Capturing: Jessica’s Journey

It’s one thing to be picked up in the uncool mommy minivan as a teenager, but it’s a whole ‘nother thing to be picked up in it in front of your friends only to be embarrassed. Here’s an example of me torturing Jessica…went to pick her up one afternoon after school…she walks to the car…puts her hand on the door…and I pull forward. She laughs, looks around to see if anyone saw, then walks up to the new spot, puts her hand on the door…and I pull forward…..again. I am cringing as I typing but always laughing under my breath because of how lame I am and how much I am going to embarrass my boys when they are teenagers. This is definitely the tomboy inside of me since I grew up with two brothers who STILL love to embarrass the heck out of me and play pranks on me.

Well, aside from all the embarrassment Jessica has to endure from me, she is flourishing in her quest to learn about photography. Jessica has been so diligent every week…taking time out her busy schedule to commit every Thursday to learn about photography and all the roles that are required. In addition, she has also given up many of her weekends to assist me with photo shoots and has even had some opportunities to take some pictures on the side. I can’t stress enough how I am impressed with Jessica and her ability to pick things up quickly and I admire her dedication to her future. It truly comes natural to her and many times she has offered the solution to my dilemma. Here’s where Jessica stands with her experience: Jessica is shooting exclusively in manual mode and in RAW format, using Lightroom and Photoshop to do all her editing, she now has a blog that she will be posting and maintaining to document her experience and build her portfolio, she has designed her own logo to use as a watermark on all her online pictures, she is learning how to create Photoshop actions to help her expedite her work flow and she will be doing a few photo shoots as the main photographer in the upcoming months to add more pictures to her portfolio…and she’s just 15. Impressed? I am!

I don’t claim or even humor the idea that I have this whole photography business figured out…and it seems the more I learn and feel like I am starting to get a solid grip on it, the more I realize how much I don’t know and how much MORE I have to learn. There are soooo many roles to fulfill…marketing, finances, administrative responsibilities, networking, making time to find new locations and visualize new ideas, maintaining and properly storing digital images, participating in forums, attending workshops….on top of all the editing, blogging, and actual photo shoots. Jessica has really been able to experience this first hand and is starting to get a thorough understanding of what being a photographer really entails, without any pressure to her reputation since she still has a few years before she pursues her own business. I am more than happy to share my journey, have her witness my mistakes, participate in new discoveries, explore new opportunities as I encounter them as my “firsts”, brainstorm together for new fresh ideas and marketing opportunities, share the tools that makes running a business less painful and more time efficient and even though she doesn’t realize it, really reinforces the little that I know and helps me take another step forward in the direction that I desire my business to grow.

I’m inviting you to visit Jessica’s photography blog that she created a few weeks back. As I mentioned earlier, she will be posting pictures that she takes along her journey and will also be sharing some of the things that she has learned along the way. Just this past week, she recruited her sister to be her model and was able to take some beautiful shots of her sister Julia. I simply went along for the ride and gave a few pointers as Jessica took control and lead over the whole photo shoot. In addition, all the pictures she has displayed have been edited by Jessica through Lightroom and Photoshop. Honestly, if it weren’t for the logo, I would have thought I took the picture. I am so proud of Jessica and all her hard work! I can’t wait to see what 2011 holds for her! Click here to see her blog and be sure to send her some blog love!