jen + chris ((we are photographers)) » photography

he’s my favorite

jen — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 19:38:21 +0000

he says that the waitress is going to think he’s a movie star if i take any more pictures in the restaurant. i ask him if he wants me to stop. he smiles and waves his hand and i know this means i can continue. he loves denny’s because if you show your aarp card, your coffee is only a dollar. i like that he’s a slow eater because it means more time with him before we have to drop him off and make the 13 hour drive back home. he chews methodically. he tells stories, he gives advice, he re-salts his eggs, he reminds us that he loves us. he tells chris that he and i have a rare kind of love, just like he and grandma had. he swirls his bacon in runny egg yolk. he says that he’s been luckier than most in life and love and that he can’t wait to see my grandma again ‘when the good lord wills’. a couple times, i keep my camera in front of my face so that he can’t see me crying. and then i snap some more. i watch him cut the crusts off of his french toast. i take pictures of his gentle hands and his lebanese nose. of his wrinkled forehead and the mole on the side of his cheek. he lives in ny and i don’t see him as much as i would like. i just don’t want to forget any part of him because today is temporary and that is both the joy and the sorrow of it all.

sarah+joe+bradley+bennett+dexter

jen — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 19:13:20 +0000

i have found myself cozying up to a new me lately. this girl is braver than the old me. she’s more honest about the ugly parts of her heart and much more willing to embrace the beautiful places that reside there. i hope that i’m bold enough to let her stick around for the rest of 2011 and beyond. she makes me a more honest photographer. this post is starting to smell like patchouli and i’m only two sentences in. i’m also talking in third person. forgive me. ((twice.))

i felt brave at this shoot – capturing moments as i saw them happening without thinking too far ahead about the final image. embracing the light i was given instead of wishing it was different. i was able to find beauty in the chaos of it all partly because my friend sarah gave me permission to do so. she believes in me, always. i love her for that.

a teeny, tiny confession: when chris and i are out with sarah + joe’s boys and someone stops us to tell us how beautiful our children are, we smile and thank them.

goodbye. hello.

jen — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 13:30:24 +0000

for two years, four months and six days i have been jen hunt photography. it has been soul-stretching. the business has taken my heart to places that have been both surprisingly painful and incredibly blissful. on most days, i clock out happy. i mean, look below. this has been my job, but i didn’t do it alone…

he likes sneakers with colored laces, oreos when they’re not double stuffed and burt’s bees chapstick.

i like checking off my to do list, a basket on my bicycle and ice cream cones from dairy queen.

he’s as laid back as they come ((he could fall asleep on a roller coaster)) and

i iron napkins before dinner.

he can’t believe how much money i spend on a single pair of jeans and

i can’t fathom how one man could eat so much pizza.

he likes to take pictures

i do too.

he comes on almost every photo shoot

i believe this makes my world better

he likes to tease that his pictures are better than mine

i laugh and say, never

he’s been known to be right.

i’ve been known to fib.

yeah, it’s official:

amy

jen — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 19:30:02 +0000

here is how i remember it. my hair smelled like chlorine from our morning at the pool and i grabbed a towel on my way to the shower. as i passed the mirror i couldn’t help but be impressed with my new waterproof mascara. not a smudge of black underneath my eyes, nice. i turned on the water and while i waited for it to heat up, reached for my iphone. i thought jay-z’s empire state of mind would be a nice touch to my bathing experience. i turned it up full blast. the water was tepid and i like it to nearly burn my skin so i tapped on my inbox icon. a new message from amy. i was expecting a note from her, one that said the lump she found in her breast was a cyst, a clogged milk duct or some other type of benign mass. but her email had words like cancer, aggressive, invasive, lymph nodes. i reached into the shower and turned the faucet until the water stopped dripping. this can’t be right. she’s 31 and married with an 8 month old baby. jay z kept singing about how the streets of ny would make me feel brand new and i wanted to hop a plane to see if that was true. how can this be so? i mean, she only eats organic food and makes her own granola. i hit delete and hoped that erasing the words was all that it would take to make this news go away. i went to my contact list under favorites and touched her name. ring. ring. ring. ring. hello? it was her and then it was real. it’s stage 3, aggressive breast cancer that has spread into her lymph nodes. she will need chemotherapy, radiation and a double mastectomy. to read more about her story and her unbreakable spirit visit her caring bridge site at http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amypatwa

she wanted to have a head shaving party to beat chemo to the punch. invite 10 of her closest friends, drink some wine and shave her hair off before she began to find clumps of it on her pillowcase. my amy is brave like that.

i love her because she’s not afraid to invite people in, even to her scariest spaces. because she’s as confident as she is vulnerable. because her face is a masterpiece of freckles. because she finds her true identity in Him. because the way she looks reflects who she is not someone she wishes she could be or someone she thinks she should be. just her. beautiful her.

we had yummy cake made by the sweet and talented tricia at http://somethingsweetcakery.blogspot.com/

her sister, julie, getting her hair sprayed pink

amy made her rounds making sure we were all ok. that's just how she is.

my favorite moment of the night is captured in this next image. a dear friend of amy's began to cry when we were getting ready to start the head shaving. without missing a beat, amy jumped behind her and enveloped her in a big hug, wiping her tears and telling her that it was ok.

we cut her hair with scissors first before we moved on to the razor

her head was so soft that we couldn't keep our hands off of it. consequently, her face was so beautiful that we couldn't keep our eyes off of it either.

after her head was shaved, she opened gifts. new earrings, books, hats and scarves.

i'd covet your prayers for my friend and her husband adam as they enter into what will surely be the most challenging year of their lives. and also for their daughter, charis, who has this to say about cancer:

dear amy, i love you. i think you're the bravest girl i've ever met. you have been given an amazing gift to illuminate a room with your joyful spirit. it's beautiful. there is also beauty in your grief. allow your heart the chance to grieve and breath. hiding it can deprive your heart of air. your heart is beautiful to me. and so is your baldy head. xo, jen

pretty pixie

jen — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 02:49:04 +0000

man handing out candy: ooh, here’s some candy for spiderman, and here’s some for the bumblebee and…

addie: and i’m tinkerbell, but you can call me tink.

oh, how my heart swells toward this outspoken girl with teeth that are perfectly shaped by her left thumb. she has a spacious, beautiful soul. it is stirred by dancing and art, music and nail polish. it has room for all kinds of people and princesses, animals and string cheese. and i like to think there’s a special spot in there where the light is always on and the kisses are unlimited. and it has my name on it.

heather & darren teaser

jen — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:43:20 +0000

i’m trying to catch up on all of my editing/posting and although this post is not coming next, i had to give you a little taste of things to come. we did this nesting (maternity) shoot last night and it seriously rocked my socks off. here’s a peek.

a little commercial work

jen — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:45:39 +0000

so, typically we like to take pictures of :

little people with gummy grins and skinned up knees

beautiful women with dewy skin and little loves growing in their bellies

lovebirds who tangle up in each others arms and steal kisses in between (or preferably during) shots

newborns with skin that’s still peeling and who smell like sunshine

fresh faced brides who clutch their heart at the mere mention of their beloved’s name.

you get what i mean. people who react, respond and tickle the senses. but for some friends, the too cool for school kind, we’ll take pictures of their houses. our friend dave reule and his friend myles gordon own a business called Central Building Group. it’s a custom home builder focused on building sustainable and beautiful homes in charlotte’s best neighborhoods, including plaza-midwood, dilworth and elizabeth. (that last line about the business, totally stolen from their new site.)

this is why i love dave

but if you’re looking to buy or build a home, this is why you might love dave. www.centralbuildinggroup.com

chris took the pictures of the houses and i snapped the ones of his sweetie pie daughter, reese and their dog, bear. go check it out.

my happenings

jen — Fri, 29 May 2009 17:08:38 +0000

so we’re off to beautiful boone, nc to shoot a wedding this weekend and when we get back it will be our turn to stand in front of the camera. my heart has begun to race just typing the words. we’ve been together for 14 years and have never had professional pictures taken. not even at our wedding - but that’s another story for another day. shameful, i know. to say that i am anxious would be an understatement. i just don’t like to have my picture taken. there, i said it. so sad, but oh so true. and if i’m really honest, what it all boils down to is self image. and so i have these conversations with myself that go something like this: why is it that the upper half of my body doesn’t quite match up with my lower half and i photograph all lopsided looking? and i love dad but of all the things i could’ve inherited from him how come i had to get his oversized nose? why couldn’t i have gotten his olive skin that tans when he thinks about the sun or his dark wavy hair instead of this stick straight mousy stuff that could really use a few highlights? and then only by grace, the thoughts come to a screeching halt and i hear whispers of truth. you are My child. (isaiah 43:1), My thoughts toward you are precious. mmmm…..more please. I am for you. (romans 8:31) you are fearfully and wonderfully made (psalm 139:14) heart slows back down and i’m back to my senses. and besides, i’m going to be in the hands of a very talented and capable photographer and in the arms of a very knowing and sexy man and it’s going to be fine. oh, and i’ll also have a bottle of red wine and these babies on my feet.

yes, i should be juuuuuust fine.

jack, beck & nick

jen — Thu, 28 May 2009 15:26:10 +0000

meet this family of five where the boys outnumber the girls. but if you want to hang out with them, you need to lace up your pumas and hit the ground running.

this is jackson claiming that his parents knock knock jokes aren't funny, but that big ol' grin says otherwise

little nick gets his first taste of the southern, fizzy goodness known as sundrop

how cute is beck??

nick, what's wrong? ohhh, you don't want to sit on the truck for a picture. c'mon, you're such a big boy. but jackson is going to sit right beside you. still no? oh, look the nice fireman is giving you a sticker. that doesn't help either? ooh! how about a smarty to eat?

yep, that did it!

awww...brotherly love. makes you all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn't it?

he’s gangsta, yo

jen — Mon, 25 May 2009 18:37:35 +0000

it's tricky to rock a rhyme, to rock a rhyme that's right on time