.png)
If you’ve ever held a session with me you know the drill: you and I meet at a mutually agreed location, I take some snaps of you and your family, you laugh at my *hilarious* antics to get you to smile (yes, I’m being sarcastic), and then we ooh and ahh over our good times together and then we part ways. But usually somewhere in the middle of you smiling and me clicking, I always receive the question, ‘So, how did you decide to become a photographer?’ My journey to photography isn’t something I thought people were curious about. If you are curious, be prepared for a quick and possibly boring post. If you could care less about the ‘why’ and just want to see beautiful photos, please disregard this post. If you want to hear about some of my *hilarious* antics, you’ll have to wait ’till another time.
It all started in 1980…ha, I’m just kidding. But to say I’ve loved looking at photos, any photo, since I was a child is true. It didn’t matter if I knew the person in the photo or not, I loved that when I look at an image, I could feel their emotion. A smile. A laugh. Frustration. Sadness. Every emotion portrayed and captured.
Growing up I continued with my infatuation of studying photos. I never owned a camera, never knew there was such a thing as photography classes, or that photography was considered an art. I come from a long line of artists, but more with a focus on painting and drawing and pottery than with cameras and lenses.
Fast forward to late 2010. My father was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a short year later at the age of 59. Unknowingly at the time, he had a film slr camera hiding in his closet that ended up re-kindling my photography passion. I eventually traded in the film slr for a digital slr, and purchased a few more lenses. I spent the next year learning about the camera and capturing images of my family (my poor hubby and kids despised my chasing them with various lenses saying ‘just one more; I’ve got an idea!!’ – they are still recovering).
In late 2012, with the extraordinary support of my husband, I decided to branch out of my circle of family/clients onto anyone-who’ll-let-me/clients and fundraising. I have loved meeting new friends along the way and am so blessed to have friends who trust me enough with their portraits. I have learned so much since beginning this journey in 2012. If there is one piece of advice I could give you – my unsolicited advice – is, please do not put off taking family photos. Yes, I would love for you to choose me to take them, but, having regular family portraits is so important I would love for you to just have them done by anyone. Don’t let a year go by without documenting your family in that moment. Make it a priority.
My love of emotional photos has not waned. My goal is to capture great images, but also to have fun. When I go home after our session to edit your photos, I want to *feel* the emotion in your photos as much as you do.
I want you to look at your photos and feel your stomach tickle because you’re so overwhelmed with love for your family.
That is what I strive to attain at each and every session. That is my passion.
xo,
~Jenni
.jpg)