Joy. Creativity. Adventure.


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A Family For Every Child, WA State // Volunteer Photographer

I have been trying to figure out for a while now the best way to combine my passions for photography and helping others. I’ve donated plenty of sessions in the past, but aside from giving away free photos it doesn’t really feel like it helps anyone. Well, I am very excited to say that I have found a way to do this that seems to be my perfect fit for helping others through photography. Actually… I have found and started doing this in three totally different ways, but for now I am only going to tell you about one ;)

And here’s a really dorky action shot of me doing my thing  :)

tacoma senior photo

If you haven’t heard of A Family For Every Child, check them out! They are a non-profit serving Washington and Oregon. Their mission is to find loving adoptable homes for children waiting in foster care. They have volunteer opportunities nationwide which is a huge support in doing all the great work that they do.

Last week I had the opportunity to be a volunteer photographer with them!  The Heart Gallery  is their program that works with professional photographers to take photos of children that are waiting to be adopted. These photos will be used on website, fliers, and bios about them to show them in a positive light and illustrate a little glimpse into their personality.

I love to make these sessions into a fun activity and capture them being themselves. It was great to spend some time with David last week, learn about his interests and get some fun photos! Click here: to check out David’s bio including some photos from our session! David is a friendly and easy-going guy, we had a great time!

I’m so happy to have connected with A Family For Every Child and am excited for next time!

jp photography tacoma photoThis post published with permission from A Family For Every Child.

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The West Coast is the Best Coast: Our Summer Roadtrip!

DISCLAIMER: We are (well, I am) pretty darn dorky, so don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

I LOVE roadtrips! My husband and I just got back from a super fun trip down to L.A. and back up the coast with many stops along the way. We were detirmined to make the drive to L.A. in one day. We left our house (in Tacoma) at 3:30 AM on the dot and made it there in just under 18 hours. Go us! :) Here’s a small fraction of the photos (mostly iPhone photos, btw) that document our adventure. IMG_2877.jpg
Washington vacation photographer tacoma photo
We stayed at my aunt’s house for the first leg of out trip and it was most definitely the best stay of the whole trip! I’d give it 5 stars on TripAdvisor but I don’t think she like random roadtrippers showing up at her door for a sleepover. It was so great to spend time with her, and boy were we spoiled! She’s an excellent host. IMG_2881.jpg
Our first couple of days we went to the Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, and checked out Hollywood.
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Apparently, I am a big fan of movie stars over the age of 75, I never put that together until just now.
Our last day in L.A. we had a slight change of plans because Zach’s friend hooked us up with free tickets to DISNEYLAND! We weren’t planning on going since it wasn’t in our budget, so this made for a very fun surprise! Our passes got us into both Disneyland and California Adventure which we hadn’t been to before. YAY! IMG_3088.jpg
We continued on up the coast via beautiful HWY 1. We were Santa Cruz-bound, but made time for several stops along the way to enjoy the sights. We even found treasure!! X marks the spot! …told ya we were dorky.  IMG_3330.jpg
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Seattle travel photographer photoAfter that we arrived to a rainy and foggy San Francisco, which I didn’t know is the norm for this time of year, but we didn’t let that get in the way of our adventures! I even got to visit my good friend and former Boston roomie, Kara! :)

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Recognize the house below?!  It’s the official Tanner Residence – the Full House house!
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And the grand finale…. Sunriver, OR! Woohoo! This was my first time there, and it just so happened to be our anniversary (3 years already, oh snap)! It was really hot there, we went on a bike ride for a good part of the day and the breeze from biking kept us cool. Then we finished and realized the weather wasn’t cool at all and we were super sunburned :)
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Home again and greeted by a beautiful Washington sky. Can’t wait till the next adventure! IMG_4035.jpg

 


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The 2012 Highlight Reel // Tacoma Photographer

Wow!!  2012 was a big year for JP Photography! I am so blessed and thankful to have such wonderful returning clients, new clients, and new friends! Thank you all for being a part of our year.

What a relief that the world didn’t end, and we can look forward to another fantastic year ahead! :) Here’s some big moments, milestones and some favorite times from 2012…

I kicked-off 2012 by celebrating this little man turning one!! It’s such a privilege following my littlest of clients through their first year, and this guy is just so adorable with his beautiful blue eyes he always makes my job easy! :)

baby plan photo
baby plan photo

A huge highlight for me this year was a special project for my JP Portfolio. This was a stylized session, Trash the Dress: Prom EditionThis was my baby for the summer, something I had planned and worked on for a long time before even shooting it. I am so happy that this was part of 2012 for me.

trash the dress senior photo
trash the dress senior photo
trash the dress senior photo
trash the dress senior photo
trash the dress senior photo
trash the dress prom photo

On a personal/half-business note.. my husband and I bought a house this summer!! I say it’s half business because, well…  you see those big beautiful windows? That means, it’s been the PERFECT home studio setting for natural-light newborn sessions! I even created a nursery in one of the bedrooms for a private place for moms to feed and snuggle baby during breaks.  Come check it out :)

photographer jp married photo

Only the best for my JP Newborn Families :)

tacoma newborn setup photo

2012 also brought a very fun Band Session for Emily Randolph & Innocent Bystander!! 

These guys were so fun to work with!

band innocent bystander photo

band innocent bystander photo
band innocent bystander photo
band innocent bystander photo

I keep forgetting how exciting 2012 really was until I look back at all of these!

I had the opportunity to go down on the field at the Tacoma Rainiers Game to photograph my favorite non-profit, Peace Out, throw the first pitch! 

peace out university place wa
peace out university place wa photo
peace out university place wa

Every year I go to the fair, and every year I am dying to do a session there! Well, 2012 was my year! I shot a very fun and colorful session at the fair during the golden hour of the setting sun. Photographer bliss!

This beautiful family was the icing on the cake! ..or should I say the jelly on the scone? lol, maybe I shouldn’t.

tacoma family fair photo
tacoma family fair photo
tacoma family fair photo
tacoma family photo

In September, I took a huge step with JP Photography, and a huge leap of faith. JP Photography went full-time! This opened many more doors for my business, including the opportunity to shoot weekday sessions, which can be very important in Newborn Photography.

I had the opportunity to photograph so many beautiful newborns since going full-time. For the sake of keeping my readers, here’s just one of those beautiful babes.

tacoma newborn photo
tacoma newborn photo
tacoma newborn photo

In 2012 I offered my first (likely annual) Holiday Mini Sessions for clients, and boy were these a hit!

This was a fun, fast-paced day with 10 back-to-back sessions!

tacoma family photo
tacoma family photo

I could go on and on sharing my beautiful clients of 2012 :) Thank you all for being a part of my year. Returning & new clients, and those of you who’ve referred JP, I appreciate you all so much!!  Looking forward to 2013!!

Tacoma photographer jp photo

Happy New Year!

Jennifer