Ben Briones Studios
Professional McAllen Photographer
Perez Wedding – Riverside Club – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on January 12, 2019
Love this beautiful simple wedding I shot at the Riverside Club in Mission, Texas. The bride was filipino and the groom hispanic so the fusion of both cultures was beautiful. The venue was perfect for the theme, y’all need to check out this beautiful location if you are ever in Granjeno, Texas. Here are some of my favorite shots from this wedding! 
If you are planning a wedding at the Riverside Club in Mission, Texas and would like some pricing info for photography please fill out the form below.
Dr. Sofia Villarreal – South Padre Island – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on April 25, 2018
Dr. Sofia Villarreal is writing her very first book and wanted some beautiful beach photos for her book cover. Here are some of our favorite photos from this South Padre Island Photo Shoot!
If you are looking to get unique portraits please fill out the contact form below.
Client Review
Maritza & Joel – RGV Horsemanship School at JHK Equestrian Country Club – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on April 23, 2018
THROW BACK THURSDAY
We took this beautiful couple’s engagement photos at the very own RGV Horsemanship School at JHK Equestrian Country Club in Edinburg, Texas. Love how the photos came out! The staff and owner of the country club was amazing with us! Very excited to finally share these great engagement photos of this couple with everyone.
Check out my favorite shots from this engagement session!
If you are looking to get unique portraits please fill out the contact form below.
Client Review
Armando & Liza Reyes Anniversary – Mission, Texas – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on April 20, 2018
FLASHBACKFRIDAY
If you are looking to celebrate your anniversary with portraits please fill out the contact form below.
Thomas & Cynthia – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on March 16, 2018
#FLASHBACKFRIDAY
Here’s a beautiful wedding I photographed back in 2015 in Mission, Texas! 
If you are getting married and would like a quote please fill out the contact form below.
Exiting Photography? WAIT! READ this first!
Posted on March 4, 2018
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 don’t give up! There are plenty of ways you can still be an active photographer but with much less stress.
OPPURTUTNIES
- Second Shoot: reach out to the local photographer’s who are super active and always booked and offer your skill and time to assist them. Mostly likely you are already friends with these people and so it won’t be awkward or difficult to try to get hired as a second shooter. Second shooting is less stressful and at times allows you to be more creative than when you are the head photographer.
- Photo Editor: become a photo editor for local photographers. I would advice you to reach out to some photographers and let them know you are offering this service. If you are already a pro and people know your work, you wont have to prove anything to them. The most work would be learning how to edit in their style. Trust me, if you are an active professional photographer, you do not want to be sitting behind a computer editing photos for hours. Most professionals I know outsource their edits to online companies but I think hiring someone local will give them better peace of mind. Figure out a price point that you like and offer editing services to replace the income earned from one photo shoot each month.
- Photography Classes: since you are a seasoned pro, I think it would be valid to offer photography classes. I offer some to a few people and it’s a good little side hustle. Find a group of beginners and start a collective class or give individual courses in all things photography. Start with basics all the way up to complicated outdoor lighting. Put out an add on the paper, yes the newspaper! Or on craigslist or Facebook.
- Photo Booth Rentals: this side hustle idea has been one of my best ideas ever! I own a photo booth and rent it out frequently. It cost me a little over two grand to build, in which I built it in 2010, and since then it has returned my investment 10x. You can add this service to your existing packages to earn more from one sale or client or you can offer it as a separate business. It doesn’t really take much to operate one. You can setup and operate yourself or hire someone to do it for you. If you would like to find out how you can do this, message me!
- Rent Your Gear: Another risky but lucrative side hustle that will help you supplement some income. Many of you reading this will most likely never rent out your Canon 5d Mk3 or Nikon D810 and now the popular Sony AR III, but I would! Why you ask, because money bro! Money and culture! I have all the right legal documentation in place to protect my gear and sue your ass if you break it or steal it. And I also enjoy helping people who are barely starting and want to know if a certain lens or camera is worth buying, so they rent it first to test it out. I don’t have the best gear but I do have quality items and instead of them just sitting in my office Monday – Friday collecting dust, I rent them.
If you need help finding ways to make extra income as a photographer, hit me up by filling out this contact form below.
Daniel and Viktoriia Wedding | Edinburg, Texas| Ben Briones Studios
Posted on February 12, 2018
I really enjoyed photographing this wedding and let me tell you why! I really enjoy documenting small weddings. Daniel and Viktoriia seemed to be easy going people too. Their wedding was outdoors in this beautified gated community where the grooms parents live. Their was a beautiful man-made lake in the distance with trees that dropped of fall leafs.
The timing couldn’t of been better as well. The couple got married a little before the sun set so it was fresh, the lighting was good and the mood was perfect. With the setting being picture perfect we took advantage of the setting to produce some beautiful portraits of the couple.
Inside their parents house was a lovely dinner setup. There the couple mingled, drank and ate with their loved ones and guest. I loved everything about this wedding!
For a quote on professional wedding photography please fill out the contact form below!
HHD to SSD to HHD – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on February 11, 2018
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 and portable. Today I’ve officially gone back to HDDs and let me tell you why.
In the photography industry there is always innovation. Things get smaller, faster, better built, more intelligent and easier to access. In 2017 I had issues with the amount of space I had to backup my files. 1TB was not enough for the pace my studio was growing plus the amount of video production gigs we are booking. So quickly my 1TB SSDs ran out of space and we had to turn to the cloud to backup storage space. Files where spread everywhere and that was not safe. I was using both Dropbox Pro and Amazon Drive, plus a combo of different SSD and regular HD drives.
The issue is not that HHD are not reliable it’s how safe you keep them. Safety means not moving them, good enclosures and having enough space that you won’t have to be saving files anywhere else.
In 2018 we are working with 4TB of local HHD space for the year on RAID 1. We are also using Adobe Lightroom to backup and archive files because dragging and dropping files or folders from a mounted memory card to a hard drive is faulty. I advice all photographers to setup their Lightroom, Photo Mechanic’s or even iPhoto app to backup your files when you mount your memory card.
I can’t dictate how you should backup your files but I would give you this advice. Always back them up right after your shoot or event and double that backup because those pictures are one in a lifetime memories that you might not be able to replace. Ready my personal story on that here: https://benbriones.com/2017/04/23/mistakes-of-a-photographer-ben-briones-studios/
Pricilla Garcia – Bridal – Ben Briones Studios – McAllen, Texas
Posted on February 10, 2018
Photo shoots can be intimidating sometimes! Mrs. Pricilla was a little shy at first during her bridal photo shoot but as we shot she loosened up. She chose to go with the a studio photo session. To keep it classic. I’m glad she did because it challenged us to be more creative and experiment. Typically most bridal sessions we do are on-location but this one was different and we love the results.
I’m pretty excited to release these photos because she’s just such a beautiful bride! Take a peek at our favorites from this studio bridal session. Since this shoot Mrs. Priscilla married Mr. Christopher Garcia and you can view their wedding by clicking this link: Christopher and Priscilla Wedding.
Photo Credit: Lourdes Paz, Ben Briones
If you would like a quote on our bridal sessions please fill out the contact form.
Nikki and Eric – Edinburg Texas – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on November 8, 2017
Shevawne or Nikki as she’s known to the rest of the world just got married not to long ago and I’m extremely happy to finally show off some of our favorite shots from her wedding!
She and I go way back to middle school where we first became friends. Nikki comes from a beautiful family and now is starting one of her own with her husband Eric James!
The couple and their daughter had their big day in September! Everything that day seemed to be moving so fast but we captured it as best we could. We were contacted to photograph the beginning part of her wedding up to the portraits. Later a well known and respected photographer capture the evening portion. Growing up with Nikki just made being the photographer for her wedding that much more special. She’s such a strong woman that has overcome many obstacles and seeing her glow that day was priceless!
Because words will not do these photos justice I️ will instead allow you to see her wedding story as it captures through our lens.
Photo Credit: Lourdes Paz, Ben Briones 
If you are having a wedding and would like a quote for unique portraits please fill the contact form below.
Susana Sanchez Grad Session – The University of Texas at Austin – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on July 28, 2017
#FLASHBACKFRIDAY
Beautiful. Bold. Intelligent. Studious. Adventurous. Strong. These are all nouns to describe Ms. Susan Sanchez, a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin. I met Susy while attending UT through a mutual friend. She and I became friends and kept in touch and when it was time to celebrate the achievement of completing not only one but two undergrad degrees she contacted me to document this special moment.
It’s been a a few years since this photo shoot and Susy is now saving lives and keeping the people of Austin, Texas safe. I wish you the best friend. I am very proud of you! \m/
If you are graduating from The University of Texas at Austin and would like a quote for our photography services please fill the contact form below.
Sara & Isidro Wedding – The Loretto at Mission – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on July 17, 2017
The Loretto at Mission has become another one of our favorite venues to photograph and wedding. Let me tell you why! Let’s take this beautiful couples’ event. Sara and Isidro tied the knot at this stylish bristro / coffee shop / event venue about a year ago and the photos are still ever so relevant because The Lorretto just has a timeless feel.
Sara got ready in their bridal room which has big windows that lets in beautiful light. The walls and decor have such soft ones, which made Sara’s dress look amazing. The groom got ready in the common area and even then it looked like a 5-star hotel room.
There is very little decor you have to do if you are getting married at this venue. Sara and Isidro had vintage aesthetic for their wedding theme. The theme fit in perfectly with the existing decor. What I speak of is the dinner area that also served as the reception area for the wedding.
Now the garden where the ceremony took place was lushes and green. The couple married under a pergola that had vines running up it. The guest witnessed the wedding from the grass on chic white chairs. And when the couple had walked down the isle as man and wife we used the exact same spot for their formal photos and they turned out great.
If you are interested in finding out more about this lovely venue you can visit The Lorretto at Mission at 1233 E Griffin Pkwy, Mission, TX 78572 or call ahead of time to get a tour 956-600-7208.
Photo Credit: Carolina Solis, Ben
If you are interested in booking with us and would like a quote for our photography services please fill the contact form below.
Client Review
Ruby & Nathan-Wedding-Mission Tx -Riverside Club-Ben Briones Studios
Posted on April 8, 2017
Last year around this time in March I photographed a beautiful spring wedding at the Riverside Club located in Mission, Texas. There’s three things I recall vividly from this wedding was the heat, the beautiful venue, and how happy this couple was!
This is the second wedding I have photographed at the Riverside Club. The colors were spot on for a sprint event. My favorite part of the wedding was how emotional everyone was. There was so much love and happiness.
Photo Credit: Stephanie Rios, Jessica Musick, Ben Briones
If you are having a wedding and would like a quote please fill the contact form below.
Beka Rios Headshots – Edinburg, Texas – Ben Briones Studios
Posted on February 3, 2017
#FLASHBACKFRIDAY
Three years ago I reunited with one of my great friends from middle school and high school, Ms Becca Rios! Becca holds the legacy of being our generations skater girl. That’s actually how we met at B.L. Middle School. She was the new kid, who by the looks of it was into skateboarding, and I at the moment was super into it as well. Naturally all the skater kids welcomed her into our group and that’s history.
Now Ms. Rios is a high trained and sought after hair stylist. One day we linked up on Facebook and she asked we talked about my photography career. Somewhat that conversation got to how she’s was marketing her brand, which eventually let to taking some simple but fun head shots for her business cards.
It’s about three years later and I am barely posting these photos! Enjoy.
If you are looking to update your head shots for your business or resume and would like a quote for our services please fill the contact form below.
