Meet Julia
Behind the lens is Julia, the lead photographer and founder of LOVE BUGS🐞. She moved to Dallas from Brooklyn in February of 2020 - a month before the pandemic. Making lemonade out of pandemic lemons, she hit the pavement (quite literally), establishing the popular Front Steps Dallas campaign, a portrait-based fundraiser - raising over $30,000 for the North Texas Food Bank.
Before opening her studio in the Lakewood neighborhood of Dallas, she was a wedding and portrait photographer in NYC for 15 years. When not capturing silly smiles, she also works in architectural photography with clients including luxury brands Saint Laurent and Celine. She is married to a musician/producer and together they have two adorable and very loud boys whom they are raising in fun/funky East Dallas.
What’s your funniest photo experience?
-There was a baby who had just learned to sit. He began laughing during a session and couldn’t stop. He was rolling over with giggles. It made the rest of us laugh so hard we couldn’t even shoot. We were just crying and holding our bellies. That was the best.
Why is working with children your favorite?
-Working with kids makes me feel young. They see the world through rose-colored glasses and their energy is contagious. We have so much fun together and it keeps me optimistic during uncertain times.
What is your favorite cocktail & food pairing?
-Oysters and Champagne
Meet Brandi
Behind the scenes is Brandi, leading the marketing and branding efforts for LOVE BUGS🐞. She still claims to be new-ish to Dallas, moving from NYC in the Fall of 2019 with her husband, two boys (now 6 & 4), and a lovable mutt named Brutus. Her corporate career consists of 20 years in fashion working in product development, merchandising, and strategy at big-name companies like Anthropologie, Victoria’s Secret, Calvin Klein, and Abercombie & Fitch. After pondering a new career direction and running into Julia at Trader Joe’s (see Q&A for that scoop), LOVE BUGS🐞 quickly became the perfect opportunity.
Do you have any advice for first-time clients?
-Absolutely! I was a client of Julia’s before we formed our partnership, I encourage everyone to let her do her thing, which means let her do all the communication with your kids - she’s fantastic at telling silly jokes (spoiler alert - there are mentions of farts and toots!). She has always gotten my youngest (and least cooperative) son to flash the biggest smiles.
What is your favorite cocktail & food pairing?
-margaritas and chips + guac
How did the two of you decide to team up together?
-Julia has been our family photographer since we met her when she was doing the Front Steps campaign. Funny thing, I ran into Julia at our local Trader Joe’s and we quickly decided it was a good idea to grab a bottle of red and have a few drinks before school pickup (my youngest son goes to the same school as both of Julia’s boys). So there we were drinking wine out of paper sample cups at the picnic table in front of the grocery carts (I now keep a stash of cups in my car to be better prepared for such occasions), and Julia starts talking about LOVE BUGS🐞. I don’t know if it was the wine, but I kept throwing out ideas and before we both knew it - we decided to do a proper lunch to discuss business and a partnership (with margs of course, notice a pattern here?).