Mama's Day

Before I begin here, I just want to say, yes, this is a photography blog, but it is also a blog on my journey and the things that shape and inspire my life, my work, my art.  So although I plan to try and incorporate my photography and/or my art as much as possible, let me just clarify and say there are no rules.  This is my blog, my adventure, my stories, my pictures, my whatever I need it or want it to be. And today, I want it to be about Mother's Day, even though it is a week late (I blame my toddler ;-P).

So Mother's Day came and went.  It was pretty sweet, can't complain. Spent the morning with my son on our screened-in porch having a lovely brunch of eggs and pancakes and fruit.  It was gorgeous outside.  My husband came home from work, we packed up some stuff and the kid, got some take-out and headed to one of our favorite places, Quaddick State Park.  We have our own 'spot' there, a nice private area with picnic tables overlooking a gorgeous view of the lake.  And luckily for us, the park was pretty empty which was nice, but unfortunately we underestimated how windy it would be...so much so that we scarfed down our food and had to leave, it was just tooo cold.  Not that our son minded, lol, he was so mad that we had to go.  He just LOVES the water, and exploring in general. :-)  

Anyways, after not having been there in a while, it definitely renewed my love for the place and I can't wait to go back one of these days and spend the day taking pictures.  That is one of the really nice things about living where I do.  There are so many state parks and lakes nearby, I also love that 10-15 minutes in either direction I can be in RI or MA.  Hopefully when the time comes, I can make good use out of all these beautiful locations nearby for future photo shoots.  Until then, practice practice practice.

Here's a few shots from Mama's Day with my boys <3

I'm a sucker for black and whites, I just love 'em.

...and on a final note, my amazing and incredible mother passed away in 2008, and although you never stop missing your parents when they are gone, there are times that you miss them more than you thought conceivable.  Maybe it's because I have a son now or maybe it's just that the more years that go by, the more that you miss them.  I greatly wish she could be witness to the happiness that our son brings us, I wish I could see my son in her arms.  But I can't change the past.  My son will know all about his grandma in time. She was pretty damn incredible. 

Here is a photo I restored/enhanced some last year, it brings a smile to my face. 

beautiful face, beautiful soul...

Beautiful baby bumps!

Ok. So I did my very first maternity shoot for a friend of mine as a learning experience and boy did I learn a thing or 2 or ten. Of these things, I learned the following:

1) I definitely made mistakes, lol (which i keep telling myself is how we learn!), but I also made some beautiful images that I am proud of.

2) I absolutely can't wait to get my new portrait lens!!

and most importantly...

3) I learned that I most definitely am doing what I love and I couldn't be more happier being on location and taking pictures for people! 

So thank you Megan and Ryan for giving me the opportunity to capture such a special and monumental time in your lives. You guys were wonderful about everything and turned what started as a somewhat intimidating experience for me into a very relaxed and carefree shoot, making it a truly positive experience.

I wish you all the best, and I hope these make you smile ;-)

Sneak Peek...more to follow

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog! 

My name is Jess and I am a full-time wife, mommy and amateur photographer looking forward to blogging and documenting some of my journey from amateur to professional photographer. I am an artist at heart and have excelled in many art forms throughout my life, but I find true joy and passion in the absolute beauty of photography. There is nothing so wonderful as capturing the essence of a moment, frozen in time to cherish indefinitely. It is a priceless love affair with lenses and light that has me hooked on always striving for my next favorite shot and my next favorite subject (although my son takes the cake on that one ;-P). I find it truly rewarding to bring joy to others by capturing some of these magical moments and milestones and I hope that one day, I too, will inspire a new budding photographer as so many incredible artists and photographers have done for me. That being said, there is an overwhelming, never ending sinkhole of information to learn about all the ins and outs of equipment, lighting, lenses, processing, and lets not even get into the costs and difficulty of learning professional processing software... But what I am coming to learn, is that I can't make this all happen in days or weeks or months. I need to just slow down and take things one step at a time and that the absolute best learning I could ever receive is through experience, experience, EXPERIENCE. I need to take my camera everywhere I go and put all that information I've been cramming into my brain to good use!

And with that I beg of you to be patient with my postings and my learning process (and remember I'm a stay at home mom of the 'energizer' toddler) and by all means, I'm happy to receive constructive criticism and plenty of encouragement. 

Thank goodness the grass is green and there are leaves on the trees (finally!), looking forward to a fantastic shutterbug summer!