Hi, I’m Jen… an environmental geologist, a nature photographer, and an avid outdoors woman exploring the west-northwest region of the United States. One of my many passions is capturing the beauty of the world I experience in photographs ‘jen’uinely… present in the moment, in awe of the world, heart over mind, and consider each a gift. As an artist, a scientist, and a truly life-humbled soul, I commonly pair my photographs with inspirational quotes that tie back to the heart of an image for me. To be clear, I am a Unitarian Universalist… I support ALL people, their beliefs, religions/faiths, and/or the lack thereof. I practice peace, love, & acceptance to all. You will see material from varying sources and although I may not agree with all beliefs that encompass the ideology, I understand there are truths within them all. Therefore, I share my art as a mosaic of their beauty.
After over a decade of doing my best to make an environmental difference on this planet as a hydrogeologist, I reached acceptance that the disabilities my life gifted me with were a blessing, not a curse… and as such, I began to take a different view of what could be considered a ‘hobby’ and started focusing on my nature photography. Photography has always been a part of me, it just came second to being a scientist. My drive to take pictures began before age 5 when I played with the family Polaroid camera. At 10, I was sneaking away with my dad’s 35mm Canon AE-1 to snap shots of my kittens. My high school years had me crashing the photography lab during study period, since my college-prep course load claimed my school day and sports, choir, homework dominated my after-school hours. By the time college rolled around, I splurged on my own 35mm Canon AE-1, B&W photography classes, materials and had a great time avoiding my calculus homework in the darkroom. Then when I got my first digital camera in 2003, something I dabbled in came to life!!! I started with a Canon minor megapixel ‘camera’, but soon figured out the Sony DSC-W7 Cyber-shot had manual setting capabilities and a Carl Zeiss Lens… both combined made a powerful point-n-shoot. That tiny camera saw many a hiking trail, mountain summit, even parts of England, and several pieces in my portfolio were taken with it. Recently my captures have been being created with a Sony DSC-H50 or DSLR-A380.
While my appearance in the nature photography circles may be recent, my online presence has been around since 2005… I too had one of those cheesy Myspace pages spiced up with extra HTML to give it some flavor, but my mainstay was crafting what I called ‘photojournals’ of my outdoor adventures. It was those journals and the friends-n-family that starred in them that encouraged me to improve my passion and Just Jenuine Photography came to life. Over the last three years I have dedicated my time to building a nature portfolio worthy of appreciation, expanded my HTML skills to create this webpage in order to share the meanings behind my photos/formalize my journals, improved my aptitude in photography, and found my artistic expression/voice through the guidance of Ron Clifford, my mentor, as part of the G+ Mentorship Program for Photographers.
Up next… I am aiming to grow my business into becoming an online mentor. And in order to powerfully create the life I desire, I crafted a planner as a tool for intentional living. In the world where my time commitments quite conveniently exist in the electronic ether, I discovered I needed a sacred space to express that which I desired to manifest in my life; to document the significant occurrences, triumphs, losses; a marker of dates that I wanted to celebrate and/or remember; and a record of the journey one intentional year of life can create. So I combined my passion for ‘jen’uinely capturing the beauty of the world in photographs and sharing the image with thought provoking quotes into an 2013 Intentional Planner… and offer it to others as a resource to empower what they are out to create in this world.
Although limited in what I can physically do, I have not given up my life mission to make an environmental difference on this planet, I see my art as an amazing means to give back, to be the change I would like to see in the world, and with time I have faith my business will grow. With that growth I intend to make a powerful contribution to improving access to clean water and water rights in general by donating 20% of ALL my print sales to water.org. With your appreciation and purchases of Just Jenuine Photography you too will be making a difference… I can’t do it without all of you, so for that I am forever grateful.
So make yourself at home, get comfy in your chair, be sure to have your favorite beverage at hand… and know in your heart I ‘jen’uinely hope you enjoy the photos, quotes, & stories as much as I did while creating them.
Love.
Jen
