J* Fever

Watch Jasmine Star has been on the tips of everyone's tongue this week because of her course on CreativeLive.com. The more I am listening to her talk--not just about photography, but life and her husband--it makes me love them more!!


Just throwing it out there Jasmine, I think we will be great friends one day.

Why do I think that, the reader may ask?? Let me tell you the ways, haha.

1) So first off. I freakin love her energy. Her excitement. You hear it in her voice. You can just tell that she just plain enjoys life.

2) Jesus. God. Holy Spirit. I love that she loves Jesus. (DJ's older brothers use to go to Calvary Chapel Montebello, and I've listened to Pastor Panch on iTunes. We all love Jesus. and I love it!!)

3) Bianca!! I LOVE Bianca (Jasmine's twin sister). If you haven't read her blog, Bianca is an amazing woman of God and I love her blog. Check it out. Because you can. The internet is awesome.

4) Our husbands. Listening to Jasmine talk about JD made me slip into a mild depression because I miss my hubby. Haha.

(OH! Here is weird flip number four and a quarter and four and a half!!) (You are going to laugh. Because I did. Hard.)

Jasmine is Mexican, JD is kind of an Asian, HAHA!! By kind of I mean half, I think. I am the Asian in the relationship and my hubby is kind of a Mexican, and by that I mean half. AND my hubby's name is DJ. Haha, get it? DJ | JD. LOL. I know... nerdy. But really... how could I not address that? LOL.

And four and three quarters: DJ is also going to be a great second shooter. Despite the fact that he is in Afhghanistan right now--when Jasmine was talking about JD and how he is a chameleon, he puts people at ease, he just gets along with everyone. That is why I love when he comes on shoots with me now... he really just relaxes the situation. When we start doing weddings--it will be glorious.

5) Southern Californians just get along. Especially over In-N-Out. :)


So one day. Some day. We will be friends. Great ones. Hahah.



I am soooo in love with the Photo Community to be able to be a part of something like Create Live. It's such a great, great, great way for photographers to learn AND FOR FREE!! Love it!!!

Photographic Wish List

I was in the mood to... uh, dream ahead. Haha. I say dream, because I am very weary of making plans, haha. But I started looking at the things I WANT photographically. And I wrote it down and thought, "I am going to type it into existence."

• Canon 580EXII, probably 2 of them
• Canon 24-70 2.8
• Canon 16-35 2.8
• OR the Canon 14mm 2.8. (I am a big fan of wide angle lenses)
• Canon 70-200 2.8 (not sure if I want IS or not, I am sure it'll be DJ's lens)
• OR the Sigma 50-150 2.8 for DJ, he'll be shooting with a cropped sensor, so we'll see how that all goes with the focal lengths we decide to go with.
• I want a 100mm Macro, I don't think I care if it is Canon, or not. Haha.
• && I really want the Canon 24 3.5 TS. I have mimicked the effect of TS lenses in my post processing, and I would LOVE to play with a TS lens.
• Expodisc
• Kelly Moore Bag (the Hobo one)

Oh, how cool it would be to be made of money. Haha. One day Jennifer. One day this will all be yours. Haha!! And when that one day comes I will have to have people in my life who will show me how to be BETTER than I am now. So along with this photoraphic THINGS list, I will also be including a photo workshop wish list, just because it's my blog, and I can do what I want to.

People I would LOVE to learn from one day:

• Zack Arias
• Zach and Jody Gray
• Jose Villa
• Amelia Lyon
• Jasmine Star
• Mark and Candice Brooke
• Jeremy Cowart

I cannot wait!!! YES! ;) ;) Ok. I will go day dream now. Ta-ta for now. Something of more substance to be posted later tonight.

Confessions of a Photo Newb: Branding

I have a multi-faceted purpose for this discussion. So please bear with me. The biggest moitivation to 'confess' is so that someone else who may come across this, a fellow newb, they could find it useful.

Branding & Website: I've probably changed my watermarks, my logos, my website look and feel... like five-six times in the past year and a half. I havent' found anything that I am absolutely in LOVE with. I have felt inconsistent and... kind of thinking, "If I don't take my brand seriously, my viewers won't either!" So I sat down for... a good six months just thinking about what I wanted to offer, what I wanted to portray, and the character I was putting out into the world.

I asked Becker on AskDane, if his brand stayed true to his first vision, or if it had evolved. I am SO glad to hear that it was an evolution. Because... I have felt like... maybe I am not as committed to this biz because I haven't made a decision I could stick with. (Haha, is my logic clear here, or was it just me?)

I read books. Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk, Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel, and I am currently reading Linchpin by Seth Godin. Talk about inspiration.

Personal Brand: More than a logo. More than a website. More than the look and feel. It's all about who you are and what you bring to the table. When I say Jessica Claire, what do you think of? SHOOTSAC! Wear your lenses! (Not like I've ever met her, but I would venture out to say, she probably has an awesome shoe collection, because she is thinking about girls like me who are tired of that bulky black camera bag.)

I changed my 'look' and 'logo' so much because I was so focused on what I wanted to LOOK like to people. It wasn't until recently that I thought about what I wanted to OFFER people. What I bring to the table that sets me apart from others.

My Mission: For half a year I stopped taking clients and stopped promoting myself because I knew that I wanted to offer more, and much, much better. I knew that i hadn't invested my time in refining my craft and understanding the industry.

I initially did a VLOG about it..

My Brand: I hope that potential clients see honesty, integrity, and passion in my work. That they see I didn't just pick up a camera and called myself a photographer. Abigail Adams said, "Learning isn't attained by chance. It is sought for with great ardor and dilligence." I hope that I have lived that.

Fellow Newbies, take a look at yourselves and your motives. Look at what you want to offer the world. Don't bank on your talent and forget about the ardor and dilligence that goes into the equation too. Develop a personal brand that you are proud of. Remember that it is a process, you can evolve.

Well this has been long. But I did say 'confessions.'

Have a blessed day everyone!!!

Let me know some of your confessions, mistakes as a newb, lessons learned, etc.