speaks to me or has personal meaning… or maybe just something that I think is kinda cool. I will post these images on my personal blog, that you are more than welcome to check out… Havent decided yet if I wanted to post them here as well though… Thoughts?

Professional: New website. New blog updates. New pricing. New exciting opportunities for me AND you to get in on the action and some fun give aways and events! You guys have probably seen where I have asked for models for shoots… And there will be more of that in the new year for ABP. I cant wait to share with you all the exciting things coming up! I am also going to attempt to maintain regular postings on my blog of all my recent shoots and favorites. Also! Many of you have asked for mentoring sessions, tagging along, etc… So I will be working in opportunities for you guys to do so as often as possible. Many of you have already tagged along with me on a shoot or a wedding and I have really enjoyed it, a lot! So stay tuned for that!

Personal & Professional: One of the biggest reasons that I work from home, is so that I can be there for my kids and my family. I am soo very privileged and blessed that God has allowed me to have a passion for something that I can do because I enjoy it and to be able to make it my profession. I will be taking my time home more seriously this year though. It is great to be busy and to have work, but everyone needs some R&R … Especially with 3 kids . Because of my need to be completely confident in the work that I give to you as my friends, customers, family and clients, I will be revamping my schedule to allow for specific off days. The off days may change, some times as often as weekly, but for the most part will stay the same and be consistant. I want to be sure that I am well rested and have enjoyed time with my family so that I can give my family my best and give you guys my best. After all, you dont want a half awake person with coffee stained shirts working on your pictures .

With all that being said… My new site and new pricing (see note below on pricing) will be live effective January 15th…Anything booked before January 15th will be grandfathered in at the 2010 rates.

I hope everyone has had a safe and happy holiday season! And heres to making 2011 better and bigger than 2010! (and a sneak peek from the first shoot of 2011)

*Pricing: You may ask yourselves why photographers charge what we do… And I saw an EXCELLENT explanation for this on a fellow photographers blog, so in a nutshell, here it is: When I charge you for your sitting, your prints, your dvd of your images… You may say/ask yourselves why you should pay me for a disc or a print when you could do that yourself for so much less… Or why I charge what I do for the sitting when Im only with you for maybe an hour or so. It is soo much more than that though. On average, for every hour that I spend shooting with you, I will spend 2 to 3 hours culling and editing those images(sometimes more, sometimes less depending on the specific needs of your shoot, event, wedding). The editing time doesnt include all the time that goes in to planning for your photography needs… It may include setting up the location, scouting the location, loading and reloading equipment and/or props, among many other things. You are also paying for quality, artistic interpretation/design and my experience… I pride myself in the amount of time that goes in to each image because I want to make sure that you are not showing people images that do not capture who you are and are not of high quality. Yes, you can go pay $15 for a sitting fee, and you will probably get 1 or 2 pretty good images, but I can assure you that you wont have to worry about only getting 1 or 2 good images with me. I produce quality work from an experienced artist/photographer and I take utmost pride in it… And you should too! You shouldnt look back at your photos years from now and wonder what you were thinking .

I kinda forgot to do my own Christmas cards this year to send out…

But then I realized that everyone (for the most part) that I would send a card to is online…

Soo, here is this years Christmas card & not to be cliche’, but the reason we celebrate isn’t for presents or Santa Claus (though they are both SUPER fun & Santa LOVES white chocolate macadamia, btw)… It’s because many years ago a baby was born, to save us from ourselves and to give us hope and a new life. We don’t call it CHRISTmas for nothing. One of my favorite Christmas songs growing up sums it up nicely…

Come on, ring those bells,
Light the Christmas tree,
Jesus is the king
Born for you and me.
Come on, ring those bells,
Every-body say,
Jesus, we remember
It’s your birthday

Okay guys!! I know you have been awaiting the launch (relaunch) of my website and it’s almost here! I’m very excited with the direction we have chosen to go with it and really feel like it will go along with all the different things that we encompass with Ashley Brawner Photography! Keep checking here and I’ll update you on when the site is ready to go live! I’ll also be catching up all my missed blogs that I haven’t had time to post .

Get excited!

We have SIXTEEN (16) weddings booked for 2011 already and I have several months completely booked… Sooo…. Make sure you contact me ASAP to make sure your date is still available. ALSO – Prices will be going up effective January 1st on all packages (weddings, lifestyle photography, commercial photography, etc). I will still honor any 2011 weddings and shoots booked before the end of the year at the 2010 rates.

AND…

To close out the year with a bang and to celebrate all the new and exciting things coming to Ashley Brawner Photography… I am offering gift certificates at 50% off! WHOA!! And yes, you read it right!! If you purchase a gift certificate for someone, it’s 50% off! Sooo… a $50 gift card is actually worth $100!! You can NOT beat that!!

Lots of things are happening and we are very very excited about all the exciting new adventures and new people that we are going to be working with on projects, etc. Stay up on my blog and facebook page and I’ll keep you posted about opportunities for you to get involved AND to let you know the cool things that we are launching!

And just so this isn’t a completely wordy post…. Here are two teasers from a wedding I’m editing now

So I know it’s been a few days since my last blog post… BUT I figured that I wouldn’t keep you guys waiting and I would give you a sneak peek on the weddings and shoots I’m editing so you know what you have to look forward to . Enjoy! And make sure to check back and see the whole shoots/weddings!

Okay guys… Sooo… We all know that with the weather getting cooler we aren’t as likely to go do outdoor shoots. BUT IT IS STILL SOOO BEAUTIFUL and great for outdoor shoots. I know this may sound crazy because I always charge sitting fees… BUT in keeping in the spirit of giving for the Holidays, I am offering FIFTEEN ***FREE*** Photoshoots by Ashley Brawner Photography for the month of November.

What’s the catch you ask?
There really isn’t one. I’m just waiving my sitting fee for the first 15 people that respond and book. The photo shoot will, as always, have to be at a mutually agreed upon time and location.

But you’ve always charged the sitting fee to reserve your appointment, with no sitting fee, how can that be done you say?
Well… I’m glad you asked! Your appointment time can be reserved with a $50 deposit that WILL be applied to your print and/or disc order. All you have to do is paypal your deposit to me at: payments@ashleybrawner.com and we will book your date (I also accept cash or checks, for your convenience).

Respond on this note w/your name and number of people in your shoot and your preferred location. Locations will vary between Nash Farms, Piedmont Park, Little 5 Points, Downtown Locust Grove, and a few other places.

Dates & Locations Available:

McDonough:
Nov 6th: 7:45am, 6pm, 6:45pm

Piedmont Park:
Nov 7th: 5pm, 5:45pm, 6:30pm

Downtown Locust Grove:
Nov 8th: 5pm, 5:45pm, 6:30pm

Little 5 Points:
Nov 12th: 5pm, 5:45pm, 6:30pm

Gwinnett County:
Nov 13th: 7:45am, 8:30am, 9:15am

Oh!! And don’t forget to come see me on October 29th at the trunk or treat for Monica’s Kids, on Jonesboro Rd AND at the Health and Wellness “Fair” at Heritage Park, sponsored by Eagles Landing FBC, on Nov 6th!

We are THRILLED to announce our Fall and Christmas Mini Sessions!!! Some of you have already gotten in on the action and booked yours (good for you!!) but for those who haven’t yet… Below we will list the dates and times that are available for you! For those of you who may not know what a mini session is, or if you are interested in one: a mini session is a 30-45minute shoot where we will give you and/or your family our undivided attention to capture some REALLY great shots! Our mini sessions will include your shoot time(30-45minutes) and a disc of 20-25 professionally edited images, on a disc w/copyright release, and an online viewing gallery to share with friends and family, for only $150! (<–you can’t beat that!) All images/discs will be completed within 2weeks of your shoot so as to be sure that photos are ready in time for Christmas. If you don’t see the time and date that you want, DON’T WORRY!! Message us your request and we will do our absolute best to accommodate your needs and requests! You can schedule your appointment by contacting us at ashley@ashleybrawner.com or via phone, at 678-577-6416.

October 16th:  8:00am – 8:45am,  5:00pm – 5:45pm,  6:00pm – 6:45pm

October 17th:  8:00am – 8:45am,  5:00pm – 5:45pm,  6:00pm – 6:45pm

October 22nd: 8:00am – 8:45am,  5:00pm – 5:45pm.  6:00pm – 6:45pm

November 6th: 8:00am – 8:45am,  5:00pm – 5:45pm, 6:00pm – 6:45pm

November 7th: 8:00am – 8:45am,  5:00pm – 5:45pm, 6:00pm – 6:45pm

**And for all of my loyal “blog stalkers” – I am soo very sorry that I have not been regularly posting! I have been soo incredibly busy (which is a GREAT thing) that my blogging has slacked off. But never fear! I will be catching up all the shoots that have not made it here along with my current shoots that I will be blogging… So you will have no shortage of yummy eye candy!

Hello ladies and gentlemen!

I have had absolutely no internet access for a week now, due to our move into our fabulous new home!! (Of course! I will post pictures soon!) My apologies for the lapse in posting photos… but I promise, this week your regularly scheduled blog posts will resume!!

And just for fun… Here are a few fun (non-photography related) blogs I stumbled upon:

www.awelllovedhome.com

www.shabbychicblog.com

and I also found this artist… she’s great! check her out!!

www.kerenann.com

Enjoy!!! And I’ll be back to posting my photo blogs this week!!

Back-to-School Mini Session Special!!

School photos never really seem to capture who your child is at these special times in their lives…but we can! And we love that soo many of you trust, and have trusted, us with photos of your family, children, engagements, weddings and other special events.

Email me for details because you won’t want to miss this! You can reach me at ashley@ashleybrawner.com

(here are a few photos of one of my c/o 2011 Seniors… Enjoy!)

Hey guys!!

Sorry for the delay in posting new blogs! We have had a VERY exciting last few days/weeks…which is a good thing. Thank you to everyone who keeps coming and looking/reading my posts…I promise you won’t be disappointed! I have several shoots and weddings to post for you so bare with me. Friday we got to meet…Are you ready?? JORDIN SPARKS!! Yay! My girls were soo excited, and she was soo sweet! We also got to photograph her concert, we were going to grab a few pictures of her before the show but the timing didn’t end up working out with the storms and her schedule, etc.  Saturday we went and photographed a beautiful wedding at Ocean Isle Beach, NC…and a first for me…had two associate photographers shooting a wedding in Gainesville, GA. All in all it’s been a great time and we have some great and exciting things coming to show you! But right now I’m going to go climb up in my very own bed and get some shut eye!

Ya’ll be looking out for a new blog post tomorrow! I’m pretty excited about it!!

Ash

ps- here’s a sneak peek from a recent shoot