In 2005, nearing the end of my collegiate career, I landed an internship with ZUMA Press, the world’s largest independent press agency and wire service. In layman’s terms, it’s kinda like a sports agent, only ZUMA reps photographers, promoting and selling their images all over the world. I was like a nerdy 16-yr-old getting asked to prom. It was huge! I was thrilled!

Then they hired me full time. Cause duh, I was like totally awesome in all my freshly out of school hard working cool(ness). I moved from my internship in the finance department (geh, numbers) to the Picturedesk as an ahem, Editor. Yea, I was proud of that title at the bottom of my emails.

Then came awards season. You know, red carpets, gowns, glitz and all of Hollywood’s finest in all their sparkling fabulousness. Think People Magazine, Entertainment Tonight and basically every publication and show that covers the lime light, all ZUMA clients. I got added to the on-site transmission team for ZUMA. Again in non-photog-terms, we take the memory cards straight out of our photographers cameras on the red carpet and in the press room, straight to our editor(s) at their computers to transmit to the world on the spot. Cause as you know, people need their red carpet juice like ASAP!

So now that I’ve taken Lovato Images full time and no longer edit for ZUMA, they still keep calling me to help rock the transmission team for the big awards shows and I couldn’t be more happy about it. It’s a super fun gig and I work with super cool people and I get uber opportunity to jump on Mr. Draper and make an honest man out of him. Oh wait, scratch that last part. Kinda.

So yes, Kate Winslet really is that lovely (and much tinier than perceived!) in real life, Angelina isn’t as tiny as you’d think, Brad wears make up and Ryan Seacrest just needs to relax. We kicked off this year’s award season on Sunday with the Emmys and our ZUMA team rocked it yet again. Too fun. One more press pass to add to the Lovato pile…

event photography www.lovatoimages.comPINME

If you liked what you just saw here, sign up for The Picture of the Every Couple of Days. It’s an email I send out every couple of days with one image and a few words. It’s a nice refresher for your inbox, aiming only to keep your interest enthused and your inspiration engaged. Check out the most recent Picture of the Every Couple of Days here.

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  • September 23, 2011 - 12:27 pm

    rooz - I lovato this picture!

  • September 30, 2011 - 9:37 am

    CobyLyn - Ahahaha!! I LOVE this story Jackie! 😀 It’s always a pleasure ‘working’ with you on all the Award nights 😉 You are A.W.E.S.O.M.E.!!

So Hannah’s one of those girls they tell old wives’ tales about and make movies to mock…the always a bridesmaid never a bride tale, the funny chick flick you can’t help but cozy up on the couch to consume with your girlfriends, snacks and sweats in tow. Her stories are lighthearted and entertaining and make you wonder if life can really be that simple and complex and wonderful and progressive all in one. The more I get to know Hannah, the more I realize it can.

You see, Hannah’s the type of person that believes in The Good. She’s the type of person who knows what she believes in, values her beliefs, and isn’t afraid to stand firm in them. I feel like that simplifies a lot. The complexity of life can be boiled down to a life of wonder and positive progress if your head and heart are in the right place. And Hannah’s are. And she never stops having fun with it.

I also feel like that makes for a solid and quality friend. It’s no wonder that she’s stood by 11 of hers in their weddings…and has 11 hideous bridesmaid dresses to show for it. But even with a closet packed full of clothes (mostly cute ones that she picked out herself!), a fast and fun paid-off car, food in her belly and love in her heart, she still felt a need for more. To do more.

So when she came to believe that her life and her work here in California weren’t contributing as much as she felt they could, she decided to make a change. Make a move. A move where she’s given up her life here in the States and has relocated to Honduras in Central America, working to move central herself. She’ll work for 7 months with no pay, nursing in a clinic near Ceiba, subjecting herself to disease and disorder she’s never seen…

To commemorate her departure from life as she knew it, she wanted to do a trash the dress session with some of her hideous bridesmaid gowns. So I scooted up to Santa Cruz a few weeks ago and shot with her all day. It was fantastic. It was like running free. It was everything that Hannah is right now, was, and is to be.

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

trash the dress session www.lovatoimages.comPINME

If you liked what you just saw here, sign up for The Picture of the Every Couple of Days. It’s an email I send out every couple of days with one image and a few words. It’s a nice refresher for your inbox, aiming only to keep your interest enthused and your inspiration engaged. Check out the most recent Picture of the Every Couple of Days here.

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  • September 22, 2011 - 7:24 am

    Robb Davidson - WOW these are so good! I love the locations here, and obviously everything within. Well captured!!

  • September 22, 2011 - 12:17 pm

    Liz H. - Seriously Jackie…these could be my fav photos yet. And you know how much I love all your pics. Great job as always!

  • September 22, 2011 - 8:41 pm

    Magic - What a blast! The fun idea created some timeless pics! I would be curious how the bridal party looked in the yellow dresses! 😉
    xoxo
    M

So I had a small dinner party last night to share a small meal with a small group of friends to discuss a small idea that could potentially turn into something huge.

I can’t really say more than that at this time. But I wanted to put out a little note to remind you to take note, that big things are on the horizon and I can’t wait to dive into some personal and professional development to knock your socks off with what’s to come.

Stay tuned folks. And in the meantime, enjoy yourself a fine meal with some fine friends and some fine wine. ‘Cause little evenings like last night make life grand.

destination wedding photographer www.lovatoimages.comPINME

to help illustrate, one of my favorite shots of all time at a dinner party with friends, Zurich, Switzerland, July 2004

If you liked what you just saw here, sign up for The Picture of the Every Couple of Days. It’s an email I send out every couple of days with an image and a few words. It’s a nice refresher for your inbox, aiming only to keep your interest enthused and your inspiration engaged. Check out the most recent Picture of the Every Couple of Days here.

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  • September 21, 2011 - 12:15 pm

    Heather Hohenstein - Glad you had fun! I’m sad I missed it and your new idea!

I have a couple blog posts-to-be in the queue and honestly am slightly overwhelmed by them right now. Blogging tends to eat a lot of time, and while I LOVE writing and love displaying my new images for people to see, I can’t help but wonder, is all this time spent worth it?

Of course it is. It is in many ways of course, beyond my simple marketing strategy or need to release fresh content. I LOVE to write. So a big part of this blog is a fulfillment of that creative outlet that I didn’t even realize before needed nurturing. I LOVE to share. So a big part of this blog is just putting myself out there and the tid-bits I’ve gathered and nuggets I’ve received and sharing them in hopes that others can utilize them too. I LOVE to learn. And so a big part of this blog is reflecting on what I’ve taken in and spitting in back out in hopes that others can learn from it too.

So, instead of formatting images for the web today, watermarking and tagging, instead of telling a story about Hannah or Damian and Vanessa or Brittany, I’ll just stick with this little story about me for now. And how I love to write. And how I love to blog, even on days when blogging seems too big of a task. And if you’re reading this, thank you. And even if you’re not, thank you anyway. I’m so thankful I have an outlet like this to express myself. It’s helped. And I look forward to more helping to come.

destination wedding photographer www.lovatoimages.comPINME

If you liked what you just saw here, sign up for The Picture of the Every Couple of Days. It’s an email I send out every couple of days with one image and a few words. It’s a nice refresher for your inbox, aiming only to keep your interest enthused and your inspiration engaged. Check out the most recent Picture of the Every Couple of Days here.

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I don’t shoot for fun enough. Now, let me clarify, almost always, every day, in most every way, shooting is fun for me. I love what I do. But I don’t do it just for me enough. I suppose I should rephrase my first thought as, I don’t shoot for me enough.

You see, shooting is fun. Extremely! But when I get back here, to the desk, to the office, to The Control Center, there are always other things waiting for me. Then more things that constantly come in for me. Proposals and contracts to send out. Forms to file. Images to edit. Emails to answer. Phone calls to make. IMAGES TO EDIT. Etc, etc. So looking through something personal, working just for me, always gets tossed to the bottom of the list.

I’ve always had a folder called ‘Just for Me’ in my PHOTOS folder. Lately, it’s remained quite empty.

So as I’ve stumbled across an emptiness in my creative satisfaction level today, I think it’s time to start putting more in the Just for Me folder. It’s time to start logging more hours just for me. It’s time to start spending more energy creating just for me.

Here’s a moment a few weeks ago where I looked up and it clicked, just for me.

destination wedding photographer www.lovatoimages.comPINME

If you liked what you just saw here, sign up for The Picture of the Every Couple of Days. It’s an email I send out every couple of days with one image and a few words. It’s a nice refresher for your inbox, aiming only to keep your interest enthused and your inspiration engaged. Check out the most recent Picture of the Every Couple of Days here.

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  • September 16, 2011 - 3:09 pm

    Jeff B. - beautiful composition albeit an unusual choice of subject matter; maybe u could share w/us (ur loyal fans), some of ur personal photos – thanking u in advance….

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