There will be lots of fun giveaways, promotions, and specials leading up to our ten year anniversary this June.

Some of the fun ahead:
Win a summer mini session
One day discount off a gift card
$50 off a one hour portrait session
Prize giveaways, including gift cards and print credits

     I always loved photography. It sounds cliche, but it is true. As a preschooler, I took my camera to school one day and organized my first group photo - all of the kids smiling by the mulched playground. I spent my childhood and teen years taking photos of family and friends, arranging them in print albums that I loved to flip through. In 2005, my passion for photography took off. The only camera I had was a small Sony point and shoot, but I took thousands of photos - most of my pets - and edited my favorites in Apple iPhoto. 
     In 2008, as I began graduate school, I started a blog. The original intention was just to share my photography, but it morphed into a beauty blog - with lots of photos of my pets in between nail polish posts. Just a few months later, I got my first DSLR. I was so incredibly proud of that camera. I felt so professional, and I took more pictures than ever. 
     I continued learning about photography, reading books, websites, and watching videos. I followed local photographers and studied everything they shared. In 2010, I rewarded myself for graduating with my Master's degree by purchasing my first prime lens. I fell in love instantly. 
     Kelsey and I routinely took photos - she was always willing to go to a new location to help me practice in different lighting - and in the Spring of 2012, I wanted to start photographing clients. I sat down with my dad, who started his contractor business when he was just 17 years old, and he helped me develop a business plan. I sat in their family room later that week and built my first Brooke Tyson Photography webpage. I was excited and terrified as I hit publish. 
     I advertised and booked my first four weddings over the next few months and photographed my first three that fall.At the same time, I enrolled in photography classes (and even a web design class!) at the college I taught at so that I could move beyond shooting in JPEG and editing in iPhoto. I didn't realize how much I would learn in those classes. 
     I never like telling this story because it was so upsetting at the time, but my beloved Sony DSLR broke midway through my first wedding. I pressed the shutter during bridal party photos and it stopped midway - stuck. I was so, so thankful that I had brought a backup camera - my uncle's Sony DSLR. I learned a lot from that first wedding and I upgraded to my first full frame camera - the Sony a99 - soon after.
     After that first wedding, exhausted, soaking wet from the rain, covered with mud, and preparing to make the two hour drive home alone with a broken camera, I called my dad. "I don't think I want to do this," I told him. Wedding photography
is tough, and that day really defeated me. Thankfully, it only got better from there. And while I've had a few other equipment casualties at weddings, now I know that it is all just
part of the job. That night, as I began sorting through and editing the photos from my first wedding, I was filled with joy. I could not believe that I had captured such a beautiful wedding day. I was so incredibly excited to share the photos with the couple.

     Just a few months after that first wedding, my sister, Kelsey, who was in college at the time, second shot with me for the first time. And she has been with me ever since! I am so thankful that Kelsey still enjoys photographing weddings with me all these years later (and she is a busy doctor now!). Justin began filming weddings that same year (2013), and also joined me as a second shooter for many weddings and has helped with every single mini session in so many ways, from moving and setting up tons of decor and weed whacking a path for families to walk comfortably through tall grass to going on many, many light testing excursions and wrangling all kinds of dog! Working with my family these past ten years has been one of the most wonderful gifts. We have so many shared experiences and memories from all of the beautiful weddings we get to attend together. To be able to spend the time doing something you love with the people you love is one of the absolute greatest gifts. I feel so fortunate. 
     And in the past ten years, I feel so, so fortunate for all of the incredible people I have met and photographed. I am truly in awe at the way my business has grown and all of the people I have had the opportunity to meet because of it. When I think of the people in my life, so, so many of them are people I have photographed. I feel so thankful for all of the friendships I have made during these past ten years and I am incredibly grateful for the amazing support. It truly amazes me. I can't express enough how much joy creating photographs for and building friendships with my clients has brought to my life. I feel beyond lucky. 
     I have photographed more than 100 weddings and I have cried at more than 100 weddings. I love seeing the love between couples on their wedding day; hearing a couples' special vows for one another; seeing the excitement before the ceremony; and hearing the speeches from family and friends. Creating and capturing beautiful once-in-a-lifetime photos for my couples is so special and it makes me so happy to be part of that. 
     Photography has been such a big part of my life in so many ways. Now, with a two year old son, I use my love of photography to document his life and milestones, too. I look back on photographs of my family and my pets and the memories are palpable. I see photographs I took of couples, families, and events, and instantly I am transported back to that place and time. 
     I am so thankful for the love, kindness, and support of my clients, family, and friends (and those three categories overlap tremendously!). Every "like" of a photo I share, every time someone shares a photo I took, every kind comment, every time you tell a friend about my work - it means the world to me. YOU have helped my business grow, thrive, and survive. Thank you for allowing me to grow what started as a passion when I was four years old into a business I am so proud of today.

Thank you!