My story begins with falling in love with the “A” of A & W Photography, Allyn Campbell Browne III, thirty-five years ago. We met in California but decided to get married and take our dreams to Las Vegas, Nevada. Together, we started a new life and a new business. This business began with taking modeling photos and developing those photos in our apartment bath tub. As time went on our business grew and our locations’ went from working out of our home to studios that continued to grow as we did. We chose to wait for seven years before starting a family and instead chose to travel, work and love our two fur babies. But after those exciting and fun seven years we were finally ready for a new adventure, the adventure of adding two sweet little girls into our lives. We truly had it all, beautiful girls that were the light of our lives and a successful new studio. I was even able to be a part of the business while still being a full time mom, thanks to our home/studio combination.
However, as we all know, life can certainly change. The love of my life was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and I felt like my heart had been ripped apart. Allyn passed away shortly after being diagnosed at 41 years of age, leaving me with two young daughters, a photo business and a completely broken heart. I didn’t even want to look at those cameras for a about a year because it made me so upset. Family and friends gave us so much support, love and advised me wait a year and see how I felt about the photo business. A year went by and I focused on trying to keep our lives as normal as possible while we healed. But as much as it would be easier to just give up, I realized that I had to be a strong example for my two young girls, so I picked up those cameras.
I started back into the photo business but on a much smaller scale. I had a new view on the business, before it was just a business but in recent light of the events, I saw it as so much more. Life is a precious commodity, one that you never know what will bring. I wanted to help other families and clients create memories that they could look back on for the rest of their lives. The wonderful photos of my family have kept me going through the hardest of times. I feel passionately about taking photos and making sure to display them on our walls. I believe having pictures displayed act as a way to tell our stories about our family and our friends. It is a beautiful way to keep our histories alive in a visual representation.
I know thanks to the internet we are more likely to just keep our photos on our phone or computer but I urge you to keep those pictures on the walls of your homes and offices. These pictures fill our hearts with joy and a smile to remember what those people bring to our lives. I want to thank all my clients who have given me the opportunity to step into your lives and capture the love of your families and friends. Thank you for this honor. I want to thank my daughters, who continue to helped me, my partner, family and friends for helping me to find the courage to continue on. If you give me the honor to photograph your most special memories, I promise to take utmost care of you and your family as though you were a part of my own. I look forward to meeting you and creating memories to last a lifetime.
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Wendy Browne
Photographer/Owner with 35 years at A & W Photography. She is involved in all aspects of the photography business. Cosmetology License and Owner of Sweet Tease Salon, B.S. Degree in Early Childhood
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Mindy Browne Yamagata
Marketing/Social Media, Training, Asst. Photographer and Customer Service
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Lindy Browne
Cosmetology License for Hair/Makeup, Top Stylist at Sweet Tease Salon with 8 years experience, Co-Photographer/Asst., Customer Service and Event Planning with 18 years experience.
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Paul Benavente ,
Information Technology Specialist, Digital Photography Specialist, with 20 years experience
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The Wingates
Susan, Eric, Carson, Kennedy and Cooper – all have helped with some aspect of the business from Customer Service, Event Set-Up, Editing, Sales/Customer Service. The young associates are the next generation to help with A & W Photo.