A Whole New Mind

The reason A Bryan Photo is awesome?
The guys in this photo.

I'm so blessed by the people that have chosen to work with my company. They are all constantly striving to make the experience better for every A Bryan Photo client. They also enrich my life with their perspective and insight. Every Monday morning we have a production meeting where we talk about our weekends and everything that we have to do in the upcoming week. We also take time to talk through anything we have learned or read recently. I'm always amazed with the ideas presented and decided that I want them to share with you (my fellow blog readers) some insights they have been learning.

Jeremiah was telling me about a cool book he read while at the beach last week and asked him to share it on the blog. Take it away, man:



When it comes to writing about books, the options are typically to write a review (what you thought about the book) or a summary (what the book was about). This will look a bit more like a short summary.

"A Whole New Mind" is a book by Daniel H. Pink based on how our way of thinking must change in order to keep up with a changing world. Pink has previously written books about the changing employment structure - more people working on a short-term, project basis, rather than 45 years at the same job. "A Whole New Mind" refers back to these changing employment roles and the way we must think about them.

His thesis is basically that

A) our economy and world are changing....

B) the way they are changing is from an analytical-based, Left-Brain type thinking...to a more creative, Right-Brain centered train of thought...

C) as "Abundance, Asia, and Automation" take simple tasks overseas (or automate them), developed economies (America/Europe/Japan) are left with a need for people who can see the big picture. Performing simple tasks well is no longer enough to guarantee a job for life...the ability to synthesize information and understand the results are the new skills to pursue.

Much of the book is spent discussing the 'six senses' central to this new way of thinking - design, story, symphony, empathy, play and meaning. Pink does an admirable job of reviewing these various attributes and relating them to our changing world...this section has a lot worth thinking about.

If you have much interest in business or the consequences of living in a flat world (an inter-connected world), "A Whole New Mind" is definitely worth reading. In the meantime, take a break to draw a picture or write a poem and try developing that Right-brain...(we actually wrote "experimental poetry" before our production meeting yesterday...it was a disaster, but at least we tried).

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Today is his birthday and I hope his special day includes alot of unicorns and flowers and rainbows and buttercups.

Please visit his blog today and leave a comment on his most recent entry. The more random and ridiculous the comment the better, and it doesn't matter if you don't know him. I'm going to be really mad if he doesn't have at least 50 birthday wishes.

Caleb, you make my life alot more fun than it should be. I'm very thankful that we are friends.

For those of you who don't know him, he is the other photographer for the A Bryan Photo team. Check out a recent wedding of his HERE.

Heading to the hot tub.

Jeremiah on an escalator...

...outside Bally's

New Business Cards

We have just gotten some new business cards done up and I think they look awesome. The guys at Matchstic of course did another bag up job on our marketing materials. The idea of the cards is to look like an old school black and white photobooth strip. The card will be perforated down the middle and will fold in half. The back side of the card has 4 vertical photos.

Here's a look at the back of each our cards:

Left to Right: Me, Josh (Studio Manager), Caleb (Photographer), Branden (Production Guru), Jeremiah (Utility Player)

What a fine lookin' team!

Want do you think of them?

Happy Tuesday (Feb 26th)

Chase, Smiling


Chase, Serious


Jeff, Confused


Jeff, Grinning

Happy Tuesday! I wanted to show off some photos of our new A Bryan Photo assistants for the year. Meet Chase and Jeff. They both are seminary students at Beeson here in Birmingham and we are so honored that they are joining the team this weekend. Our main criteria for our assistants:
1. They make the client look good.
2. They are willing to bust their butt.
3. They have to be someone I would want to hang out with outside of work.

Both of these guys meet all three of these requirements.

Little history about these guys

Jeff:
-From Paducah Kentucky
-I shot his wedding (he's the groom who wore Converse, and I got a great shot of him and his groomsmen jumping off the church stage, which is still in my portfolio).
-Also plays music and designs stuff.

Chase:
-From the O.C.
-Drives an amazing black Vespa (I will force him to drive it when we have local weddings)
-Works for Ruth's Chris Steakhouse during the week and is going to hook me up with some discounts!

Welcome Boys! We are happy to have you on the team.

Random Lomo

These shots are 6 months old and somehow I just saw them for the first time today. I love lomo. The sad thing is that mine is currently broken. I really don't want to have to buy a new one but i can't live without it!

Charleston



Hyman's Seafood, Downtown Charleston



Jeremiah drove me around the South all last summer. Man I miss working with him. We got to find a way to work together again.


Random shoot with Caleb and Cary. We all grabbed our cameras and took pictures of each other taking pictures. Lame I know, but we were bored .

Happy New Year!

Caleb and I just finished shooting Greta and John's New Year's Eve Wedding. Such an amazing night!
Hope you all had a fun evening with family and friends.

Contest Winners: Ellen and Matt

Some of you may remember a photo contest that I offered on the blog about two months ago. If you have forgotten, click here, and allow me to jog your memory. Matt called and told me of his plan to propose to his girlfriend, Ellen, on stage after the Broadway show I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. How could I resist this opportunity? I have been wanting to tell of my trip for awhile, but since she is a regular checker of the blog I had to keep it under wraps! Matt flew me up on Monday and I met them outside the theatre after the show (believe me, I tried so hard to talk the door man into letting me in but it was to no avail) and we went all around town taking pictures. Caleb was actually in New York on an unrelated trip and met up to shoot with me.
I feel so blessed that I was part of their engagement. They are truly beautiful people. I hope to be in touch with them for years to come.

I shot some more film that I will post in a few weeks but here's a quick look at some digital.

The Amazing Josh Hausen

It recently occurred to me that I never introduced the newest team member to the A Bryan Photo community. Josh joined us a few months ago as Studio Manager. His role is so vital that I really don't know how we managed without the kid before he showed up. You see, Caleb and I have a tendency to be big dreamers and have great ideas but we tend to lack when it comes to actual application of these things ( I thrive at taking pictures and meeting with people but please don't ask me to pay the phone bill). This is why the addition of Josh is so huge. He puts Caleb and me on a plan, he implements, and he carries out all of our crazy ideas. One of the greatest lessons I've learned since starting A Bryan Photo is getting the right people and putting them in a position where their skill sets can thrive. If you are a photographer and you own and run your own studio, please aim to have this model. If you really suck at a certain aspect of your job, find someone who loves those types of tasks and hire them!

Back to Josh. Here is my 5 favorite random facts about him:

1. He eats the most boring food in the world. Caleb and I have a little game where we predict what Josh is going to order when we go out to eat. It's always the most bland item on the menu, minus the lettuce and tomato.
2. His girlfriend is way more attractive than he.
3. Josh is a great shooter. Proof:

4. He lives with Caleb and Jeremiah, which means if you ever want to work for me, you better be their roomate first.
5. He is one of the most loyal and hard working guys I know.

You da man Josh!

Do you know Josh? If so, let's see your favorite 5 random facts about the kid. Post a comment!

p.s. above photo of Josh, taken by Cary

A Bryan Photo deserves A White House Wedding

When we heard that Jenna Bush got engaged last week I knew that A Bryan Photo needed to make an attempt to land the gig. So today we are sending a package to the White House with a bunch of A Bryan Photo goodies, including the following note:


In case you were wondering, all of our notes are typed up on my grandfather's old Underwood typewriter. I highly recommend one.

A Bryan Photo Retreat!

Tomorrow morning Caleb, Josh and I are leaving for the mountains of North Carolina for a 3 day retreat. We have had so many great ideas of how to make the A Bryan Photo Experience even better for clients, but its so hard to actually find time to stop, think, and implement those ideas. I knew that a trip away from the studio, where we don't have our computers, phones or the internet, would really allow us to gain some perspective and insight. There are two books that we will use to guide our conversations:
1.

This book is essential for anyone in the service industry. It talks about how offering a client an expected service is no longer enough; instead you have to create an experience ( I know the cover of this book looks awful, but seriously, give it a try).

2.

This book deals with your company's brand and all the factors that contribute to the creation of it. In fact my brother Craig from Matchstic will be joining us for a night to talk about every touch point of our brand and how we can improve them.

The blog may be idle for a few days, due to no internet access. But I cant wait to tell you all about what we learned and took away from the retreat.

Me at a Wedding

Caleb grabbed this shot of me at Elizabeth & Adam's wedding and I like it.

FYI, their images just posted today! Check them out Here.

The Day Jeremiah Learned to Fly

Do you know Jeremiah? He's been working with me for about 6 months as a consultant but he's been a good friend for years. He's been shooting all of our 8mm films at weddings and last week he learned to fly:


This was shot by Caleb, this was my favorite frame captured:

Orange Beach Dance Off

I recently realized that many of you that don't have Facebook accounts may not have seen this masterpiece. On our way to a wedding in Orange Beach this May, we got a flat tire and had to take the car to the shop. While waiting Caleb grabbed his MacBook Pro and decided we must make a music video. Featured in the video in the order in which they appear: Noah, Caleb, Ash, Jeremiah, Natalie, and myself.