Joyful Girl Photography Blog » Product Shots

Top Secret.

Jessie — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 21:54:32 +0000

I stood there scratching my head. Ok, well, not really. But I spent lots of time at this shoot pondering what I wanted. Thinking and himming and hawing {I have never in my life spelled those two words even though I say them quite often!}. How on earth do you make your plain Jane household cleaning items look cool? Him…Haw…

When I photograph kids and weddings, I don’t have the luxury of time. I don’t get to stand there and putz and think and re-do. I just have to go with my heart and my gut and my experience – and it is a thrill. But last Saturday I got the thrill of himming and hawing over how to make a cast iron pot look cool. And I loved it {I know that I am in the right profession when I think that that was fun!}

You have heard me mention simplyneutral before. Not only do I have the pleasure of being their photographer, but I am also a big believer of their products and love using them in my home. {No worries, I will not give you my pitch here again as I have done in past blogs – just so you know, I profit nothing from their sales – my thoughts are just straight from my heart.} Anyway, they are making some exciting changes to their brand! I will not give anything more away because it is top secret {I just made that up to make myself feel cool and it kind of worked}, but here is a little sneak peek for now. By the time you see these again they will look quite a bit different…

The Reality

Jessie — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 02:38:09 +0000

My office smells incredible. If you closed your eyes and came in here you would feel like you are someplace special. Someplace where you will be taken care of. Someplace where you will leave feeling better than you came. A fancy place where you could spend a day. Perhaps you think you are at a luxury spa? Or an elegant boutique?

And then when you open your eyes, you will see the reality – it’s a construction project. Holes in the ceiling for track lighting. Ladders. Painting supplies. A broom and shopvac. The incredible smelling soaps still on the backdrop after yesterday’s shoot. You are in a place where you will be taken care of and should leave feeling better than you came, but it is not a super fancy space…yet!

Everything has a reality.

Like my broken lens. During yesterday’s shoot, I heard a loud bang in the other room and quickly went to check on my kids. But not before setting my camera and favorite lens down too close to the edge of the backdrop. When I heard the thud of my camera hitting the floor and turned to see shattered glass everywhere, I nearly had a breakdown!

Instead of crying, I called my dad. Then I called National Camera. Then I went to National Camera – and found a wonderful reality. I didn’t break my lens. I broke the filter on my lens! Yes, the $22 filter that every camera salesperson recommends you buy to keep on your lens at all times to protect it. National Camera said that my filter took the force of the blow and that my lens and camera body seemed fine. I have yet to use them, but I am optimistic!

I hate to keep giving out advice, but seriously folks, when the salesperson at the camera store tries to sell you a filter for your new lens – BUY IT! I want your reality to be a good one too.

One more note: When I mentioned walking into my office with your eyes closed, I didn’t really mean that you should close your eyes and walk places. My son tried closing his eyes and running yesterday (ah the mind of an almost two-year-old!) and missed running into a pole by a hair. Yup, keep your eyes open!

It was painful to take this image. The white flecks are bits of glass…

One of my product shoots of the day. It is a living will program and my client said that I can keep the product after the shoot. When I realized that I actually probably do need something like this, I must admit that it made me feel a tad bit old! Wills and life insurance and all that stuff are necessary (especially when you have kids), but actually thinking about it doesn’t fit the girl in her 20s that I still think I am!

My other product shoot of the day – simplyneutral’s new soaps (the fun shoot that made my office smell like a dream)! I love these new soaps! They made me feel more the age I think I am.

Mama J

Jessie — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:28:00 +0000

I have a soft spot for teachers. The idea of schools and teachers gives me the warm fuzzies. My mom was a teacher for 28 years and I admired her greatly. We always rode to school together and I would play in her classroom before school started. And when I “grew up,” I would chaperone school trips with her class and visit her classroom for special events. When I became a flight attendant (that’s another story), my mom convinced me to come to her classroom and give a presentation. I felt so dumb standing there in my flight attendant uniform showing a group of 5th graders how to buckle your seatbelt.

And then it was time for questions and they were fighting to ask me questions. (There must be some unwritten rule that whomever holds their arm in the air the highest and squirms like they have to go to the bathroom will get the next chance to ask their important question. I love the kids that don’t really have a question prepared but rather like the contest of being picked and then do the “Um…. uh… do they have… videos games on airplanes?”) I admit that this attention sure made a girl feel good. Yup, another reason to love teachers and school.

Those teachers leave lasting impressions on us. They shape us. And one such high school home ec teacher inspired Mama J Creations. Mama J was like a feisty grandma teaching you how to sew. The kind you love, but just can’t help but put pins in your mouths to get her riled up!

And she would be proud to see the products bearing her nickname. They are so cute and stylish, and yes Mama J, so well made!

I had the privilege of photographing some of the purses in the product line. The bags are works of art and I hope you enjoy the photographs…