My love for photography started over 20 years ago when I was given my first camera as a birthday gift from my parents. It was with that first roll of film that I had found my life-long hobby, expression of art, source of creativity... MY PASSION!
In the early years I was dubbed "Jessifoto" (no disrespect on the Asian race) as my family affectionately called me. Everywhere we went I would take hundreds of photos and although many of them should have been thrown in the trash years ago, it was through all those photographs I was learning how to express my creativity and talents, something that can never be thrown away.
During those ancient years of film is when I decided I wanted to learn more about photography. When my grandfather passed away I was given his camera. It was an old, all manual, film camera. When I say all manual, I mean: no auto setting, no auto focus lens, no zoom!
I had such a strong desire to use that camera that I decided to take a class taught at our local community college on the basics of photography and film processing. My first photo for that class was taken with a camera made out of an empty oatmeal canister, our first assignment. In this class I was taught how to work with natural light and manually control f-stops & shutter speeds.
Although I had a love for photography, took a class on the art form and practiced everything I had learned, it wasn't until our first child was born that my love turned into my passion! I took so many photos of our little girl... she was my most favorite subject!
It was after her arrival I decided to get my first digital camera... a little Nikon point-n-shoot camera. Digital imaging was such a foreign idea for me and because I just loved my grandpa's old camera and the beautiful photographs I captured on film, I continued to favor it over the digital. Over the next few years I entered and won many awards in our local County Fair with those film photos. One of which was awarded a "Best in Division" ribbon... that photo of our son still hangs in our hallway today!
In the Fall of 2008 I purchased my first DLSR, my Canon 50D. It has taken a lot of time and practice but I have grown to love this camera and still continue to learn from it everyday! It was also in the Fall of 2008 when I turned my hobby into a business and began building my portfolio.
Fast forward to today... I'm a stay-at-home wife and mother to 4 beautiful kids... taking my dreams to the next level with the opening of a studio. Beginning in November of 2011, I will offer both studio and on location services customized to my clients needs!
Thank-you for taking the time to learn a little about me... go to my contacts page and send me an e-mail or give me a call so I can learn about you, your photo needs and to book your appointment today!
