We recently connected with Sidney Briley Jr and have shared our conversation below.

Sidney, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My Mission as a photographer is provide joy to all my clients. I love to be a fly on the wall and hag in the background unseen,

capturing those heartfelt moments for families and friends to look back on for years to come. When I do portrait photography my

goal is to simply help the client se how wonderful they are. Whether its a headshot for a business, family photo or custom

birthday pictures. The client is the star!! Its not about the money for me, but capturing “Timeless Images and Endless Creation”

Sidney, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My story you ask? Well i’ve always been the one who was given the phone to get insta pics and snap shots at church. So it should have surprised me when the opportunity arose to have for me to start taking pictures on a legit camera. At the hands of my mentors “Greg Hill” and “Mike Ferrell”, a whole new adventure began. Having never truly ever used a camera, i’m suddenly holding a fujifilm X-T3 and am tasked with capturing behind the scenes photos for “Minority trailblazers team”

As a solo photographer i’ve have photographed everything from weddings and graduation portraits to family dinner’s and action shots for different small business. In all i do, I am to the clients needs above everything else. Of course i’m running a business, and yes I am to make a profit but thats not the vocal point. Are my clients happy, are they comfortable? Are the products meeting their needs. I love to see my clients happy and to get that email say ” I love the photo’s, these are perfect”.

My style of photography? I prefer to shoot with natural light and let the sun do it’s thing! When Shooting indoors i prefer to use limited equipment, maybe a single light and flash. I really like to keep things simple and travel light. I love to be the ” unseen photographer” and get the key shots without being seen. Or if we are doing portrait style, really spend time getting the client comfortable and finding the perfect pose!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Funny story! I used to be a veterinary nurse. For 7 years I spent my time as a healer, caring for both people and animals. While this was such an amazing career, it was both physically, mentally and emotionally taxing. While i so greatly loved being a healer, it didn’t leave me much time for creativity. I had been feeling a longing to do more on a creative side for so time, but i didnt know how to bring it to life or where to start. I realized that the skills i had complied working at my church as the AV director could very well be the catalyst for something more. Feeling tire and emotionally fatigued as a care giver, i needed some time to care for “Sidney”, and foster the parts of myself i had been neglecting. Having found a job in North Carolina as a technical producer, It was time for a change and it was change that opened the door for me to become a photographer as well.. Fast forward today, i’ve with companies such as ” F-27 Creative media – Durham N.C”, “Ministry Trailblazer- Durham N.C” and even “Duke C-E” as well as several private clients. Wow! what a change.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Better is the enemy of done.

I love to edit my photos and sometimes i get, little fixated on the small details. This can sometimes cause me to doubt the photo as a whole. The advice ” Better is the enemy of done’ was given to my by my older cousin after he saw me over stressing on edits, and taking the ” perfect photo” on shoots. in layman’s terms. Your best work is just that, your best work and stressing about getting it perfect can hinder creativity, passion and cause unnecessary set back. The edits are good, the picture is perfect and honestly sometimes no extra work is actually needed.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: sbj.enterprises_llc

Image Credits

All photos credited to Sidney Briley Jr