I met Jamie on OSP, and loved her work and personality instantly although I haven’t met her in person. This is why WPPI 2012 is double important and exciting for me because I will get to meet this talented wedding photographer. This is my pleasure to introduce Jamie to you all. Find out more about her.

photo credit: Cherie Hogan Photography

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

> I am a full time wedding and portrait photographer based in Las Vegas, NV.  I am married to a wonderful man and have a super cute 3 year old daughter.  I got a degree in Business Management from UNLV because I was not sure what I wanted to do when I grew up, but knew I wanted to not have a boss.  I love to travel, eat good food, and hang out with my family. 

Describe yourself in 3 words.

> This is hard too, lol, but I am loving, introverted, and constantly doing/busy body.  Kind of weird words to choose, but that is what comes to mind.

How long have you been doing photography?

>It is actually coming up on 2 years that I got my first DSLR, August 29^th my birthday.  Once I got my camera I quickly realized I wanted to be great with it and create what I saw in my head in camera.  I immersed myself in everything photography for a little under a year before I started taking paid shoots.  I started second shooting weddings almost exactly a year after I got my camera and started offering weddings on my own early 2011.  I know it doesn’t seem like a long time, but when you are passionate about something and you spend all of your time learning about it and practicing, you can really become pretty good in not too much time.

What inspired you to become a photographer?

> Ever since I was younger, at least probably Junior High school; I was really intrigued by photography.  I always carried around my little point and shoot camera to take pictures of people in my life so that I could always look back and remember them.  I always thought that photographs were so important to have and I wanted to be in charge of acquiring them for me and my close family.  As I started to get a little older I started to fall more in love with the artistry of it and thought it would just be such a cool job to have.  So I wanted to be a photographer for quite a while, but didn’t really do anything to pursue it.  It seemed like such a hard goal to achieve, especially when I only thought I could make money doing commercial jobs.  Then one day it clicked and I knew at that moment I wanted to be a wedding photographer. 

What kind of photography do you do? Why? 

>Right now I do mainly portrait work and weddings.  For my portraits I focus on trash the dress, seniors, children, engagements, and boudoir.  As I build up my client base and continue to learn, I know I would like to make my focus smaller and only offer a few types of portraits.  Right now though I still pretty much take whatever I can get.

What is your goal with photography?

> My goal is to be a successful wedding photographer, to provide my clients with beautiful images that they will love forever, and for me to be happy about the work that I deliver.  I of course will always want to be improving and getting better, but I want to get past the point where I don’t beat myself up over my work anymore.

Is there any photographer whose work you followed?

> I started following a lot of photographers when I first started out and now I don’t keep up with as many of them anymore.  Some I really love are Susan Stripling, Jasmine Star, Jerry Ghionis, Jessica Claire…and those are pretty much my favorites although I really do like a lot more.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

> I get inspired from other photographers, but try my best to not copy their work just pull ideas from them, also magazines, movies, and just seeing cool places and things when I am out and about.

What is your style of photography?

> I would say that my style is modern, edgy, with fashion flair.  I know not all my work fits that style, but ideally, I would like them all to.  For weddings I try to do a lot of photojournalism and I also try to do that with my young children sessions. 

Describe your work/photos in 3 words.

> This is always so hard for me, just 3 words is tough.  I love emotional images, they tend to be my favorite, but when I pose its more fashion inspired.  I like and prefer my wedding clients to be alternative/edgy/different which is also how I like my locations to be.  So those are kind of my words.

What is in your camera bag?

> I shoot Nikon.  My main camera is the D700 (Gosh I love that thing) and have the D90 for backup.  I am currently all primes and shoot the 50mm 1.8, 85mm 1.8, 35mm 2.0, and the 60mm 2.8 macro.  I have a sb-600 flash and two Vivitar 383s for backup and off camera.  I have cybersyncs for my transmitter and receiver.  I use the cheetah stand for my light stand and I freakin love it, I always have a hard time with regular light stands and this one is plop and go.  That is my main stuff I think I am not leaving out anything important.  I use Lightroom 3 for editing and have photoshop CS2 for more detailed work.  I still have so much to buy, but I am confident I can do the job with what I have.

 What area of your photography would you like to improve upon?

> I would love to get better at off camera flash.  In lots of locations and situations, knowing how to use it and having it available can really save your butt and get you some pretty amazing images. 

Finish the following sentences….

Growing up I wanted to be …my own boss

If I could change something in my life I would …..have gotten serious about photography earlier, sometimes I worry I am too old to get into the game.

I want to photograph …a super fabulous wedding where the bride has lots of amazing tattoos

My favorite quote…the source of your frustrations are your unfulfilled expectations

When I am not shooting, I like to ….spend time with my daughter and husband

Next equipment I want to purchase …the 70-200 28 VRII.I am actually saving for it right now and it is going to be so hard not to buy anything else until I get it.

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?

> Being a super awesome successful local and destination wedding photographer.

Which country do you want to visit the most?

> I really want to go to Prague and Japan as well.

 If you had the option to move anywhere in the world, where would you like to move?

> I sometimes think I would really love to live in Washington State or Oregon.  I have never been to either, but I am pretty sure I will love it.

What advice would you give to other new photographers?

> Study study study and practice practice.  I don’t think it is necessary for you to go to school and get a degree to be successful.  You must have a passion for it though, or else it is going to be hard to put in all the work that you must before you can get to a point where you can charge for your work.  If you want to do weddings, second shoot some before you start offering them.  Weddings are hard and you cannot take the chance to mess it up for somebody.  There is so much information out there, so many other photographers share on their blogs and on forums.  The conventions, like WPPI are so full of information as well and there is some serious networking that can go on there. 

website: http://www.jamiey.com/

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jamieyphotography

After 2 weeks of Spalding training, finally I’m Spalding trained. Can’t wait till I teach Spalding to my 4th graders this year.  After spending nearly half of my Friday on HWY 10 yesterday, I got back to LA, and the moment I entered the kitchen, I couldn’t help noticing these colorful peppers on the kitchen counter. Almost everyone in my family has at least one pepper plant, and not all one kind. Yes, there are many different kinds of peppers out there, but does that mean they are all spicy? I have to find out if these are soon. These are from my grandmother’s pepper plant.

FYI, forgot to edit the picture, so this is straight out of the camera.

I also have 2 specials going on right now till Aug. 15 midnight.

* If you are getting married or know someone getting married/engaged, share this info with them. Book your wedding by Aug. 15 and receive a FREE engagement session. Collections that include an engagement session, will replace the session with additional hours of wedding coverage.

* Book a lifestyle session (family, children, senior, maternity, newborn) and receive a FREE 8×10 gallery wrap. You will love this $150 gallery wrap. I offer high quality gallery wraps. Can upgrade the gallery wrap to a larger size.

Email me at info@memoriesbyfaria.com for more info.

Have a wonderful weekend.

I’ve been procastinating a lot. Sorry for this. I’ve attended this styled shoot by one and only Mike Colon in June. This was a patriotic theme for July 4 and shoot was published by Style Me Pretty. We met at Thomas O. Riley Wilderness Park. I drove excitedly the entire way. The shoot was scheduled to be at 4 but I left home by 2 to avoid the horrible HWY 5 traffic. Thank goodness I left early. Couldn’t make it there until almost 4.

The shoot was beautiful and meeting Mike and his assistant wonderful Kat was a pleasure. One of the best experience was shooting with Mike’s 200mm f/2.0 . OMG ! That was some workout. It weighed at least 50 lbs. ok. Maybe I am exaggerating a bit, but check out the size of that massive thing. These 2 pictures were shot with 200mm.

I also used Kat’s 35mm f/1.4 and fell in love with it. I want one now. These photographs were shot with the 35mm.

I would like to give credits to the following people for the wonderful styled shoot.

Stylist:  Kat Harris, Mike Colón Photographers; http://www.mikecolon.com/kat/
Hair & Make-up:  Rachel Burney; http://rembaproductions.com/
Floral & Set Design:  Sussanna Davidson, French Buckets; http://www.frenchbuckets.com/
Linens:  Dahlia & Veronica:  Designer Specialty Linens-OC; www.designerspecialtylinens.com
Pies and Treats: Mary Lallande, Jays Catering; http://jayscatering.com/
Models:  Rachael and Henry ( http://www.brandmodelandtalent.com/ )
Bridal Attire:  Look 1:  Gown:  Cocoe Voci (http://www.cocoevoci.com/); Jewelry:  J.Crew (http://www.jcrew.com/index.jsp)
Look 2:  Dress:  Madewell (http://www.madewell.com/index.jsp); Shoes:  Calvin Klein (http://www.calvinklein.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=3134553)
Groom Attire:  Look 1:  Suit & Tie:  Zara (http://www.zara.com/); Shirt:  J.Crew (http://www.jcrew.com/index.jsp)
Look 2:  Pant & Shirt:  Gap (http://www.gap.com/) Tie:  J.Crew (http://www.jcrew.com/index.jsp)

Enjoy the rest. Behind the scnene photos are coming soon.

Don’t remember how many time I turned off that loud noise this morning. That loud alarm. 10? 11? Something like that. A gazillion time was a charm. Finally, I was out of my bed thinking, “I AM going to workout today after a year.” My determination helped me consume a huge breakfast so that I could have enough energy to workout. Did I? I have a love and hate relationship with facebook and the internet in general. They made me think, “Ok, I will go to the gym after lunch.” It’s not my fault ! They made me do it! While facebooking, I heard my mother talking to my younger brother over the phone. He was coming home early today from work, and was bringing some yummy Bangladeshi food. My mouth just filled with saliva. My guilty pleasure: food. I was still in my gym clothes. After lunch I started thinking about how crowded the gym was going to be, and I hate crowd. That’s why I am not a big fan of LA. So, I thought, “I would go for a walk tonight, and go to the gym tomorrow morning. Amen.” When my brother went to the gym this evening, I asked him how crowded his gym was going to be around that time, and he found out I never made it to the gym and I was still in my gym clothes at 8:30 at night. His reaction was, “You still didn’t go to the gym?????”

Who doesn’t love chocolate, right? Sorry if you don’t, but I LOVE chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and everything. How do think I survived in a windowless room with 30+ 6th graders? Chocolate. I found this recipe a few years, and please don’t think that I am a good cook or I am good at baking. I am neither of these two, and there are enough people that run in the opposite direction to avoid my cooking. I just wanted to give it a shot, and baked the cake for a very special friend’s birthday. The cake was a huge hit with her 2 boys. Try it at home, and trust me, if I can do it, ANYONE can do it. Let me know how it turns out.

Ingredients

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter cake pans, and then line bottoms with parchment paper, and butter paper too. Dust the pans with cocoa with a little bit of cocoa.

Take cocoa, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar into a bowl. Then add oil, buttermilk, vanilla, eggs, and hot water one at a time, and beat using a mixer. Beat until  the mix turns really smooth.

Pour batter into pans and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Love this toothpick trick. It works like magic ! 

If you want brownies then use half of each ingredient. I tried adding a few carmel candies found at CVS, and didn’t really taste bad. Let me know how you like your chocolate cake and if you need someone to share wink wink.

It’s a been awhile since I’ve blogged. After I came back from my CO trip last week, I became extremely unproductive. I have to confess. I still haven’t downloaded any picture from my trip. Usually I download everything within 24 hours or less. I promise, I will tonight and will post a blog tomorrow.

The day before I went to CO, I attended Mike Colon workshop. It was a wonderful experience. The best part is, learned a few valuable tips on publishing and networking with publishers, but do I think I can get anything published or even do anything by being so lazy? No. Blog on Mike Colon workshop is coming up soon.

Here’s a sneak peek from Mike Colon’s 4th of July themed shoot.

How are you spending your July 4th? I think I am off to shopping soon Happy 4th of July everyone !