Friday's Featured Photographer: Amy Jackson

Amy Jackson began her photographic journey while in high school. Like most of us, she found that taking pictures was a fun way to capture life's moments. Post high school she wanted to pursue drama, but found the local college did not offer drama courses. However, her mother, an artist (painter) herself, suggested that she take a photography class instead. So Jackson registered for a Photography 101 course where she used an all manual SLR camera to learn the basics of shooting black and white photography, composition, and film development in the dark room. It was in 2006, when she bought her first digital camera, that she began to take her photography seriously. With the purchase of the new camera, Jackson found she had a desire to go take pictures all the time and with a wide variety of subjects.

Since then, Jackson has been an active member of Betterphoto.com, several photography groups, and had her work in several juried photography exhibits. She also continues to grow her photography skills by reading photography books, using online tutorials, and watching photography instruction videos.

Jackson currently resides in Newport News, VA with her beloved husband, two beautiful children and four cats. Her children are two of her favored models in her portrait work and portraits of each have won Jackson awards in the past.

Featured Photographer Facts
What/Who got Jackson into photography?

Her interests in photography started in High School and her mother was a great encourager to her

How did Jackson learn photography?
Photography 101 college course

Favorite photographic subjects?
When asked her response was, "I really like to take pictures of almost everything... portraits, events, animals, landscapes, macro photography, and I love being creative in Photoshop. Among my top favorites are photographing my children, sunrises(when I can wake up early enough for them) and sunsets, wildlife, and waterfalls." Sounds like just about everything to us.

Where does Jackson find inspiration?
"And I am inspired and thankful to so many of my talented photographer friends whom have shared equipment, advice, techniques, and constructive criticism! I don't want to leave anyone out! And sometimes just going out to shoot I get inspired by a scene or even a person or silhouette. "

Which artists and photographers have influenced Jackson?
"some of the photographers whom I have had the pleasure to meet and who helped inspire me... Ken Smith, Judy Kennamer, Shawn Jennings, Darren Fisher, Linda Lester, Carla Metzler, Shelly Van Camp and Cathy Barrows. I also like the work of Bryan Peterson, Deborah Sandidge, Zim Zuckerman, Cyn D Valentine, and Jeff Robinson, and Bill Houghton."

Advice for other photographers?
"My best advise to someone starting out in photography is to go out and take lots of pictures while experimenting with settings, read books, watch videos, and join a local photography club. What helped me the most was seeking a critique on my portfolio from a photographer whom I admired. They gave me some honest opinons and help on how to improve my work."

Make sure you check out some of Amy Jackson's work at the following websites:
http://www.photographybyamyjackson.com
http://www.betterphoto.com/gallery/gallery.asp?memberID=127177
And, of course, you could friend her on Facebook where you will get to see some of her amazing portrait work hot off the press.