"About Us"

My love for photography started when I was 12 years old.  My parents gave ma a Polaroid Swinger camera for Christmas.  I drove everyone around me crazy.  I would sneak up behind them, scream to make them look at me, and I would capture their expression of surprise; needless to say, the expression of surprise turned into an expression of anger!

When I was 14 years old, my brother got married, and I took it upon myself to take Polaroid photographs at their reception.  To everyone's surprise, they turned out pretty good.  I was hooked!  I have had a camera in my hands ever since

I began experimenting with a dark room, 35mm SLR cameras, using different exposures to see what effect they made on the photograph.  After taking a few photography courses, I learned how to use different lighting to enhance my photography.

After a few years, I was getting complements from friends and family, and won a couple amateur photography contest.  Different people were asking me to photograph them.  Then, my nephew was getting married and asked me if I would photograph their wedding.  Against my better judgment, I agreed.  They loved them but I could see much room for improvement.

After this experience, I have graduated from the New York Institute of Photography.  In my pursuit of education I found Monte Zucker, one of the worlds most renowned photographers.  He has earned every photography award that there is.  In 2003, Monte received the "Portrait Photographer of the Year" award from the "United Nations."  His work inspired me to enroll in one of his classes.  I'll never regret that choice.  I still take courses from Monte and continue to further my photography education from other great photographers, and continually see improvements in my photography.

As a photographer, I worked out of my home for about 5 years.  My equipment, background, and props eventually out grew my home and my husband and I decided to open a studio in Hueytown, AL in April, 2000.  The past 2 years, we decided to take the leap into digital photography.  I now show proofs with a projector on an 8' screen.  All of our clients love it, they say it's much easier to visualize what their wall portrait enlargements will look like rather than looking at a small 4x5 print.  We use professional digital equipment  and have backup equipment we take to all weddings.  Digital photography also allows much more control on how the final portrait will look.

My husband, "Joe," assists me at most of our weddings; he call himself my mule.  He also takes photographs at weddings in addition to what I do.  His style is more photojournalistic and compliments the collection of photographs taken at your weddings.  We work well together and really enjoy being with people.  We like to use humor to lighten up our brides and grooms to make their wedding day fun and less stressful.

I am a photographer because I am passionate about creating images.  I am just as excited to see the results as the people I have photographed.  My rewards are from my clients enthusiasm when they see their portraits for the first time.

If you have any questions regarding my services, please call me or email me at:  johosmer@bellsouth.net