Coming Soon!

Hey there!  Thanks for dropping by jcphotoaz.com!  The full website will be up and running in the next few weeks. 

In the meantime, my blog should provide you with a little insight to my work.  

I try to minimize the editing for the photos posted here on my blog in order to demonstrate the  natural beauty of my subjects.   

Superstition Mountains - Jacob's Cross Trail - Shot May 6th @ 7pm

(No editing done on this photo.)  Shot with Canon 40D ISO400 F7.1 28MM 

Make-overs

"Hotlooks.by.AngelaCooks"

Recently, I've started collaborating with long time friend and Mary Kay Distributor - Angela Cooks (pictured above). We've decided to give the whole concept of feminine portraits an uplifting experience rather than just another photo shoot. On Friday, we had our first test shoot that we titled: Beauty Behaviors and Intimate Images. We rounded up some friends and headed over to my dad's empty abode - aka .

Angela provides more than just the one time night time make-up -- she actually teaches the clients how to take care of their skin and which color choices work best for the eyes, lips, and skin.

With the help of Angela and Luckey Photography (a quick phone call pep talk) - I managed to capture my good friends looking their hottest and help them bring sexy back! ;-) Thanks you two!

First Place

The Look of Success!

I haven't done so well with posting a picture everyday, but I have most definitely been shooting a ton of photos.... I think I'm going to have to change the blog to Photo of the Week!?! :-)

This picture is from Grace and Skyler's cheerleading competition today - the team earned first place and are heading to the State Cheerleading Competition in two weeks! They were so happy!

Strings

This one is for Jake!

Encouragement

OK!  I know I keep posting pictures of kids, but they are so freaking cute.  Look at this little girl who doesn't offer her hand to her teammate who had fallen... instead she just tells him that he can get up.  Logically, she's right... He doesn't need a girl to help him. ;-)   

Photo was actually taken Saturday April 19th.  I'm soooo behind!

Amanda's Prom

Here's a slideshow of some of the pics from Amanda's Prom...

Make-up provided by: www.marykay.com/angelacooks

Hair: Jen O'Boyle

Photos by: Joyful Creations Photography

1st Paid for Portrait

So last week I volunteered to take a photo of a girl in Grace's cheer class who missed picture day. I told Linda I'd do it for free - just because I think it's fun. As I pulled out the camera, she handed me a gift card for Starbucks (my absolute fav!) and it had the sweetest thank you note with it! I consider it payment, but that's just because I'm so flattered to have been recognized.

Here's my favorite of the bunch:

"Juliana"

Takes me back...

"Briana"

This lil cutie reminds me so much of my sister Katie circa 1980 and then again my sister Amanda circa 1995. I just adore red hair and freckles! They're just so... I don't know - Irish?!

Boys!

I had an overwhelming amount of photo opps this weekend - The fashion show at my mom's church, Monica's son and friend, Elena, and the Bryant family. I took so many photos I'm surprised my camera is still in working condition!! What can I say? I was excited. I just got my new studio lighting. It wasn't what I preferred to have, but it still does the trick. Now, I need to learn how to make it work for me.

"Bobby Velez"

With the new equipment, you'd think I'd offer up a studio shot today, but truth be told - I didn't even get to review them all yet! This on is the one that really caught my eye. I used the gold side of my reflector to diminish the dappled shadows being cast by the tree he was under and in my opinion, this really worked!! I'd like to start using this again, but I think I'm going to need an assistant or some type of gadget to hold the reflectors.

Wow. Photography is not cheap!

Joy Ride...

I'm going to start adding my logo to my photos before posting. I just feel better doing this because every one needs to remember my name! :-P Oh. And it's fun. And I'm addicted to picnik.com..

"Colorful Flight"

This shot was very impulsive. I was running the cheerleaders home after a fun practice when my brother called to coordinate the drop off time. He said I would need to wait about 15 minutes before someone could be home with my niece... I decided my time would be better spent experimenting with the camera than sitting in his driveway... So Sky, Grace and I stopped at Fiesta Mall and parked behind this carnival. I set the camera on the tripod, switched to TV mode and lowered the aperture speed. Then started snappin' away!

(Now that everyone knows I'm fascinated with flying and things that are in the air - I hope you understand why I was attracted to these two rides!? )

On a side note... just as I was getting ready to leave these three people came up to me and offered to be my photo subjects. How could I resist my favorite type of shot? (That's people shots, in case you forgot). I only remember the name of the guy in the middle since I wrote it down but I am hoping he and his fiance might give me a chance to do their engagement photos. I kinda feel bad about the picture below because #1. I only snapped once and #2. I left the camera in TV mode and didn't put the flash on so the shy guy on the right ended up blurry. I learned a valuable lesson... ALWAYS be prepared for every type of shot.

"You never know who you will meet"

The Kid...

This is Princess Grace. Photo was taken yesterday while we were at the airport. I didn't take one today, so I'm gonna go ahead and post an edited copy. I just found picnik.com and am VERY addicted to it. Other photographers tell me I'll get over that, but to have fun with the borders and text while it lasts...

Good times!

Birdwatching...

It seemed my family was off to a bad start this morning when Princess Grace managed to drop a glass bottle of vinegar onto the travertine-tiled kitchen floor. Glass was everywhere and the house reaked of vinegar. I immediately called my boss to let him know I'd be an hour late. No, it wouldn't take an hour to clean up the mess, but according to the bus schedule if we are not out of the house by 6:50 AM I have to wait 7:40 AM... But what do I do until then? That's right... I TAKE PICTURES BABY! YA!!

So, it was 7:20 and Grace and I had 20 minutes to kill... Just enough time to see what's happenin at the airport! (I am blessed to live about 1 block away from Williams-Gateway!)

Many people don't know this about me, but I am fascinated by airplanes, flying, and anything in the sky! Luckily, my work bff and cube neighbor is too. He's the one that clued me into the fact that the runway is easy to spot from the picnic tables at the airport...Naturally, I had to refer to him to find out what type of plane I had captured this morning:

T-38 Talon Hangin Out at Williams AFB

From there, he showed me his favorite airplane website (airplane-pictures.net) which make my shots look hella-crappy, but whatev... At least now I'll have the opportunity to learn the names of those massive birds I love to watch!

So much for my favorite kite!

Ok, it's not really my kite, but it's very pretty. I stopped to snap a shot of this kite stuck in the light pole and the homeowner nearby told me the story of how it got stuck there. I guess they had purchased this kite for their daughter about a week ago, but the dad liked it so much he was out flying it on his own yesterday and it got caught. They called the fire department who expressed no concern about the temperature of the light and the material of the kite. Lucky for me! I like this picture the best, but added one more to show that this didn't happen intentionally.

My Kind Of Ride!!

I spotted this balloon and chased it, but I was about 5 miles to far to catch him up in the air... 

When I finally caught up to them and parked my car - I spotted this sign... Too perfect!

No PDJ today

... so I made this instead:




Feeling a bit self-conscious about it. What do you think? Is it too busy? How are the colors? Does my tagline sound too cheesy???

I've never done the marketing thing so I'd appreciate honest feedback - there's always room for improvement.

LEGOS!!!

I didn't take a picture yesterday, so I'm kind of cheating here today... This one was shot on Easter Sunday. My nephew Joel is always so adorable, but I like this one because of the colors and the lighting. He was definitely hard to capture because he's constantly in motion... yet, to me, this picture looks as if he had stopped to pose. Love this baby!!

I need to start doing it right the first time...

Mahogany Brown and I finally got together for a shoot we had been planning for over three months now. Originally I put the shoot off because I didn't have the camera I wanted... Then she had something come up ... eventually I decided it would never happen. To my surprise, she called me on Sunday and we met up after work yesterday!

It was definitely worth the wait!

Mahogany Sunset

If you look to the right of this posting you'll see links under "inspired by" - I want to give special recognition to these photographers today because I have so graciously accepted the free (or almost free) advice they have given me. Scott Kelby wrote the first book I have read in over 10 years and I HATE reading, but I read his book!!! One of the reasons why I want to point him out today is because in his book he advises amateurs to work to get the shot right in the camera and not waste time editing on the computer. That advice was in my mind when I captured the above image. I probably took over 150 shots of Mahogany yesterday and when I ended up going to review them, I realized I would like them A LOT better if I had less to choose from. This is also the reason why I post un-edited pics. I want to continue appreciating the photos that don't consume all of the very little time I have. OH - how I wish I had more time!!

Feeling like a photographer!

Although it seems I have been away for a few days - that is absolutely not the case when it comes to me and the 40D... I have definitely stuck to my guns with the photo of the day - I just haven't been able to post them due to the fact that I haven't been able to set my camera down since Thursday! Since blogger won't let me go back in time and set the dates of the blog on the day I took them, this post will be incredibly long. I hope I don't lose you!

Thursday, March 20, 2008:

Cubs/Rockies Spring Training Game = ATSU Enrollment "Team Building" Event. Tons of awesome pictures were taken at the game, but because of the direction we were sitting in respect to the sun, I had to lighten almost the whole bunch. This one came out perfectly without
having to do any edits. If you look closely you'll see his fingers slightly blurred...in my mind that is proof that he wasn't posing, but simply spotting me from the corner of his eye, throwin' up a peace sign to his favorite coworker.

Kevin Glenn, Online Enrollment Counselor: He's THAT cool!
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After the game, I drove up to Flagstaff to pick up my daughter from her Papa's house. I stopped somewhere off the beeline between Sunflower and Rye (south of Payson) and found some beautiful scenery alongside the road. I regained respect for my home state as I snapped shots of desert wildflowers, saguaro and prickly pear cactus, and shrubs. I see them so often, I know that I just take them for granted. I realized on this day that I have a very different backdrop than those of my photog peers and that I am truly blessed.

From my research, I gather this is Desert Lupine?(http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/mar/papr/deslupine.html)

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The sun set right before I got to my destination and I happened to be right at Lake Mary. I couldn't believe that I had just gone to a Spring Training game (where the sun was burning my pale skin) and now I was looking at a frozen lake surrounded by snow. Not too mention the freezing cold wind I had to wrestle with to get this shot:

Lake Mary at Sunset, Flagstaff, AZ

Friday, March 21, 2008:

Friday-Sunday I had Grace's friend, Olivia, spend the night. With two little girls around the house on Easter weekend - Coloring Easter Eggs was a necessity. The picture below doubles as my PDJ for Friday and my Easter greeting... I didn't get to send cards out so I tried to have the eggs in the basket read: Love, The Cox Family: Jason, Jen, and Gracie

Cox Family Easter Eggs

Saturday, March 22, 2008:

Saturday afternoon, the girls and I headed down South to Maricopa, AZ (about an hour from home) where we visited Brandon and Erin MacDonald. They had a big Easter shindig with Egg Hunt and all. I picked this photo because I absolutely LOVE the movement!

Chandler, Olivia, and Grace racing to find the Golden Egg

Easter Sunday, March 23, 2008:

After church and my Sunday nap, the family headed way out West to Tolleson, AZ to visit with the extended family for some Easter Ham. With a 17-year old sister in my own personal Brady bunch, I am always likely to land an impromptu photo shoot with some stylish young people. I fell in LOVE with this shot - although I do love it a little more with the colors enhanced.

Ashley, Amanda (my sis), and Jeremy

Elliot James

First of all... Babies Rock!

This is Elliot. I was blessed with a referral from Stephanie K who's sister delivered this little guy about two months ago. Since I haven't been able to get time in lately with the newborns at the hospital - little Elliot was the best medicine to bring my spirits up after a long week of painful body problems. The shoot was so fun!!

Peek-a-Boo Elliot

Remember, I'm not allowed to edit any of my PDJ's so I'm feeling particularly proud of this one. This photo was taken "on-site" (at the family's home). I used the light coming from the front window, which was perfect in my opinion because of the time of day (5 pm). I also remembered to bring my make-shift black backdrop (a wal-mart clearance velvet curtain purchased for $7). Underneath Elliot is his boppy. His mommy is right next to him, making sure he's comfy. His daddy is behind me holding a silver reflector above the camera....

My favorite thing about this picture is how you can see that Elliot is at that in between stage on his clothes and his shorts are just a tad too big - representing how tiny babies are how fast they grow. Most of all - the double peek-a-boos - Elliot's eyes peeking up and his bum peeking out of those shorts!!! :-)

Spring Break on Campus

I missed a lot of things yesterday: work, school, the kiddo, corned beef and cabbage, my daily photo de jennie. When I got up this morning I realized that sick time covered my lost time at work... A note to the teacher bought me a day or two for class... and the kiddo ate corned beef and cabbage on my behalf. The only thing left for me to do is to overcompensate for not capturing the PDJ. I figured, "ATSU is always alive with young doctoral students - I am sure to find some great action shots!" I forgoed my beloved naptime (a.k.a. my lunch hour) and wondered around campus...

Here's what I came up with:

Empty Amphitheater Seating

A Lonely Waterfall

(I guess I also missed the fact that it's Spring Break.)

Academic Success Celebration

Last night we went to Dos Gringos to celebrate my husband's completion of his MBA (from Keller Graduate School)

Uncle Jason took this opportunity to get a head start on corrupting my favorite nephew, Joel.