Lori Jackson is a wedding, portrait, and fine art photographer in Charlotte, NC. This blog is dedicated to Lori's fine art photography. For weddings, portraits, and events, check out her work at Unfolding Photography.
We shot these portraits in early January and boy was it cold! Time was of the essence, so rescheduling was not an option, however everyone in this super cool family was a trooper! We braved the 30 degree temps (and wind that made it feel even colder) together and got some great photos and even shared many laughs. I always love photographing families and children, but there is something about photographing couples who are so deeply in love that is so rewarding. Love is such a powerful thing and to be able to capture even a glimmer of it between two people is such a privilege.
Owen and Elliott were an absolute pleasure to photograph. These boys were so happy during the entire session, it made my job so much fun! Owen is three and loves to talk; he kept telling me all kinds of cute little stories. Elliott is one of the happiest 11 month olds I’ve seen and gave me more smiles than I could have ever asked for. These are some of my favorites, though there were so many more.
These spiffy blue shoes have a great story. Owen’s mom got them for him in Africa before he was ever born, in hopes that one day she might have a little boy. Now that he’s three, he can finally fit into them and has worn them all the time. I asked him to show me his shoes and how cute is the response I got!
Owen and Elliott’s grandma knitted the entire family these cute matching socks. We just had to get some photos of them!
Recently I took a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with a large group of women from my church. We all had a great time and I was able to take a few picture while we were there. We stayed near the end of the famous strip, but there were very few people there… it was almost like a ghost town. The weather was just gorgeous though. I think October might actually be a great time to vacation there!
This year I had the distinguished honor of being one of the official photographers for the Komen Charlotte Race for the Cure in Charlotte, NC. Each photographer was assigned to a certain area and mine were the actual race and the survivor ceremony. This event was especially important to me because it’s the first race since my own mother’s breast cancer diagnosis. She was able to attend and even walked the race with me! The Komen Charlotte race had over 14,000 participants and raised over $1.3M. It was quite an event to be a part of. Here are some of my favorite shots from the day, including one of me and my mom!
This past weekend, I participated in Scott Kelby’s 2nd Annual Worldwide Photowalk in Charlotte, NC. I had a great time photographing just for me rather than for someone else. There was no pressure, no time limit, just a leisurely walk with my camera. We had a set map laid out by our leader with some alternate routes. He chose an ideal path through 4th Ward in downtown Charlotte that offered some great photo taking opportunities. Jonathan joined me on the walk, using my trusty D70s. I used my D300 and Lensbaby Composer for the majority of the shots. Shooting pretty much exclusively with the Lensbaby was so much fun! I used the f8 aperture the whole time and got some nice blur.
Back in September, I joined a group on Flickr called a day in the life of, or DILO. The idea is that you capture your life in a single day through photography. Since I enjoy learning about people through photography, I found this group to be especially interesting. So I participated in the September DILO and had a great time carrying my camera around with me all day! Here are my September DILO submissions. The next DILO was this past weekend, just before Christmas. The optional theme of the DILO was “ground level”, and most of my shots adhere to that theme.
So, about my day: My mom, son, and I made a trip to southwestern Virginia to visit with family. Most of my life now is spent chasing after my toddler son, so the first set of photographs include him exploring my grandmother’s house and playing in his first snow. The 21st was also the day that we travelled home. I was somewhat bummed that I would be on the road for most of DILO day, so my mom suggested we go exploring to some places she remembered from her youth. We ventured up a mountain near the highway looking for “Hidden Valley Lake”. Once we found it, we were both very excited… the lake was beautiful and pristine. Though I was not quite prepared clothing-wise to trek into the woods in 30 degree temps, I did anyway to capture the beautiful scenery and blue sky. Afterwards my hands were so cold I could barely move them, but it was so worth it. Further down the road, we stopped in Historic Abingdon, VA. I only got a couple shots there since it was lunchtime for my little guy who was previously napping during our mountain trek. Our last detour was Shot Tower State Park, which much to my disappointment was closed for the season. There were several old barns nearby, so it wasn’t a complete loss.
Here are some select images from my December DILO. The complete set can be found here.
