Where do I, a woman who has never blogged (or even thought of blogging) a day in her life, even begin? I suppose by telling you about me and welcoming you to my business-growing journey.

Who am I?

If you haven’t met me before or have no idea who I am, I’m Brayley! I am currently 25 and live in Oregon with my amazing spouse and our absolutely adorable adventure buddy, Forrest (yes, there will 10000% be photos of him). You may already be thinking to yourself “Oregon? I thought you’re in Arizona”, and well, you’re right. Don’t worry — I’ll explain, but to do so, I need to go back a bit.

My Story

Growing up, I lived in Central Washington, and if you know anything about that region, you know it isn’t stunning evergreens like the rest of the state, it’s barren hills and produce. That’s about it. Technically, that whole region is actually an upland desert climate which causes it to be a really dry environment that also gets about 20 degrees warmer than the rest of the state during the summers.

For me, Summer was my happy time. It was warm, I got tan, and there was no school. Life was good. I realized I’m the happiest, best version of myself in the sun. So naturally, after high school I moved to Phoenix, Arizona for my undergrad and absolutely fell in love with the area. Instead of coming back to my parents’ house over the summers, I stayed year round and absolutely loved it. Something about the combination of the sun and the huge city just made me feel alive in a way I had never felt before.

During my last year of college I met my (now) spouse and we bought a house and moved together to Oregon where we now live. Shortly thereafter, I quickly realized that although I’m a Pacific Northwest girly through-and-through, I really missed Arizona. To put it quite simply, I wasn’t happy in Oregon. The cold and the rain were absolutely draining, and I missed how I felt living in Arizona.

For the sake of this post, I’ll save you the story of how I started my business and just let you know that my unhappiness sparked a need to try to pursue passions I enjoyed. In this case, that was photography.

So, where are you based now exactly?

The simple answer: Washington, Oregon and Arizona.

The complicated answer:

I have about 2/3 of my business up in the Pacific Northwest and do live full time in Oregon. Between our home and other family members across the PNW, this has allowed me to have multiple “home bases” across the region. This has been perfect for both me AND my clients. Why? Little to no travel fees for them, and I get an excuse to travel.

Despite this travel in the PNW, I still missed Phoenix and the sun, so I decided to shoot my shot. I started advertising my services down there and quickly established a solid clientele and presence. Luckily for me, I also have family and personal connections to the area, so I travel there multiple times a year also for no travel fees to my clients. Being able to be a snowbird of sorts for work while also doing what I’ve always dreamed of has been so incredibly freeing.

Do you travel outside of the PNW & Arizona?

1000000%! I always LOVE visiting new places. Even though I’m based (with little to no travel fees) in Washington, Oregon and Arizona, I am always wanting to add additional travel to my itineraries. I love travel so much in fact, I created destination photography packages/collections that have travel within the U.S. 100% included. Just in the next year alone I have trips to Northern California, New York City, Vegas and more. Let’s meet there??? 👉🏼👈🏼

Looking to go outside of the country? Let’s freaking do it.

I also even have a list of select places outside of the US where I will photograph your wedding for free; that’s how badly I want to shoot there. Just pay my travel fees and I am so there.

How does one end a blog post?

I have no idea. I suppose that’s something I’ll have to just learn with time. In the meantime, I hope you feel like you’ve gotten to know me a bit better. I didn’t realize how cathartic blogging could be, so you’ll definitely be seeing more from me. I’ll be sharing lots about my work, my favorite places to shoot, and other misc adventures, so be sure to stay tuned. Make sure you also follow us on Instagram! You can do so here.

Until next time ❤️

Xoxo – Brayley