When we aren't photographing we spend our time hanging with our two girls, having impromptu kitchen dance parties and hiking as many Maine and New Hampshire mountains as we can! Our daily adventures include surfing, swimming, hiking, watching Star Wars, quoting the best movies of all time, and blasting music from the 80's.

We met through boring office jobs, where Brittany found greater fulfillment in shooting rubber bands and paper clips at Dean than she did from data entry work. Brittany was a recent graduate from art school, with a focus in graphic design and photography, and clearly taking what work she could get. Dean was just trying to take a nap. “Cut it out!” he said. “Temp jobs are for napping!”

Clearly we hadn’t yet found our callings. We did, though, find our way to an Aerosmith & KISS concert, where Brittany summoned the courage (and channeled Star Wars) to look at him across the mosh pit and yell above the noise, “I like you!” to which he responded: “I know!”

We were married five years later, on an island with a stunning view of Portland, Maine then immediately hopped on a plane for our honeymoon in Costa Rica.

We’ve been together for 16 years - most of which we have lived in Maine for and have two girls, a cat named Lolo, and a lot of memories!

It was pretty clear after all that, with Costa Rica’s beautiful beaches and rainforests and Maine’s rugged coast and natural beauty around every corner, that photography would become a driving passion in our lives…

…and that we would always live near the water.

Every story has its beginnings. We don’t have any photos from our first date (iPhones weren’t even invented yet!!). It was a similar lack of photos, or specifically of photo quality, that launched our careers.

In 2007, close friends had hired a wedding photographer that was a poor fit for their needs. They were bummed about the quality and compositions of the work they received. So bummed, in fact, they hired me—Brittany—to reshoot their wedding. They restaged the whole thing just for her photos! It was an honor, and a strange professional adventure that worked out beautifully.

Encouraged by their glowing review, I acted on a quiet dream and launched Brittany Rae Photography.

Dean was my capable assistant in the beginning, keeping me company on long wedding drives, until I put a camera in his hand to keep him busy when he wasn’t being a VAL (voice activated light-stand). His unique focus, timing, and approach, brought a wonderful complement to my lead photography. I hired him on the spot, which was convenient, as he’s my husband.

Together, we have become Two Adventurous Souls.

Our work includes weddings and special events, family portraits, and commissioned imagination portraits. While we focus on wedding photography, developing our skills across a broad range helps us tell stories in fresh and fitting ways.

Now on clear nights, after our children are in bed, Dean heads to the mountains or the beach for astrophotography. His images are featured in several galleries, have been shortlisted for numerous awards, and are featured on his companion site WanderlandPhotographic.com.

Beyond commissioned photography, we have received awards from the Maine Professional Photographers Association and Professional Photographers of America for our images, and have had work featured in countless local and national wedding magazines/blogs.

…though we’re still waiting to hear back from National Geographic. Who doesn’t dream of filming polar bears under water? Or is that just us?