For the Love...of a Photograph, and Guest Interview 1:17 Photography

Julie, 1:17 Photography

When I was young my dad was always taking pictures at events or special occasions.  He did not have a little Polaroid camera like many people in the 1970’s, my dad had ‘a camera’.  It was a big one with lenses and giant flash additions and a large case.  My dad had a growing and evolving interest in photography, setting out to capture all of our family moments on film.

Posing for pictures for my dad sometimes proved to be a tedious event in itself.  These were the days of actual film in the camera and there was no way to know how good the shot was as you were capturing the moments.  No kids saying “let me see” as soon as the picture snapped.  You just did not know.  That is why Dad took a ton. Also, there was no automatic digital macro focus with the fancy lenses.  So Dad was focusing and refocusing and we posed and posed.

Dad’s love for the hobby of photography has trickled down to me.  I love it.  I love taking pictures.  It’s a part of who I am and I will never quit.  I love the artful side and the sentiment that comes with a wonderful photograph.  Since my kids were tiny, I have carried out the legacy of capturing moments on film.  Yes, my children have grown tired of these sessions, just like I did as a child.   My hope is that they will understand the beauty in the memories for years to come.  The treasure of it.

This brings me to our fall family portrait session a few years ago.  We don’t do family sessions but every few years.  Too many months and years had passed before this session.  Given my light history with photography during my life, I feel like I have a good sense of good photographers.  I had been admiring the work of 1:17 Photography for a few years and I know the Photographer, Julie, personally.  It was time for a Simpson Family Portrait.

I wrote a post right after the session.  It will give you a little insight on the Simpson Session. Here was my summation of this family ‘activity’:

Photo:  1:17 Photography

Phases – The Process of a Family Portrait Session- October 2014

 

We had our family portrait finally accomplished yesterday. It seemed like a feat similar to moving mountains. This was all on us, as the photographer was awesome and I adore her work and how she runs the session (Thank you Julie Torregrossa/1:17 Photography)! I reflected on all of this yesterday and decided there were phases to this, from a Mom’s perspective. Here they are:

 

 #1. You book the date and are excited—it’s on the calendar. Booking Phase.
#2. Later, you tell your family and you are probably ignored. You send email to spouse to put on his calendar–this may or may not happen. Family Calendar Phase.
#3. You forget about the ‘clothing’ issue until days before—you realize not only do you NOT have clothes for people that fit, but NO ONE needs to ‘clash’ with clothing choices. Panic section begins. Uh Oh Phase.
#4. You squeeze in sprint-like shopping by yourself. You have never shopped with so much drive. You realize you will be making LOTS of returns. (Marathon Phase?)
#5. The day before, you brief family members of attire and collectively get the articles of clothing selected. Panic section starts to wind down. Final Clothing Selection Phase.
#6. Day of session and one hour before departure, you are asked if cargo shorts and jeggings can be worn. This is after JEANS discussion the day before. Disbelief and Denial Phase. Can also be known as the Oppositional Phase.
#7. Crying Phase of youngest and Mom pops Ibuprofen. (Mom wants to cry)
#8. Pre- departure Phase. One member of family does total change of shirt 30 minutes prior to departure. Disbelief Phase still going strong.
#9. Son wears fleece jacket in car after being told NOT to wear jacket, as mom spent time ironing shirt. This rounds out the Disbelief Phase.
#10. Grumpy Phase for all in car.
#11. Actual Session Phase with no sibling wanting to touch one another and pretending to like each other seems impossible to them. 20 minutes is a long time.
#12. Post-session and family enters the Elation-happy Phase—where were these people for the last 2 hours?

 



Photo:  1:17 Photography

 

The wonders that Julie created with so little time and such undercover grumpiness. 

Photo:  1:17 Photography

 

I wanted to invite Julie to my blog today and let her share a little bit about her passion. I interviewed her to dig into her creative side of life!

Photo:  1:17 Photography

TS: Tell me about the name of your photography business, 117 Photography.  I know you have some detail on your website, and the photos are WONDERFUL of your own family.  What would you like to share here?

JT: My business began out of my own need to DO something! Oddly enough, if you had told me 15 even years ago that I would be running my own business-in photography no less-I’m quite sure I would have laughed so hard I would have fallen out of my chair.  I never grew up as an artistic type at all.  I could sing, but that was truly about the extent of my artistic talents.  I went to college to be a teacher, and did teach in the classroom for about 4 years.  After that, I worked at a private girl’s school in Memphis running their after-school program.  It was during those years that I had my son, Jackson.  About two years later, I was pregnant with Isabella and we decided that we wanted to take the leap of me becoming a stay-at-home-mom.  Well, my dreams of the happy mom moments were a little off from reality as I struggled with the long days at home with a 2-year-old and a newborn and a husband that was traveling more than he ever had done before.  So I started searching for something I could do on the side that would help our struggling little finances as we were down to one income, and also give me an outlet of something to do outside of our home for a few hours a week just to get away from the insanity of toddlerhood! 

Julie in action!  Sometimes family members help with focusing the subjects.

 I literally knew NOTHING about photography when I first started and now I have a business.  God is so good to provide what we need when we need it!  My husband has always been my biggest supporter from the very beginning.  We had a conversation one day about my “dream job” would be to be a photographer.  Literally, about a week later, my doorbell rang and sitting at the front door was a delivery by UPS.  Jack had ordered my very first digital camera and told me to play around and learn what I could.  He told me “how could your dream become reality unless you have the right equipment?”  He said, “Who knows if you will be any good.  If you are then great.  If you are not, then we have a wonderful camera to take photos of our children.”  From there, I began to take a few classes and teach myself all about photography in between my children’s naps and late into the night while everyone slept.  Thankfully, I did all of this in my 20’s…quite sure I couldn’t swing those hours into my 40’s!


When we became aware that the business was really turning into something and was going to be more than just a few friends asking me to take their photos, that is when I started the task of coming up with a name for my business.  Let me tell you, that is hard stuff!  I prayed and prayed over it and finally settled on a Bible verse.  I knew that it was only by God’s goodness that I was able to get this business started at all, therefore, I knew that my business name needed to not shy away from proclaiming Him.  James 1:17, “Every good and perfect gift comes from above.”-seemed to fit perfectly into my story of my business as well as reflecting the subjects I mainly focused on-children and families!

TS:  I love this backstory to your business!  In turn, you provide a wonderful gift to others—your talent and eye for a great photo.  This is one of the busy seasons for you and a time that many want to grab a session.  What advice can you give to others looking for a photographer to take family photos?

JT:  To me, the best thing to do is to look at the photographer’s work. Browse their website, social media and blog-you will see their work and be able to see if it speaks to the type of images that speak to your heart! 

I want to thank Julie Torregrossa for her patience with me and my questions!  She is inspiring to me so much that I am trying my own little venture with the camera.  Julie’s work is a beautiful niche of family and children’s portraits in natural light.  I plan to branch in a direction not far but on a few different off-shoots of her path.  I hope I am able to capture moments as magical as Julie’s work.

With Joy,

Tracey

 

You can follow Julie’s work on her web:  http://www.117photography.com/

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/117photography/

 

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