i am amy jett

At the beginning of March, I was asked by my friend and fabulous Albuquerque photographer Angela Gaeto to join her in Washington, DC to photograph her niece’s wedding. Kara and Andrew had a wonderful ceremony and reception at the beautiful Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington, VA. Check out some of the highlights of their evening in the slideshow below:

Click on the photo above to view the slideshow.

-aj

Posted in Daily Blog

I was in Flanagan’s one night a few years back, chatting with Andy about photos and wedding and stupid stuff when this kid down at the other end of the bar says something like “you’re a photographer? i’m really interested in photography and want to learn more. do you ever have interns or assistants?”.
well, of course i wanted to drink with him first but after a while i discovered this kid was pretty ok and asked him to come along for a ride to Thibodeaux wedding. He shot some lovely pics that night, was very professional and I was quite pleased.

He recently blogged with some of his favorites from that 2008 (!) wedding: Zack Delaune

But then life happened and Zack & I didn’t cross paths for a while. sadness. until a few months ago we met again (In Flanagan’s of course) and I asked him if he was available for a wedding in March that I was shooting for some close friends… and he said yes! yay!

Now I look forward to seeing his blog sometime in the next few weeks with his faves from Will & Bea’s wedding. I am trying to convince him that we should do a post production comparison (his photos, 2 production) but he is being a little shy about it right now. heh.

Anyway, Zack is great and has an excellent eye and I am hoping he’ll continue to be my second shooter for a long time to come… and should you book me for your wedding and want a second shooter, just ask me to book Zack! Hopefully he’ll do it!!

And last, but not least, here’s my personal favorite photo that Zack took on Saturday of Will:

Cool, right? It’s so Will!

-aj

Posted in Daily Blog

though there were many many many wonderful moments throughout Will & Bea’s wedding celebration this past Saturday that were captured by Zack (you’re hired!) and myself, here is a smallish preview of the evening…

a little send off for the lovely couple to have before they head to Hawaii!

Enjoy (click on photo for slideshow)!

Click for slideshow!

-aj

PS: family and friends of Will & Sherri can sign up here to be notified of when the full wedding event is posted at Pictage.com!

Posted in Daily Blog

For Will and Bea, I posted this earlier today on Twitter:

“Men always want to be a woman’s first love – women like to be a man’s last romance.” – Oscar Wilde

Later this evening, on this perfect beautiful day, I am going to photograph the wedding of two of the most wonderful people I am privileged to be able to call my friends here in New Orleans. I met Will and Bea through roller derby, but got to know them through parties and outings and holiday gathering and late nights on Decatur street. Bea is always willing to lend me a piece I need for a last minute costume or a laugh on someone’s porch. Will is always willing to give me his advice and a sarcastic joke to make me giggle. Their friendship, patience, love and laughter always inspire me and I am so honored to be spending this special weekend with them while giving them the one thing I know will last with them in their lifetime of love: the ability to visually live the moment… again and again.

Here’s to these two being each others “last romance” forever.

-aj

Posted in Daily Blog

and… SCENE.

oh hi. welcome back. i say that mostly to myself… !

so, where to start? obviously, my grandmother’s death really impacted me.  i was lucky enough to be able to go home for her service and to spend time with my family. it was wonderful and sad and even inspiring! when i returned to NOLA the next week, i thought about my new little blog that had just started,  but i just couldn’t bring myself to post anything. it took a little while for my creativity to return and also for me to say what i need to say clearly (yes @johncmayer, i know. but it doesn’t always happen like that).

since that time though, there’s been a lot happening and many photos taken! Thanksgiving… Christmas (home again! yay!)… the Saints won the Super Bowl!… Mardi Gras… St. Patrick’s Day… and all of those regular life things in between.  i also bought a Canon G11 and have been playing with the HD video capabilities. JT is buiilding a new natural gas powered car, which is a whole other project to talk about another day. i’ve made some new friends who will probably show up here along the way. Andy has left us for 6 months to walk the Appalachian trail, and yes, i miss him. especially on Friday nights around 11pm. it was a cold winter, but spring is finally upon us and i am looking forward to dragging my “tribe” out into the Quarter so they can be my models and muses.

anywho… i have decided that the 365 daily photo thing isn’t for me right now. maybe i’ll get back into later but i have a lot of other creative stuff going on right now and i think i want to be a little more freeflowing – less structured. so, still gonna post images OF COURSE. still gonna link to inspirations (so many out there!). and still gonna read my manual(s) but maybe i won’t tell you what I learn, I’ll just show you when it’s cool. i am also playing a lot more with my iphone camera these days so I’ll start getting that coolness posted too.

yeah… happy to be back, even if it’s just writing and talking to myself. ha!

-aj

Posted in Uncategorized

I admit, I did not take this photograph today. I took it on October 24th, 2009 when I was visiting friends and family in the town that I grew up in: Front Royal, Virginia. I took it because I have some of the most wonderful memories in this house… so many years of happiness and love…  and now I do everything I can to hold on to the memories that were created here, and to the memory of the woman who lived behind this door - my grandmother, Sugar.

I share this with the world because my father called this evening to tell me that she is very close to the end of her life. I am afraid now that I will not get to see her again before she goes – though a part of me is thankful to not have to witness her dying so that I can continue to remember her smiling in my mind, it is still so painful to be away from her and my family right now.

But I hold on her to her life and everything she taught me with all my heart. She carefully and lovingly molded me into who I am. Without her neverending, never questioning, whole hearted loving support, I  would not be where I am today. She taught me strength, patience, compassion, independence and how to love. She taught me everything she knew,  gave me shelter when I needed it, protected me, spoiled me rotten, inspired me and no matter what, she always allowed me to be ME.

Whenever I am asked the question of who do I consider to be my hero, I always say her name.

Sugar, I send all my love to you and though you are now walking through a different door, one that cannot follow you through, you’ll always be with me in my heart.  Should I not get to see you again in this life, I know we’ll  be together in the next, and I look forward to that day more than anyone can know.

Specs:

Manual: Page 84, Selecting the AF Mode

Images: Family photos

Addendum: Audrey Ellen Munch (Jett) Simpson, my beloved Sugar, died peacefully this morning around 2:30am.

Sugar, I miss and love you so much. Tell Sam I love him.

Posted in Daily Blog
Tags: doorways, front royal, grandmother, i am amy jett, virginia

St Alphonsus Art & Cultural Center, New Orleans

Specs:

Manual: Page 82, Setting the Color Space

Images: Mike Larson

Posted in Daily Blog
Tags: i am amy jett, new orleans, st alphonsus

and maybe you’ll find as interesting of a character as i did today,  just down the block…!

Specs: Canon 30D, 1/400 sec at f10, 135mm.

Manual: Page 74, White Balance Correction.

Images: Ryan Austin Dean. A wonderful photographer out of Bossier City, LA

Posted in Daily Blog
Tags: i am amy jett, new orleans

At the Pictage PartnerCon 2 weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting the talented and lovely Tasra Dawson. My friend Gustavo introduced me to her as though I should know who she is – which made me wonder why I didn’t already. Later, she led one of the workshops I attended and I realized I wanted to know more about her and her work. By the end of the conference, after her beautiful daughter ended our week by singing a song she wrote acapella in front of us all, I was in awe of this lady and her family.

A few days later, I started following Tasra on Twitter and discovered her blog, tasra365.com .  The concept is simple and extraordinary:  Take 3 actions daily… for one year to improve her photography 300%.  The actions:

• Take at least 1 photo every day.
• Read at least 1 page in my camera manual every day.
• View other professional images every day.

I’ve been reading it each day for the last week or so, inspired and looking forward to the next day then I woke up yesterday thinking… why am I not joining her? Why I am not working towards improving my photography 300%?

So, here’s Day 1 of my own personal 365 to improve 300%.

1. The photograph above is of my beloved New Orleans skyline. I love this city. Especially right before it rains.

Taken with my Canon 50D. 65mm – 1/160 sec at f5.6.

2.  page 71: Setting the white balance.

3. Will Jacks – so talented and right here in my neighborhood. AWESOME:  wiljax.com

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: i am amy jett, new orleans, photographer, skyline, tasra dawson