Mother Nature | Jackson, MI Portrait Photographer

A couple coworkers and I decided to have a fun shoot this past weekend. Jena and Amber modeled, along with Desi the horse and Tagus the dog. These are only a few of the photos I captured, I still have a lot more to go through and edit, but I wanted to share these because we had SO much fun. We spent almost 6 hours shooting at various spots on the property. And these ones were only from the first location! When we were leaving to go to the last spot, there was a really bright rainbow going all the way across the sky. I didn't have a wide enough lens to capture the whole thing, but you can see a piece of how awesome it was at the end.

Keep checking back on the blog because I will be posting more of the images when I finish them.

Jacksonopolis | Jackson, MI Photographer

Back in the spring, I learned about an exciting new media outlet in town called Jacksonopolis. It was started by a few very talented people that had one thing in mind, showcasing positive community news. Volunteer writers, videographers, and photographers help produce all the content for their site and social networks. Each of them donate their time and talent to produce a unique and creative view of each event. I'm not a Jackson native, so there's a lot of these events that I've never heard of or been to, so it's really cool to explore the city I live in. Plus, it's fun to practice a different side of photography besides just portraiture.

The first event I covered was the mural unveiling at the Armory Arts. Three of the resident artists spent countless house painting (as historically accurate as possible) a mural of the old prison that is now an artist community/housing. The mural is incredible and if you ever get time, I definitely suggest going to the Armory Arts and checking out the residents work.

The next one was the Fairy Festival, which I had heard about, but had never attended. I had no idea what to expect, but when I arrived I could tell that it was every little girls dream event. Little ones were dressed in their fairy costumes were making their rounds of various activities that were set up. Some had their face painted, there was a castle they could play in, or have story time from one of Jackson's fairies. It was a very magical event and just awesome to see their faces light up with joy when they met a "real fairy."

Bark for Life is an event related to Relay for Life, but it helps raise money to find a cure for canine cancer. They do a small walk around Cascades Park and have lots of dog friendly games/activities for your fur kid to participate in. Between bobbing for hot dogs and the musical hula hoops, it was enough to make any dog tired. It was awesome to see so many people out socialize their four legged friends and fighting for a great cause!

Folkgalore was an event that I hadn't heard of and on my own probably would not have attended, but I was pleasantly surprised. One of the bands that I signed up to photograph was Those Willows. They're originally from Detroit, but they made the trek out to Portland this fall to pursue their music career. The stories their songs told were very down to earth and relaxing. I can definitely see myself putting their CD on to hang out with or get some work done. 

After their performance, I was on to Jackson Coffee Co. to photograph Ronnie Ferguson. When they were done, that was the end of my assignment, but I ended up staying for the band after them, Chad Cecil & the Family Dentistry, because they showed up with a cello and I was interested in listening to it. To my delight they were SO amazing!! I walked away with their CD and I would have never even known about them if it hadn't been for Jacksonopolis.

If you get some time, check out Jacksonopolis' website and Facebook, who knows, you might find something unexpectedly that you really enjoy as well.

Website - Facebok

Been Chillin' at the Holiday Inn

One of the managers of the new Holiday Inn in Jackson approached me about doing a large image to hang in their lobby across from the service desk, I thought this was a great idea, not only because my work would be displayed, but also to have it on such a large scale would be incredible!! I was thrilled to take the job. So we decided to go about this two ways: either images of nature or images that represent Jackson. For the nature images I headed on over to the Dahlem Nature Center for a photo adventure. These are a couple of my favorites from that day:

Later that week I took a trip downtown to see what festivities I could find and came away with this bunch. There's more photos at each location, but these were just my favorites:

Relay for Life - Ann Arbor

Once in high school I had participated in Relay for Life, it was a blast, but in the years after that it just didn't fit in my schedule to devote the time needed to the event. That was until this year. The Ann Arbor Relay Committee asked me if I'd volunteer to photograph their event. I agreed and spent last Saturday and Sunday watching the day's events unfold.

It always amazes me how so many people from different walks of life can come together and fight a common cause. They put aside all differences they might have had and walked side-by-side. To say the least it's an incredibly moving experience. And if you have never been to a Relay for Life, I strongly encourage you to check out one. I had a hard time fighting back tears during the Survivor ceremony and the Luminaria ceremony. Trust me, crying makes taking photos pretty difficult. But all the emotions are totally worth knowing that I am helping a cancer fighter somewhere celebrate their life and live to see many more birthdays.

My grandfather had passed away from cancer and both of my parents are in remission, so cancer has had a played a big role in my life. I want to give back, so while I was at Relay Ann Arbor I pledged to myself that I would make a difference...thus the forming of team Natty J Photography. I found out that Jackson has not held their Relay yet and I was thrilled that I could start a team and help contribute monetarily to the ASC (American Cancer Society)!! Come say hello to the Natty J Photography team on August 6th-7th (6p-6p) and see what an incredible community can do when we all work together. You won't be disappointed. Promise.

Keep checking back as I will be announcing fundraisers to help my team reach their goal of $1000. If you'd like to donate and can't make it to any fundraiser please visit the Natty J Photography team page.

Democratic County Commissioner Candidate

Democratic candidate for County Commissioner, Rebecca Livingston asked me to help with some campaign photos, of course I agreed! I never pass up an opportunity to broaden my horizons. You never know, maybe politician photography could be my niche. So we spent the day photographing all over Jackson; industrial areas, speaking with young adults, relaxing at a local coffee shop, playing with her dog in the park, etc... It was by far the longest portrait session I've had to date (and I'm not counting weddings), but I had a blast! I learned a few new things about the office she's running for, plus I learned about the anodizing process from Great Lakes Metal Finishing!

Rebecca and her rescue dog Chase.

EMU's Exposure 2010 - CooLHeadS

I was asked by the owner of CooLHeadS to come photograph their runway debut at Exposure 2010 held on Eastern Michigan University's campus in the Quirk Theater. I have a feeling that they are going to be HUGE, just wait! They received the loudest applause and won the Most Innovative Design. Congrats to the CooLHeadS team and good luck in your future ventures.

http://www.getcoolheads.com/