Phoenix Wedding Photographer Julie Branyan

Happy Friday! This post is a little late because I went to bed at 9pm last night! I needed rest before the busy weekend starts. I’m so excited to be second shooting, photographing a family session, and attending a photography shoot out.  I know the weekend will go by fast. Since tonight is the one night this weekend I will have time, I’ve decided I’m going to take an hour or two for myself. An hour to lay by the pool, go for a run, or take a long walk. I challenge you to do the same. Life is so busy these days and taking a moment to focus on yourself will rejuvenate you for the week ahead. Have a wonderful weekend and find time to enjoy the beautiful sunshine.

I was trying to think what to blog about today. I’m on day 3 and I’m already running out of ideas! I was editing some photos and saw some great outtakes from weddings. I admit I have a folder called Julie and Josh rock weddings. The folder has now grown to Julie, Josh and other awesome people rock weddings. I’m missing a few of my favorite photos, so hopefully they’ll appear so I can blog them in the future. I can’t even begin to tell you how much fun I have at weddings. I work with the best vendors and they make me love my job even more! Enjoy our goofy photos (also forgive me because some of them are a little out of focus and grainy, but hey, they are outtakes)

Um.. lens cap in the back pocket is a bad idea. Looks like I have a target on my rear.

Laying on the ground looking confused means you’re a good photographer

Andy from Cue Motion rocking it

This is how real videographers work it.

When Photographers and videographers attack!

I shouldn’t be sharing this, but this proves I’m not photogenic whatsoever. Definitely not a good look for me.

A little testing going on.

Videographer Patrick holding flowers and working. True talent.

Would you like a videographer in your photo?

Micky from Cue Motion and his awesome girlfriend Tamara

Yum.. cake….

Josh working it.

Last week we celebrated Josh’s 27th birthday! I can’t believe he is almost 30. I admit there are birthdays where I buy awesome gifts, but this year was not one of them. Besides my homemade (slightly burnt) birthday cake, the only other gift I could come up with was a superman balloon. Josh loves superman a little much, but I quickly learned the superman fad is currently out. Go to any toy store and all you’ll find is characters such as Batman, Cars, and Toy Story. Lame. When I brought home the balloons we came up with the brilliant idea to attach them to Murray’s collar so he could show his love for Josh’s birthday. Murray is a laid back dog. Nothing bothers him whether it is  thunder, lighting or balloons.  Since we are dorks we took photos of Murray which of course I’m going to share with you on this Muray Monday.

On another note, I’m going to attempt to blog for the next 30 days. I’m hoping that I’ll make the challenge on my first attempt. Josh agrees that this is going to be a hard goal to meet.

What are you doing?

Wind and floppy ears equals awesome.

I’m not sure what he was doing, but he looks relaxed.

I’ve been struggling a bit this week with writer’s block. I have plenty going on in life from Josh’s birthday last week, second shooting two weddings last weekend, a horrible sore throat, dinner with good friends, eating my weight in cookies and trying to sort through mounds of editing. Life has been in a constant state of motion that when I stop, my brain stops. Saturday morning I woke up at 9am, after second shooting a wedding on Friday till after midnight, to the excitement of another day of second shooting. Of course I’m exhausted out of my mind, but it means so little when you are doing something you love. I get to be creative, meet new people, learn something new, and constantly challenge who I am as a photographer. This is a short little post, but below are some photos from my trip to Japan to make up for it.

I sat at the temple and waited for this moment to happen. It was so sweet.

One of my favorites…

The Japanese purchase the wood here and burn it for good luck.

Simple photo from a rainy day.

Leaving shoes behind while they pray

In Japan there isn’t a lot of detail like there is in Europe. I always looked for little details hidden in the simplicity.

Dango: It’s a Japanese dumpling. It was delicious.