Inspired, A Very Special Project | Jennifer Jabbour Photography

I’m deeply in love with God and my life is devoted to doing all I do in a way that glorifies Him. I’m an extroverted introvert – meaning I love being alone, doing my own thing, getting lost in my own thoughts, yet I love being around people and being the center of attention. Other than that, I’m the typical San Diego girl – I love warm, sunny days and I love to be outside doing something active, like hiking, bike riding, or camping.

It sounds so cliche, but the birth of my son and wanting to photograph everything about him, and then the sudden realization that my photos were not good at all is what sparked my passion and photographic journey.

Lenses:  85mm 1.8, 50mm 1.4, 35mm 1.8, 80 – 200 mm 2.8

Nikon D50 and kit lens

Jennifer has so graciously shared one of her starting out images!

If you could only use one lens an entire session which one would you choose and why?

If I could only choose one, it would have to be the 80 – 200 because it’s just a beautiful lens.  It means a lot of backing up, but the clarity, color and bokeh make it totally worth it!  Otherwise, I would have a hard time deciding between the 85 or 50. They’re both great portrait lenses.

Take it slow. Don’t rush to get clients or make money. Learn as much as you can with what you have. You don’t need to have the best gear on the market to be a great photographer. Shoot as much as possible and join a photography forum where others will give you honest critique of your work, so you can learn and grow more quickly.  And realize that the journey never stops – you will never stop growing.

Audrey Woulard  – I loved her bright and clean style; and she’s living proof that a photographer could get by just fine without using a fill flash or reflector.

My personal photos tend to be quite moody.  My subjects are rarely looking at the camera. I prefer some grain and dramatic light. I absolutely love it when I happen upon streaming light and probably get more excited than I should about it. Also, I find myself printing in black and white more often than color.

My uncle Larry, who died of brain cancer on Dec. 24, 2011. He loved working on cars, and he had beautiful deep wrinkles in his face from being out in the sun so much. I would love to go back in time with my photography skills and spend a week with him, photographing “a day in the life” with him.

Early morning when the sun is barely up and sunset.  I especially love the soft light when the sun has just gone down and it’s still light enough to keep my ss high and my ISO low enough to get good quality photos.

Write and paint. I have to express myself somehow, and before I discovered photography, I wrote and painted a lot. So I would just naturally fall back into that.

No. I have a degree in Journalism, but on the writing side. My only photography education is what I’ve been able to learn from reading books and forums, and a couple online workshops (MLK workshop and Finding the Light) and a few CM breakout sessions.

I just be myself. I talk to them, try to relate to them. I explain what to expect and then just try to have fun with them.  I laugh a lot. For older children I’ll tell jokes or be silly – just something to get them to laugh. If they’re too stiff in their pose, I’ll tell them to shake it out. Or I’ll have them jump around.

I’m still trying to figure this out. Part of me is scared to set any goals because it just becomes too much pressure on my already full plate. But I would like to pinpoint some areas in my photography that need improvement and then do what I always do to learn – read, research, practice, post for critique, until I feel like my resulting photos match what I see in my head. Other than that, I have had a long time dream to become a Certified Professional Photographer, and I would like to start working in that direction this year.

I get bored when things get stagnant, and with that comes the desire to grow again. This happens every few months. I’m at that point right now.  I will say there were a few times in my photography journey that I had a major aha moment and that made my work change for the better – one was learning about ETTR (exposing to the right), the other was learning about using Kelvin for white balance. Another wonderful change happened after I posted on the ClickinMoms forum about what I needed to do to make my pictures make you say “wow”.  I learned so much from the wonderful women who voluntarily reviewed my portfolio. The two things that stuck with me were to step back and take risks.

That I’m not really all that good at what I do. That I’m a fake. I worry that I’m like those people that audition for American Idol, thinking they are God’s gift to singing, and then they come to the awful realization that they can’t even sing on key. I’m afraid that’s going to be me one day, yet somehow, I continue to be surprised at how well my work is accepted by the photography world!

Both – I was torn for a long time because I really want my work to be printed out by a reputable lab and hung on my client’s walls, but everyone wants the files, and in reality, it is easier to hand off the files right after I’ve edited them (though, I always provide a color 5×7 reference print for each file I sell).