Jenna Cole Photography-Dallas, TX bio picture

Welcome to Jenna Cole!

Investing in a camera and launching this business has given me the
chance to merge the two activities I love most, photography and blogging. After spending several months taking still life photos for my other blogging endeavors (That Bride, Weddingbee, and That Wife) I realized that I wanted to start spending time with people. I wanted to spend my days taking pictures of people that helped them to see how beautiful they are.

I want to capture the moments in your life as they are happening, as they would happen even if I wasn't there with you. When the light falls just right, and the boy and the girl look at each other just so, magic happens. I want to be there for that moment, composing an image that tells a story, your story.

You can read more about my personal life at That Wife, add me on Twitter, or find me on Facebook. Thank you for visiting and for commenting (I read them all and they make my day!).

 

As I prepare for the next big event in my life (the birth of my baby in April!), I'm going to be refocusing my business and sacling back on the number and type of sessions I am accepting. I'll be on maternity leave beginning in March and lasting through May. Please contact me if you have any questions!

Category Archives: Wedding

Wedding: Kathryn + Eric

Monday, February 22, 2010 Posted in Wedding

Kathryn and Eric are the kind of couple I would love to work with for every wedding. They’re crazy photogenic, wanted to book as soon as we met, and in our correspondence after the wedding Kathryn keeps assuring me that she isn’t rushing me because she knows “my wonderful work takes time” (yes that’s a direct quote, she’s crazy sweet like that). I’ll be a little sad to deliver these photos to them actually, as working with them has been such a pleasure.

Their wedding was beautiful, personal, and full of laughter. The best kind of wedding day I think. A big thank you to Lynn of Lynn in Love Photo for keeping me company as second shooter throughout the day.

My favorite bridal details. See Kathryn’s long johns in the bottom right photo? Adorable!

Kathryn was all smiles and giggle while her mom and ‘maids helped her get dressed. The shot on the top left is one of the few successes I had with the tilt-shift that day (my first time using one!).

While the girls got all glammed up the boys… got in some wii time?

Lynn’s shot!

Kathryn and Eric decided to do a first look, giving us plenty of time for portraits in the soft fading light right before the ceremony.

Eric waited nervously…

his gorgeous bride approached…

they hugged and laughed and basked in their own nervousness and excitement while their friends and family looked on.

My favorite portrait of the couple, I just can’t seem to decide if I like it best in color of b&w. Your preference?

These two laughed a lot throughout their wedding day. I’m guessing they laugh plenty as newlyweds too, which should make for a long and happy marriage.

A bit blurry, but the expressions on their faces are too cute to pass up.

We did our bridal party portraits in the quickly fading light. Lynn rocked it as both second shooter and brides assistant (i.e. making sure Kathryn looked good at all times), and I made sure to get a shot of the charm Kathryn attached to her bouquet in memory of her father.

Don’t you love watching the groom’s face as his bride makes her way up the aisle? When the doors opened up his face immediately softened into an expression of devotion.

This wedding was filled with devoted guests who showed their love for the couple in a variety of ways. This gentleman recorded the entire ceremony on his iPhone!

Eric’s father performed the ceremony.

Lynn’s shot.

Two more beautiful shots from Lynn.

Credit for the inspiration behind this next set of portraits goes to Justin and Mary Marantz. I knew I had some portrait time with the newlyweds right after the ceremony, but I had been unsure how to best utilize the time devoid of natural light. I found this post by Justin and Mary and knew that Film Noir-esque was the way I wanted to go. I love love love the way they turned out, and I’m deeming the one of Kathryn on the left as That Shot from the wedding!

Details details details! As a former WB writer I have a soft spot for well-planned details.

First dances are easy to photograph… until the very end. Most couples do a dip or finale of some sort, so I try to keep an eye out for the approach of the end, but it’s incredibly difficult to know where I need to be to get the best angle. This dance was one where I found myself on the wrong side of the dance floor for the grand finale.

As I scurried around to the other side, the couple tipped further and further toward the ground. Eric came dangerously close to dropping his new bride! He didn’t though, and everyone in the room got a kick out of it in the end.

Because I hadn’t been able to get their dip and kiss I did what any smart photographer does, I asked them to cheat and give me another chance at the “perfect dance floor shoot” I was looking for.

Not bad, eh?

While composing this post I realized that the pictures I chose appear to be a bit overly Kathryn-and-Eric-centric and so I added in this album spread preview to show you that they did indeed have a room full of guests present with them that day. The many faces of those who love this sweet couple (I’d add myself in there too but when you are behind the camera you don’t get your picture taken :) ).

My favorite detail from the wedding day? The “poppers” (I obviously don’t really know what they are called) that the couple left out for the send-off. The groom’s brother learned the hard way what happens when you pull the tab before you are supposed to. :)

The guests LOVED it!

After untangling themselves from the mess the happy couple hopped in their limo and rode off to enjoy an amazing honeymoon together.

K & E, I absolutely adore the two of you. I consider myself lucky to have been a part of your wedding day and I admit I’m a little bit sad it’s all over and we’re both about to go our separate ways. I loved being a part of your life on such an important day and I hope you love the photos that resulted as much as I do.

All my love.

Jenna

Wedding: Kimberly + Bradley

Thursday, January 7, 2010 Posted in Wedding

I know Kimberly has been blog-stalking in anticipation of this post. You want to know how I know? Because she commented on Jennifer’s bridal post yesterday! A note to future brides, if you want me to hustle and bustle to get you a teaser post right after your wedding all you have to do is stroke my ego a little bit. :) Thanks for your comments Kimberly!

Kimberly and Bradley were married on the 2nd of January 2010, a great day to get married because it allows guests to party it up on the 31st, sleep in on the 1st, and then party again at your wedding! This bride and groom definitely worked hard to create a personal and memorable wedding day that guests could share in and enjoy. Both the DJ and I were really impressed by how much dancing we saw at their afternoon reception!

Kimberly got dressed at her mother’s house, in her mother’s room which was filled with quilts made by the women in her family. She wore her mother’s dress, put her stockings and veil on at her great-grandmother’s vanity, and was wearing an engagement ring she picked out from her grandfather’s jewelry collection. So much history, and so many wonderful personal touches!

She slipped into this gorgeous silky blue robe to put on her makeup and accessories. I love how luxurious it looks in the photos.

It’s been awhile since I’ve shared a Basic/Fine Art edit example in a post.

The Basic Edit:

And the Fine Art version:

Her mom did up the buttons on the back of the dress with a bobby pin. Has anyone ever seen this technique used before? I’ve only seen people use a crochet hook, but bobby pins are so much more practical because they are always readily available (at least when there is a woman around).

Primping in front of her great grandmother’s vanity.

Off to the church!

They were married at St. Martha Catholic Church in Kingwood, TX.

Completely calm and focused on her love at the end of the aisle. Looking at this picture I can tell this this was right, you know?

They had an interfaith ceremony as she is Catholic and he is LDS. Both religious leaders did a wonderful job personalizing the ceremony to really fit them as a couple.

The attendants really didn’t stand for that long, but the super cute flower girl kept striking this “oh my aching back” pose.

THAT SHOT!

By the time we got organized and took all of the group formal portraits it was already time to head over to the reception, held at Kingwood Country Club in Kingwood, TX. Good thing I worked to grab some shots of these two cuddling and canoodling in between takes.

As the photographer I like long first dances because they give me a chance to play around a bit and try to come up with something unique. The shiny black dance floor they had set up was great for catching reflections.

These two didn’t just do a first dance, they did a choreographed routine filled with spins and swirls and the sweetest hug to finish. It fit in so well with their personal style.

Her dad couldn’t get the printer to work that morning so he read his welcome speech off of his laptop. Everyone got a kick out of it!

In the bottom center you can see their Quaker Marriage Certificate, a tradition that I had only heard about previously. You can read more about what this certificate means on Weddingbee.  I think it’s a wonderful way to revamp the “sign in book” that used to be really common at weddings. After the wedding is over you can frame it and hang it in your home as artwork!

They set out papers for “wishes and advice” and I giggled when I saw what the flower girl had written to them:

Brad, Kimberly. I hope you have a lov-a-bul time!!

I wonder if all of the guests were thinking the same thing I did. That the groom on this cake topper really looks like Brad!

One of the best cake cutting moments I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing so far came when these two got a little aggressive with their slicing and jiggled the topper so hard it slid off the cake! Kimberly caught it in mid-air, provoking some applause from the audience.

That will be a fun memory to relive when they unwrap their frozen top tier a year from now and see the skid marks from where it slid off.

Toward the end of the reception they played something called the Shoe Game. The bride and the groom sit back to back and trade shoes with each other so she has one of his and he has one of hers. The DJ begins asking questions such as “Who is the better kisser?” and they are supposed to hold up the correct shoe to indicate who they thought best fit the description. It’s fun to watch because the bride and groom aren’t allowed to peek at each other and see what their spouse has said.

The guests loved it because sometimes they agreed…

and sometimes they didn’t. :)

See what I mean about their guests rocking the dance floor at 2:00 in the afternoon?

All too soon it was time for Kimberly to change into her going-away outfit (a tradition I love and kind of wish I had done myself!)

While she was changing I grabbed this frame of brother (the groom if you can’t tell) and sister dancing. So sweet!

They got out the door and the father of the groom came barreling after them. What could he possibly need to delay them for?

They didn’t have the keys to the getaway car. :)

Kimberly and Bradley, thank you so much for allowing me to share in your very personalized day. I loved discovering all of the sweet touches you had planned and executed, and I heard several guests say it was a wonderful time. I hope that this marriage means the end of long distance living for the two of you, as love as sweet and true as yours deserves to be shared in person on a daily basis.

Best,

Jenna

Wedding: Nick + Melissa

Wednesday, December 23, 2009 Posted in Wedding

Christmas festivities means this post will be short on words but the photos are so pretty (if I do say so myself) that I think you won’t mind. Nick and Melissa are a couple from Arizona who chose to be married at the LDS Dallas Texas Temple because Nick’s father is serving as a mission president in the area for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. They chose to celebrate simply with twenty of their closest friends and family, and really made the photos the focus of their day (after the marriage of course!).

I’m thrilled because I was told at the wedding that Nick and Melissa found me through a Google Search. Hooray! I must be doing something right. I feel lucky to be the one they chose out of all the other photographers they must have looked over. As you will see below, they’re a beautiful couple who are ridiculously in love. I couldn’t ask for anything more!

I introduced them to the idea of a “first look” and they were willing to give it a try. So worth it.

The first look caused a few tears on Nick’s part. So sweet!

Time to let the bustle down. Nick jumped right in to help figure out how it worked.

Getting married in the freezing cold of winter is worth it for this gorgeous light and warm fluffy coats, don’t you think?

After some time spent doing portraits with just the two of them, family and friends started to show up, letting us know it was time to head inside to get married! Love that you can see their friends and family gathered in a big group behind them on the photo on the right.

No photos are allowed inside of the LDS temple so I didn’t photograph the actual ceremony, but I was ready and waiting for them for the big moment when they made their public debut as husband and wife.

The entire group that celebrated with them that day.

I won’t explain what is happening here. I think it’s funnier if you don’t know. :)

Halfway through the day we realized that the bouts and corsages that had been purchased for photos were still sitting in the car. Melissa stepped forward to help her new husband put on his boutonnière.

She wasn’t as successful as she hoped so mom stepped forward to finish the job.

These two cuties are getting married soon themselves. Maybe you’ll see them on Jenna Cole in the near future? :)

Melissa’s parents. Awwwwwww!

All of the sudden the madness began.

Nick’s brothers picked up the bride.

Nick’s dad picks up the groom.

And the bridal party ended things when they tried (very unsuccessfully) to pick up the groom as well.

On their first meeting he pushed her into the fountain. Or maybe it was she who pushed him? On the left we have “she said” and on the right “he said”. I’m thinking Melissa really looks like she knows what she is doing when it comes to pushing people in fountains!

Kudos to their family for standing outside in the cold for so long without complaining.

After the group portraits were complete, Nick and Melissa and myself moved over to Celestial Park (LDS readers will likely appreciate the irony of this location like we did :) ) to spend a few more hours doing portraits with the bride and groom. The light was dreamy, they were giddy with excitement,

Nick took the wedding bands out of the luggage back in Arizona but forgot to put them back in again and so an emergency trip to the mall was in order. Of the three rings you see here, one is “real” the other two are from Claires. Can you guess which is which? :)

THAT SHOT!

Which one? I don’t care I love them both. Real laughter. Real love.

A very merry Christmas to all of you, and to the newlyweds Melissa and Nick. As I told you beforehand, I love doing bride/groom portraits on the wedding day, so I loved every moment spent with you. Thank you.

Best,

Jenna