“We were starving artists!” Brian Charrette admits. “We were aspiring photographers shooting a very broad spectrum of work from Fine Art, Landscape, Portraits and just about anything else you can imagine starving artists would shoot.”

The “we” in his comment includes Brady, now his wife, with whom Brian’s professional goals once were in conflict. Brian recalls, “Brady and I were not married yet, and we had different interests in photography. We were really unsure if our professional goals would allow us to live in the same city. I wanted to pursue commercial photography and Brady wanted to do portrait photography.” Fortunately for them, (and for our Your Wedding Day readers), in 2002, friends of Brady and Brian asked them to photograph their wedding. They did, and decided they had found their common niche...then the journey, BB Photography, officially began.

TWD - Maria & Ian

Catering - Viva Espana

 Coordination - Myths & Realities

a Perfect Santa Barbara Wedding

Brady and Brian find many sources of inspiration for their work. Brian says, “I love people and I love tapping into people’s souls. I get a lot out of people. I’m inspired by the thought of capturing the next amazing image”

Brian says he is also inspired by the couples’s expressive gratification of his and Brady’s work when the pictures are delivered. “People are amazed at how we are able to get so many images when our presence went so unnoticed.”

BB Photography serves hundreds of gratified brides and grooms each year, and Brian believes he and Brady receive so many calls in part because of the way they express their craft. “It is important for couples to have chemistry with their photographers because we will be working so close to family and friends.”

We have heard about this great chemistry too, and that in addition to their skills -- which Brian highlights as lighting, camera control, and computer techniques -- Brian and Brady are very easy to work with, and their personal warmth and connection with their couples just enhances their skills and ability to create warm images that have emotion and life. Brian says he thinks couples especially like the BB Photography type of energy. “Ours is a warm, true, and honest nature. We are family people and I wear my heart on my sleeve. We are blessed, and we love all of our clients.”

“Love” seems to be the operative word and philosophy with Brian and Brady, and when asked by Your Wedding Day what they love most about their work, Brian was exuberant. “I LOVE TAKING PICTURES!” he wrote on his initial interview form, using big bold letters to emphasize his feelings, and as if those feelings didn’t already read clearly, he writes again, “I LOVE TAKING PICTURES!!” He also says he and Brady feel honored and more as members of the couple’s family, rather than hired help. “I build relationships and become friends with my clients,” he says. “I have the best job of all the wedding vendors; I freeze the wedding in time.”

Just to let you know a little more about what a remarkable man Brian really is, during the interview he went on to add not only, “I love cameras, and all the neat toys available to photographers, and the progress of digital technology,” but to say, “I love my wife and my baby, Jack the most.”

He does wear his heart on his sleeve, and be glad, because there is no doubt about the outcome of your wedding photos with Brian and Brady and BB Photography. Summarizing their beliefs Brian says, “I’m willing to try anything for our couples. My goal is not to sell, but to have the opportunity to capture their special day through their eyes, by using ours.”

By Susan Hart Hellman, Executive Editor