Member Spotlight: Jennifer Parke

Jennifer Parke
Jennifer Parke Photography
Newborn, Maternity, Engagement and Family Photography (for now!)
Website: www.jenniferparkephotography.com
Blog: jenniferparkephotography.blogspot.com

Are you a morning or evening person? Morning all the way!

Coffee or tea? Iced Coffee! My new fav is the carmel mocha iced coffee from DD!

Something that’s overrated: Working a day job!

Something that’s underrated: Family dinners. They are so important and it seems that they just don’t happen anymore.

What’s your favorite comfort food? Chocolate, specifically chocolate with peanut butter!

Website/blog(s) you visit daily: Facebook, Mama Cheaps and Google I freaking love Google!

Who is the photographer that inspires you most? There are so many that inspire me every day but the photographer that originally sparked my interest was Dorothea Lange and her amazing portrayal of the great depression.

Tell us about your very first shoot: My very first shoot was actually for my friend Jim from Sleepy Hollow Photography. I photographed his daughter and it I was super nervous and Jim had better gear than I did and I felt so foolish!

I had tried to scout out the location before hand but it was the Green Lane Park and they took me to a section of the park that I had never seen before! YIKES! I thought I was going to die, right there, right then. I have been taking pictures my whole life but all of the sudden I had no idea what I was doing! All I could do was start shooting and hope for the best. I might not have loved all the shots but one of the photos from that shoot is still in my list of favorites to this day!

My second shoot has a much better story…crazy mom, 4 kids, lots of screaming and one of the dogs bit my hand. Good times. Thank god the sessions got better after that or I would have quit photography all together!

What is the one thing in your bag you would throw yourself in front of a speeding train for? My full memory cards, because those can’t be replaced everything else is insured!

I am passionate about: Being a MOM! I have an amazing 18 month old son, Rickey who pushes me everyday to be the best mother that I can be!

To tweet or not to tweet: I tweet, but not often…it’s on my to do list though!

What are the top 5 things on your “photographer’s wish list”?
More TIME! A real office space/studio! A better 50mm lens. This might be silly but one of those super cute camera straps. Someone to be in charge of all of my marketing (yeah that would be great!)

What do you find most difficult about being a photographer? The thing that I find most difficult is not being able to be a full time photographer. There is just so much that I want to be able to do and my day job is always getting in my way!

What do you find most rewarding? The most rewarding thing is the excitement that clients have when they love their images! I know how excited I get when I take a great shot of Rickey and I love being able to provide that for others!

Tags: photographer, women