J. J. Killins Photography is the winner of last week's 'lose yourself' challenge, and she has graciously agreed to share a bit about her life, her dream shoot and of course some more of her beautiful work!
1. Please tell us about yourself...
I am a California girl living in Minnesota with my Pennsylvania-born husband of thirteen years (on August 3rd!).
I’m a mom to my two little loves, Alla (10) and Fisher (7).
I run.
I am an obsessive list-maker, everything from daily tasks to books I want to read this year to gifts to buy to summer activities we want to make sure we have.
I read everyday, and my favorite genre is middle grade fiction.
I am in the middle of my first (and probably only!) Project 365, which I am so glad I finally took on. We’ve passed the halfway point, and now I can picture all the images together in an album that may or may not take as long as the 365 pictures.
2. Can you describe your style in 3 words? Why those words?
Emotive. Eyes. Candid.
Emotive. Eyes. Candid.
The images I love best always have these qualities, regardless of their technical perfection. They have some heart, they make the viewer feel something.
3. What sparked your passion for photography?
I could tell the story of my daughter being born and changing everyday and the urge I felt to capture that, and while that is most definitely true, if I’m being honest, I’ve always been the friend in the group with camera in hand, documenting away. While the birth of my daughter most definitely began the education bit of my photography, the practice of taking pictures must have started years before, with the ease of a point and shoot and a quick run into Walmart to pick up my finished prints. How many negatives I have in storage, how many albums full of snapshots. The passion for it is a simple need to document. I photograph, I journal, I write letters to my children – all because I am passionate about documenting it all. My husband’s running joke is that after the zombie apocalypse, when the survivors are looking for history-preserving relics, they will come up on the dozens of photo albums in our home and decide that we were way more important than we are, simply because of the sheer volume of photographs of our family.
4. What's in your camera bag right now?
Canon 5d mark iii with my Sigma 50mm ART lens. I sometimes wish for a bag full of different lenses, but the truth is that I have always been a 50mm girl. I like the relationship it gives me with my kids, with clients. I like that I can’t get yards away and still capture eyes and laughs. There’s also a lens pen and spare battery. For client shoots (or Disney World!), I attach my Black Rapid Women’s Strap, but for everyday I LOVE my leather wrist strap by Gordy’s.
5. What is your dream shoot or project?
6. What are some of the misconceptions you had about photography and photographers at the beginning of your photography journey? Have they changed, and how?
I definitely thought all photographs should look a certain way, and that I should aim for that. Listening to my creative needs, and following my own vision makes me a happy photographer, with images that turn out how I see them from behind the camera. It’s very refreshing to see such variety in photography today, so inspiring!
7. What advice would you give to newbie photographers? What advice do you wish you'd been given at the very beginning?
First, learn your camera.
Second, know what you want your images to look like, and then figure out how to get there.
Third, doing a 365 will force you to learn how to take pictures in whatever surrounding you’re in – a dark house, the bright sun, a cloudy day, bedtime.
And for the love, please print your beautiful images!
Find more beautiful work here:
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