Category: Personal Story
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Eat, Live, and Breath Photography
EAT For those who have been a career photographer for three years or more can probably relate. When on a gig or assignment you literally eat on your drive to the next gig, while editing photos at a coffee shop or in your office and sometimes your clients feed you too. If you are like…
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Butterfly Photography – An Old Obsession
Between 2008 and 2010 I use to have this obsession with photographing butterflies. I would take my camera to school at UTPA and hang around the small butterfly park next to the chapel and just wait around for butterflies to land on plants and flowers. Once I transferred to UT-Austin I would continue my obsession…
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My First Photo Shots – Yvonne Longoria – 2008
This is one of my very first “professional” photo shoots from way back in the day. The file metadata said it was created in 2008. These shots are recent edits but they are not far from the original JPEG files. I shot this with my first camera the Canon Rebel XTi. I think back then…
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The University of Texas at Austin Remembrance Walk – 2017
When you think about life there will always be those milestones that you are extremely proud of and will forever be stored in your memory. For me that’s my time at The University of Texas at Austin. The four years I spent there were some of my happiest moment but of my toughest days. To be…
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Exiting Photography? WAIT! READ this first!
DON’T DO IT! If you’re a professional photographer who’s been thinking about leaving the industry, don’t! There are so many opportunities for growth and income. I understand it can get tough. Especially if you are the only one doing everything in your business. You loose your free time, your weekends and sometimes you family. But…
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HHD to SSD to HHD – Ben Briones Studios
ADVICE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS In 2016 I had a major hard drive failure with a 1TB Seagate and a 4TB Lacie, which were both regular Hard Drives. I lost client wedding photos but months later was able to recover them! After that incident I went from HHDs to SSDs because they are much more reliable, faster…
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Santa Ana’s Last Stand? – Republished Photo from 2008 – Alamo, Texas
Back in 2008 I was contracted by The Texas Observer to photograph Mr. Ken Meritt, who managed the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refugee in Alamo, Texas. Merritt was trying to save to protect the refugee from plans of a border-wall and as of recent the national park faces that same thread again. I am sharing…
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Inspire Others Through Your Career!
I was photographing a career day a while back at the South Texas College Mid-Valley Campus in Weslaco, Texas, when some students came up to me to ask if their was a booth to find out more on how to become a professional photographer. HOW AWESOME IS THAT? Although everyone and their mother can become…
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Entrepreneur RantÂ
I always see a lot of people post about their “grind” or their “hustle” but their behavior doesn’t reflect that…they are just bullshitting. For those who know me, know my work ethic, and for those who don’t–maybe in their eyes I’m just a bullshitter too. I know how hard I work and my day-to-day reflects…
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Border Wall – RGV
In 2008 I was contracted by The Texas Observer to photograph some portraits of 2 people being affected by the then new border wall. The two people you see below were challenging the government because they lived on a property in Brownsville, Texas and Granjeno, Texas where the government had plans to build the border wall literally…
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Graduation Celebration | Lora Lee Martinez | My Best Friend
Sometimes I miss my best friend but I know she’s enjoying her new life over in Virgina with her awesome boyfriend Tony aka TheLaoTieGuy! I was going through my blog drafts a few nights ago and I came across this draft and decided to write about this experience. Lora graduated that day with her masters…
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Portrait of a Photographer
To place you were I was in these images here is a small story. In 2009 I had recently moved to Austin, Texas to attend The University of Texas at Austin. Before being accepted to UT-Austin, I attended The University of Texas Pan American (UTPA) in Edinburg, Texas. My passion for photography was molded at…
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A Photographer’s Unspoken Fears
Have you ever asked yourself what your greatest fear a photographer is? Last week I took a survey to see what photographers dread the most and many had valid fears such as; equipment malfunction during a job, or equipment being stolen, and not making enough money. We have all faced the fears listed above and…
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Adventure In Las Vegas, Nevada – Cynthia & Baltazar – Bee Beautiful Studios
The saying goes, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”. That’s true to a certain extent until you take two professional photographers to document the trip! My clients Cynthia and Baltazar proposed the idea of taking Adriana and I to Las Vegas, Nevada to celebrate a combined bachelor and bachelorette party with their closest friends…