Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Huff.
Hi Bryan, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I started taking photos in 2005 and quickly realized it was going to be my passion. It all started at my oldest son’s kindergarten. My wife had volunteered us for a school event. She was the photographer of the family, not me. So many volunteers were sick that year that she had to help in other areas. “You have to take these pictures,” she said to me. I’m sure a look of panic swept over me as she handed me the camera. “Point the box and push the button, you’ll be fine,” she said as she hurried away through the crowd of people. I photographed over 200 kids that day.
She was right. I was fine. Little did she know the journey that was to begin. Countless cameras and millions of photos later I’m still here. It hasn’t been easy, although if it would have been I wouldn’t have stuck around. Challenges are something I would learn to excite me. I started my career in photojournalism. It was challenging and I got to see many things people don’t normally see, or at least in ways people don’t always see them. I started my studio in 2007. Huffoto was a name I had kicked around jokingly one day with my mother. I liked the idea of putting our last name and parts of the word photo together. Now it is about to be 2023 and I have invented and reinvented myself so many times to stay relevant that I sometimes lose focus (pun intended I suppose) on what is important. Passion. It is my driving force. It is what started me and what I feel will eventually end me as well. Hopefully, I’ll get some good shots along the way.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
In 2017 I noticed we weren’t getting the bookings we were used to. This frightened me and I quickly shifted my attention to a business I started by accident. Yes. You read that correctly. I was helping my youngest son with a scout project for his entrepreneurship badge. We never got that paperwork done but from 2017-2021 we operated Mindgamez. It was a trading card and board game store that took over my entire downtown studio building.
We were forced to shut down due to family issues during the pandemic. My mother was diagnosed with cancer and my father with dementia, For fear for their safety we closed our businesses from mid-2020 until I lost my mother in June of 2022. My boys decided they had rather not bring back the game store. I understood and began my return to photography at a professional level in August of 2022.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
So now I’m back. I mainly photograph people so you could call me a portrait photographer. I do lots of cosplay photography which I had hoped to make my main body of work, however, it is not economically feasible in this current economic climate. my work is focused on lightning and composition and leaving little to do on the computer.
I love to bring out the best in people and freeze it for them to enjoy for years to come. I enjoy weddings as well.
Anything that most people would consider “too much work” is what I find myself drawn to.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and are any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
I have learned the importance of being tired without stopping.
Letting yourself rest in other words other than quitting. I learned that in the face of great odds choosing family over money and time with loved ones is always the right decision. In the end, we are only memories for those we leave behind. I learned to listen to friends. I also learned that life is precious and fleeting.
Contact Info:
- Website: huffoto.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/huffoto
- Facebook: facebook.com/huffoto
- Twitter: twitter.com/huffoto
- Youtube: youtube.com/huffoto
- Other: https://linktr.ee/huffoto
