Joe and Amanda

I am having total writer’s block coming up with an entry for Joe and Amanda’s wedding photographs. Maybe it’s because there just aren’t quite the right words to describe the beauty, fun, and joy we all shared that day. Lee’s Summit Community Church buzzed with excitement and energy on the inside while the weather was perfect outside. Amanda was the most relaxed bride. She smiled and laughed as she manicured her own nails and picked out make-up colors. It didn’t phase her a bit when we had to push the first look back a few minutes or when the wind at the top of the Liberty Memorial whipped everyone’s hair into nests fit for Big Bird.

It was an absolute pleasure to get to photograph this event, and I have so many stories to share...hence the long blog post! Joe and Amanda are soul mates -and I’m not just saying that because it sounds good on the blog or because they are my real life friends. As I looked through the lens of my camera, I could just see their love. They complement each other so well. I'm so excited to see how God uses them as a couple! 

Notice that the boxes have 7/24 on them, which is their wedding date. Thanks for setting this up for me, Ben!

I was so lucky to get to witness the first look. Joe stood in the front of the sanctuary with a look of excitement and curiosity while Amanda tip toed in the back. She did her fair share of teasing him before finally tapping him on the shoulder and letting him turn around to see his bride for the first time. I’m not going to lie, I definitely teared up as Joe wrapped his arms around her and admired her beauty.

Amanda and her sister-in-law, Erin, created all the details on the veil.

The wedding party was so much fun. They had me laughing all day, as well as while I was editing the photographs. 

Amanda looked absolutely stunning. She is a perfect example of 1 Peter 3:3 & 4. :) 

This is one of my favorite shots of the day, but I do have to give my friend Raylene some credit for placing Joe in the background.

This shot was taken by Cherish, my favorite second shooter. She kept me sane and entertained all day. I couldn't have made it without her!

CLICK HERE to see a slide show of the images and become a fan of Jenny's Lens on Facebook.

Thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your Ah-Mazing! day!! I can't even describe how much fun I had. You two are wonderful and we should do dinner soon - Joe can grill!

-Jenny

Baby Love

Oh Blog, how I have neglected thee.

I have so many gigs that need to be blogged, but unfortunately I have let my blogging get behind, so I am just going to post a few quick favs from some recent baby sessions.

-Jenny

P.S. We're back to smaller images on the blog because my mom can view them better at work, so blame her if you preferred it the other way. :)

I Heart Faces: Feet Week

It's feet week at I Heart Faces ... kind of ironic. :) I wouldn't say that I love feet, but I do adore photographing them. It was hard for me to choose which foot image I wanted to use, but this is the first one that came to mind, and they say go with your first instinct. It's my friend, Beth's children's feet. They are so cute, I could just kiss all over them.....okay, maybe I do have a foot fetish, but only baby feet!

-Jenny

50 in 500

I was inspired by Melissa Jill, another one of my photography idols, to come up with 101 goals to complete in 1001 days. I am always telling my students that they should set goals, so I figure I should follow my own advice. As I was coming up with my list, I got stuck around #70, so I decided to pare it down to 50 in 500. :)

Today's Date: July 10, 2009

500 Days From Now: November 23, 2010

That took some serious math!!! It seems forever away, but I know it will be here before I know it. Not everything on the list pertains to photography and that's okay. :) Oh, and I must admit that I cheated a bit because some of these are already in progress.

1. Buy a house

2. Launch www.jennyslens.com

3. Attend a photography workshop

4. Get a new logo for Jenny's Lens

5. Visit Chicago

6. Organize my iTunes Library into playlists

7. Go on a missions trip

8. Reach my ideal weight

9. Blog everyday for a month

10. Visit my friend Steven in Philly

11. Organize my filing system in my classroom

12. Get some "gallery prints" of my work

13. Get a dog

14. Take an art class

15. Work out 4x a week for a month

16. Read the Bible cover to cover

17. Create studio/office for photography

18. Visit Redding, CA

19. Take a road trip

20. Shoot a destination wedding

21. Get photography business onto The Knot

22. Re-learn the guitar

23. Create photo books from my snapshots through the years

24. Find a cool way to package my photo products

25. Solve my Rubik's Cube

26. Get better about sending out cards to past clients

27. Join a photography forum

28. Read one classic lit book that I haven't read

29. Upgrade to a 17" Macbook Pro

30. Do another family shoot of my entire family

31. Plant my own garden

32. Run a 5K

33. Invest in a 70-200 f/2.8 lens

34. Organize the folders on my laptop

35. Start a teaching blog

36. Start using only reusable grocery bags

37. Create info sheets for clients

38. Win a game of Scrabble

39. Create my own recipe box like Mom's

40. Memorize a book of the Bible -- yes that says book

41. Begin sponsoring a child in another country

42. Apply for membership in the Wedding Photojournalists Association

43. Send vendors photographs from weddings

44. Go on a float trip

45. See the movie "What About Bob?"

46. Plan a B4 reunion

47. Travel to a different continent

48. Do 25 consecutive push-ups (the real kind!)

49. Pay for everything with cash for one month

50. Document a "Day in my life" with photographs

Wish me luck and I challenge you to create your own list!

Oh, and because every post is better with a photo, here is a little something I'm working on :)

-Jenny

Kambra's Senior Shoot

One of the things I love about Kansas City is the changing weather. We go from below 0 to above 100 all in the course of the year. Sometimes it surprises us with beautiful warm days in the middle of January or cool breezy days in the middle of summer. Luckily, yesterday was a gorgeous summer day. With a high of 79 degrees, light wind and tons of pretty clouds, it was the ideal day to get out and shoot some photos.

I had a lot of fun scouting out locations for Kambra because she is a little bit country and a little bit rock and roll, so we had to do both! She has gorgeous eyes and was wonderful to work with. All I had to do was mention how cool a window was and she was already climbing up the building to get to it. I am beginning to think that my business tagline should be adventure photo shoots because we always end up doing whatever it takes to get to the better location. :)

P.S. Notice that my photos are bigger on the blog now....I'm finally getting the hang of this whole blogging thing!

Thanks for letting me shoot your senior pics, I can't wait for you to see all of them!!

-Jenny

I Heart Faces: Wedding Bells

Have I ever mentioned my addiction to blogs? I love getting a glimpse into other people's lives through their writing and photos. As much as I love facebook, I think I almost love blogs better. They are like a good book that you just can't put down until you get the whole story, whereas facebook is like a magazine that keeps you up to date with pop culture. Hmmm, I definitely think that could be a new SAT analogy - Blogs : Novels :: Facebook : ___________. :)

While perusing my favorite blogs I ran across a photo contest being judged by Jasmine Star, who is one of my photography idols. The contest is hosted by I Heart Faces, which has now been added to my Google Reader. In normal Jenny fashion, I hesitated entering because I have fear of failure, but then decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. The stipulations for this week's entry was a wedding photo with a face in it.

I decided to use this photo of the beautiful Shauna because I just love her and I just love this image. If you look carefully enough you can almost hear her laughing. <3

You should head over to www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com to check out the other entries. I love being inspired by so many other great photographers!

-Jenny

Not Your Average Maternity Shoot

My first year at Missouri State University I met 3 girls who became some of my closest college friends. Lindsey, Leah, Jayne and I would get together for breakfast to talk, pray, laugh and encourage each other. People began calling us the B4 girls since there were 4 of us and we always met before the day started....and usually after the day ended, too. :) I can’t express how thankful I am that God brought the 4 of us together. It’s a friendship that I will forever cherish.

As we’ve grown up, we’ve all ended up in different cities with different lives. Lindsey has gotten married and is now getting ready to have her first baby! It wasn’t that long ago that we were prank calling people or sitting together at Potter’s House chatting about what God was doing in our lives. What I love about Lindsey is how she can turn anything into an adventure, including a maternity photo shoot. We had so much fun dancing and trying out the different studio props - sorry, Thomas, I forgot to get a sword pic!

I had to get a pic of our ingenious engineering. :)

Lindsey, I can’t wait to meet Baby Girl Batson. I know you’ll have her dressed in glittery sparkles, and she’ll smell divine. :) You’ll make a great mom!

-Jenny