January 14, 2013

Business | ANNOUCEMENT!

Remember back at the end of last year when I told you something BIG was coming (and it wasn’t a baby)?? Well…. it’s HERE! We are pleased to begin offering our clients (any anyone else!) event planning services! I’ve teamed up with Jennifer Malone to start J. Leigh Events. Having both come from event management backgrounds this just seemed like a natural direction for us to go. She was previously on staff at the church we attend as the Executive Assistant to the Head Pastor and part of those duties included helping to plan and manage all the church events- including wedding coordination. I have been the Event Coordinator for a nonprofit for the last 5 years, managing all the state-wide events. As well, with being a photographer in the thick of weddings over the last 3.5 years, it’s given me great insight into who the top vendors are in our area and what all goes into a well-run wedding day. We hope you’ll celebrate the opening of this new venture for us by “liking” our new Facebook page. Our website is still under construction- but when it goes live, you’ll be the first to know. We greatly appreciate all your support! PS- Something is still up with my email 🙁 Please call or Facebook message me if you need to get a hold of me!
January 12, 2013

Business | Contacting Me!!

We were made aware this week of an issue with our email. If you sent me an email and haven’t got a response, it’s because I haven’t gotten it…. and if you’re execting an email me and haven’t received it, check your spam 🙁 I think google may have updated their settings, and now emails aren’t working right. Please add info@jjhortonphotography.com to your address book. Please feel free to contact me via my facebook page, or by calling me. I’m very sorry for this frustration, when I found out last night it was happening, I was so mad!  
January 7, 2013

Weddings | Featured

We have been so fortunate to have two of our awesome weddings featured recently! First- Charlotte Weddings Magazine This is our second wedding published in CW (first was Kseniya & Brandon in the summer), we are thrilled to share Shannon & Tommy’s wedding that was held at Byron’s in South End back in June. Enjoy!     Over the weekend, we were ecstatic to have our first major, online publication- Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book Blog…. A huge thank you to East West for submitting the wedding video from Maggie & Rory’s wedding– they featured some of our images to supplement the video 🙂
January 2, 2013

Business | Goals 2013

Here we go. That moment where you admit the things you want to accomplish. Even if you aren’t a believer of New Years Resolutions, you likely still have those ailing thoughts in the back of your head. 2012 was good. I cannot complain given the state of our economy, I’ve managed to maintain a business and turn a profit. Was it perfect? Nope. Did I do what I set out? Nope. Was it ok, anyway? Yes. So… for 2013 here are a few things on the horizon- both professional & personal.   1. Complete the beach house (well, let the contractor build it, and then be financially responsible while furnishing it) 2. Blog more. I know- something I say each year (or month for that matter!)… I did pretty well over the holidays, blogging more in the last weeks than I have in months. Keep it up. 3. Be more daring with lighting. And when I say daring, I mean just use them. Don’t get me wrong, every single wedding reception we shoot, we use lights…. but I want to try using them other times too. 4. Shoot tighter. As I looked back over images for our 2012 weddings post, I noticed one thing… I am really, really good at doing a full length shot of a couple…. not so much waist up or head shots :-/ Work on being more diverse. 5. Network more. I can be a bit of a homebody and not want to go out….. especially on a week day when I’ve been working all day. 6. Eat better. I seem to go through spurts where I do really well…. and then BAM! I find myself in the drive-thru day after day. 7. Use that gym membership you pay for. I really don’t hate the gym, but I really love sitting on the sofa. Ugh. 8. Start thinking about and preparing for a baby. Nope, not pregnant…. but I want to feel a little more prepared…. this means a lot of different things (jobs, saving, health, etc.) and I won’t bore you with the details….. but yeah. 9. More time off. This one is tricky because ultimately I want to shoot more…. just be smarter about it. We found ourselves on the road far too much the last 2 years…. time away from home has been tough. We want to condense portrait sessions to one weekend a month, instead of one each weekend. I know this is going to be hard, as I really am a people-pleaser, and want to be as accommodating as possible…. but I just can’t do it all…. and if a baby does come in the mix, I really won’t be able to do it all! 10. Continue to provide the best customer service 🙂 I want to be your photographer, confidant and problem solver. 11. Finally- shoot more film for fun! Which leads me to….. Who wants to model?? I’m itching to do a session 100% film (so scary!)….. here’s the criteria….. must be 22-35, male & female and willing to play bride & groom in the Charlotte area on February 3, 2PM. You’ll be responsible for bringing the dress, and I must approve it… I want full length, white (or off white), simple….. (no crazy embellishments), think JCrew-ish….. and a black suit with white shirt. ( I do own a dress that’s a size 6ish, if you want to wear that.) Who’s in?! Email me at info@jjhortonphotography.com below is Melissa on her wedding day, shot on film 🙂      
January 14, 2013

Business | ANNOUCEMENT!

Remember back at the end of last year when I told you something BIG was coming (and it wasn’t a baby)?? Well…. it’s HERE! We are pleased to begin offering our clients (any anyone else!) event planning services! I’ve teamed up with Jennifer Malone to start J. Leigh Events. Having both come from event management backgrounds this just seemed like a natural direction for us to go. She was previously on staff at the church we attend as the Executive Assistant to the Head Pastor and part of those duties included helping to plan and manage all the church events- including wedding coordination. I have been the Event Coordinator for a nonprofit for the last 5 years, managing all the state-wide events. As well, with being a photographer in the thick of weddings over the last 3.5 years, it’s given me great insight into who the top vendors are in our area and what all goes into a well-run wedding day. We hope you’ll celebrate the opening of this new venture for us by “liking” our new Facebook page. Our website is still under construction- but when it goes live, you’ll be the first to know. We greatly appreciate all your support! PS- Something is still up with my email 🙁 Please call or Facebook message me if you need to get a hold of me!
January 12, 2013

Business | Contacting Me!!

We were made aware this week of an issue with our email. If you sent me an email and haven’t got a response, it’s because I haven’t gotten it…. and if you’re execting an email me and haven’t received it, check your spam 🙁 I think google may have updated their settings, and now emails aren’t working right. Please add info@jjhortonphotography.com to your address book. Please feel free to contact me via my facebook page, or by calling me. I’m very sorry for this frustration, when I found out last night it was happening, I was so mad!  
January 7, 2013

Weddings | Featured

We have been so fortunate to have two of our awesome weddings featured recently! First- Charlotte Weddings Magazine This is our second wedding published in CW (first was Kseniya & Brandon in the summer), we are thrilled to share Shannon & Tommy’s wedding that was held at Byron’s in South End back in June. Enjoy!     Over the weekend, we were ecstatic to have our first major, online publication- Style Me Pretty’s Little Black Book Blog…. A huge thank you to East West for submitting the wedding video from Maggie & Rory’s wedding– they featured some of our images to supplement the video 🙂
January 2, 2013

Business | Goals 2013

Here we go. That moment where you admit the things you want to accomplish. Even if you aren’t a believer of New Years Resolutions, you likely still have those ailing thoughts in the back of your head. 2012 was good. I cannot complain given the state of our economy, I’ve managed to maintain a business and turn a profit. Was it perfect? Nope. Did I do what I set out? Nope. Was it ok, anyway? Yes. So… for 2013 here are a few things on the horizon- both professional & personal.   1. Complete the beach house (well, let the contractor build it, and then be financially responsible while furnishing it) 2. Blog more. I know- something I say each year (or month for that matter!)… I did pretty well over the holidays, blogging more in the last weeks than I have in months. Keep it up. 3. Be more daring with lighting. And when I say daring, I mean just use them. Don’t get me wrong, every single wedding reception we shoot, we use lights…. but I want to try using them other times too. 4. Shoot tighter. As I looked back over images for our 2012 weddings post, I noticed one thing… I am really, really good at doing a full length shot of a couple…. not so much waist up or head shots :-/ Work on being more diverse. 5. Network more. I can be a bit of a homebody and not want to go out….. especially on a week day when I’ve been working all day. 6. Eat better. I seem to go through spurts where I do really well…. and then BAM! I find myself in the drive-thru day after day. 7. Use that gym membership you pay for. I really don’t hate the gym, but I really love sitting on the sofa. Ugh. 8. Start thinking about and preparing for a baby. Nope, not pregnant…. but I want to feel a little more prepared…. this means a lot of different things (jobs, saving, health, etc.) and I won’t bore you with the details….. but yeah. 9. More time off. This one is tricky because ultimately I want to shoot more…. just be smarter about it. We found ourselves on the road far too much the last 2 years…. time away from home has been tough. We want to condense portrait sessions to one weekend a month, instead of one each weekend. I know this is going to be hard, as I really am a people-pleaser, and want to be as accommodating as possible…. but I just can’t do it all…. and if a baby does come in the mix, I really won’t be able to do it all! 10. Continue to provide the best customer service 🙂 I want to be your photographer, confidant and problem solver. 11. Finally- shoot more film for fun! Which leads me to….. Who wants to model?? I’m itching to do a session 100% film (so scary!)….. here’s the criteria….. must be 22-35, male & female and willing to play bride & groom in the Charlotte area on February 3, 2PM. You’ll be responsible for bringing the dress, and I must approve it… I want full length, white (or off white), simple….. (no crazy embellishments), think JCrew-ish….. and a black suit with white shirt. ( I do own a dress that’s a size 6ish, if you want to wear that.) Who’s in?! Email me at info@jjhortonphotography.com below is Melissa on her wedding day, shot on film 🙂