The Jungle Branch (2024)

08/03/2023

Every Avenue - A Light in the Dark 2023 Tour
Quick sneak peeks for tonight’s Full Moon show in Atlanta. I’ve been friends with David for a few years and was able to attend this show while on a work trip so of course I had to take some shots after sound check.
taking the stage with at the

03/03/2023

What a whirlwind… how the hell is it already March?!
Here’s a pic from the very last wedding I shot last year, where Netalie, after requesting a photo of us all, gave me one of the most heartfelt thanks before I headed out that night.
I’ve spent the afternoon packing up for a trip, heading to Savannah for my first wedding of the year, then to Atlanta to cover my first concert in maybe six years. Seven? Eight..?
Time just keeps flying, and I’ve taken the past few months extra slow while navigating life’s currents. I write this from the hills in Asheville, where my dog plays with her literal brother, mom, and dad, where our chickens provide eggs, where I can put my hands in the dirt and make food, where I can drive 20 minutes and be on a trail into the clouds or streams clear as sky, where I intend to explore and create more of my own art, where my sister, myself and our fam and friends can build new futures together.
As I prep for this weekends wedding I’m thinking back on all my clients this past year, all those before, and all my clients so far moving forward. So much of my life is truly thanks to everyone supporting me as an artist and small business owner. Thanks, y’all! It really means so much to me.
Looking forward to creating more. Always, always grateful for the trust 🌿

01/03/2023

Looking forward to joining these two at this Spring!
Here’s a few from their engagement session way back in 2019, which Victoria and Mike started and ended with their drink of choice.

24/02/2023

Always searching for those moments in between. Here’s a few color favorites from Stephanie and Steven’s wedding on San Juan Island last September.
Joined my pals Meghan and David in Washington to help document this one. Steven is one of Megs longtime friends and she wanted to be able to be a guest for part of the evening. Or at least try to be, before her and David had to catch the last ferry off the island that night lol. Always happy to step in on a wedding for ✌️
Always, always grateful for the trust 🌿
Venue
Stills
Cinema
HMU

20/02/2023

One of the amazing contributions elephants provide for the forests they depend on and live in is seed dispersal. Because they eat such a large amount of various plants throughout the jungle, they simultaneously act as a gardener by spreading the seeds(yes, by pooping) into other parts of the forest, helping the cycle of life continue.
Some people only see ivory see when they look at these beautiful creatures. Some might see them as pests; a danger to their crops, their home, their way of life. Some see them as brute strength for hard labor, or easy prey for entertainment. Money, nothing more. Some see them that way, not all, but some, and some has been enough. Enough for half the population of Sumatran elephants to have been lost in one generation. With over two thirds of their natural lowland forest habitat wiped out in the past 25 years, the Sumatran elephants are listed as critically endangered, and their future is unsettling.
Small herds like this one, confined to a small protected sanctuary, may be some of the last of their kind in your children’s lifetime. With an ever-growing human population and the expansion of mono crop agriculture such as palm oil, the forests on the island of Sumatra Indonesia are shrinking, like many other forests around the globe. As the planet loses more and more wild elephants and more and more natural forest habitat, nature’s balance and ability to thrive weakens ever more.
Help by donating to grass roots organizations like working to safeguard existing natural habitats, rescue orangutan, and regrow healthy rainforest in reclaimed land once used for palm oil production.
Shot for my project exploring the impacts of palm oil in Sumatra, the western-most island of Indonesia and the worlds largest producer of palm oil.
Sustainable prints available on my site with 3% of profits donated to conservation efforts in Peru and Sumatra.

19/02/2023

Hell yeah! Already kicking my way into next year with my first wedding of 2024 now on the books. Nina and TJ asked me to do their engagement photos last year in Pilsen before deciding on a date or venue for their wedding.
Looking forward to the party at the Columbus Park Refectory next year!
Always, always grateful for the trust 🌿

10/02/2023

Who else is watching The Last of Us? Here’s a homemade Lions Mane Rasta Pasta dish my friend and I whipped up before catching the recent episode. I’m a huge fan of the games and love cooking with mushrooms, so this post was really unavoidable.
Lions mane is my favorite fungi to cook with, with oyster and trumpet mushrooms fighting for second place. Lions mane just has such a fun texture that I find very difficult to explain, and it’s ability to absorb flavor is unmatched. I cannot wait to start growing my own.
This was a test plate for the upcoming Archipelago Kitchen in Asheville, which honors a mix of Caribbean and Southeast Asian dishes. We’ll be working on the menu, website, and IG over the next few weeks so stay tuned for the launch!
Pro-tip when cooking with mushrooms: save some marinated, uncooked fungi for breakfast 🤌 (pictured last with eggs from our backyard chickens)

10/02/2023

Hello, world. I’m still here, just been taking a break from things like social media the past few weeks as burn-out officially sank in. I have so much work to share from last year still, and so many transitions happening lately I haven’t had the time to focus on things like digital sharing. Are there any professional photographers out there who can say they’re ever truly caught up?
I find myself feeling haunted by the amount of personal work I’ve created over the last twenty years that has never seen the light of day, with much of the work from my earlier days is simply just gone… And much of what has “seen the light of day” has only really existed on Instagram. This is the curse of the digital realm- the backlog, the unprinted, the unshared.
As an artist the weight of all this unfulfilled and incomplete work has played a huge role in my relationship photography and how I’ve had to monetize my craft. To help alleviate this weight, I’ve been working on some new projects that will finally bring more of my images to life and hope to release some of them this spring. Stay tuned! And if you haven’t already, you can check out my personal work 🌿

12/01/2023

Favorites from the studio as I took a slow dive back into portraits throughout the pandemic.
It feels a bit surreal to think about the Chicago studio closing at the end of this month. I’ve shared space in there for nearly a decade. So much creation, collaboration, and inspiration has taken place and evolved at 2215 throughout the years.
Throughout the past few years I’ve tried to figure out how I prefer to approach portraits but have come to find I’ve been seeking the wrong answer. What I find I crave most is the collaboration of visual experimentation with other creators. Artists, performers, writers, musicians, actors, etc. I think it’s because we are all used to starting with a blank slate, sometimes a spark of inspiration, breathing our creations to life, never fully knowing where it will take us until reaching that aha moment. Very thankful for all the folks who granted me their trust and time to explore the chaos of shadows and light in this space.
Shout out to the other members of 302 throughout the years -
Cheers to new adventures ✌️Always always grateful for the trust 🌿

11/01/2023

Meet me in the drug store parking lot 📷
A lot of people worry way too much about locations when planning their portrait sessions. Some of my favorite photos are literally next to a dumpster, in a dingy alley, a parking garage, etc. Trust the flow and explore with me 🌿

10/01/2023

Shannon + Bob
A few BW favorites from this Savannah wedding back in late October. Had a blast exploring some of the parks with these two, and catching moments all throughout the day.
Not being the intended photographer at a wedding comes with a certain level of added weight, but I’m very glad to be friends and colleagues with folks who trust me enough to be on their emergency contact list for work. As independent artists and business owners, “calling off” isn’t really a thing for us. But life is short and full of surprises. I stepped in for my friend to document this wedding while she went to be with her moms post heart attack and through the process of a successful quadruple bypass surgery.
Always always grateful for the trust 🌿

Venue
Ceremony
Tunes
Planner
HMU
Decor
Dessert
Dress
Suit

04/01/2023

The Gypsy Swingers | Friday 8-10:30 at the
Come out to see my sister and Mario Guitario sing and play alongside their friends and musical guests for
Don’t forget to tip 😎

26/12/2022

In the studio with Tayo, my last portrait session of the year.

18/12/2022

Garfield Park Conservatory will always be one of my favorite winter getaways.

13/12/2022

Just added some new print options to my online shop. To help the cost of moving unexpectedly, everything is on sale until further notice. You can also choose almost any image from my feed over at to have printed as well - just ask!
Printed in Chicago on sustainable, archival, fine art paper and shipped anywhere in the U.S. (contact me for a quote on international rates)
5% of print sale profits are donated to rainforest conservation in the Peruvian Amazon and Sumatran rainforest.

05/12/2022

Liel Amdour, Classic Spanish guitarist based in Chicago.

05/12/2022

Already missing those fall colors. I fly back to Chicago Monday where most of the world seems grey this time of year.
Wrapping up all the fall portrait sessions (finally) has been a nice way to revisit what little bit of autumn I was able to catch.

04/12/2022

Stephanie + Steven
Last photo of the evening. It’s a rare occasion that my bed is within walking distance of a wedding job, so when it is I tend to stay a bit longer to play around with night shots. Sometimes this is indoors, sometimes it’s outside under a big starry sky, and sometimes it’s using lights outside. In this case I wanted to use the resort as the background and asked Steph and Steven what their favorite colors are before setting up the shot. I asked them while they were dancing without explanation and after I finally brought them outside for a photo and showed it to them, Stephanie exclaimed “THATS why you asked my favorite color!” I suppose it was kind of random 😂
So much more to share from this day coming soon.

24/11/2022

The new home of Jungle Branch - .makerspace
Looking forward to getting settled into this new space full of other creatives and loads of potential.
I’ve got a handful of loose prints and cards available on a flash sale in the store front. My studio won’t be set up for a little while but if you’re in Asheville come check out Origins and all the other makers in this space!
My online print store is now live, albeit still very much under construction. Visit for more info on prints - and remember you can choose from nearly any image in my Hiraeth Diaries feed to have printed in the following sizes.
8x10 $40
8x12 $50
10x10 $50
12x12 $60
$10 flat rate shipping inside the U.S. Size options depend on the image.
5% of profits will be donated to rainforest conservation in Peru and Sumatra.

16/11/2022

Nina + TJ
Grabbed drinks and wandered around Pilsen to soak up the last rays of summer sun for their engagement session.

09/11/2022

Daniel + Bobby
Its always so hard picking just ten photos. If the goal was to wow all their guests, Daniel and Bobby definitely understood the assignment. Every room anyone walked into for the first, second, third time came with a moment of “wow..”. While the decor in each space was spectacular, it was so much more than just appearances.
From the beginning stages of planning, the guys wanted to make sure that everyone coming to celebrate was doing so as one, and that they could all be quite literally together. For the ceremony everyone sat in a circle, surrounding the guys, and dinner was held at one massive v-shaped table to keep everyone connected. The table fanned out around the dance floor, and the entire space was filled with immense joy from start to finish.
Always, always grateful for the trust 🌿
Shout out to the team
Venue
Stills
Cinema
Tunes
Planner
HMU
Decor
Catering + Dessert
Hotel

08/11/2022

Meghan + David
Earlier this year my best friend Meg asked if I’d join her to photograph her childhood friend Steven’s wedding on an island in Washington state. Her partner, David, would be joining to do video. She wanted to be able to relax and celebrate during dinner and dancing as a guest so the plan was for me to take over as lead photo for reception. Obviously I said yes.
To throw a wrench in our logistics right off the bat, they needed to get to the airport the following morning so they could work a wedding in Nashville the day after that. That meant catching the last ferry off the island the night of Steven’s wedding. Not a big deal.
Are you following so far? Cool. Because about a month or so before we left for Washington, David became the victim of a hit and run accident while out riding his motorcycle. Messed up his leg real good - had surgery, started PT, and was scooting around come time for our trip. So the three of us all helped each other out with both lead and assist photo and video. Major props to David for being an absolute trooper scooting around cobblestone and dirt paths, up and down hills, ramps, and stairs.
We nailed it as a team and it all worked out great. The wedding was rad, Meghan and David got to relax a bit before leaving, and they made both their ferry and flight without a hitch. Myself and a bunch of the wedding guests got to sit in our cars and watch our ferry leave without us lol. It’s been one thing after another this year, but getting stranded on an island for a bit wasn’t a bad detour in life.
Big thanks to for always being some of the best travel buddies ✌️
And congrats to and Steven! Stay tuned for their pics soon 🌿

07/11/2022

To coincide with news of my upcoming departure from Chicago, I’m hoping to use the studio at least a few more times before the year ends.
None of us at 2215 ever truly used this space to its fullest potential but we sure did try. I loved creating portraits here, sharing meals, collaborating, napping in the hammock, falling out of the sh*tty swing set that came with the space, hosting parties, critiquing each other’s work, and goofing off with Kapok - who notoriously photobombed nearly every shoot here.
I’m going to miss creating in this space, and all the fun tools the collective had to use. I’ll be a lot more limited on what I can do studio wise in Asheville for a while, so I’d love to play here a bit more while I can. I’m a particular fan of working with folks who aren’t used to modeling and prefer exploring the unknown together. Every light set is like a puzzle and I can’t arrange the pieces alone.
Comment here and slide into the DMs if you want to book a session with me before the year ends!

07/11/2022

End of an era. Chicago, it’s been real ✌️
This year has been incredibly heavy, full of turmoil, loss, migraines, severe depression, shattered dreams, failures, horribly timed obstacles, heartbreak, revelations, realizations, failures, and much needed unplanned navigation. Such is life, and amidst the chaos there has also been a lot of good, and even a little bit of peace sprinkled in. And now the eclipse is strong. Change is coming, change is needed. What’s the saying - When one door closes another opens?
Well, a multitude of doors have shut themselves before me, but with the collapse of trails intended came a labyrinth of new opportunity. I really wanted one more year in Chicago. One more year to fully focus on my own craft, under my own brand, Jungle Branch | Mike Talyad] but again, such is life.
I’m not abandoning ship , I’m simply raising anchor. After a decade of working professionally in Chicago, Asheville will be my new home base. No course ever truly stays the same, and my sister and I both have many schemes to sail after here in the mountains.
I’ve worked hard over the years trying to maintain a balance between monetizing my craft and exploring the art as a meditative therapy through my project. Photography started as therapy for me and is has always remained important to keep it that way. I don’t think I’ve ever felt centered in Chicago, and moving to Asheville is a step towards finding better gravity and building more peace.
Endless appreciation, gratitude, and thanks to the hundreds of clients I’ve had over the years - to family, friends, colleagues, lovers, co-collaborators, ALL YOUR DOGS, the list goes on. If not for all of you who hired me, helped me, trained me, pushed me, critiqued me, and most importantly gave me the freedom to do my thing and be me, I surely would not have made it this far. Thank you so much for helping me grow this of mine 🌿
More news coming soon.

28/10/2022

Gettin spooky with some of my favorite clients/people 🎃🦇👻

27/10/2022

Lola + Grace enjoying all the fall smells during their Walk session.

25/10/2022

That’s a wrap for fall portraits! I’m packing up to hit the road again and feeling very grateful for all the folks who booked and helped me book portrait sessions these past few weeks while I’ve been back in Chicago.
I’m packing my bags to head back to Asheville today, then a last minute wedding in Savannah this weekend, and hopefully a little playtime in the mountains while there’s still a little bit of color on the trees.
Everyone who has yet to receive sneak peeks will be getting theirs this week so keep your eyes peeled for delivery emails.
I hope everyone in Chicago has a fun and safe Halloween this weekend🎃

20/10/2022

Vanessa + Kyle held an engagement party for family and close friends at one of their favorite haunts
It’s easy to miss those hot, sweaty days when it’s mid October and the nights are already in the 30s/40s. We beat the heat with cold beers and snacks inside, Vanessa asked her best friend and future sister-in law to be her bridesmaids, Kyle went home to change his pants after spilling catering all over himself (a moment I’m sad I missed), and we made sweaty portraits outside after the sun went down a bit.
Always, always grateful for the trust 🌿

17/10/2022

It’s been a crazy season and I’m so behind on sharing things here but catching up soon. For now, enjoy this frame of Brittany’s oldest brother pondering where it all went wrong while sitting in the rain as the only one who didn’t bring an umbrella 🫠
Always, always grateful for the trust 🌿

15/10/2022

Happy belated to my youngest sister 🌿 Here’s a still from her music video we shot over a year ago and still haven’t finished editing lol.

The Jungle Branch

08/03/2023

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