Photography with Jason L.

I'm a native and resident of Jersey City, NJ. I've been a creative person most of life and have had many interests from drawing, music, boxing, and martial arts. I'm a husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and proud of my roots in Jersey City. I'm a graduate of New Jersey City University with a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting. I grew up on Duncan Avenue in Jersey City and you could often find me in Lincoln Park playing basketball. My first encounter with photography was going through family photos with my Mom. Both of my parents are southerners who moved north and didn't have family very close to us so pictures were instrumental in knowing my roots. This interaction at the time shaped me but I didn't realize it. This was at the time before digital photography or smart phones so 35mm film cameras were common. Although my Dad always had film cameras in the house, what I used the most was disposable film cameras. What I learned was minimal but it was important. Composition. Composing a photo no matter the quality can make or break the story being told. Along the way the world changed toward digital photography. DSLRs, smartphones, and social media became the norm and more people were taking photos. However, that didn't mean people knew "how" to take a good photo. Although the medium changed the principles of photography didn't. In addition, I don't know that people appreciated the photos the same as we had hundreds in our phones versus the 27 shots I use to get from disposable cameras. The journey towards professional photography started with documenting my wife's pregnancy. I fancied myself a "family photography" because I was good at using my smartphone and a small point and shoot camera to print photos and make albums. However, my wife (co-founder of JMT Photography & Media) was actually the one with Nikon ILC cameras that she used often on vacations. Once we announced that we were having our 1st child everything changed and I wanted to dive into photography in a serious way. I wanted to capture the moments leading up to the birth of our daughter so we could have these memories for years to come. Along the way I purchased books, watched videos, and self studied all things photography related that I could. Over time, people noticed the improvements in my photos and thought that I could make this passion a profession, so I did. Fast forward, I have done many years of portrait photography, events, food photography, video, and more.