I always arrive an hour early prior to a session to scope out locations, and sometimes I find some beautiful things during the process that I like to photograph just for myself.
Here’s a beautiful bloom I found yesterday on the Missouri State campus prior to Sam’s senior session. I think it’s lovely.
Happy Spring!
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I was so excited when my former Make-A-Wish coworker, Vikki, contacted me about doing photos for her son, who is a senior at Springfield Catholic High School here in Springfield. I first met him about 7 years ago, and wow how time flies!
Sam is an extremely humble and talented guy. Not only is he a wonderful vocalist, but he was signed to play as an offensive lineman for the Missouri State University Bears football team. I’m 5’11″, and his 6’5″ish frame towers over me! It’s nice to feel small every now and then!
Sam, I hope you enjoy your pictures! You were a blast to work with, and I hope you enjoy your first year of college at my alma mater! You’re going to love it!
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Personal photography projects are important to me. I can read, and learn, and watch videos on the art of photography for the rest of my lifetime, but if I don’t allow myself to put that knowledge to use, with a model in front of my camera, what good is it? How will I ever grow as an artist?
I was recently challenged by a phenomenal glamour photographer who educated photographers all over the world in a free, 3-day online class through CreativeLIVE. The amazing photographer that I’m referring to is Sue Bryce, Australia’s 2011 Portrait Photographer of the Year. She offered a mesmerizing look into her glamour photography business, by teaching us how to bring more feminine posing into our work and to help women build confidence in themselves through the transformation that is created during a photo experience. Sue has been an encouragement to me, and I hope to really dig in and apply what I’ve learned, and through my images, give my female clients a reason to hold their head high and feel good about where they are in this place and time in their own lives. Not “after I’ve lost 20 lbs,” or “when my arms aren’t so flabby,” but celebrating THE NOW. Sometimes all it takes is a few beautiful images of ourselves to regain that confidence in who we are as women.
When I was thinking about who I wanted to ask to be a model for this project, I didn’t have to give it a second thought. Kacey Dotson is my beautiful friend, who has the biggest, most giving heart, and an even bigger smile. She has been a huge supporter of my photography from the beginning, and I knew that she was one person that I wanted to share this experience with. (Kacey is a wonderful music and vocal teacher at the Conservatory of the Ozarks. She is helping me conquer one of my 30 in 30 personal goals by giving me guitar lessons. If you are in need of music lessons, give her a call!)
We spent a few hours in my makeshift studio (aka, my garage) on Saturday afternoon and got the following shots.
Kacey, I hope you feel as beautiful on the inside as you are on the outside! Love you, girl!
~Jen
Please leave Kacey some comment love!
Oh! And here is a short video featuring Kacey’s pictures!
P.S. If Kacey looks familiar, you may have recognized her from a past blog post, in which Kacey and I sang along with our good friend, Lee Ellen Starks.
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Gorgeous!
Jen, I love what you did here. You did have a very beautiful model, which helps. But I love the natural lighting. Often I think photographers tweak with the pictures to much by photo shopping them or touching them up- whatever you call it. I Love It! Kacey- You look so beautiful, I am truly blessed to call you my wife!
Sometimes I get the urge to look through past sessions, pick some images that may not have made the final cut, and then edit away. It’s cathartic for me.
This photo was taken a few years ago of a really sweet senior, Kristina. I love photographing seniors!
{Contact me if you are looking into scheduling a senior portrait session!}
Here’s a before and after from this session, and a little bit about my thought process during post-processing:
My white balance was a little off in-camera, so the picture appears too warm (orange-y)
First, I color-corrected the photo in Lightroom.
Next, I removed blemishes and smoothed out the skin. I then focused on her eyes, enhancing her makeup and brightening her eyes.
The green pipe to the bottom left was distracting to my eye, so I copied the wall on the top left,
and using a mask, brushed over the green pipe at the bottom that I wanted to remove.
I could have done the same to the pipes on the right, but the pipes are doing a good job of leading your eyes
to the subject (leading lines), so I decided to leave them.
Lastly, I added a texture (this particular one is “Chocolate {cool}” from Jessica Drossin Textures, from the JD Illumination Textures Vol 1 set). I used this particular texture because I thought this shot could use a little more variety in color, since the subject’s skin closely matches the color of the walls.
I love this final version, and how you are immediately drawn to her beautiful face.
And here’s the final before & after. Let me know if you would like to see future transformations!
Follow me on Facebook & Twitter to see future posts!
Blessings!
~Jen
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Thank you so much, Sarah! I took a peek at your work too and liked your page so I can keep up with you. Your blog is cute!
I’m a fellow blogger in Springfield, nice to ‘meet’ you! I love your processing here, and walking us through your editing steps. I’ve taken a few minutes to browse your blog tonight, lovely images!
Oh I <3 before & afters! Great job! :)
Thank you very much!
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Very neat! Thanks for sharing! I love seeing your work, it is beautiful from the SOOC to the final edit!! <3
Pretty nice! Very pretty….I agree. I like taking out the pipe…nice job! p31…www.fulllifephotos.com
Here are some of my favorite photos from the Rock & Worship Roadshow, held in Springfield MO at the JQH Arena on February 16, 2012. Great musicians. Great messages!
Follow me on Facebook & Twitter to see future posts!
Want to comment on these photos? Leave a comment below, or check out the album on my Facebook Fan Page!
~Jen
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This month, something extraordinary happened. And when I say extraordinary, I mean life-changing!!
Yes, I turned the dreaded 3-0!
At first, I was really intimidated by this birthday, but as it drew closer, I started to get excited about it. I kept hearing women around me say that 30 was a liberating year for them, and that they felt confident and more secure than ever. And that’s when I made the decision to choose to enjoy this year.
Because I want this year to be full of personal growth and fun memories, I’ve created a list of 30 things that I would like to accomplish, my “30 in 30,” you could say. If you know me personally, please read over these, and help hold me accountable to crossing these off of my list! I want to look back on this year and feel excited about what I’ve accomplished!
So here goes. I’m putting this out there. I’ll keep you updated on my progress, and hopefully, I’ll have some fun stories (and photos) along the way!
(Things that are completed or in-progress will be highlighted in purple!)
And since no post is complete without some photos, here are some pictures recently taken of me by my good friend from Tiffany Kelley Photography. Here’s to 30 and Flirty!
~Jen
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Thank you very much, Alisia! I’m trying to get things crossed off that list!
aww you’re so pretty,
and i love your 30 at 30 list. :)
Thank you. I hope so!
Thank you! I’m looking forward to crossing things off of my list!
*blush* Thank you, Caitlin. It should be a fun year!
WOW you are looking FABULOUS :) and i’m loving the list – attending concerts, running 5ks… 30 NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD!!
Beautiful Jen! I love the list you have for yourself! Happy 30th!
Love the goals!! You’ve got this girl :-D
Just for fun, I thought I would throw together some fun Before & Afters. The “Before” shots are straight-out-of-camera (SOOC), and the “Afters” are the final, edited versions, with some minor tweaks in Lightroom. It’s important to get as much done right in-camera, so that there is much less to do in post-processing, which means clients get their final images faster! I’ve worked very hard over these past three years to learn the ins and outs of my camera’s functions. Taking a few extra seconds during a session to adjust settings helps tremendously, and it’s well worth the extra time once the images are on my computer and ready to be “prettied up.”
For this photo, I knew I wanted the sun to be behind my model, and for the image to be warmer (more golden) in the final edit.
The sun had just slipped behind the trees for this shot,
so I knew it would be slightly underexposed and ready for a pop of brightness in post-processing.
I placed my subject in the shade on these tracks. Again, I left the image slightly underexposed,
brightened it, and saturated the colors during editing. I also cropped out some of the blown-out sky in the upper left corner.
Once again, we headed toward the grassy area in some shade. I placed my subject slightly in the sun, so her hair would look glowy.
Once again, I wanted this image to be more golden, so I warmed up the photo in Lightroom.
There’s you a quick sneak peek about what goes in my head during and after a session. I hope to post more Before & Afters in the near future!
~Jen
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Thanks, Kristen! Hope you found a bunch of cute pencils!
Great before and afters!
Also, you are offish a contributor on the Enjoy Project Pinterest Board! Would you mind pinning your velvet pencils there :D
Happy New Year, fans!
I love starting out a new year with a clean slate.
Isn’t it neat to see what all you’ve been able to accomplish when you take the time to look back?
Here is a time warp back to my first paid photo session in July 2008, compared to a photo from a November 2011 session.
With time and experience comes growth. And it feels good.
Now, it’s time to Look Forward.
~Jen
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You’ve seen this pretty face on my Facebook Fan Page, and she made it as one of my top 10 favorite images of 2011, but I realized that I totally overlooked making a full blog post dedicated to the beautiful Ms. Yulia. So here she is… some pictures you may have seen already, and some are new. Enjoy.
Happy New Year!
Hop on over and “like” my Facebook Fan Page to see upcoming sessions!
or follow me on Twitter
or take a peek at my Pinterest boards if you need some inspiration!
~Jen
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Wow! 2011 went by so fast! God has blessed me with some amazing clients to work with this past year, and I’m looking forward to what is in store for 2012! Here are 10 of my favorite images from this past year; images that when I saw them on my computer screen for the first time, I had to stop and stare. Hope you do the same…
More to come in 2012!
~Jen
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