Meet Patrick Buckley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Buckley.

Hi Patrick, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Photography became a hobby during my time as a stunt performer for the theme parks. I bought my first camera just to help document a stilt gig out of state. It was with that camera that I happened to take a picture of a butterfly, and it was that photo that started my photography journey. Over the next years, I would rent books from the library and read articles to learn as much as I could about it. The more I learned, the more I realized how little my base equipment could do and how expensive this hobby could be. That is when I started charging for little sessions here and there. Some of my first paid sessions were pet photos for like $25. From there, I would do random jobs from word of mouth but was always practicing and learning to better my craft.

In 2013, I photographed a small wedding ceremony for a friend. I did not realize then, but weddings would come to be one of my favorite things to photograph. It was not until 2016 when I lost my full-time job as Indiana Jones at Disney that I even considered photography could be a full-time job. It was at that point I took a chance and started investing a lot more time and money into the business of being a full-time photographer. Support first year was incredible. Thanks to supporting from my amazing Orlando community, I was able to make just as much money as any other year in the theme parks but was able to work fewer hours so that I could spend more time with my family.

It was then in 2018 that I met and worked a wedding with my now business partner Jonathan. I had known of him but saw him as more of a competitor until we worked that first wedding together and by the end, we had become best friends. After working together for a year, with Jonathan becoming a big part of the business, I felt that the name Patrick Buckley Images did not represent who and what we were doing anymore. After some brainstorming, we came up with PB and J Studios, mainly a play on our names. After changing our name, we started to become known for our fun, laid-back, but professional approach to weddings and events. We have continued to grow year after year and have been incredibly lucky to have found other fantastic photographers and videographers to join our team, which brings us to where we are today, an award-winning, full-service photo and video studio covering 60+ weddings and events a year.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As such a personalized business, finding the right people to represent the company has always been a challenge. When I first started, I never imagined it could be any more than just me. Meeting Jonathan and seeing so many similar qualities in him, I saw that it was possible to expand and have other wonderful people representing the brand.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are an award-winning, full-service photo and video studio covering over 60 weddings and events each year. We are known for our fun, laid-back yet professional approach to everything we do. We want you to look great but we are going to make sure you are having fun at the same time. We feel that this helps set us apart from more traditional photographers. Another thing that sets us apart and what we are most proud of is the fact that we don’t work alone and work as a team. We have always said that creativity breeds more creativity.

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Something I have learned personally, mental health is very important and something we should play closer attention to. Professionally what I have learned is that nothing is guaranteed and understanding that change and innovation is inevitable and necessary to keep your business going. For us as a business, we added live streaming as a new service and also changed our policies on contracts so that people were able to move their dates without penalty, something we would not have done before the pandemic. We have always felt that it is more important to be human than business.

Pricing:

• Wedding coverage starts at $1800
• Photoshoots start at $300
• Event coverage starts at$250
• Promo/Video content starts at $350

Contact Info:

• Email: Patrick@pbandjstudios.com
• Website: www.PBandJStudios.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pbandjstudios/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PBandJStudios
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5PdJuc2mMDYFnteqMnKDJg

Image Credits
All photos credit to PB and J Studios