Brian Shakley Photography

brody fisher

Brian — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:01:35 +0000

Welcome to the world, little man. With a name like this, you could say his Daddy has a favorite pastime, and it’s not basketball. Although, Brody Baller has a nice ring to it, right? Just kidding. He’s almost a month old now, but it’s about time for his debut on the BSP Blog. When it comes to newborn portraits, it typically helps when the baby is asleep. In this case (and in his mom’s opinion), he has the cutest little face when he stares back up at you. Those big who-knows-what-color-they’re-going-to-be eyes trying desperately to stay open, just taking it all in. The flash didn’t even phase him. The only thing that did phase him was trying to balance him on a stack of books for a failed Pinterest idea. It had the makings for a great photo, but he wasn’t having it. I suppose he doesn’t understand just how cool Pinterest ideas are.

But we had a lot of fun with this one, as you may be able to tell from the classic rings-in-the-toes shot. We put our own little twist on it.

Big thanks to Sam and Don for the chance to photograph Brody. You’ll see more of this guy too. Maybe next time we’ll get him in a basketball jersey and he really can be “Brody Baller.” …you think I’m kidding… :)

samantha & jim

Brian — Sun, 13 May 2012 10:40:34 +0000

I had the opportunity to photograph this wonderful couple back in the Fall for their engagement session, and as usual, the wedding was here before we knew it. If you’re reading this and you’ve gone through the engagement/wedding planning/wedding thing, isn’t it true that the second you get engaged, whether it’s 2 months or 2 years from the wedding, time just seems to creep by. But when it’s all said and done, you look back thinking “what happened and how are we married already?!” Maybe it’s just me. But that’s the way I felt about my engagement, and it’s the way I feel about all the couples I photograph throughout a given year.

So here we are – Sam and Jim’s wedding. They had a beautiful ceremony at Bayside Baptist Church in Harrison, TN, followed by a New York City themed reception. (It’s where they got engaged!) Sam even made NYC chocolates, and I watched more than one person eat one and then proceed to the empty table next to them to eat another. It must have been some worthy chocolate. They’ve now traveled to Jamaica and back, and now they begin life together. That never gets old for me. As sappy as it may seem, love wins, every time.

Congratulations to Sam and Jim, and thank you for letting me be a part of your wedding day!

engaged: melody & brandon

Brian — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:01:49 +0000

The beauty of this job.. if you really want to call it a “job”.. is the chance to meet new couples who have found each other one way or another and are ready to start life together. In some cases, it’s documenting the actual day in which they begin life together. (You know, the wedding.) In other cases, it’s the engagement session. I’m not even sure where the idea of an “engagement” started, and after going through it with Sissy (my wife for those new readers out there…), I’m convinced that it’s completely unnecessary. BUT. If it weren’t for engagements there’d be no need for engagement photos. So where am I going with all of this? I love the engagement session. It’s a fun, laid-back opportunity to meet a couple, or in some cases, get to know them even better than before. We laugh, we joke, we chat, we take pictures. And we just keep doing that until we run out of time, locations, outfits, or all of the above.

So with that, meet Melody and Brandon. Brandon works with my wife and I, and his bride-to-be is a teacher. They are an awesome couple, and as you can see, they’re pretty photogenic if I don’t say so myself. They’re less than two weeks away from their wedding in Flintstone, GA, and it’s going to be a party. And by “party,” I mean “pic nic next to a barn on a beautiful Saturday morning in May.”

Hope you like them! (The photos, that is. If you met Brandon and Melody, you would most certainly like them…) More to come following the wedding…

jamie and daniel: the wedding

Brian — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 09:04:47 +0000

It’s about time to update the blog, and with that come the photos from Jamie and Daniel’s wedding, which was held on March 11, 2012 in Chattanooga, TN. We couldn’t have asked for a better day, as it seems like winter never managed to come around this year. That’s alright though, considering March weddings never can be sure about the weather. I had the chance to meet Jamie and Daniel for an engagement shoot a few months ago, and as it always does in this business, time flew by. In the few short hours I’ve spent with them, I know them to be positively in love and ready to get on with life together. They had one of the most well-planned weddings I’ve ever photographed, and paid attention to the details. The ceremony was at the Lindsay Street Hall in downtown Chattanooga, while the reception was held at Niko’s restaurant. Again, I can’t say enough great things about Jamie and Daniel. I wish both of you the best, and thank you for giving me the opportunity to photograph your wedding! Enjoy the photos!

chance brady at six months

Brian — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 07:45:57 +0000

He’s a pretty cute little guy, that’s for sure. It’s always fun to be able to see kids grow up during the first year of their life. Chance is no different. It seems like only a few months ago that I was photographing this little man for Christmas (oh wait, it WAS a few months ago!). But seriously, time is flying by – he’s already past six months – and he’s one happy little boy. He and his dad hung out with me yesterday, and he couldn’t stop laughing at Deuce and Darla as they tried to figure out who this little person was sitting on their couch. It was a cute giggle. And let’s be honest, Deuce and Darla are funny looking, so maybe that’s what he was seeing too – just two ridiculous looking dogs.

All that to say, here are some photos in honor of Chance Brady and his six months on Earth. The Tonka truck is back, but he can actually sit up in it this time. And we didn’t put any silly hats on his head this time. :)

This is probably one of my favorites. His facial expressions are great in a lot of these, but the interested look on his face, combined with the blue in the background, just makes this one fun.

lauren and dave: the wedding, round 1

Brian — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 08:57:26 +0000

As the title implies, this is only the first set of photos from Lauren and Dave’s wedding in Columbus, IN, on January 13. It wouldn’t be right if I limited the entire wedding to one little blog post. I was fortunate to be Dave’s roommate in college, so photographing his wedding was not only a great opportunity to help a friend out, but also a great chance to see friends. We’ll call it a double positive.

What’s not a double positive is the fact that Dave asked Lauren out on a date and was denied. Twice. Maybe three times. I’m not really sure what the final tally was, but who cares, right? They’re married now. :) While the weather was cold, as you’d expect in Indiana in January, it didn’t take away from a beautiful wedding for an amazing couple.

I’ll keep this short – I’m going to have to save some words for the next blog post. Congratulations, Lauren and Dave! I can honestly say I’m thankful to have had the opportunity to photograph your wedding day, and be sure to check back later for some more photos…

samantha & don: maternity session

Brian — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:43:03 +0000

Now, I realize the title of this blog entry is slightly misleading. It’s entirely (as opposed to partially…) impossible for Don to get pregnant. We all know that. But his wife, Sam, IS pregnant, and due in just over two months. April 6 will be here before they know it, and what better way to pass the time than to have some photos made to remember their first experience as expectant parents? Outside of reading parenting books, painting walls in a brand new nursery and buying a glider off of Craigslist, there really isn’t a better way. My wife, Sissy, and Sam are great friends from high school, so we spent the afternoon in Knoxville yesterday making photos and memories. (See what I did there?) And I must say, it’s always great having Sissy along for these sessions. I’ve promoted her to Art Director of BSP, and she proved herself during this session. She’s great at posing people, and quite a few of these are thanks to her!

Sam and Don have a blast together, as you may be able to see in these photos. Don is random and hilarious – a perfect combination, in my opinion – and keeps Sam laughing a majority of the time. (If you ever want to make Sam smile, just ask her to be serious. It works every time.) Their little man – Brody – will build upon their family that already consists of two hyper boxers, Roxy and Apollo. As I’ve already said, Sam and Don have fun together, and I hope I’ve been able to capture that in these photos. And in the end, an outdoor maternity session is really just an engagement session with a bump. And Sam’s got one. :)

Due Date: April 6, 2012

Newborn photos to come shortly after. :)

Congratulations, Sam and Don!

heather and christian: a few weeks later

Brian — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 01:01:29 +0000

Let’s be honest – while the bride and groom spend lots of time and energy planning the wedding, they typically spend even more energy trying to remember the wedding. The day flies by, they wonder if they said “hi” to everyone who attended, and when the day’s over, they think to themselves, “Did we even get pictures of just the two of us?” Of course, that’s the photographer’s job. But as the bride and groom, what if the schedule simply doesn’t give you the best chance to get many photos together? That tends to happen. With guests to consider and family photos to take, sometimes there’s just not enough time.

Enter the After Session. (Still trying to think of something clever to name this one. “Bride and Groom Session” is the best I’ve come up with. So original.)

So, I had the chance to photograph Heather and Christian a few weeks after their wedding. While there was a surprise (to us, at least…) wedding at their original venue on the same day of our session, we found a great location for their pictures. An old silo made of stone, a barn we probably could’ve pushed over, and shade. Gotta love shade.

So here they are again – dressed in their wedding day apparel, smiling as if it was their wedding day again, with the perfect set of pictures that they didn’t have to worry about on the actual day. We were able to take our time, not worried about guests getting antsy or first dances to be had.

Thanks again to Heather and Christian. It truly was a pleasure working with you both!

jamie and daniel

Brian — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:07:20 +0000

Meet Jamie and Daniel, a fun-loving couple from up North. I say “up North” because that’s also where I’m from. We’ve each found our way to Chattanooga for one reason or another, but their’s is love, and mine also happens to be love. (Awww…) So that’s really just one reason but it’s a darn good one. There was literally frost on the ground the morning we decided to do this engagement session at The Tennessee River Place, a beautiful location for weddings and photo shoots. Granted, it was cold and early, but you gotta do what you gotta do. We had a grand idea of lighting the lanterns and floating them on the river, but we made it halfway to the bank and the ground was more marsh than anything else. Not a good idea with three hours of shooting ahead of us. We opted for a little pond, but you wouldn’t have known the difference had I not said anything. At one point my boots looked like I had been walking through snow and my hands were sticking to the camera (slight exaggeration), but thankfully Daniel had about 107 hand warmers in the back of his car (not an exaggeration). In the end, we managed to forget about the weather and came away with some great photos! I can’t thank these two enough for agreeing to meet me so early in the morning.

I think my favorite is the tree photo. Although, the picture of Jamie brushing Daniel off after I made them sit in dust is a close second. :) Congratulations on your engagement, Jamie and Daniel, and thank you for letting me be a part of it!

the jackson five

Brian — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:13:40 +0000

The Jackson Five. We’ve all heard that before. But you haven’t met THIS Jackson Five. They’re way cooler, and if you gave the boys the choice, they’d probably rather play football than sing. As you’ll see in the pictures, Bo, Luke & Nathan brought their favorite football team shirt. Unfortunately for me, we didn’t have a Colts fan. (!!) That’s alright though. The Colts aren’t much to cheer about this year. In any event, the Jackson’s joined me on another frigid morning, and I made them walk through fields and get their shoes wet. And by “wet,” I mean soaking wet. The boys got smart and put their socks under the blow dryer in the bathrooms. If only I could’ve done the same thing. We had fun though, and in the end, that’s what matters.

The last picture is definitely one of my favorites, as you see Nathan climbing up on the train at the “Imagination Station” in Collegedale. That’s really what it is, as you can tell it becomes a place for children to dream the second step foot on it. With all that being said, enjoy these photos of the Jackson Family portraits, and a big thank you to the Jacksons for a great photo session!