Missoula Wedding Photographer Jacilyn M

Senior Style | Light & Fresh

Jacilyn M — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:46:38 +0000

School may not even be out for summer yet but 2013 Senior season is here! It’s the middle of May and I already have an awesome lineup of senior sessions! So I’m starting to put together s senior style guide! FUN!!! Senior girls are always in a panic before the session wondering what am I gonna wear? They’re cleaning out their own closets, shopping and raiding their friends closets feeling like they have nothing. And then they show up with a car full of clothes and options, haha. Love you girls! Now with this new Senior Style Guide series you’ll have some ideas of things to throw in your car before your session

The first is my version of Light & Fresh!

Light & Fresh by jacilynm featuring flat thong sandals

Siteseeing | May 17th

Jacilyn M — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:20:21 +0000

Welcome, toooo the first edition, post, whatever of siteseeing. Lol! This is all about fun stuff I’ve found and love on the internet. And when you find something you like, you share it. Right?! SO I’m gonna do that. Weekly. Hopefully.

- This really is not a website, but I have to share. Amanda Worman’s Instagram. Seriously this girl lives an amazing life, and works for one of my most favvvvvvv companies (Burton, of course). I LOVE her instagram feed and secretly (well not so secret anymore I guess) live vicariously through her

- Stacey Long is the bomb. <— That kinda rhymes, go me! Stacey is an amazingggggg designer. She is helping me with a TON of design work and I am THRILLED! So if you need design work check her out!

- Ship & Shape Store. I’ll take one of everything, please and thank you. It’s that good. F’real.

- Weddinggawker. Another photographer was talking about this one day so I had to check it out. Wedding inspiration GALORE! It’s like a pinterest of just wedding stuff. It’s amazing! And as a photographer, hi, awesome! You can submit sessions to them. If they accept then they put up an image you chose from that session along with details you gave but when people click on it, it goes directly to your blog post rather than popping up that one image like on pinterest. And blog views, through the roof my friends.

- Volcom Swimwear. I’m in workout/get healthy mode. Have a serious project coming up and I need to look gooooooodddd. And if I look REAL good I’ll be wearing a swimsuit for part of it. And I am OBSESSSSSSEEEEDDDD with the Volcom line. Especially their one pieces. I’m not normally a one piece fan and I am definitely not a monokini fan. Bad idea, no likey. But Volcom does it up fun. May look like a simple one piece in the front but turn it around, WA-BAM!!!! Love them. Might need to purchase a few

I also love shopping for kids swimsuits and half the time wish they came in my size. And with that I’m gonna go look for some for this little angelface, here.

Featured | Engaged Wedding Blog

Jacilyn M — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:57:05 +0000

I feel SO incredibly blessed. Blessed with gorgeous couples madly in love making my job so easy. Clearly them and I are not the only ones to love these images. These images have been viewed/shared/pinned more than I can count. I considered trying to figure it out but really I’m blown away. Let’s just top that with the session getting featured on a fun UK blog, Engaged Wedding Blog. Thank you so much EWB for loving and sharing this session! You know you wanna see it!

Featured | Bride Chic

Jacilyn M — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:29:27 +0000

AH!!!! I am SO excited this morning! About a month ago I was skyping with an amazing photographer friend from BC. We had this discussion about submitting weddings and events, and honestly as exciting as it sounded to get your work featured or published it kinda scared the crap out of me. Which means I was going to do it haha. I sat there that afternoon submitting a few events drowning in self doubt. I wasn’t good enough, my work wasn’t going to stand a chance, blah, blah, blah. But the reality was I wouldn’t actually know that unless I clicked submit and waited to find out. I no longer doubt that I can produce work good enough to be featured. In fact while shooting it’s now in the back of my mind. I’m now even thinking about who I’m going to submit this session to while shooting it.

This morning the wedding of one of my all-time favorite couples was featured on Bride Chic! Thank you Amy Jo SO much! I’m so very appreciative. SO GO CHECK IT OUT!!!! I’m so pumped!

Click here to see Candice & Pat’s engagement session and wedding

The bug. Travel bug that is.

Jacilyn M — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:55:55 +0000

Clearly I have caught the travel bug. If I go 3-4 weeks without going somewhere I get antsy and going somewhere doesn’t even have to be far. Just getting out of town and exploring. So last night I was chilling on my couch dreaming about traveling and pinning on Pinterest. When I start to think travel I tend to think of things that are practical and could happen rather than I wish someday maybe I could go there. Cause then I just get my hopes up and excited about a place I can’t go to haha. But as I sat there I thought what the hey, where would you want to go right now if you could go anywhere. Pinterest should REALLY give a warning when you search for somewhere outside of where you live. Like a disclaimer that by continuing on you may go into depression if you are unable to travel to that location. Proceed at your own risk.

I feel like when the question arises with where in the world do you really want to go you hesitate. Think on it a minute as if you want to make sure you answer with your top place of all time! With no hesitation I typed ‘Norway’ into the Pinterest search bar. I have been expressing my want/NEED to go to Norway all winter. And then I saw a blog post up a Norwegian wedding and I died a little. MUST GO. It’s the homeland. I need to go. My skin color screams I’m scandinavian and with great-grandparents named Anton & Nikolina Andersson I might be as Norwegian as an American girl can get. I hit enter and was honestly amazed by the images of Norway. Now I really want to go. And I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s gonna happen. I mean who doesn’t want to go here:

Thank you Wikipedia for an awesome photo of Nordland, Norway…. The Homeland.

Ellen – The JM Crew | Missoula MT Senior Portrait Photography

Jacilyn M — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:49:51 +0000

Ah! I have the BEST senior reps EVER. Honestly having SUCH a blast with these girls. Last night Ellen and I met up for her fun little session. The girls almost always start off all nervous and by the end they are just killing it and that definitely happened last night. Ellen you are AMAZING! I can’t wait to do more together. I am not going to say much this time cause I think her images speak for themselves!

Dreams become Goals

Jacilyn M — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:07:59 +0000

No secret, I’m a dreamer. I can’t help it. I can’t help but want more, desire more, need more, thrive for more! Now this doesn’t mean I’m unhappy with my current life. That isn’t the case at all. I love my life. Heck I love everything about my life. Everything that is happening right NOW, in this moment. My motto is to “Enjoy the Moment.” But if life is so good now, what I can do to make it even better?! I can’t settle with good or great or amazing. I want it to continue to be good, continue to get better and continue to be amazing. To always push the limits. See how far I can take it. Annddddd now I’m ranting.

So I try every week to stop, slow down and dream up new goals. Cause I have no intention of keeping my dreams as dreams. I want to take steps and make them goals! Now there are a few that are big and for the time being are dreams, just waiting on the right time So back to the story. Sunday I took Cattie along on my morning walk. We headed down to a little pond or now they are calling it a lagoon. When I was a kid it was McCormick pond now it’s Silver Lagoon. Odd. It was so nice and sunny I just sat in the grass while Cattie threw rocks, checked out some geese, spotted a turtle, and so forth. I sat there realizing how much my life was changing, who I was becoming as a person, which even included my dreams for the future, my shooting, etc. And honestly I liked it. I love where I’m going. Which led me to what do I want next.

Last year I said I was ready to take this show on the road and book weddings outside of Missoula, outside of Montana and even specifically photograph a wedding in Vancouver, BC. Well this summer I’m headed to Van, Idaho, all over Montana and even Las Vegas. So what next. Where am I wanting to go next? Well I’m a Mexico bride so the caribbean is always on my mind. And Europe, specifically the homeland. Norway. I started to question where would I find my dream weddings. Weddings that encompassed everything I believed in life. That spoke to me. Where I could see my creativity let loose. But most importantly not just these things, but a bride and groom that were ideal. Ones that would become lifelong friends. Who had the same passions and desires. Couples who would be the faces of Jacilyn M essentially. And then it hit me. Tahoe and Jackson Hole. It started with a dream of couples and weddings that I could connect completely with and ended with a goal of where to find them. That’s it. Next year I must shoot weddings in Tahoe and Jackson Hole. Are you in Tahoe or Jackson Hole? Are you getting married in Tahoe or Jackson Hole? Know someone? I want you. I need you. I already love you. (cause you’re reading this, duh ) But on a serious note lets chat and connect cause I really do have something special for you!

Now I can’t stop looking at blogs all about Jackson Hole and Tahoe weddings. Swooning over Tahoe Unveiled RIGHT NOW!

Sidenote: through the however many minutes it actually took for me to type up this blog my designer and I were chatting. They are doing an incredible job of determining where I am going, who I am becoming, etc to make me look goooood. And in our discussion we talked about blogging and pulled some insane ideas for upcoming blog posts and series. STOKED! So you should bookmark this, or subscribe to the RSS feed cause it’s gonna be ridiculous!

Sometimes I have Favorites

Jacilyn M — Wed, 02 May 2012 19:31:44 +0000

C’mon who doesn’t have a favorite lens, or three?! I often get asked what lens I was using on a shot, or what do I use and when do I use it, or recommendations on what to purchase. So the time has come to share my favs Sidenote: I see people write fav as ‘fave’ but I do fav. Should I write fave? But favorite doesn’t have an ‘e’ there. Oh well.

The Canon 100mm Macro 2.8 – Also referred to as the “I got yo back, Girl”

This is my baby. If I HAD to choose one lens to take somewhere, this would be it. It is SO versatile. I bought it originally cause I was in neeeeeeed of a macro. This girl doesn’t have a steady enough hand to get a decent ring shot from a non-macro lens. So I bought it (used of course, I always purchase used or refurbished!). Little did I know that this thing is an AMAZING portrait lens. It’s my lens of choice for most sessions. A little sampling of some images? Ok, alright!

Next up: the Sigma 50mm 1.4 – Also referred to the “As I see it” lens.

Every photographer should have a 50 in their collection. For real. It’s just an all-around great lens. It does the job, and lets be honest, it does it damn well! I rented the Canon 50mm 1.2L and knew it was a bad idea. I knew I was going to fall in love with it and I didn’t have the money to purchase it. Guess what? I fell in love with it. I had rented it for our trip to WPPI in Vegas last year since we were doing a few shoots. Great news is after talking with many photographers (since there were 16k there) alot were recommending I check out the Sigma 50 1.4 which was very comparable. So I did. I went over to the Sigma counter and played with it. LOVED it! I don’t shoot at 1.2 or even 1.4, like rarely ever so losing that little bit didn’t bother me. I came home read review and comparison after review and comparison. I took a leap and bought the Sigma 50mm 1.4. I don’t regret it one bit. I love as much if not more than the Canon 1.2 and the Sigma cost 1/3 of the price. YUP 1/3! Which means I highly recommend it to you. I call it the how I see it cause it’s pretty close to what your naked eye sees. Samplings? Of course!

My other favorite is the Canon 35mm 2.0 – Also referred to as the “Lookbook It” lens

Eee I love this lens. I dream of the 1.4L but refuse to rent it cause it’s not in the cards to purchase right now so I don’t even wanna know how great it is! haha. I’m obsessed with fashion lookbooks. Every season every company has a new one and the just make me oooo and ahhhh. Images from the 35 just remind me of lookbook images. This wide lifestyle kinda look. Ya it’s def my second fav right behind the 100mm. Truthfully I haven’t used it enough lately, that needs to change!

Do I own and use other lenses? Yes. Occasionally haha. But these are my go-tos. I will use a 70-200 for a ceremony but after that I’m done with it. Same type of deal with a 16-35mm or my lensbaby. I’ll do a couple shots to just have them in there but then it’s back to these. We just don’t have the connection I have with these 3. I talk like lenses have feelings. Maybe they do people So if you’re looking for a new lens recommendation or maybe the looks from a few different lenses, well here ya go! These are mine! Cheerio darlings!

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The Breakout Experience – Missoula

Jacilyn M — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 22:34:36 +0000

The Breakout Experience went down in Missoula this last weekend. It was SUCH a blast. I enjoy teaching and helping other photographers SO much!! I can’t even tell you how much. To see them light up with excitement, take TONS of notes, mention how rejuvenated they feel, and their permagrins after the shoot, make it SO exciting!! I love to challenge them to make goals and reach them. And along the way I even find ways to challenge myself. SUCH A GREAT TIME!! If you’re interested in the workshop check out the website for more info

We did the shoot yesterday morning out in a wooded area. During the shoot we spend alot of time discussing and learning how to bring out true emotion in their images. I do alot of this through “role-play” situations. We work through different ways and scenarios to get them engaged and capture their true smiles, laughs, kisses. Not only that but it such a FUN time. Even the couple end up having a fun time. Lauren and Kolten were AWESOME and such troopers through the whole thing and I’m SO excited about these images! Check them out!

See all of their images on their custom website!

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Joelle | Missoula MT High School Senior Project

Jacilyn M — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 20:22:09 +0000

This session was a ton of fun. Joelle is currently a senior at Big Sky and has been working on her senior project…. Modeling. I think she is killing it. Seriously. She’s been working with about 7 photographers on building up a portfolio full of different imagery. It’s crazy. I love it so much. I find it so exciting seeing all of her shoots come up on Facebook. She’s managed to work with quite a few of us and although we’re all in this smaller area each of us has a different style and she rocks each shoot. And her confidence shows. It was so much fun to click the shutter and have her just instantly switch poses. Ah! So much fun! So word for this shoot. FUN. haha.

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