So perhaps you may have noticed I’ve been blogging these past few weeks? If not, you probably should have because it was a drastic change from, oh, not blogging AT ALL EVER.
As I’ve explained in previous posts, I have been incredibly behind on blogging. At first I told myself, “You’re just going through a busy season. You’ll get it together and start blogging again.” After about six months of telling myself that, I began to wonder if I would ever be able to bring blogging back into the JZPÂ repertoire. I missed it so badly, but there was just really no time in my days for it as I was editing session after session and wedding after wedding like a maniac.
Then one day I get an e-mail in my inbox from this girl politely asking if I needed any help with blogging.
My internal initial reaction was, “YUHESS PLEASE!! I NEED BLOGGING HELP SO BADLY! THAT WOULD BE THE BEST THING EVER! PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE HELP!”
But I believe my super-professional response to her was more along the lines of, “Why don’t we get together soon to talk about about it?”
And so we did.
I had actually met Danielle before, as she was close friends with a bride of mine from March (the getting ready photos for that wedding were actually taken at Danielle’s home), but this was my first time to sit down and have a conversation with her. We sat in Jupiter House for a solid hour talking about how we envisioned this working. So you know how I’ve been blogging way overtime these past three weeks? That would have all been impossible without Danielle first prepping/resizing/uploading all of the images I sent over to her so that I only had to worry about adding in any text after she was finished.
So, without further ado, I am SO PLEASED to officially announce Danielle’s new role as JZP’s blogging assistant. Of course I waited to announce it until I could do so with some with some supergorgeousbeautiful photos of Danielle to pair with the post.
Danielle is a local blogger and artist who studied art education at UNT . Be sure to check out her blog and stop by her etsy shop and admire all her pretty work!
I know it’s only been three weeks of working with her but I keep finding myself wanting to use the phrase “apple of my eye” in reference to Danielle. Seriously, you guys, she’s been THAT helpful and THAT great to work with.
And that was BEFORE she sent me a text message with a flamenco dancer emoticon. (But that definitely sealed the “apple-of-my-eye” deal.)
Danielle, I’m so excited that you’re a part of the JZP team!
And I know all of your blog readers are so excited too because it means y’all will actually have blog posts to look at! Be sure to leave her some comment love here, on her own blog, or on her facebook page. OR ALL THREE! Also, be sure to “like” her daniellelandy Facebook page while you’re there!
Happy Thursday, everyone!
(and NO, I toooootally didn’t have to look at my calendar before typing that to know what day of the week it was . . .)
Some of you may have been noticing some changes around here.
Like how I’ve actually been blogging.
There will be more changes on the way — the most exciting of which is the launching of a new Jillian Zamora Photography WEBSITE towards the end of next week! This time it will not be a template website that I stumble through putting together but a website custom designed JUST with JZP in mind by the always lovely folks over at Hey, Sweet Pea! I absolutely CANNOT wait to show it to the world and I promise to post as soon as it is officially unveiled.
In the meantime, here are a peek into some photos James and I had taken for the bio pages on the site:
It’s difficult to give photo credit for these because it was kind of a team effort! Our friends over at Hey, Sweet Pea knew that we wouldn’t be able to have professional photos taken in time for the site launch so they offered to take our photos if we brought our cameras, set the settings and posed ourselves — SUCH sweet friends!! We’re so thankful for them and incredibly please with how the photos turned out even with this being THE windiest day ever.
On a slightly related note we do have a photo session scheduled for January 2013 with the uh-mazing Tyler Branch out of California — ohhhhh, yeah! I kind of have to NOT think about it so that I don’t get so excited that I explode in anticipation.
I know what you’re probably thinking, “Yeah, yeah, enough of you two! We don’t come to your blog to see YOUR face.”
Just kidding, I know y’all are all nicer than that.
But I will still move on to a different type of preview — a little snippet of the new site itself:
Keep checking back on the blog too as I’m actually planning on continuing this whole “actually-posting-to-the-blog” trend. I’ll be catching up on posts from the past year (I just CAN’T NOT blog all those clients who believed in a first-year photographer. I just CAN’T) as well as trying to simultaneously post current work (THERE’S a novel idea) too. If you’d like to see all of my most recent work RIGHT NOW, you can always visit the JZP facebook “like” page.
Okay, I love everyone.
Bye.
I didn’t really prep the JZP followers very well that I was going to Spain. One day I was all editing in Denton and the next I was all, “Ima-instagram-the-view-of-my-room-in-Spain!”
Let me explain, I had been planning for a little less than a year now to go on the mission trip to Mission, TX at the end of June that I blogged about earlier today. But my parents just kept on and kept on talking about how excited they were to also go on a mission trip to Denia, Spain at the beginning of July. I had just assumed that I wouldn’t be able to do both trips because of my wedding photography schedule so I hadn’t even considered the possibility of returning to Spain (I had gone on this same trip once before during the Summer of 2009). But the more my parents kept talking about it, the more antsy I got to see my Spanish friends at Iglesia Evangélica Bautista La Trinidad de Dénia, love on some campers at the Bible/art/sport/English kids camp and (to be honest) get me some of that Spanish cuisine. So on a whim I checked my calendar. This 10-day span was the only one in my entire summer schedule that didn’t already have a wedding scheduled.
I took this as my sign to go! I was super-sad that James couldn’t come on the trip too but the REASON he couldn’t join is super-exciting — he started classes for his Masters of Fine Art here in Denton during the course of the trip. I suppose that’s been enough writing, so now I’ll let the pictures tell the story:
This was my view of Denia and of the Mediterranean Sea from my room at Alfa y Omega.
Sadly I’ve decided not to post photos of the kids from the camp on the blog, just because I didn’t ask permission from the camper’s parents. But one little face I will post is the daughter of the couple that ran the camp. That curly hair is presssssssshhhhhhhhh.
One evening we were able to walk into town for a couple of hours to see the running of the bulls into the sea. After the bulls run through the streets of Denia they come into this arena where the brave souls inside the arena floor try to entice the bull to jump into the sea.
Don’t worry — the guy in this photo mere inches from the bulls horns did not get gored. And neither did the guy you see jumping into the ocean himself in the next photo. Looks like the bull got a little too close for comfort for him.
(And yes, this was the infamous location where I accidentally dropped my phone between the bleachers and it got picked up before I could retrieve it. Womp, womp.)
I always seize an opportunity to photograph my parents and especially so when we’re in such a beautiful place as Denia. These shots were taken along the road into town from the church.
One afternoon we got to take the campers into town to spend a few hours on the beach! Sidenote: Spain is the only place in the world that I can get a tan (well, as tan as IIIIII can get) instead of a sunburn. Holla.
This was the sunset outside my window on the last day of camp. It was so sad to say goodbye to all of my tiny Spanish friends but incredibly joyful that we had spent a week together learning about Jesus’ love for each and every one of them. That, plus water wars and Texas line-dancing of course.
This photo above may very well be one of my favorites from the trip. I just loved that shirtless, elderly Spanish man walking his dog down the road.
On our final day in Denia we got to spend a lot of time in town — doing some shopping, visiting the local castle and — for me — taking lots of photos.
You caught me. I went to Spain but I just couldn’t stay away from weddings . . .
A friend of mine from my previous trip to Spain was getting married IN DENIA WHILE WE WERE THERE! I went as a guest but couldn’t refrain from snapping a few photos of gorgeous Tamar. (SIDENOTE: I did NOT, however, lean over into the aisle and get in the wedding photographer’s shot. That is a BIG no-no in my book.)
After the wedding it was back into town for the Denia parade. Dude, you haven’t EXPERIENCED a parade until you’ve experienced a Spanish parade.
What was that? You think my parents are super-cute too? I’ll have to agree with you.
PAELLA!!
The next day we headed back in the direction of the airport and stopped in Toledo for a bit of sight-seeing there.
I just HAD to get a photo of my presh Spanish fan. I had been looking for just the right fan while I was there and when I flipped this one open I immediately squealed and clapped my hands. That’s how I knew it was the fan for me.
And then OH.MY.GOODNESS. we revisited the Catedral de Toledo and it was breathtakingly beautiful.
You could easily get a crick in your neck from looking up at all of the amazing ceilings.
I know this isn’t exactly an epic image to end on, but this was my single macaroon I purchased on the square in Toledo. I thought it was precious and darling and sweet, and therefore I wanted it.
So there you have it — a photographic look into my trip to Spain! Maybe next time I blog it will be actual photos I took from  JZP photo sessions/weddings IN DFW . . . we’ll see!
Hello, all! I know my blogging has been completely erratic for . . . oh . . . a year now. But I really am working toward slowing things down enough to be able to add it back into my regimen. I do so love it. Â But for the time being, all new updates are definitely being posted to the JZP facebook “like” page — click here to go see some!
The most recent update is that I HAVE A NEW LOGO!! ONE I DIDN’T MAKE MYSELF WITH MY LIMITED DESIGNING KNOWLEDGE!!
Here she is:
Isn’t it beaUtiful? I love it. I feel like it embodies my three branding words for JZP: dear, honest and blissful. Â IÂ can’t say ENOUGH “thank you”s to the design team (and dear friends of ours) over at Hey, Sweet Pea for creating it for me. Next up in the works with me and Hey, Sweet Pea will be a new JZP site — EEKAH!!
In other news, I believe I owe my blog readers an update on a recent mission trip I took part in three weeks ago to the border of Texas and Mexico. I went with my hometown church, Tolar Baptist, to minister with a new church plant along the border called Iglesia Vino Nuevo. During the days we ran a VBS for neighborhood children — playing games, singing songs and all the while sharing the sweet Truth of Jesus’ gospel with them. In the evenings I had the opportunity to take family portraits for families in the church and other local families and it was just such a joy to use photography on the mission field! Here are a few of the family portraits I took:
Of course I gave everyone a formal family portrait, but y’all know I’m a sucker for some sweet familial group hugs.
Dear little Elayne ran home to change into a dress for her close-up.
This one is my all-time favorite from all the portraits I took while I was there.
And now for a few snapshots from the trip:
I hope you enjoyed seeing a snippet of the border mission trip and I also hope you’re a fan of the new logo — I’d love to hear your thoughts on it! Now I’ve just got to update my blog and website to show it off and I’m just so excited to get on it!
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