Brett Jarnagin – Wedding and Senior Photography bio picture
  • Hello there! My name is Brett Jarnagin. I'm a wedding and portrait photographer based out of Shelbyville, IL but I've been lucky enough to photograph weddings from Maui to the Sanibel Islands and everywhere in between. I have a passion for creating "far from traditional" images and immortalizing anyone who steps in front of my camera. I am a really laid back guy and I just like to have fun, play music, and inspire others.

    I'm also the creator of Life. Camera. Actions., a founder of SHOOTERS Lighting Workshops, and owner of Boothiful! You can find out more about all those in the tabs on the left.

    For now, feel free to check out (a.k.a. stalk) my posts below. Be sure to leave comments because they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

    -Brett Jarnagin

    (be sure to follow me on Twitter and Facebook!)

5 Years

Today is Casey and I’s 5 year anniversary!

Every day I spend with this girl is a blessing.  We’ve got to travel the world and have tons of incredible experiences together and there are so many more to come!  I can’t wait to make her my wife in April:)

I proposed to her in Italy and it is probably the most epic thing I’ve ever done.  You can read about it at the link below.  http://www.brettjarnagin.com/2010/02/our_engagement/

There are also some pretty hilarious blogs about our trip to the Smokie Mountains in January of 2009 where we almost died – http://jarnaginphotography.bigfolioblog.com/month/jan09

Darla - August 27, 2010 - 8:53 am

Awesome new blog!! I just might have to go back and read that engagement blog again…just not sure I wamt to cry today:)
Love ya

Jeremiah Colling - August 27, 2010 - 1:13 pm

Brett, well done on the engagement. My wife and I just got back from Italy last week so all these places are fresh to us. We were celebrating our 10-year anniversary. Dig the pics!

Lindsay and TJ – Married!

First off, welcome to the first post of the new blog!  It is definitely long overdue!  Obviously I’m going to be posting my regular blogs but I’m also going to be including some blogs specifically for photographers and some tips for them as well.  I’ve been a “teacher” on forums for awhile now but recent got asked to teach workshops all over the country and the world (posts about that coming soon!) and between that and Life. Camera. Actions. I’m going to be opening up my business and photography playbook to any photographer willing to learn.  So this post is not only about some awesome clients of mine, but also why you should only “hire” your ideal clients because they will just bring you more ideal clients!

I think having a connection with your photographer is a very important thing.  As a client, you want to be able to feel comfortable and be yourself in front of the camera and that has a lot to do with your relationship with the person behind the camera.  The same things apply for me as the photographer.  I only want to work with clients who I really enjoy and think I can become great friends with.  Over the past year I’ve become pretty picky about who I “allow” to hire me as their photographer.  Working with people who I truly enjoy being with is worth way more than any monetary value.  Not only that, but because I care about them so much I (happily) work really really hard to make sure that their pictures are not only amazing, but that they have a wonderful time on their wedding day, during their engagement session, and any time we hang out.

Lindsay and TJ are another great example of my perfect clients.  I actually met them for the first time when we did their engagement session down in St. Louis and we hit it off right away.  The similarities between TJ and I are actually pretty crazy.  I was beginning to think we were long lost twins or something.  He’s always cracking jokes and Lindsay is always rolling her eyes (but secretly laughing) and that is basically the dynamic that Casey and I have.  We have really had a blast every moment we have spent with them and even though they have moved away, I hope we can hit up the casinos together sometime when we are down in St. Louis;)

Another important reason that I’m selective about my clients is that if I become friends with them, that means I’m probably going to befriend their friends as well.  I had a really fun time with their wedding party (and several of them messaged me telling me that they did too!)  What is really amazing is that I’ve already booked a few weddings already from Lindsay’s bridesmaids and some other friends of Lindsay and TJ as well.  Had I taken another wedding on their wedding date for a couple that was very serious and traditional I probably wouldn’t have had so much fun or got so many referrals because “serious and traditional” isn’t me.

Lindsay and TJ, thank you guys for being so much fun and having me as your wedding photographer.  Now get busy and make some babies so I can take their pictures and we can hang out again, haha.

This wedding was shot in the little ol’ town of Strasburg (and a little in Mattoon) so I have to be pretty resourceful in places like this that have very few locations.  I loved this garage door (which is probably pretty obvious since several pics using it made it to the blog!)

Amber Davis - August 25, 2010 - 10:10 pm

You are such an inspiration. I still need you to take my family pictures. I’m going to school for photography as of… well, Monday :) I attempted to take my own photos, they were horrid. In case you didn’t know, it is your images/mentality/passion that pushed me to pursue a career in photography. I can only hope that one day I’m as good as you are! (emphasize on the word HOPE!)

Brett - August 25, 2010 - 10:19 pm

Thanks Amber! I really appreciate that and I’m glad that I could inspire you in some way! We should set up a session soon to do your family pics.

Where are you going to school at for photography? Looking forward to watching you grow as a photographer ;)

Kyle Shultz - August 26, 2010 - 2:21 am

blog looks great jarney. your photos look even better! awesome awesome awesome work!

Jeremiah Colling - August 26, 2010 - 1:15 pm

Kudos on the new blog Brett. Looks like things are going well for ya — I’ve really been enjoying your pictures over the past couple months, esp. the OCF. Keep up the good work!

New Blog!

Welcome to the brand spankin’ new Jarnagin Photography blog!

I’ve been wanting to revamp this thing for over a year now and after recently redoing our website, I thought the time had finally come.

One of the best new features will be MUCH larger images for your viewing pleasure.  You can also keep up on my Twitter posts in the tab on left, as well as find info and links to all my other photography endeavors.

I’ve gone ahead and copied over some of our top blogs so far from 2010 and will be adding more in the next few weeks.  If you haven’t already read our engagement story (probably my most popular blog ever) I’ve put that up on this blog too – http://www.brettjarnagin.com/2010/02/our_engagement/ To go back through my old blogs (which actually date back to April of 2008) head over to the old site at http://jarnaginphotography.bigfolioblog.com

Rest in piece “old blog.”  You won’t really be missed:)

Kristin and Kevin – Engaged!

Plain and simple, these two rock. They wanted to get pictures taken out at the oil fields that Kevin’s family owns and Kevin works on. I really had no idea what to expect since I had never been out there, but we definitely made some pretty epic photographs! We also took lots of pictures in Casey, IL where they live. Can’t wait for the wedding, guys!

We’ve got a big ol’ 24×36 inch gallery wrap of this one in the studio!

Jessie and Steven Tie the Knot

I’m so blessed to have such amazing clients. I really can’t say it enough. Every weekend I get to spend the day with people I truly enjoy on what is the most important day of their lives. Jessi and Steven are a perfect example of my ideal clients. Laid back, fun, up for any crazy idea I have, and really just awesome people to be around. They live in Texas and I’ve actually only spent time with them on three occasions (Steven’s sister’s wedding, their engagement session, and their wedding) but I really feel like I have known them forever. I’m bummed that I probably won’t get to see them for a really long time, but they will definitely be immortalized on my studio wall with the last image of this post. I’ll get to see them every day!

Their wedding was in Rantoul and there are so many unique places to shoot there. There used to be a huge military base in Rantoul but all that has now been abandon and makes for some really cool locations. I said these two were up for anything and I wasn’t kidding. One of the places I took the guys was some sort of abandon missile testing ground or something? I’m not really sure what it was used for, but we definitely had to go around a locked gate and do some exploring to find a door that we could get in through. The shot was worth it though!

The ceremony itself took place right next to a pond. The only problem was that it was about 5 billion degrees outside and it rained about 6″ of rain the day before. So basically the ceremony took place in a pretty swamp:)I even suggested that we lay trash bags down the aisle and just have them slip and slide their way down to the alter! Some brides would have been depressed by the circumstances but Jessi (and this is why I love these two) laughed all the way down the isle as she slipped, sunk, and got the bottom of the dress all muddy. All that mattered was that they were getting married and they were surrounded by friends and family (and got awesome pictures!) – the rest was just minor details.

So without further adieu, here is just a small sample of my favorites from their wedding. Thank you guys SO MUCH simply for being awesome;)

Work it.

This is the shot I was talking about in the abandon missile testing facility (or whatever it was) Definitely worth the trespassing! 

The Backstreet Boys

Charlie’s Angels

The Linden in Rantoul makes for a great wedding reception location!

Here is a little backstory on this image. These are my favorite type of photos to take but they can take quite a bit of time. Finding the perfect location is actually the hardest part. What I usually do is get all the lights set and then bring the couple out for the shot. Casey and I got everything set (after about 25 minutes of flashes not firing and random other problems) before I decided that the spot we were in just wasn’t good enough. So we picked up all of the equipment (which weighs a couple tons) and hauled it a few hundred yards to another spot I had picked. Good call, me. Once we got everything set up we brought Jessi and Steven out for the shot. Even though it was about 9 or 10 p.m. it was still ridiculously hot out. To take a shot like this takes about 4-6 minutes and during that time the couple has to stay extremely still while we run around in the background with the lights (no those aren’t photoshopped in people!) So I was running through the background trying to weave my light between the trees and in doing so I sweat a few gallons and smashed my arms up on the trees. We had to take this picture 4 or 5 times to get it right so by the end I was a repulsive, sweaty mess. Luckily, it was worth everything that went into it. This isn’t just a wedding photo. This is art… and I love it:)

Boothiful!

So Casey and I have been wedding planning (well, mostly Casey) but I had 2 things I actually cared about. One was that we had an awesome photographer and the other was that we had a photobooth at our wedding. When I was searching for photobooths around here I couldn’t find any! I’d had several brides ask me about them in the past because they had the same problem. Well, I decided to change that and bring some photobooth awesomeness to Illinois! So I ordered a photobooth, built a website, and am proud to announce BOOTHIFUL! We actually got the booth on a Thursday and set it up here in the studio. We had a blast taking pictures (you can find them on facebook.) and I knew this was going to be a hit. So the next day I asked Micki and Austin if they wanted to have it at their wedding (which was that Saturday.) They were all for it so we got a box of props together and Casey even made a bunch of mustaches on a stick, which were everyone’s favorite! We got Boothiful set up at the wedding reception and everyone really love it. It quickly became the life of the party. The pictures really speak for themselves! Make sure to head over to http://www.boothiful.com to check out lots more pictures and book Boothiful for your wedding! Also “like” us on Facebook to stay up to date with the latest news and photos! The wonderful (and super fun) bride and groom!

Jessi and Brad of Modern Memory Films hopped in Boothiful while we were setting the lights. They are definitely the best videographers you are going to find. Period.

Thanks again to Micki and Austin for being our first ever Boothiful wedding! We had an absolute blast with you guys! 

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