A lot of women are self-conscious of being in pictures, and I am one of them. I try pretty hard not to be photographed unless I have properly primped. And yet, when it comes down to it, I’d rather be documented with no makeup and grown out roots than not documented at all. To make my point, I’m willing to share with you one of the most unflattering pictures I have of myself in full-on mom mode:Back in the days of round the clock feedings, I had fallen asleep after nursing and soothing the babies one afternoon.  In my exhaustion, I was blissfully unaware of my other children and fell prey to my eldest daughter’s awesome iPhonography skills. As unflattering as this picture is, I’m so grateful she took it. It immediately recalls the sacrifices our whole family made so that I could nurse and care for those babies. They need to know and remember that it was worth it. And so do I.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my family and my photography. As a young girl my mom taught me that motherhood was the most important job in the world. While I went to college and earned a Master’s degree, I had little interest in pursuing a career. I knew I really wanted to be a mom. Over the past year I’ve devoted most of the finite time I have for photography to my own family. When we’re little, it seems everything we do is important enough to be photographed, from first steps to receiving a diploma. But if my mom was right, that the most important–and most joyful–work I will ever do is in my own home, then certainly those acts ought to be documented visually as well. And so I’ve made sure to get in some of those pictures, even though it means setting up the cumbersome tripod or sweet-talking my husband into clicking the shutter.

This is a lengthy post, and I’ve stayed up entirely too late composing it. Here is the bottom line. In thinking about the kind of photography sessions I’m willing to give up my family time for, I decided I want to create images that aren’t just beautiful, they matter. I want to capture you and your family, doing what is most important and authentic for you, and I’ll make sure you look good doing it. If you are a mother reading this, then share it with your husband and tell him to pretty please give you a Jen J photo session for Mother’s Day. If you are a father reading this, then consider your wife worthy of being beautifully and honestly documented in all her matronly glory. Hop on over to this page to get started.

And now I’ll leave you with some more, ahem, intentional images…

Family image above shot by the lovely Katie Baldi

A sweet session at home with Mom, Dad, big sister, and little brother. Here are a few of my favorites. Thanks for looking!

a) have a great time together

b) are as authentic as they come

c) are parents whose children will never doubt they love them

d) make FANTASTIC kids. Had to say it.

Sometimes while editing a session I think I build up a tolerance for beautiful images. I know it sounds weird–hear me out. When you’ve turned out TONS of great shots because the chemistry was all there in the making, you sort of don’t appreciate the full value of the individual gems. I burned the disc and sent the family happily on their way. Fast forward a few months, and I’m getting ready to post some images to the blog, and I’m kind of blown away. I had forgotten how GOOD these pictures are. I’m not intending to toot my own horn here (okay maybe a smidge), but I have to say it. When I see these images, I see this family genuinely. I GET them. That’s when I know I’ve done my job well–when I can see in pictures what their love feels like. Yes, I can work the f-stops and shutter speeds, but it’s pretty tough to capture something that isn’t there in the first place. Especially with kids–they don’t fake happy. What I’m trying to say is, when you come to a photography session, bring the love. Then I’ll make sure you see what it looks like.

Three kids, two parents, on one sunny afternoon. Kids love playing at the beach (and so do I), so if you can’t think of a location for your session, consider Crissy Field!

My dear friend, whom I’ve known since grade school, was expecting her second son. She wanted to do a session to capture their family of three with one on the way! It worked out so well doing a combo family + maternity shoot to get a little of everything–maternal glow, toddler cuteness, paternal strength, couples’ romance, and family bliss.

Custom photo valentines have become a tradition at our house–. You can view past years here and here. I didn’t post from 2010 so I’m going to show that one later in this post. Anyway, this year I streamlined the girls’ classroom cards by using the same concept. So here’s what we did:

Here is the original picture:

As you can see, the background (my kitchen wall), although white, looked more gray. Which is fine, but when I went to place the text, I didn’t have enough “white space” to make a nice composition. So I dodged the background to bright white in Photoshop and extended it out on the right to make the text fit better. I used the same concept for London’s. (Let’s be clear: the older they get, the more say they have in wardrobe and hairstyling.)

I also wanted them to get their hands on these too, to have some fine motor skill development and such. After printed them out six to a page at kinko’s (excuse me, Fedex Office), the girls’ helped me cut them out and mount them on valentine-themed paper:

The first year we started this process, I used a concept I got from Martha Stewart. Here is the starting image:

London (age 4 then) placed the little heart stickers on the front, and wrote her name on the back. Here is the finished product:

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope this gives you some inspiration for your kids’ valentines!

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My twin boys just had their first birthday, and it’s been quite a year! A little slow on the photography business side of things while I tried to get my head back above water, but I’m back on the saddle now. I wanted to do a fun smash cake shoot with these guys in honor of the big day, but I must say, they didn’t get as messy as I anticipated! Maybe sugar and fat just isn’t their thing. Which maybe makes sense because when I was pregnant with them, I didn’t care much for sweets. Then I started breastfeeding and holy moly. The cravings kicked in and I made up for lost time. Anyway, it’s pretty fun to have not one but TWO adorable, squishy, happy, sweet baby boys to love on. And two just as darling daughters to be my mama’s girls. Whenever I’m out with the four of them (just about daily) and someone makes the comment “You’ve got your hands full!” I just reply, “I am so blessed.” Honestly.