Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Glenn.
Jennifer, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’m a certified yankee by birth, but a total Texan by choice. If you talk to me, you will hear that Texas drawl a mile away. I was brought to DFW at 2 years old from Pennsylvania when my father was headhunted by Miller Brewery in Ft. Worth in 1978 (He STILL works there)! After living briefly in Arlington, my parents found a little town just south of Ft. Worth named Joshua. I grew up there from K-12 and loved the close-knit community. After high school, I traveled with my HS sweetie to UNT. While at UNT, my love of taking pictures blossomed. Back then it was still film. I took pictures of everything and of course had to send my film in to be processed. After graduation, we married in Hawaii and then we moved back around our hometown to Cleburne. I taught 6th graders for 11 years down the hall from my husband. We both loved our time spent teaching students.
Pictures are life. They are how you remember all of your adventures, your most important life moments, and your story from birth until the end. I have always had a fascination with pictures. I love any kind of pictures from architecture, to nature, to the human story. I didn’t start out a professional photographer. I was a novice while I was growing up and then while teaching school. After my first child was born, I upgraded my gear to be able to capture her growing. She was the most adorable baby so I took her pictures and shared them entirely too much! Friends and family started trying to hire me and at that point I knew that I would love to give photography a shot. I’m extremely blessed to be able to stay home with my babies now and shoot on the side. Being their caregiver and teacher is the most important thing to me. I now have three super adorable little ones to take tons of pictures of on our farm in Alvarado.
At first, I was self-taught, but after a few years in the industry I finally contacted a few of my favorite photographers for mentorships. I am so lucky to have been trained by 3 of the best photographers in the country. My style has evolved and is a melting pot of inspiration. I really lean toward a dramatic, colorful, yet moody style. I want my work to be rich and bold. I have been professionally shooting for 7 years. After having shot everything under the sun at first from newborns to weddings, I am now a sole senior photographer.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I don’t believe anything in life is smooth. We are meant to struggle to find the best in ourselves. I would have to say that in the world of photography there is a new photographer every minute. Momtogs. I started out as one as well and I now look at where I am versus where I was. Huge change. It just makes you want to strive for the best, to study as much as possible, to hone your skills, to offer the best, to be competitive yet exclusive. Another challenge in this field is time. Giving up the family time on the weekends when clients need their shoot, giving up holidays to get everyone else the gifts/Christmas cards etc. they need. Right now, as a mom of 3 littles 7 years and under, I absolutely can’t work on anything during the day. All of my work happens in the wee hours at night/early morning when the babies are asleep and I have that short time of quiet time. I hand edit and it takes a while to get a gallery completed. For me this is a huge challenge, but I know they are only little once!
Quincey & Company Photography LLC – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
With seniors I get to plan everything; outfits, props, hair and makeup, and locations. I truly believe that when you hone in on your specialty, you become the expert in that field. It’s important for me to stay true to shooting what I love the most, plus seniors are pretty awesome, they actually want their pictures taken and I don’t have to chase them around like herding cats (aka kids). Ha! I get so excited when it’s shoot time and my creative juices flow. Many of my seniors like to shoot at our farm, it has so many wonderful locations, however, it is important to me to try to give each senior a unique experience. I’m constantly location scouting for when we leave the farm, even my husband sends me pictures when he notices something cool around town. I have him trained well! Sometimes we go on Sunday drives to places we have never been around our area. It’s always fun to hear the kids say…are we there yet? No, we are JUST driving, look out the window and enjoy!!!!
What I’ve learned working with seniors is that it is important to offer something different and unique. With so many photographers around you have to make yourself stand out. I do this in several ways but creating high end products for my seniors is a must. When they come to me, they leave with so much more than digitals on a zip. I really try to give that boutique senior experience. Each of my seniors gets a heartfelt video. Nearly every parent cries watching the videos, I may cry too…
This is such a special time. There is no denying our seniors are excited about their futures, while many of their parents are proud yet in a very fragile place. It’s a change of life, a different season. As a parent it can be heart wrenching especially when your last one graduates and the nest empties. I hope that through all of these emotions, I have given them something special to look back at for the rest of their lives. This milestone is so important to document. I preach all the time that I hope parents will pick someone that loves doing this and will provide them with the absolute best memories. That is what I do and it makes my heart so FULL!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
I really am proud EVERY single time I have a client premiere and I see the joy and tears when my clients see their video and final portraits. It is such a euphoric experience.
I am also proud to have been featured with many senior gurus. It is a competitive market and there are so many wonderful artists around the country. Being featured means they liked your work enough to share it with their fans and followers and that is a proud moment!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.qandcophotos.com
- Phone: 8172194381
- Email: qcophotos@gmail.com
- Instagram: @qandcophotos
- Facebook: Quincey & Company Photography LLC
Image Credit:
Quincey & Company Photography LLC
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