So happy to finally have these Moody Portraits of My Daughter up on the blog. I did these like two months ago but it was right before I got busy and then I didn’t have time to edit them, because client work is usually first up to do.

Anyhow, I got the urge to do some portraits of my daughter in the alley in front of our house with our dog. I hadn’t really played with my Stella light too much and thought this was the perfect chance to do just that. I set up a portable backdrop, an ottoman, and my light. That was our little studio. The sun was almost down so the primary light was my Stella light.

I did Madilyn’s hair and makeup and put her into one of my dresses and we brought the dog out and had some fun. I love taking pictures of her. It is so weird when I started photography I did pictures of her in the backyard and she was like 2. Now she is this beautiful girl, who is 12 but when she gets her hair and makeup done she looks much older.

I adore this girl. Oh and our dog is pretty cool too, lol.

Thank you for checking out some of my personal work.

XO-Jamie

The post Moody Portraits of My Daughter | Madi & Natto The Dog appeared first on Jamie Y Photography.

I can’t believe it has taken me this long to post these Portraits In The Sand Dunes of my daughter. I did this shoot back in May when quarantine was still going strong. I always like to have some kind of theme with my kids photos. Hanging out on the beach I was inspired by the huge bubbles that some people make near the boardwalk. My idea was born.

I took her out to the sand dunes because I love it out there and I thought it would be the perfect place to go with her dress and lots of room to play with bubbles. Just the two of us headed out there and it was so fun. I am always amazed how well she does in front of the camera. When she was a baby and I would try to take photos I had to work super hard for them. She would never look. Now she is my beautiful little muse. I can’t believe she is 12.

She never wears makeup in normal life but I wanted to make these more of an editorial vibe and its fun to dress up for special occasions. I am obsessed with these photos. I already framed and blew up my favorite image and it is hanging in the hallway. It has been over three months since we shot these but any kind of extra work has been tough to focus on. I finally feel like I am back on track and ready to catch up.

I had the hardest time narrowing these down. It is hard for me to do with client photos but when it is my own kid it is even harder. Another favorite part is the mark on her eyebrows that her and her dad did during quarantine. They both shaved a little line. I love how much it adds to the photos.

To see even more, check out the slideshow below.

Portraits In The Sand Dunes

The post Portraits In The Sand Dunes | Madilyn appeared first on Jamie Y Photography.

It has been awhile since I have posted anything. It has been even longer since I actually photographed a wedding or couple. So, what better time then now to take pictures of my kids. I took Mylo out for his 6 year, almost 7 year old photos. I had been meaning to do it for awhile and then when he let Dave cut a mohawk I knew now was the time. As I was thinking about it, I remembered the tattoos I got for his newborn photos and I still had them. So the whole concept of the shoot was born.

We took him out to this concrete area where we did our family photos during Christmas time. There were some things spray painted on the walls, including the “F” word. So, if that word makes you uncomfortable especially with a picture of a kid, be warned there are two photos with it. I didn’t write it on the wall, but hey it fit the photos so we used it. I don’t use bad language in front of my kids, and even if I did that is my choice, but no judgement please.

It felt good to get out and take the photos. It took me several weeks to edit them though and then even more to finally get around to posting it. I just have not been super motivated. Living in the time of quarantine can be hard. It is hard to be creative and motivated in this time of uncertainty. Most of the days we are busy with the kids and school work and cooking and cleaning. I have guilt about not doing more for my business right now, but then when I do come up here and work I have guilt not being around my kids. It is also important to do as much self care as possible right now. Including not putting too much pressure on myself to do all the things.

I am ready to start working again as soon as I am able. But where I usually am always go go go and thinking about work and things I can do, right now I am just trying to be.

I do have two things planned to take my daughter’s photos in the next few weeks. Perhaps that will pull me out of this funk a little bit. However, it is already hot as heck out here so going out and shooting right now doesn’t sound super fun.

I love my job, I love my business, I love taking photos and coming up with new ideas. Right now, it is taking a little bit of a backseat to my overall well being. Maybe I will finally finish Lonesome Dove, I am halfway through and it took me a year to get that far.

Thanks for reading, enjoy the photos. Maybe there will be more soon, maybe there won’t. But I do guarantee that once everything opens back up I will be ready to Rock N Roll.

He is such an amazing kid. Very difficult at times, but equally amazing. This was one of the first times he was super into the photos and coming up with poses and everything. He also chose to bring and wear his Grateful Dead shirt in honor of his grandfather who just passed away.

XO-Jamie

Rock N Roll Kids Photography Vegas

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I can’t believe my little guy is 5 years old.  It really blows me away.  He is my big 5 year old Kinder gardener.  His birthday was back in June but I didn’t get a chance to do his photos until August.  We went to the same spot that we did my daughter Madilyn’s 10 year photos which you can see here.   It is some old torn down house just a mile from where I live.  I like it and I like that we did both kids shoots there.  Madilyn brought one of her favorite stuffed animals to her shoot so of course Mylo did to his.  He looks up to his sister so much and loves to do what she does.

This is honestly one of my favorite sessions I have ever done.  I treasure these photos so much and I am so happy that I am able to provide them for me and my family.  Mylo is such a fun crazy kid.  He really only shares his true personality with his sister and me and his dad.  He is shy and reserved mostly around others.  Even when he gets comfortable with people, he doesn’t do his crazy pointing finger dance and run around the house naked after a shower singing “nakey nakes all over the world” with them.  I am glad that he only does the naked part at home, lol.  He has so many aspects to his personality and he is really so silly, funny, serious, loveable, and so dang cute.  This photo shoot managed to capture probably his full range of faces and personality in a short 20 minute time frame.  Thankfully there were no melt downs or angry faces, but hey I don’t mind those either.

I love this little guy beyond words.  He loves me like nobody ever has before him and we have the most special relationship.

To see even more watch the slideshow below.

XO-Jamie

The post Candid Outdoor Childrens Portraits of My Son Mylo appeared first on Jamie Y Photography.

Today’s blog post, I am sharing our Sequoia National Forest Family Camping Trip.  For our summer vacation this year we decided to do a week vacation with half of it camping and the other half in a hotel.  We decided on Sequoia because we had been there before when Madi was young and loved it.  Funny story, first time we camped there, we totally thought we were going to the National Park.  Dave booked our camp ground online and we thought it was in the park.  When we drove up, we noticed that we never actually entered a national park.  So, we asked some people at the store and sure enough, we were in the National Forest.  It takes about 3 or 4 hours to get to the National Park from the forest.  You have to drive down the mountain and then around and up.  Even though it wasn’t our intention, we kind of fell in love with it.  The crowds are much smaller and it just had a cool vibe to it.

So, we decided to do the Forest again.  We drove up on a Sunday morning to spend 3 nights in a tent.  I love camping but there are a few things I don’t like about it.  Like, bugs and uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.  Thankfully a friend let us borrow two cots and it makes a world of difference.  We stayed at the Belknap campground.  It has quite a few camping spots and there are giant sequoias throughout the area.  We had one right next to our car.

Less than a 5 minute walk from our campsite is a walking trail that follows a stream up the mountain.  We fished there last time and caught quite a few fish.  Unfortunately this time they informed us that they no longer stock fish in the stream.  We attempted to catch a few since we brought all our gear, but unfortunately didn’t catch any.  That trail is one of the most gorgeous places I have ever walked.  There are trees all over and giant sequoias as well.  There are cabins interspersed around and we are thinking of renting one of those next time.

We took 2 drives to different hikes while we were there.  One was about an hour drive to the 100 giants trail.  It is about a mile trail with 100 giant sequoias around.  Some of them have fallen, and you can see the huge roots in some of the photos below.  The last hike we drove to was to the 5th largest tree in the world.  The tree is actually on private property but the owners allow people to hike down to it.  It is pretty amazing.  There are photos of Madi standing in it and a few more.  It really is awe inspiring to be surrounded by such giants.

They were bribed for the above photo, don’t be fooled.

Wow, a photo with me.  Thank you to the lovely couple who took it for us.

She is taking a picture of me taking a picture of her.

That little grumpy face was pretty frequent during a lot of our trip.  However, one of our last days we spent at the beach and this kid was happier then I have ever seen him in my life.

Look at the size of that tree that fell.

5th largest tree in the world.  It is hard to see its full size from here because you have to walk around it, the back part goes down a hill a little bit, but man, it’s huge. 

I kept seeing these huge Dandelions on the side of the mountain.  I am so glad I actually pulled over to get some photos with them.  So often I see things that I want to stop for but then don’t.  Thank you to Dave for being happy when I do it.

Mylo didn’t want to get out of the car so Madi brought one over to his window so he could blow it.

I didn’t bring my big camera around much in LA.  However, we did go to the Old LA zoo and I had my camera.  It was almost totally dark so I didn’t get much but it was pretty cool.  There was also a Shakespeare Play going on in the grounds so we walked into an unexpected experience.

Ok, ready for the next trip 😉

XO-Jamie

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Today my first born turned 10!  I seriously cannot believe how fast time flies.  I took my daughter Madilyn out a week or so ago for her 10 year photo shoot.  I usually procrastinate but now that she is older she thinks photo shoots are pretty cool so it was much easier to set it up.  This time the photo shoot wasn’t just for me, but it was for her as well.  We went to this cool torn down house near our neighborhood.  I have been wanting to photograph at it for awhile, perfect chance with my favorite model.

I am so thankful that I get to be the mother that guides this amazing girl through her journey of life.  It isn’t always easy, but it is always more than worth it.  She is such a kind hearted, smart, beautiful girl.  She loves to read books and draw.  She helps me so much with her little brother and is the peace keeper whenever she gets a chance.  She amazes me with her bravery and all the ways she grows and pushes herself.

I love you with all my heart my precious girl. You will always be my #1 girl.  Love you!

XO-Jamie

The post Madilyn Is 10 | Las Vegas Children’s Portraits appeared first on Jamie Y Photography.

Early October my dad came to town to visit from Costa Rica.  Part of the reason for the timing of his trip was his sister’s 90th birthday party.  My dad grew up in Tracy, CA.  Much of his family still lives nearby.  So, my Aunt Virginia had a special 90th birthday party.  The party was held at my 2nd cousin’s property called the Funny Farm.

We had a great time with my dad visiting the town and him showing us the house he grew up in and history about the area.  We all got to meet lots of relatives that I haven’t seen in ages and some ever.  My dad is the youngest of all of his siblings.  So, most of my cousins are closer to my dad’s age then my own.  The kids loved it there.  They got to play in the country and ride around in golf carts around the funny farm.  So much fun and so different from our suburban lives in Las Vegas.

Sometimes I think my son is a gap model stuck inside a toddlers body.

The face above is the face you get when you ask Madi about the boy she has a crush on.

Me with lots of aunts, cousins, and 2nd cousins.  We can also now see where my son Mylo gets his blonde hair from.

Happy birthday Aunt Virginia!

XO-Jamie

The post Family Trip To Tracy California | My Aunt’s 90th appeared first on Jamie Y Photography.

I have been waiting to write this blog post for awhile.  It is hard to express in words how Parker’s workshop affected me.  I walked away from this workshop changed.  I still don’t feel quite the same.  It has been weeks.  I have tried to explain to several people how it was and what I learned but I can’t really explain it.  It definitely was life altering and I still don’t even know all the ways that it was.  I think it was definitely exactly what I needed at that moment in my life and I would honestly love to go again.

How it began.  A few years back I was attending WPPI in Las Vegas and wandered into a class by a man named Parker Pfister that I had never heard of before.  I thought the topic sounded interesting so I went.  I was immediately thrilled to be there.  He was unlike any photographer I had seen or watched before.  He shared a slideshow of his work from the last year or so that he hadn’t shared with the world yet.  His work was unlike anyone elses that I have seen.  I was brought to tears and couldn’t stop them from flowing the whole time.  It was so amazing to see photographs created from somebody with little to no influence from anyone else.  They were coming from inside of him.  He was marching to the beat of his own drum.  From that moment I knew I walked into something amazing.  I told myself I would take his workshop as soon as possible.  I wanted to learn how to express more depth and emotion in my photographs and I knew he was the one that could teach me.  The next year, unfortunately the dates did not work and I couldn’t go.  So, I took his class again at WPPI and my desire to learn from him was reinforced again.  Soon after, he released the details for a 2017 workshop in August and I called that day to sign up.  The workshop was titled “Do The Work: A Photography Workshop for The Soul”.

I knew when I signed up for the workshop that I was going to be stepping way way outside my comfort zone.  That has been a goal of mine, but I had no idea how far outside of my comfort zone it would take me. I am a super shy introverted person.  I have an extremely difficult time speaking in front of groups and being vulnerable with others.  I push myself all the time and put myself in uncomfortable situations to grow and learn.  However, I had a feeling this would be the hardest thing and I was right.

A week prior to leaving for the workshop, I find out that my dad who lives in Costa Rica, was admitted to the hospital for heart issues.  Me and my dad are super close.  He raised me and it was mostly just me and him until I was 18 when he moved away to help me grow up.  So, this news was devastating to me.  He remained in the hospital until I had already arrived in North Carolina for this workshop.  He was released on the first day of the workshop, but he is not by any means out of the woods, and it was pretty earth shattering for me to find out that he wont be around as long as I had thought.  This whole situation had me in a super emotional state of mind.  I definitely think it had an impact on me at the workshop and made things more difficult.  So while I would have been an emotional mess anyways, this whole thing with my dad made it even worse.  I only bring this up to explain the fragile state of mind I was in.  I definitely think it had an impact on my whole experience and made me a little bit more emotional.

The workshop was held in a magnificent mansion in the blue mountains of Jefferson North Carolina.  The drive up the mountain was surreal with fog all around and a scene I can only describe as a lush land for faries.  Green blanketed the ground and trees and it was unlike anything I have ever seen.  I can’t believe I didn’t take a picture of it!  My new friend Chrystal and I drove up together from Charlotte.  We entered the house to a group of welcoming new friends with drinks ready to go.  There were about 15 of us there.  9 attendees, 2 spouses of attendees, 2 people shooting behind the scenes photo and video and general helping out, the hair stylist/makeup artist/stylist, our beautiful model, Joe the giver of hugs and emotional support and overall awesome guy, and Parker.  We all stayed together in the same house for 3 nights and about 3 days.

We started our mornings at 9am with breakfast all together and ended our days around midnight or later.  We all gathered around the dinner table each night for dinner.  We were all together most of the time.  We had various homework assignments prior to coming.  Each day had several challenges and topics.  I don’t want to go into too much detail or give anything away in case somebody wants to take the workshop.  I think it is better to not be prepared and just give yourself over to the process.

These photos above are pretty much the only photos that I actually shot.  This workshop wasn’t about getting a bunch of portfolio worthy images.  It was about learning to stretch ourselves creatively.  It was about thinking in a different way.  It was about learning to tell a story with our images.  We had many challenges and most of them didn’t include having a camera anywhere nearby.  We talked, we cried, we played, we grew, we learned.  I learned a few fun tricks and am ready to experiment and tell more stories with my photographs.  What I learned the most had nothing really to do with taking pictures though.  I learned so much about myself.  I learned that so many of the things I am scared of, really aren’t that scary once you do them.  But it can be super fricken hard to do them.  I learned that we are all so much more alike then we know.  We all share so many of the same fears and struggles.  We also share much of the same things that bring us joy and happiness.  In the end, learning and knowing all of this also makes you a better and more aware photographer.

I heard recently that Courage is not the lack of fear, it is the management of fear.  Courageous people are those that are scared and do have fear but decide to do the thing anyways.  Usually I let fear stop me from doing so many things, I am glad I didn’t let it keep me from this.

Parker is one of the most amazing humans I have ever met and I feel so fortunate to have learned from him and spent time with him.  The rest of the group was also an amazing group of people and I am so happy to know them and have experienced this with them.

Artemas, with Artemas  Photography, filmed a video during the workshop and you can view that below.

Parker J. Pfister Do The WORKshop August 2017 from Artemas Photography on Vimeo.

The post Parker J Pfister Workshop Review & Thoughts appeared first on Jamie Y Photography.

Hello, hello.  Today I am sharing some images from my family’s recent vacation.  We took a trip to the beautiful National Park Zion in Utah.  Zion is one of the most beautiful and closest parks to where we live.  Surprisingly, my husband and I have not been there in ages.  We packed up the car to the brim and ventured to Utah for a 2 night camping trip.  When we arrived I was immediately in awe of the beauty there.  I cannot believe that we have waited this long to go.  It is truly a spectacular place.  If you haven’t been, you should definitely go.

My husband wanted to hike the Narrows.  We rented our water socks, shoes, and walking sticks the day we arrived.  The next day we planned on taking the trip to the Narrows.  We had heard stories about the rain causing flash floods and how careful you had to be.  The skies had been overcast and there was some rain the day we arrived.  In the morning on the bus ride to the trail opening, there were some dark clouds ahead.  The bus driver said we should all think twice and think again about taking the hike.  The fact that we had spent $100 on renting the equipment definitely had an impact on our decision.  We decided to go anyways and just not walk very far in.  Long story short, we walked about a half mile, the water started getting very fast and deep.  I was walking with my daughter and my husband had my son back behind a little. I wanted him to be in the back so if he fell I could grab him.  However, my daughter soon fell on the super slippery rocks and was being pulled by the water, I immediately dropped down so I could grab her and help keep her head up.  Thankfully the current didn’t last too long where we were and we made it to a more tranquil spot as some men came to help us.  It scared the crap out of me.  I seriously thought I was going to lose my daughter.  My heart was pounding out of my chest as we stood on the shore.  My husband came up to check on us and noticed that the diamond on my wedding ring was missing.  It had gotten hit on a rock and the prongs bent and the diamond floated down the river.  I was super upset about it.  I was most concerned with my daughter’s safety though.  It was a bit of a traumatic experience.  The biggest lesson from all of this is to listen to warnings and no matter how safe you think you will be, if there is rain clouds in the sky, do not take such a trail or go into a slot canyon.  Most of the photos from that portion of the day are on my phone because I didn’t want to take my main camera in the water.

In the photos above, I asked my daughter how happy she would be if her best friend was in her class this year.  I am happy to announce that she did indeed get the same class.

I love these dang kids and that husband of mine so freakin much.

Oh, and Zion, your pretty beautiful even if you did scare the crap out of me.

XO-Jamie

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One of my goals for this year and probably last year too was to take more pictures of my kids.  I love taking photos but when I am not actually working I rarely bring my camera with me.  I typically resort to just using my phone.  My goal is to have 1-2 actual planned photo sessions with each of my kids every year.  I pass on the school provided photos for this reason, yet I often don’t make the time to do it. This year I must!  So, I had a senior session a few weeks ago and I had a floral garland for the shoot.  I brought it home and didn’t want it’s beauty to be used on only one session so I pulled my daughter out front of the house to take some photos of her with it.  It was a little crazy hectic trying to do it alone with my son in the house and my front door open and trying to control the flow of a smoke bomb.  Which reminded my why I always need a helper or another parent when photographing kids.  I am in love with the way these turned out and I am so happy to have these awesome pictures of my daughter.  I promise myself and everyone else that I will do a photo shoot with each of my kids in the next few months, you can count on it.

Gosh I love her face.  I can’t believe she is going to be 9 in just a few weeks (insert crying face here).

XO-Jamie

The post Cool Kids Portraits | Las Vegas | Madilyn appeared first on Jamie Y Photography.