B Roller Photography

The Wagners

2011-08-23T17:41:00.001-05:00

The Palmores

2011-08-06T10:13:00.000-05:00

Sarah Beth Wagner Bridal Portrait

2011-08-05T17:03:00.001-05:00

Tornado Relief--Aiden

2011-06-08T17:05:00.002-05:00

I had the privilege to shoot Aiden's 3rd year pics after shooting his 2nd year last summer. Thanks again to Richard Photo Lab for donating their incredible film processing services to help this cause!

Tornado Relief--Neal Tucker

2011-06-06T16:03:00.001-05:00

Margie and Dan Slideshow

2011-06-03T17:03:00.002-05:00

Margie and Dan from Brad Roller on Vimeo.

Tornado Relief--Sarah Beth and Tom

2011-06-02T12:10:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Richard Photo Lab for donating their incredible film processing services!

Tornado Relief--Emily and Justin

2011-06-01T01:15:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Richard Photo Lab for donating their incredible film processing services!

The Stones Preview

2011-05-30T18:43:00.001-05:00

The Stones

2011-05-25T17:37:00.000-05:00

Photography for Tornado Relief

2011-05-05T00:28:00.000-05:00

Hey Folks,

As you've seen over the past week, the tornados in Alabama have been devastating. Being from Birmingham, I have been really conflicted about not being "home" to help with the relief effort. So many people have lost so much.

Two families I know personally (who are listed below) have been particularly hit, and I want to extend the opportunity for both you and I to help them. I am offering the only thing I can currently think of to try and give them some help. Starting today I am offering a photography session (of any kind) for $100. All proceeds will go to these two families to help them rebuild. Headshots, family sessions, engagement photos, newlywed photos. Anything you want, let's do it and help these guys out.

Birmingham folks--I'll be back starting next Friday, May 13 and I'll stay as long as anyone wants to do photos.

LA folks--Aside from that time that I'll be in Birmingham, your invitation is open ended.

If nothing else, spread the word for me. Tweet it, facebook it, email it, western union it.

Thanks in advance,

Brad Roller

Dan Connell-- Dan works at my Alma Mater, Samford University. An extremely caring individual, Dan's house was completely demolished by the tornado. Though we can only begin to imagine, he and his family will be starting over from scratch--Just a few years shy of retirement.

Bill Camp--Bill is one of my best friends. He was my roommate for many years in college, and recently lost his mother to a sudden heart attack. Bill and his father's house was damaged in the tornado, making it currently unlivable. They have thousands of dollars of repairs to make before they can move back in, but they will have their home again.

Shira Scott Astroff

2011-04-18T16:09:00.003-05:00

Shira is an awesome actress who you may remember as Andy Bernards high school girlfriend on The Office.

Button and Hatchet

2011-03-18T23:45:00.003-05:00

My bestees, Alan and Kyle Mykitta, Ben Thomson, and John Cooley all shot a short that John wrote called "Button and Hatchet." I shot some stills and worked as a PA for them a couple of weeks ago. Look for the finished project at the winners circle of your local film festival soon.

Button and Hatchet Film

2011-03-18T23:27:00.002-05:00

Same thing from above, except taken from a Rolleiflex, Yashica, and a Holga

Brittney and Pisha B-Side

2011-01-24T15:36:00.002-06:00

After doing the requisite headshots, we decided to play around. These gals know how to take a picture.

Marcienne Dwyer

2011-01-22T22:52:00.002-06:00

Roberta Setzu

2011-01-18T02:01:00.002-06:00

Roberta graciously agreed to help style our headshot sessions, but she loves to get her picture taken. Also, she ROCKS at getting her picture taken.

Pisha Warden

2011-01-17T00:36:00.004-06:00

You can currently see Pisha in a Home Depot commercial that's been running all through bowl season here

Brittney Rentschler

2011-01-15T22:32:00.003-06:00

Brit worked with me many moons ago at The Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, she came in to do some headshots, and rocked it. Go figure.

Jillian and Jay Engagement

2010-11-29T14:56:00.004-06:00

So moving to LA to pursue acting has seriously slowed down my posts. I got the wonderful opportunity to go home for Thanksgiving and shoot some engagement shots for Jillian and Jay who are getting married in May.

Jillian was worried that the late November might end up looking gloomy and grey, but the leaves were absolutely perfect!

Jenkins Slideshow

2010-09-12T20:55:00.001-05:00

Jenkins Preview

2010-09-02T13:27:00.002-05:00

The Brackins: Slideshow

2010-07-16T07:25:00.001-05:00

Wisdom Maternity

2010-07-06T15:51:00.002-05:00

Stephanie and Steven Wisdom have been very kind to me. They were my first wedding and engagement to shoot, and now they are the first couple I've gotten shoot with for maternity photos.

The Brackins: Preview

2010-06-28T23:01:00.000-05:00

The Papaioannous

2010-06-04T07:50:00.004-05:00

It gives me great pleasure to post the video from Mary Kathryn and Jan-Paul Papaioannou's wedding. It was an honor to be apart of such an amazing celebration. Watch below, or for better resolution, click here.

Engagement: Marianne/Brent

2010-06-02T20:34:00.000-05:00

Aiden

2010-05-27T17:19:00.002-05:00

My wonderful boss at Apple, Leslie, asked me to take some pictures of her son, Aiden. Much to the chagrin of Amber Tatum, I said I'd love to.

LOST: my interpretation

2010-05-24T00:54:00.002-05:00

****SPOILERS*****

So yeah, this is a photo blog. But more importantly, it's things that have impact in my life. It's 1 a.m. and I just finished a 6 hour long lost event. I also spent 6 years of my life on this show. These are my thoughts.

First, Alan Mykitta had the initial perception of most of this, so he is the insightful one.

Going into tonight, I didn't think there would actually be a "big reveal." I thought we were way past that. Even when the show ended, I thought it was confusing. Now, I think I was wrong.

All along, I wanted the writers to tell us that the Man in Black was Esau (As in the biblical "Jacob and Esau"). In the penultimate episode, we still never got a name. I believe the writers respected us so much, they knew WE KNEW he was Esau--so why belittle us by actually saying the name.

So we know about Jacob already, but what about some details we have forgotten? How about that strangely placed Ladder where "Locke" died. Thank you Alan Mykitta--Jacob's Ladder.

Biblically, Jacob's Ladder is a ladder to heaven, described in the Book of Genesis, which the biblical patriarch Jacob envisions during his flight from his brother Esau.

"Jacob left Beersheba, and went toward Haran. He came to the place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold, the Lord stood above it [or "beside him"] and said, "I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your descendants; and your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and by you and your descendants shall all the families of the earth bless themselves. Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you." Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I did not know it." And he was afraid, and said, "This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

And now, a more recent interpretation of Jacob's Ladder, the Vietnam movie (with the very same name) starring Tim Robbins. To make a long story short, the movie begins with a battle where our hero is bayonetted. The story that unfolds shifts between the war and the future (an all too familiar flash-forward, sideways, back, etc.) The movie ends with the same character in triage from the opening-scene-wound. The entire movie was a hallucination/life flashing before his eyes. Nothing actually took place between his wound, and being placed on a stretcher.

A recent info leak from the set had a production location as "INT: Cavern/Jack in Hell." In the film, a character quotes an old Christian Philosopher "the only thing that burns in Hell is the part of you that won't let go of life, your memories, your attachments. They burn them all away. But they're not punishing you,' he said. 'They're freeing your soul. So, if you're frightened of dying and... you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. But if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.'"

Our epic journey was a cataclysmic plane crash ending with our Hero opening and closing his eyes in the same location and same manner. What was the reality, everything on the island? The flash-sideways? Both? Did Jack every get up from that bamboo field, or did any of it actually happen? All we know is that only some of our characters made it to heaven.

Kelli Winn

2010-05-07T11:39:00.002-05:00

Kelli Winn is a rockstar. Well, she's an actress, but when it comes to taking pictures--Rockstar. She starts a 15-month stint at the famous Barter Theatre in Virginia next week.

Alana

2010-04-26T22:45:00.001-05:00

Alana contacted me a couple of weeks ago, and just wanted "pictures." Not for anything in particular, other than to have some pictures, which is awesome. No guidelines, just for the fun of it.

Jones Preview

2010-04-21T18:26:00.002-05:00

This shot was actually taken by Alan Mykitta while he was shooting Missy and Chris Jones's wedding with me this past weekend. He really found two great reactions right before Missy walked down the aisle. I love that, in this moment, the cameras are no longer a factor and this beautiful occasion is setting in.

The Foremans

2010-04-19T11:29:00.000-05:00

Gerhard Mathangani

2010-04-14T12:35:00.003-05:00

Gerhard is an old friend of mine, who just signed on with Real People (Modeling and Talent Agency here in Birmingham.)

The Halls

2010-04-11T17:59:00.002-05:00

John and Rebecca Hall had their wedding back in February at The Sonnet House in Leeds. They lucked out, and had the most perfect weather of the entire month.

Chicago (Video)

2010-02-04T18:45:00.001-06:00

Chicago

2010-02-04T12:37:00.004-06:00

Last week I traveled to Chicago to be with dear friends.

This is a (purposefully) crude patchwork of photos from downtown

At the top of the Sears Tower, they have added glass boxes that extend over the edge of the building. When you look down, you see 106 floors of nothingness. In case you couldn't tell, this photo was done by the folks at the Tower.

An actual panorama. I took four photos and spliced them together. We were down near Millennium Park and the Art Institute.

MINI Cooper

2010-01-21T14:18:00.002-06:00

I recently did a project for Rives Construction to update their project photos. They built this MINI dealership, and it looks awesome.

Bobby Smith

2010-01-19T20:47:00.001-06:00

Bobby Smith is a very talented musician from Birmingham. Check him out here

Colorado

2010-01-09T17:28:00.003-06:00

So it's been a while, I know. Over the break, I made a trip to Glenwood Springs, CO. Glenwood is where one Mr. Doc Holliday retired after he developed TB. Upon his death, Wyatt Earp carried him up this mountain and buried him.

In Alan's backyard:

The Wilsons (Rolleiflex)

2009-11-23T15:41:00.001-06:00

Test Day with Rolleiflex

2009-11-13T15:09:00.002-06:00

The great Caleb Chancey and Bryan Johnson introduced me to the wonders of the Rolleiflex camera. It's a 1938 medium format film camera. One of those great pieces of engineering that still works today. No electronics, all mechanics.

WOOB

2009-11-12T01:28:00.002-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I did a calendar shoot for Women of Opera Birmingham (or WOOBs for short). The calendar is now out as a fundraiser for the Opera.

The Wilsons

2009-11-05T20:39:00.001-06:00

Best Assistant Ever

2009-11-05T10:47:00.002-06:00

This pictures sums it up, working hard, big smile on his face, grabbing good shots. Thanks for everything, Ben!

Wilson Wedding Preview

2009-11-03T16:10:00.002-06:00

Ashley and Andrew

2009-10-27T09:54:00.000-05:00

Ann Marie

2009-10-25T21:24:00.003-05:00

Ann Marie is a self-described non-traditionalist, which to a photographer, is music to my ears. This was one of the most fun shoots I've ever had. Please note her shoes, which will be worn down the aisle this coming sunday.

NYC (Nathan)

2009-10-22T23:35:00.003-05:00

My good buddy from Orlando Shakes, Nathan, let me crash with him a couple of weeks ago in Queens. He's got a sweet set up in Astoria, and looking to strike it big in the Big Apple.

Bekah and Drew

2009-10-22T00:09:00.006-05:00

Bekah's mother is the administrative assistant for the School of the Arts for Samford, and I was thrilled when she asked me to shoot her daughter's wedding. Bekah and Drew were married in Pleasant Grove, and are currently at Disney World for their honeymoon.

Test Day (Straight Up Narcissism)

2009-10-14T12:06:00.001-05:00

Not much to say here, other than we all don't mind having our pictures taken.

And the coup de grace.....

If we ever get a logo, it'll go right there in the middle.

Test Day (Alan)

2009-10-13T11:12:00.004-05:00

Alan's Turn.

This is one of my favs. Ben was talking smack, as usual, about how awesome he is.

Test Day (Ben)

2009-10-09T18:54:00.002-05:00

We tooled around with different stuff in the studio on thursday. Here are some shots of Ben (who legitimately was named one of Bham's most beautiful people). He likes being behind the camera, what do you think?

Inmates do Thriller

2009-10-09T10:49:00.003-05:00

This video is pretty sweet. It's 1,500 inmates that learned thriller, and they're pretty darn good at it. I would love to have seen who broke the news that they all had to learn it. My favorite though, is the girl. Wait for the close up about a minute in.

London Video

2009-10-07T19:58:00.002-05:00

In the fall of 2006 I went to London with Samford's study abroad program--currently the highlight of my life. I remade their promo video, but I was afraid I had lost it. Thankfully, the office had it and here it is for your viewing pleasure. If you don't want to watch the whole thing. Just start at 8:31

London Promo Video from Brad Roller on Vimeo.

Mary Kathryn and Jan Paul

2009-10-05T18:07:00.004-05:00

Mary Kathryn is one of my bestest friends in the whole world. We've grown up together and she met Jan Paul (pronounced John, he's European) at Auburn. They are perfect together and it was my honor to shoot their engagement pictures this weekend in NYC. Their website will follow soon.

Rebecca and John

2009-09-30T15:35:00.003-05:00

Rebecca and John are getting married in February, but we got to shoot their engagement photos this past weekend. After 2 weeks of torrential down pour, the weather was beautiful... Visit rebeccaandjohn.broller.com for their website.

My Grandmother

2009-09-16T12:42:00.002-05:00

We had some family in town recently and I wanted to get a good "headshot" of my grandmother. I don't think we have one anywhere. She turns 91 in december and gets around like a champ.

Fairy Tale Ball

2009-09-09T22:45:00.003-05:00

Childcare Resources, a non-profit downtown, had me shoot their "Fairy Tale Ball." It's a very high production charity event where children dress up and get to have an amazing night in a fairy tale world. Seriously, where was this when I was a kid?

Coming Soon....

2009-09-03T15:17:00.000-05:00

I took the summer off from blogging to focus on the shows I was in, but have no fear, new posts coming very soon!

brad

Gerber Rollei Shots

2009-05-29T18:54:00.002-05:00

The Battle of Lewisburg

2009-05-20T10:34:00.002-05:00

The Rebels awaiting their charge.

Even Robert E. Lee showed up.

These canons actually shattered some windows they were so loud. And I walked over some line and got torn a new one by the guy in red. Don't mess with reen"actors".

Reenactment Part Duex

2009-05-20T10:17:00.004-05:00

In a huge surprise to everyone, the North began turning the tide in the war. This poor gentleman is on his way down.

The Yankees pushed forward and drove the rebels home.

The "actors" stayed in civil war-era tents for a couple of days. It got to about 45 degrees.

Michael and Christy

2009-05-11T15:25:00.002-05:00

Michael just finished as the company manager at OST. He and his fiancee, Christy, met while she was doing "Kiss Me, Kate" back in September. He's been a good friend, and she's a great match for him.

Armistead Johnson

2009-05-09T10:32:00.003-05:00

Armistead played our "Young Lover" characters in the Rep. He's a really great guy out of NYC--one of the nicest in the biz.

Chris Mixon

2009-05-05T11:06:00.003-05:00

Chris Mixon is a fantastic actor who was with us at OST for Much Ado and Merchant. He is the quintessential Shakespearean clown. He lives in NYC but is constantly working.

Brit and Joshua

2009-04-06T11:07:00.004-05:00

Brit is a second year MFA candidate at UCF, and one of the fellow understudies for our Shakespeare Rep. Luckily, she's one of the few that's had to go on. Brit and her husband, Joshua, have been married for a year and half now and wanted "newlywed pictures."

Pillowfest 2009

2009-04-05T12:38:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was National Pillowfight day around the world. Orlando sported about 200 people with their pillows, pounding each other in a passive-aggressive nirvana.

Andy B-sides

2009-03-27T10:32:00.002-05:00

These are a few shots that won't make it on to his comp card, but I digg none the less.

Andy Knight

2009-03-23T18:23:00.001-05:00

Shuttle Launch

2009-03-16T00:51:00.002-05:00

I got the awesome chance to go see one of the last shuttle launches for a while tonight. It was spectacular.

2009-03-10T17:19:00.000-05:00

Much Ado

2009-02-28T12:17:00.003-06:00

I have been able to shoot something "fun" in a while. We had a promo shoot for Much Ado About Nothing (Which is set in WWII) and I caught the tail end of it and got to use the ole Rolleiflex. Here is our Benedick and Beatrice as they walk back to the theatre. These remind me a lot of my grandparents pictures when he returned home.

Orlando Hospital

2009-02-24T22:58:00.002-06:00

Across the lake from us at OST is a nice, new hospital. When the sun sets, it always looks so beautiful I thought I'd take some pics of it.

Samford Alumni

2009-02-22T20:51:00.003-06:00

At the end of school last year, these 3 lovely ladies said they want to wear funky costumes and have a fun photoshoot

The Real JWB

2009-02-01T14:29:00.002-06:00

Just so you know what he really looked liked

J.W.B.

2009-01-30T13:41:00.001-06:00

I just finished a short run of The Tragedy of John Wilkes Booth. It was for our festival of new plays, and I played the assassin himself.

New York

2009-01-24T13:21:00.001-06:00

Last weekend I auditioned for NYU (which went swimmingly), so here are some pictures of the city that stole my heart.

Laura Smith

2009-01-22T21:00:00.004-06:00

Laura is a dear friend of mine who drive down to bham from auburn just to do some headshots while I was in town over the break.

Michael Plummer

2009-01-19T00:12:00.003-06:00

Michael was a former intern at O Shakes and needed some new headshots. Always happy to oblige.

Acrobats

2009-01-15T21:16:00.005-06:00

We had a group of Chinese acrobats rent the theatre and I got hired to photograph their routine. And though they almost burned the theatre down at one point, they did some crazy stuff. They were all under 18 and did some AMAZING stuff. The guy on the unicycle flipped 5 bowls from his foot into bowls on his head. In the girls in red--there's one girl holding the others by herself. Just insane.

Colorizing

2009-01-13T19:57:00.000-06:00

I did this as a gift for my boss. It's a picture of her dad. It was really tiny and b&w so I blew it up a little and colorized it for an opening night gift.

I'm coming home!

2008-12-25T22:29:00.002-06:00

I never thought that this sight would be beautiful, but I can't wait to see it next week! (ps-for the two of you that might check this regularly, sorry for the delay)

Christmas Card

2008-12-17T23:16:00.001-06:00

Since we are Orlando Shakes, i thought it might make a good Christmas card to do a shake face pic of all the interns. I got the idea from Caleb Chancey (whom I steal many creative ideas from).

Tree

2008-12-14T23:58:00.003-06:00

There is a tree across the street from the theater that is 320 years old. It's huge and very epic, worthy of a picture.

Green Room

2008-12-12T13:58:00.003-06:00

I realized that I hadn't taken pictures for pictures-sake in a while, so I brought my camera with me to the green room before the show today.

The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge

2008-12-10T11:58:00.003-06:00

This is our new show we opened last week, The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge. It's a hilarious show that takes place one year after A Christmas Carol. Scrooge is back to his old ways and is suing the ghosts of christmas past, present, and future.

Thanksgiving feast

2008-12-02T22:39:00.004-06:00

Since we at Orlando Shakes were all stuck here over thanksgiving, some of us got together and cooked quite the feast. Here's some shots of us living it up.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T23:03:00.002-06:00

I'm thankful for my wonderful family and amazing friends.

First Rollie Shots

2008-11-26T22:59:00.004-06:00

I think this is the first shots from when I bought my rollie this summer. Caleb Chancey raves and raves about his, so I had to see what all the fuss is about. I agree. Thanks to Alan I had somebody to put in front of the camera.

Nostalgia

2008-11-23T10:45:00.004-06:00

Before I left the ham, Andrew Westover and I just walked around downtown, shooting the city and chewin the fat. Since I miss the magic city a bunch right now, I thought I'd put these up. *Please notice the instructions spray painted in the door frame of the first picture*

The Irelands

2008-11-20T23:23:00.004-06:00

Jimmy Ireland played Tom (brilliantly) in our recent production of the Glass Menagerie. While he and his beautiful family were in town we shot some family photos. Liam, his son, was perfect. Without any coaching, whatsoever, he looked straight into the camera and smiled.

Michael Beaman

2008-11-18T09:30:00.003-06:00

Michael Beaman is a 3rd year acting MFA student at the U. of Central Florida, and he works with me at Orlando Shakes. He wanted to get some headshots done since his other set was from 1979.

Samantha

2008-11-16T23:41:00.001-06:00

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Again, I took some more pics of my friend Samantha Chambers. I love taking pics and she loves being in front of the camera. There was also a crazy homeless guy that was working on his martial arts skills in the background when we took these photos.

The Glass Menagerie

2008-11-16T11:57:00.002-06:00

After one month, 35 performances, and much acclaim we close The Glass Menagerie today. It was an incredible and unforgettable experience. To see some reviews click here here or here.

2008-11-15T19:04:00.003-06:00

My Buddy, Ben Thomson, and I decided to have a fun shoot with our friends, Alan Mykitta and Samantha Chambers. They love being in front of the camera. I think half of my hard drive is pictures of them.

The Browns

2008-11-15T07:16:00.003-06:00

Heather and Eric Brown just got married this fall. These are a couple of engagement shots as well as a Bridal portrait of Heather.

Ellen Godfrey

2008-11-14T23:04:00.000-06:00

The Godfrey's are a wonderful, wonderful couple. I wanted to get a few more wedding photos for the ol' portfolio and Ellen was gracious enough to don her dress once more to help me out.

Neal Tucker, Esq

2008-11-14T22:51:00.000-06:00

Neal Tucker is one of my bestestest friends, and just before he took off to Chi-town to begin his career we took these headshots of his beautiful beard.

St. Thomas

2008-11-14T22:29:00.001-06:00

So, I'm starting back a couple of months to catch up on some posts I'd like to have on here. We'll start with our family vacation. Just before I moved down to Orlando, my folks and I went to St. Thomas for one last brewhaha before I left. Thanks to my Dad, we had quite the hotel.