I’ve just written my first ever post on our brand new blog. Which, inevitably means that this will be my last post ever on this one.
To keep up to date with us and for new posts, please head on over to our new home at http://jennstarkphotographers.com. Can’t wait to see you there.
This was my first blog ever, so it’s kind of sad to leave. But it’s time. Why do I feel like I’m breaking up with somebody right now???
See you over at our new blog!
- Jenn xx
Oh we have some big changes going on around here. I feel like I’m bursting at the seams. Like I need to tell somebody. So I’ll tell you.
In between working on a weddings and engagement sessions, meeting with our wonderful clients, nursing a gaping cut on my heel which has left me hobbling around and spending way more time in the emergency room than anybody should ever have to endure (yes, there’s a story there), Dave and I have been taking a serious look at our business and we’re making some huge plans and goals that have got us all excited and bursting at the seams. Among a lot of other things, one of the most tangible changes we knew we had to put in place after our wonderful talk with this couple, was to this thing right here: our blog.
WordPress and its “so easy even Jenn can figure it out” templates to build a blog have been so wonderful to me. This little blog has served me so well, but I’ve been working away any spare moment I get at a brand new, shiny, still-got-that-new-car-smell blog. It’ll have bigger images, a gallery of our work, a brand new logo and tons of other things that I just can’t wait for you to see. I kinda feel like a little kid taking her training wheels of her bicycle for the first time. Watch out for our “big girl” blog, due to hit the internets any day now! Ooooh I can’t wait!
Oh, and the story: I seem to manage to injure myself while doing the most “undangerous” things you can imagine, like taking photos. I mean, it’s not like being a photographer is like being an athlete in a contact sport or working on a construction site with scary pieces of demolition equipment. Still. I manage to find a way. Like the other day while we were out at an engagement shoot. It wasn’t until we were finished that I realized I had cut myself on a rock while on the beach. And I don’t mean a nice, small little nick. I’m talking a huge gash right across the heel of my left foot. Thus the number of hours spent at the hospital. It’s wasn’t too bad though. Dave came with me and we passed the time playing twenty questions, trying to guess what person we were each thinking of. Took Dave forever to guess Santa Claus. I think I messed with his head when I answered the question “Is your person dead or alive” and I said “…both” :)
At least the beach was worth it. And here’s a sneak peek at our new branding that I’ve been working away at – I think it’s finally just right.
If you head over there now, you’ll see that our new home at http://jennstarkphotographers.com is currently under construction – I’ll let you know when it’s ready!
Dear Brianna & Ewan,
Dave and I feel so lucky, inspired, grateful, encouraged and overwhelmed by our time together yesterday. You two are both such lovely, talented, and smart people. Yes, so smart. Smart even on few hours of sleep and while losing your voice and going through an entire packet of fisherman’s friends. We just can’t thank you enough for everything. We learned so much.
We knew back when I sent that first email that booking a mentor session with you guys would start something big in our lives. We knew it would force us to let go of our fear and stretch us outside our comfort zone. We knew it would and it did and still I’m not sure we were quite ready.
We spent the whole drive home just talking…we stopped for a bite to eat and spent all of dinner just talking…then talked some more this morning. It’s so much to take in, but we’ve started to take what we’ve learned, how it applies to us, and think about what our next steps need to be. I think big changes are on the way. We are so excited and can’t wait for this next chapter of our business. Thank you so much for being a part of it.
I’d like to take a bit more time to write up some more thoughts about our day together but it may take me a few days to get my thoughts organized. But just know that we came away from the experience feeling very full, like after a huge holiday meal – completely stuffed, a little bit drowsy, immensely happy :)
Love,
Dave & Jenn
PS – we owe you a dinner sometime!
I always love hanging out with this girl – we first met while I was going to teacher’s college at a time when I don’t think either of us thought that we’d one day be running our own photography businesses…but fast forward a few years and here we are doing exactly that. As a little mini-celebration of Kendel just being finished her own year of teacher’s college, we met up in Niagara-on-the-Lake a few days ago for a chat, a coffee, a stroll, and of course some photos.
I don’t think I can stress how important it has been for me to actually be the one on the other side of the camera and experience having my photograph taken. To experience the indecision of picking out the right outfit. Of stressing out about the zit on my face. Worrying as I’m standing there if I look alright or just plain awkward. It reminds me of my goal as a photographer to make people feel comfortable and maybe even fabulous about having their photo taken. Kendel does that really well, and I realized after the first few shots that everything was going to be ok and maybe even fabulous and we had a ball.
We roamed around the main street getting the most wonderful stares from retirees out for the day, both with our cameras in hand, taking turns shooting each other, flipping through each others’ images, getting inspired, trying a few more shots…then we ate yummy food and drank hot drinks and chatted photography, business, weddings, and life. I always get so much out of our talks. Kendel wore the cutest retro outfit and brought her collection of vintage cameras to play around with and…well, why I don’t I let you take a look for yourself? Here are a few of the shots that I got from our afternoon out…Kendel, you are gorgeous and amazing…when can we do this again?? xx
It’s been a little goal of mine (wish…dream…fantasy…delusion??) to have one of the weddings I’ve photographed be featured on a wedding blog…so it seemed a little surreal this morning when the amazing Melissa from WeddingObsession.com emailed me to let me know that she was featuring the wedding I’d submitted to her today!!
I put together a submission a few days ago – on a complete whim to see what would happen – and found Melissa’s awesome Canadian content wedding blog to submit it to, and decided to ignore my nerves and hit the send button, never expecting to hear anything back. But I did hear back and Mark & Stacey’s backyard wedding is up on her blog this morning…I’m so excited right now!
I like to think that I’m not the type of person who is constantly after praise or affirmation to feel good about what I do, but it does feel extra special to have someone who looks at photographs of all things wedding related day in day out to like my stuff enough to publish my work! It really means so much to me…I’m on cloud nine right now! This is a huge first for me…Thank you so much Melissa and thank you to Mark & Stacey as well who’s wedding was so gorgeous!!
Check out the blog right here… http://www.weddingobsession.com/2010/03/11/real-wedding-stacey-mark-ontario/
Ok people. It’s 2:00 am and I’m on my living room couch with the TV on mute and my computer on my lap. I rode my bike while watching the Oscars, then decided that now was the perfect time to re-write a few sections on my website. So, ta-da! Here it is, if you’d like to learn a bit more about us, who we are, how we got into photography, and which one of us can’t get enough of lemonade (I know you’re all dying to know), then head on over to the STORY section of our website or just click right here.
I’ve also set up a way for you to ask me questions anonymously – it can be about photography or anything – so please, click here and start asking me some questions! (I even know why the sky is blue, so you could totally ask me that.)
But now…to bed!
I woke up today with no orders to complete. No images to edit. No discs to burn/label/package/mail. Everything that falls under the “important and priority” section of the checklist was done. It was a rare feeling.
So I pulled out the list. The list that at the top of it says: GIANT TO-DO LIST – things I will do once I find the time. Seriously, this is what I actually typed out when I made this document in early February. It is a whole page, single spaced, with over thirty items on it. Intimidating? NO! I love a good challenge. And believe it or not, a few things have actually been ticked off the list, and today I got another one done. I feel so good about it. You might have noticed the fruits of my labour on the website’s header. I needed a change – check out my newly redesigned logo:
Like?
You know what I like? Feedback :) Anyone?
Have a happy Friday and weekend!
Look up “video ninjas” in the phone book and you’ll find these guys.
Trust me.
I had the pleasure of working with my dear video ninja friends and their lovely entourage this weekend on a project for the Mississauga Food Bank that I am so stoked about…I don’t want to post any of the photos before the actual campaign launch, but you can be sure I’ll be updating here first when it happens.
What does it take to become a ninja? I think it takes a combination of a lot of things. First, a balance of preparedness combined with spur of the moment ingenious problem solving. Knowing what works but also not being afraid to be an innovator is key, I think, in achieving ninja status – having “go-to” moves ready to go but also being confident enough in your skill that you can pull something out of nowhere and everyone will think it’s genius.
I climb on a lot of interesting things while I shoot – chairs, counter tops, railings, ladders, people. So that’s a start. I don’t know if I’m a photo ninja yet. Actually, I’m probably not. But I’m working on it.
Here’s a fun little video I made earlier this week with my videographer friend Alex! We made it so that I could enter a contest…it would have been amazing, the contest was to create a video to win a trip to mexico to attend a workshop headed up by none other than one of my fave photogs…but…no, I didn’t win…but I had a blast making this video and think it turned out pretty sweet!
And if you’re wondering why it’s so short, it’s because one of the “catches” for the contest was that you only had 12 seconds of air time…made for a challenging time brainstorming ideas but I love what we came up with! I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out and I’m sure he’s sick of hearing me say it by now but here it is again: Alex, thank you so so much!
Here it is…my journey into the world of photography in twelve seconds flat. Enjoy…
I had a million other things to do before the night was up. The sun set, dinner was made and eaten, emails were sent, calls were made, photos were retouched. The little brown package sat on the floor of my office waiting patiently. It caught the corner of my eye from time to time between tasks, but each time I resisted. It was the prize waiting at the end of a busy day when everything else was finished; when I could sit down on the couch with no other distractions and cut through the cardboard, hold the book in my hands and leisurely flip through its pages.
Our photobooks are designed with a lot of thought and care by yours truly and are printed by the online book publisher Blurb.com. We use a simple, clean, and modern design in our layouts to let your images take center stage and so that your photobook will never go out of style. Our photobooks are hardcover, bookstore quality books that contain up to 80 pages of images from your wedding day.
Here’s a peek at Jen & Andrew’s:
