Jillian Zamora Photography year in review 2021
Hello and happy 2022 to anyone who still visits blogs (lololol). I can’t help it . In this Instagram/Tik Tok world I can’t stop loving longer form photo sharing and I honestly don’t foresee that changing anytime soon.
Here is my compilation of all my JZP work from the past year. I do these posts for myself to be able to look back on all the stories and lives I am so incredibly honored to be invited to witness and document. I am thankful for each and every person in these photos. It just causes me to praise God for the gift of this work that I never could have dreamed of pursing on my own.
I also do these posts for future potential clients to see highlighted what I value in my storytelling — preserving your most dear, honest and blissful moments. I hope you can see that in this post.
Now for the photos. I started the year off in San Diego with the Sewell family at their favorite tide pool. I love them I love them I love them and hope to blog this entire session one day soon because every single bit of it makes me smile smile smile.
I had the honor of meeting + photographing my cousin’s newborn photos in January. Spoiler alert: if you make it to the end of this post you’ll see what he looks like as a big one-year-old too.
Beth + Zack’s wedding was my first of the year. As I looked back at their gallery with a year’s distance from it one of the things that stood out to me most were how all the masks in the photos marked the time in which their wedding took place.
I’m going to do all DFW people a favor and tell you to order you some Heimat pretzels after you finish looking through this post. You will not regret it. For the record the rosemary-garlic and cinnamon sugar ones are my favorites!
Below is the first of two Poe family sessions in 2021. Not long after this session Abi texted me that apparently those would be their last photos as a family of three (keep going in the post to see the second little Poe boy shortly after his arrival right before the end of the year).
Joni + Jeremy’s intimate Broken Bow, OK cabin wedding was full of intentionality and personal touches and sweetness.
There were so many favorite things about Hillary + Regan’s lovely Fort Worth wedding with KC Cloud Events — the light streaming through the stained glass windows of the church during their ceremony, their stunning florals, and both of Hillary + Regan’s fathers being a part of their wedding ceremony. But I gotta tell you, every time I think about their wedding I can’t help but think about the PUPPIESSSSS at cocktail hour.
Every time I think of Alyssa + Blake’s wedding I start singing Julie Andrew’s “Raindrops on Roses.” The rain fell off an on all morning, even up to the ceremony itself, but that didn’t dampen even a bit of the joy of the day.
I also want to give a special shout out to my second-shooter and JZP associate shooter, Jacob. He shot all but three of my 2021 weddings with me LIKE A CHAMP and several of the photos I selected from the following wedding are ones he took. He does such amazing work and I’m proud to have him work with me and represent JZP.
HOW COOL IS IT being invited into the Vanderpool home for my third newborn session for this dear family? I’ll tell you: PRETTY DANG COOL.
Then I had the joy joy joy to document a slew of past JZP brides and grooms growing their families this year – so sweet to be a part of documenting a family from their first day married and some of their first days as parents.
In May I flew out to Taos, NM for Bethany + Josh’s wedding in the mountains but the forecast disagreed with their outdoor ceremony plans. The rain and hail may have pushed us indoors at the last minute for a ceremony in their airbnb but Bethany, Josh and all their people rallied and made it happen. That airbnb was filled top to bottom with so much delight that it was palpable.
Sophy + Jason’s was my last wedding that I photographed pregnant with my third child. It’s funny how I mark even my own life by y’all’s special events I get invited in to be a part of.
While that was my last wedding before maternity leave there were still plenty of shoots (and a mountain of editing) to come before it officially started.
I LOVED meeting back up with the Tipton’s while they were on sabbatical from serving overseas as missionaries. I photographed their wedding back in the earliest days of JZP and getting to reunite with them in Tyler, Texas and meet their three children was a joy in and of itself. Another thing I loved was how storytelling focused this session was from their family’s porch swing to s’mores to a family water gun + hose fight and ending with bubbles. I definitely intend to do a separate blog of this session to share more in depth, but here are a few of my stand alone favorite images.
On that same trip to Tyler for the Tipton session we celebrated my birthday by staying at an airbnb and hitting up the local coffee + restaurant scene. These photos were taken when I was 32 weeks pregnant.
My last two shoots before maternity leave were with repeat JZP clients and their precious babies – just what I needed to make me allllllll the more excited to welcome our own baby so soon.
Jesse Cypress Zamora was born in August. We are so thankful for him and he’s pretty well snuggled as you can see in the below photos with his big sister and brother. Also in September my oldest, Juniper, turned six-years-old.
I took two glorious months to give my full focus to welcoming our newest family member and then in October I photographed a quick maternity session for a dear friend, followed by Brittany + Akash’s two-day McGovern Centennial Gardens in Houston, TX.
Next up out was Melissa + Nik’s New Orleans, LA wedding — my first time to New Orleans and my first time to witness the fun that is a second line band at a wedding reception. Melissa + Nik are so down to earth and about their people. They had actually waited a year longer than originally intended to have their wedding due to the pandemic. The hidden gift of the wait was that instead of their wedding being the day after daylight savings time, it was now the day OF daylight savings time which meant we were gifted the most glorious hour of sunlight after their wedding ceremony that we were not anticipating having and boy, oh, boy did we bask in it!
As promised, we’ve arrived at the second Poe session of 2021 starring their newest member, Luke.
And do you remember my cousin’s teeny baby at the beginning of this post? It sure was fun to get to document these updated family photos of their sweet one-year-old at the end of the year.
My last wedding of the year was Thao + Chris’ and it was SUCH a fun one to close out 2021 with. The photos I chose to share in this post barely scratches the surface of Thao + Chris’ THREE ceremonies in one day but I have high hopes of blogging the whole thing on its own later this year.
We celebrated Christmas with family and I ended the year with two more past JZP couples who are expecting sweet babies along with one engagement session for a 2022 JZP bride + groom.
What a year, what a year.
Thank you, Lord, for an eleventh year getting to tell so many sweet stories for such lovely humans. What a gift it is.
