Photo Tip Friday: Shoot What You Love /  by Jessica Peterson

I am going to start posting little "Jessica's photo tips on Friday's".  I think it will be fun for me to think about photography a little more, why I do it, what I have learned and what I want to learn.  I hope it will be fun for you too.  Today is just about shooting for fun, shooting what you love.  I feel like sometimes I get caught up in the "what" to shoot and when I can't think of anything different or exciting I end up not photographing anything at all.  Sometimes it is nice to just relax, have fun and shoot for yourself.  For me, I am big on cataloging my life, I love photographing the people in my life, the small things that make me tick, and things that I find beautiful and would like to share. I like keeping my moments for longer than a moment.
 Below are a few images I shot this morning:

Pearl
The newest hand for my collection of hands, you can never have enough hands. 
and of course... my sweet pup Max, I adore his loving nature

Anyway, that is my little piece of advice, shoot what you love, the more honest you are about your subject matter the more honest your images will be and other people will pick up on that. 
Let me know what you think, if you have advice for me I would love to hear it as well.

642 Things to Draw /  by Jessica Peterson

I received the book 642 Things to Draw as a gift last week, I thought it was so neat, it is a perfect downtime book to have around.  It is so simple yet so brilliant, each page is sectioned off and gives a suggestion to draw.  I am so excited to carry this thing around and fill it up, it's the perfect church/DMV/toilet/sunny day at the park/airplane/road trip book.  
Thanks Brittany for the amazing gift, you know me so well! 
PS Brittany has a fantastic blog, check it out!

Par-Tay! /  by Jessica Peterson

Last week was my birthday and it was a damn good one. 
I felt extremely loved by my friends and family, I am thankful for their love and support.  
Anyway, here are a few images from the party.
I have been laughing for hours looking through and editing them, it was hard to just pick a few to share but I didn't want to bore you.

Alt Design Summit: Photo Tour /  by Jessica Peterson

This weekend I had the amazing opportunity to attend the Alt Design Summit which was fantastic, I will definitely be going back next year.  On Saturday I was able to give a photo tour of Salt Lake with some really great women.  I thought it was fun, I hope they enjoyed it as well.

To be honest, before this week I haven't really looked at the city I live in. 
I also brought my cutie-face friend incase anyone wanted to throw some warmth into their images.

It's My Birthday /  by Jessica Peterson

Hooray!  I honestly love when my birthday comes around, I have no shame in demanding the proper attention.  I have been throwing my own parties each year to insure a celebration on my behalf, these are from last year, it was wonderful.

aaannnnnd the festivities begin....
My dear friend just walked in with a birthday donut
I love my birthday!

Pretty darn cute. /  by Jessica Peterson

Today while helping a friend with her business I couldn't help take some photos of her daughter.
I loved everything about her, I couldn't get over the collection of Silly Bands, have you ever seen such a hip 3 year old?

Lunch with Andrew /  by Jessica Peterson

I've wanted to start a photo series of my "people".  
To just make some beautiful images of who they are.
I spent the afternoon with Andrew today.  He came over to my house.  We talked for a while, catching up, gossiping and offering advice we both needed.  
I took some portraits of him, it usually takes a while, I like to make sure that if I am taking photos of people that I spend enough time for them to sorta "forget" the camera is there.  I like it when I see the "are we done yet?" face 'cause it's only after that moment people stop posing and I can steal real moments from them.
After pictures we went for lunch when Andrew pulls out of his murse (man purse) an old tape, he was so excited about this tape that he just bought on ebay about dating.  He asked if I had a tape player... guess who got an old 1970's panasonic tape player/recorder for Christmas?!! ME! So we went home and listened to this tape while I downloaded and edited these pics.  It was a blast. 
I liked my afternoon.