the best possible coverage available to every wedding

Wedding Photography & Videography in Western New York

Based in Dunkirk, New York

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Ask me about any photo/video services you need!

If you're inquiring about a wedding, be sure to let me know the date so I can check my calendar right away!

If you'd like to message me directly:

PHONE:

716-673-5514

EMAIL:

BRANDON@AIRAVEAR.COM

Hi!

I'm Brandon Rivera!

Photographer

Videographer

Editor

About Me

Since I was five, I have wanted to make movies.  When I was a teenager, my parents purchased my first professional camcorder.  But this was before YouTube had a tutorial for anything and everything.  Therefore, learning to get the most out of that camera proved impossible for me.  But when I was 19, my siblings and I had an idea for a movie.  By this time, my mother had purchased herself a Canon Rebel T2 (which didn’t even shoot full HD video).  For those who don’t know–the Canon Rebel series is designed for people who have never used a professional camera.  When we noticed its ease of use, we claimed it as our first filmmaking camera.  (With my mother’s permission, of course.)  With it, we made our first feature.  Shortly after, I started my first full time job as a restaurant manager, which got in the way of our filmmaking.  But when I missed filmmaking too much, I used my money to buy a Canon 80D.  

Then… I shot over 240 videos.

In the middle of that (drastically condensed) story, a family friend’s photographer was forced to back out of their Wedding two days prior.  They called me, simply because I had a camera.  I didn’t know what I was doing…but I fell in love.  Capturing a Wedding (with photo or video) is like making a Documentary about one of the happiest days in someone’s life.  And at the center of that Documentary is a Love Story.  Years went by with a job here and a job there.  And then the Pandemic hit.  After six months of Quarantine, and 17 silly short films made with my siblings, I could not go back to restaurant work.  I knew the only job I could do and love was Wedding Photography & Videography.  But the odds of any startup succeeding are grim.  According to every business book I could read on Audible–You’ll fail in year one.  If you don’t, you’ll fail in year two.  If you don’t…you’ll fail in year three.  Eventually…you’ll fail.  Oh…and on average…it takes two to three years minimum to turn a profit.

Challenge accepted!

I purchased a college course on starting a Photo/Video Business along with all the equipment I needed to get started.  In year one I booked…nothing.  Zero.  (With the exception of a free Wedding I did just to have something to put on my website.)  As a hail mary, I decided to cold call every local photographer and videographer I could find, asking if they needed a second shooter.  Most did not return my calls.  But some of them were beyond kind.  They gave me pointers, advice, and more importantly–work.  In year two, with my own expensive Wedding approaching, I put my nose to the grindstone for a straight month.  Cold call, after cold email, after more cold calls, after more cold emails.  Nothing.  Then…after a horrible day with no signal, I came home to five messages.  And five bookings.  In one single day.  I owe that to Chris Rivera and Sammie Rodriguez who both posted my name in the Facebook group:  WNY Wedding Advice.  By the end of year two I booked 22 of my own Weddings.  In year three I booked 37 Weddings and turned a profit. In year four I'm filling up fast and still grinding away.  But more importantly than that…I still love capturing Weddings. 

…I hope I get to capture yours.  

…I hope I’m here in 10 years to capture your Vow Renewal.  

…& I hope I’m here in 30 years to capture your children’s wedding.  

I'll see you at the Wedding!