Ten years ago today I walked into a tiny church in Scipio, Indiana. I was there to photograph a wedding. Today that statement is much less terrifying than it was that day, because that day was my first ever wedding as Becky Brown Photography. I had done some second shooting for weddings, some corporate shoots, studied in college etc., but nothing prepared me for the day that I was in charge. Thankfully my friend and fellow photographer Jason was there alongside me or I may have had a full on panic attack haha. Despite the nerves, I had never experienced such an adrenaline rush. I was pretty sure every photo I took at the time was the greatest photo ever taken (not true). But that’s what it felt like to me. It was new and exciting and I just wanted to do it again and again.

Fast forward 10 years and 253 weddings and elopements, 99 engagement sessions, over a 100 other family/baby/senior sessions and literally thousands of corporate headshots later, and I still feel the same way today. Sure some of the excitement has worn off over the years, but there is still something about getting that perfect shot that will never get old. Perfectly capturing my brides laugh, or grandmas’s tear during the ceremony, or an amazing photo of my couple that they will have for years to come, is what keeps me going. It’s definitely not been all sunshine and rainbows, but the good outweighs the bad. No one tells you how hard it is when you start your own business. It turns out if I don’t do it, it doesn’t get done. As much as I love it, I’ve also struggled over the years to find my place in the photography world.

I looked back at the blog post I did for my 5 years in business (it’s HERE if you want to check it out). I immediately started laughing at myself because I realized I was still trying to do everything back then. Sure I’ll do your wedding, or a head shot, or a newborn session. Long gone are those days. Weddings are what make me happy and it took me way too long to figure that out and be okay with saying no to certain things. It took me even longer to figure out that it’s not just weddings that make me happy, but small intimate weddings and elopements that are truly my happy place.

Over the years I’ve shot a ton of large weddings. Some with 200, 300, even 500 guests! I’ve wrangled wedding parties of 20 + and stood on my step stool (I’m short people) and tried to get 50 people to look at the camera and smile at the same time, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. But then I shot a wedding that was just two people – the bride and groom. And I shot a wedding that was just the couple and their immediate families and one with just 40 guests. And suddenly it dawned on me that those are the weddings I wanted to be photographing all the time.

In 2014 I started my second business, Elope to Chicago, that specializes in elopements and small weekday weddings. I found my favorite vendors in the city and built packages for couples not looking for a huge wedding. I hoped that it would bring me a few more elopements and small weddings a year. What I didn’t expect was to be writing this blog having done 121 weddings under that company. One hundred and twenty one!! We’ve had couples fly in from all over the world to get married in Chicago. I’ve been the only witness to many couples getting married.  It is everything I hoped it would be and so much more. It’s working with couples that are breaking the rules of a “traditional” wedding to have the wedding that they want. And that is what I want to photograph.

Which leads me to my main point of this big long post! (about time right?)

Going forward I will only be taking on one big wedding per month and focusing more on elopements and intimate weddings. I had been hoping to move to do this at some point, but my Crohn’s diagnosis last year sped up the timeline a bit. Up until now I had been limiting elopements to Monday – Friday, but I will be opening up my schedule to do those on select weekends as well.  The Elope to Chicago packages that include the rest of the team will remain weekdays only. I hope by doing this I’m opening myself up for some amazing elopements and intimate weddings both in Chicago and across the US. Who wants to elope and get married on the side of a mountain? I’m in!

I will also be offering 1 on 1 consultations for the first time ever for other photographers or aspiring photographers. I’ve had many people ask for something like this over the years, but I told myself I wouldn’t do it until I’d been in business 10 years. I don’t claim to know everything, but I know a few things. For more information on this check out the post here – http://beckybrownphotography.com/1-on-1-consultation/.

I can’t end this post without thanking all the people that have made it possible for me to still be doing this a decade later. Thank you to my parents, my brother and my sister for always supporting my dream and being there for me through it all. To my boyfriend Chris for putting up with crazy weekend schedules, listening to my wild stories and being amazing in general. To all my friends for supporting me and recommending me and sometimes even hiring me! Thank you to all my assistants and second shooters over the years. I literally wouldn’t have survived this long without all of you. And last, but not least, thank you to all my couples and families who have allowed me to photograph you over the years. Thank you for letting me capture your wedding day, be your only witness at your elopement, take photos of your family and continue doing what I love every single day.

Below are some of the highlights from the last 5 years (the first 5 years are in the other blog post I linked earlier). These are in no particular order or anything. Just random things I pulled!

Fingers crossed that I’ll be doing another one of these posts at year 15!