I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I rarely put photos of me up on the blog. I don’t think there is even one direct shot of my face anywhere! I guess a change was inevitable.

Earlier this year I blogged about how I was hoping to get in front of the camera more. The surprising thing about blogging, I’m learning, is that people actually read my posts and are willing to help out with my goals! Shortly after that post, I met fellow photographer Li Ward of Fat Orange Cat Studio and she offered to help me with my first time in front of the lens. I was already familiar with Li as she is a fabulous Boston area pet photographer, and seeing the weddings and engagements she’d shot and being a fan of her shooting style, I was excited to see what she would come up with for my portrait session.

I ended up learning a lot on the shoot. The number one lesson that I took away from the day though was that direction and communication between the subject and photographer are key. I found that while it might be easy to capture natural moments as a photographer, it’s quite difficult to be natural in front of the camera when you’re the subject. So for those who tend to stiffen up when they have a lens pointed at them (e.g. me!) it is tremendously helpful for the photographer to give some guidance on what to do. I was thankful that Li told me where to look, how to walk, how to toss my hair around (I still can’t believe I did that, haha). Luckily, she also helped put me at ease and I slowly warmed up to the whole idea of “modeling.”

Something else I learned was to start appreciating what I look like from different angles. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I generally only like how I look from my “good side” in photos. I’m starting to realize that I need to see myself as the world sees me, which is from many different perspectives. And as much as I may prefer some sides over others, they’re all still me!

I’ve been meaning to share these for a while now since we did the shoot over a month ago, just a few days before my birthday. Definitely go check out more images on Li’s blog, but here are some of my favorites from the session. These were all taken by Li and post-processed by me.

Thanks SO much, Li, for a fun shoot and for all of these great captures! :)

Months ago I caved in and jumped on the Twitter bandwagon. It was a little confusing at first and I wasn’t sure if I really understood the point of it, but since then so many wonderful things have come out of it that I can’t imagine not being on it anymore! Twitter has become such a great way to connect with local wedding vendors, especially photographers, and it’s been an awesome place to get daily business and wedding related news and inspiration. It’s also just a fun way to stay in touch with friends, share interesting news and tidbits, get questions answered, etc.

Whether you’re a client, a friend, or an industry professional, please feel free to follow me at www.twitter.com/jeningphoto. I’d love to get in touch! :)

It’s that time of year when I start to remember why I love Boston so much in the spring and summer. Part of it is that now that the clocks have changed, I get to come home after work while the sun is still out. I walked into my room the other day and literally gasped at the glow. How lovely to come home to soft window light. I’m looking forward to it becoming routine again. :)

(The  texture of my walls totally reminds me of buttercream and the flowers look like royal icing. Yum! Is it just me?)

This week I’ve been a little off. I’ve been fighting a stubborn cold and stressing a bit over work and life. I did a few things right, like shot my first wedding of the season and got most of my info together for tax time (yay) but also did some other things very wrong and very unlike me, like taking a long time to respond to emails and even forgetting to call a client at a scheduled time (eep).  Luckily, I have my cold to blame for my cloudy head and unusual behavior!

I should rest this weekend. But I’m really bad at doing what’s good for me, so instead I’m going down to New York to meet up with family and some friends from college that I haven’t seen in a few months. Now I will have only myself to blame for any unusual behavior from this point forward. ;)

A photo from the last time I saw the aforementioned friends, over New Year’s (sun setting on the river-whose-name-escapes-me in Gibson Island, MD):

Some images from a walk I took along the Charles. I was really fascinated by the ice and snow on the river. And I can’t believe the photos below were taken within this past week. The weather has been so dreary these past few days!