This semester marks my 5th semester at Prepa UVM here in Chihuahua.  It's been such an amazing experience seeing these kids grow and mature through the semesters.  They change so quickly and make me proud of their accomplishments.  

After each semester, my friend and art teacher Nora and I put together an art show for the students to show off their work.  Most of the students have been with us for a couple of years and their work has just improved and improved with each day that passes.  I am amazed at the talent that these kids have!  Makes our jobs so much more fun and interesting.  

Last night we inaugurated this semester's art show and had many students and parents come to see the fruit of their labor.  Such an amazing experience.  I'm so proud of all the students!

Recently, a student criticized other students on how terrible their photos were.   I couldn't believe my ears!  I understand that perhaps not everyone was meant to be a photographer, and that is understandable.  Just like not everyone has the “it” to be a lawyer, doctor, yoga instructor, or what have you.  But no one has the right to shoot you down for trying.  

And I really mean no one.  My students are more illustrators than photographers, and some are going to be fantastic photographers.  So, when I asked this kid how does he know if the photo is a good one or a bad one?  Is there a rubric? Is there only one path to good photos?  The answer is NO.  There isn’t.  You cannot tell someone a photo is bad or good just like you can't tell someone who paints that their paintings are good or bad.  

What you can do is analyze and interpret what the artist is trying to say. Does having lots of noise in the photograph contribute to the overall theme of the photo? Is there more to the photograph and therefore the negative space is actually helping to understand the concept?

It made me furious to hear that this kid, thankfully not one of my students, judge other artists so simply.  Photography is not as simple as taking a photograph and watching magic reveal before our eyes.  It takes time, training, and breaking of the rules to find a style, a voice, a theme.  

The point of photography is to be moved by the image.  Either in a positive way or in a negative.  As long as you feel something, then the artwork is doing exactly what it’s supposed to do.  There are no good or bad photographs.  There is just art. 

Let me know what you think makes a good photo in the comments below.  And if you liked this post, share it with others!

*click on the photo above to download because art shouldn't be kept to oneself.

If you've been following my blog, you know that I teach photography at both the university and high school levels.  During the semester, I try to schedule a few mock shoots so that students can observe first hand how to direct, pose, and carry on a session.  There is no right way of having a session and I make sure to tell the students that everything depends on their style.  However, I believe that having them observe how I shoot, take control, and allow myself to focus on my models/clients, they can learn a little and apply it to their own sessions.  

Enter Jorge.  Jorge is an event planner and one of the best I know here in Chihuahua.  He is incredibly detailed and his candid nature makes it easy to know what you are going to get.  Jorge was kind enough to model for us and help me to teach the university students a little about posing, studio lighting, and how to use a reflector.  Thank you Jorge!

Where does inspiration come from?  

Each photographer has their own sources of inspiration and mine is a little quirky.  I get most of my inspiration by looking at images of interior design.  Home tours are my favorite.  Depends on my mood but the inspiration ranges from my outer bohemian hippy side to my inner clean lines and white interior side.  

There is something calming about these images and interior design photography that seems to inspire me.  I believe the reason that interior photography inspires me is because there are no people in the photographs.  Just lines, color schemes, lighting, and mood.  How the elements interact organically within the photograph from one side of the room to the other.  

Looking at a different kind of photography helps me to step out of my own day to day imagery where everything is love, couples, and people.  Getting away from that helps me to reconstruct my own images from the very basic and work myself up to creating the moods.  There is something in interior design photography that just gets me.  Could be the introvert in me that likes to see these spaces void of people, void of noise, void of distractions and just look at them be.  Nothing to hide.  It is beautiful in every sense.   

Where do you get your inspiration from?

click on the image to get taken to my Pinterest page for more inspiration boards!

I can't believe that it's May already!  I've finally gotten around to writing 2015 instead of 2014 and time just flew by!

It's been an insane couple of months and so many sessions to post!  From California to Namiquipa to Mazatlan and another wedding this month... My heart is full!  

Anywhoo... who's dreaming of being in a place like this one? I know I can't wait until I'm at the beach everyday!!! 

Happy Friday!

Click on the image to download your wallpaper :)

My husband is witness to the fact that I love Pinterest.  He secretly does too though, hanging over my shoulder when I take a look at all the amazingness.  I can literally kill some serious time scouring through all of the images.  That's what I love about it, no extra stuff, just images.  It's the mecca of inspiration.  And without much introduction, these are my favorite pins lately!  Don't forget to check out my Pinterest boards and follow me :).

Click on the images for their link!

Happy Monday!

Introducing my new address!  As in new website address.  I bought my website back in 2010 and back then the whole vintage style was in.  It was a template and at the time, perfect for my growing business.  For the last year or so, I've wanted something different.  Never knew exactly what I wanted but I needed a change.  I saw other websites go up and for some reason, they were all the same.  Another template with blog integration, cool home site, and lots of bells and whistles.  Blah... another template meant to "wow" that costs a fortune.

I'm not sure how I can across SquareSpace.  I think I ended up on someone's website and saw that it was from SquareSpace... to be honest I'm not sure how I stumbled across it.  But I have to say, I'm sure glad I did.  They have beautiful templates, fully customizable with a clean design.  That is what I was looking for.  A website that let me change the font if I wanted, change templates, and give me good hosting.

So I made the switch.  I also made the decision to drop the "photography" at the end of the link.  Why?  To be frank, the name was too long.  I started my business thinking that I had to put "photography" so that people would know what I did.  Clearly, it's been a long road since then and I had no idea what I was doing business-wise.  Also, in gong with a cleaner, easy to navigate website, the name too had to be simple and easy to remember.  My name is short and those looking at my website will have a clear idea that I am a photographer.

So after 4 years, here is to my new website!  Make sure to click the photo to be taken to the website.  You'll love the new design, I promise!

Here is the newsletter that I sent out to my email list :).

For my clients in California that I photograph, get ready to be blown away....

Pinhole Press

is a company that offers clients who have digital images to upload and create stunning albums, prints, greeting cards, calendars, etc. and all at great pricing.  All of their products are pre-made templates where you simply drag and drop your images and you can create something out of those stored away images on your computer.

Many times, myself included, we want something easy, quick and simple to do with our photos.  Maybe we are too busy at work to learn photoshop to design an album, or you just don't know where to begin.  

Pinhole Press

is your answer!  To all of my clients that I deliver digital images to, this is a great website to design away and even have your prints custom framed.  They have so many options, of which I have highlighted some in the photo below.  

So just click on the following link and get started on creating something beautiful with your images!

www.pinholepress.com/?prc=JACKIELAMASPHOTO

If you're asked to put in a photographers code, just use Jackie Lamas Photo :) 

Here is a screen shot of the website itself...

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I just recently, as in this week, came across this amazing app!  I have heard of Blogstomp before and didn't really feel like diving into something new that I'd have to learn how to use and blah blah blah, insert useless excuse here.  Finally, this week, I re-discovered this amazing app and played with their free trial version.  The trial version was easy to use and after reading many reviews, I made the business decision to purchase this amazing little app.

What is Blogstomp, you ask?  It's a simple blogging app that allows you to drag and drop the files you wish to use and create beautiful blogging collages.  The app does all the placing and creating for you.  You can reorder the photos to change them from positions in the collages and even set the border width and spacing between the photos.  Add your own logo and even use one of their backgrounds. The app also gives you more collage options on the right side so you can pick which template is best for the photos you've selected.  You can do one, two, even 20 photos at once if you want.  It's cut my blogging time in literally half.  

The reason I would take forever to blog a session or wedding was because I would open the four templates I had in Photoshop and place each photo, then resize, then save for web and then upload. See all those really time consuming steps?  Yeah, I'm so glad that I've come to my senses and got the full version of this app.  Now, I simply drag and drop and the app does all the hard work for me.  Even sharpens the image and I can set the width of the files. 

Easy and simple.

I am in no way obligated to say these things about Blogstomp.  This is simply my own review of the app and I have to say, as a wedding photographer that usually blogs anywhere between 30 and 40 images per wedding, this is a time saver.  If you are a heavy photo blogger, I highly recommend you use Blogstomp and stop spending all of those hours in front of the computer.

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*Updated that my then boyfriend is now my husband :)* 

I have a crooked nose.  Big hips.  Short legs.  Really skinny hands.  One eye is bigger than the other.  Both eyes are pretty big as it is.  I have a crooked tooth.  Big gums and a big mouth.  Small ears.  Jiggly upper arms.  

As a photographer, I have been in front of the camera a few times.  Very few times.  Because I know how it feels to be on the other side.  Being nervous.  Feeling insecure.  Feeling awkward.  Will the angles favor my huge child bearing hips?  Is my smile too big and show my gums?  And the list goes on.  So I know how it must feel for you.

This past week, I asked my boyfriend to take my photo.  I needed new head shots for my website, blog, and Facebook and I thought the practice would be good for him.  I had never before been excited to have someone photograph me.  And this made me think, it's not the insecurities that keep you from having a professional session, it's the photographer.  

The photographer makes all the difference.

 I am comfortable being myself in front of my boyfriend.  I'm not afraid to make silly faces or laugh really hard.  I'm not afraid that he'll make me look awkward or weird.  And the occasional, "you are beautiful" definitely helps boost the confidence, ya know!

We all have insecurities That one particular thing that is the bane of our existence.  That thing that keeps us from having our photo taken.  We fear the camera for showing us our worst.  But sometimes, the camera shows you that all of your insecurities were solely in your mind.  In your warped mind that you need to look like someone else.  That you are not enough.

You are beautiful.  You are interesting.  

Finding that photographer that you can trust to make you see the best version of you is key.  When I photograph my clients I know they're nervous.  I know that they're thinking of their insecurities.  Their flaws.  I talk and get to know them.  Before the session and during the session and usually we end up becoming friends.  After 20 minutes, those flaws fade away and what comes out is pure and honest. It's their personality.  Who they really are: beautiful inside and out.

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