blissfully engaged , familiar love , first look , in expectation , Indian wedding , newborn , personal , with this ring
Jillian Zamora Photography year in review 2021
Hello and happy 2022 to anyone who still visits blogs (lololol). I can’t help it . In this Instagram/Tik Tok world I can’t stop loving longer form photo sharing and I honestly don’t foresee that changing anytime soon.
Here is my compilation of all my JZP work from the past year. I do these posts for myself to be able to look back on all the stories and lives I am so incredibly honored to be invited to witness and document. I am thankful for each and every person in these photos. It just causes me to praise God for the gift of this work that I never could have dreamed of pursing on my own.
I also do these posts for future potential clients to see highlighted what I value in my storytelling — preserving your most dear, honest and blissful moments. I hope you can see that in this post.
Now for the photos. I started the year off in San Diego with the Sewell family at their favorite tide pool. I love them I love them I love them and hope to blog this entire session one day soon because every single bit of it makes me smile smile smile.
I had the honor of meeting + photographing my cousin’s newborn photos in January. Spoiler alert: if you make it to the end of this post you’ll see what he looks like as a big one-year-old too.
Beth + Zack’s wedding was my first of the year. As I looked back at their gallery with a year’s distance from it one of the things that stood out to me most were how all the masks in the photos marked the time in which their wedding took place.
I’m going to do all DFW people a favor and tell you to order you some Heimat pretzels after you finish looking through this post. You will not regret it. For the record the rosemary-garlic and cinnamon sugar ones are my favorites!
Below is the first of two Poe family sessions in 2021. Not long after this session Abi texted me that apparently those would be their last photos as a family of three (keep going in the post to see the second little Poe boy shortly after his arrival right before the end of the year).
Joni + Jeremy’s intimate Broken Bow, OK cabin wedding was full of intentionality and personal touches and sweetness.
There were so many favorite things about Hillary + Regan’s lovely Fort Worth wedding with KC Cloud Events — the light streaming through the stained glass windows of the church during their ceremony, their stunning florals, and both of Hillary + Regan’s fathers being a part of their wedding ceremony. But I gotta tell you, every time I think about their wedding I can’t help but think about the PUPPIESSSSS at cocktail hour.
Every time I think of Alyssa + Blake’s wedding I start singing Julie Andrew’s “Raindrops on Roses.” The rain fell off an on all morning, even up to the ceremony itself, but that didn’t dampen even a bit of the joy of the day.
I also want to give a special shout out to my second-shooter and JZP associate shooter, Jacob. He shot all but three of my 2021 weddings with me LIKE A CHAMP and several of the photos I selected from the following wedding are ones he took. He does such amazing work and I’m proud to have him work with me and represent JZP.
HOW COOL IS IT being invited into the Vanderpool home for my third newborn session for this dear family? I’ll tell you: PRETTY DANG COOL.
Then I had the joy joy joy to document a slew of past JZP brides and grooms growing their families this year – so sweet to be a part of documenting a family from their first day married and some of their first days as parents.
In May I flew out to Taos, NM for Bethany + Josh’s wedding in the mountains but the forecast disagreed with their outdoor ceremony plans. The rain and hail may have pushed us indoors at the last minute for a ceremony in their airbnb but Bethany, Josh and all their people rallied and made it happen. That airbnb was filled top to bottom with so much delight that it was palpable.
Sophy + Jason’s was my last wedding that I photographed pregnant with my third child. It’s funny how I mark even my own life by y’all’s special events I get invited in to be a part of.
While that was my last wedding before maternity leave there were still plenty of shoots (and a mountain of editing) to come before it officially started.
I LOVED meeting back up with the Tipton’s while they were on sabbatical from serving overseas as missionaries. I photographed their wedding back in the earliest days of JZP and getting to reunite with them in Tyler, Texas and meet their three children was a joy in and of itself. Another thing I loved was how storytelling focused this session was from their family’s porch swing to s’mores to a family water gun + hose fight and ending with bubbles. I definitely intend to do a separate blog of this session to share more in depth, but here are a few of my stand alone favorite images.
On that same trip to Tyler for the Tipton session we celebrated my birthday by staying at an airbnb and hitting up the local coffee + restaurant scene. These photos were taken when I was 32 weeks pregnant.
My last two shoots before maternity leave were with repeat JZP clients and their precious babies – just what I needed to make me allllllll the more excited to welcome our own baby so soon.
Jesse Cypress Zamora was born in August. We are so thankful for him and he’s pretty well snuggled as you can see in the below photos with his big sister and brother. Also in September my oldest, Juniper, turned six-years-old.
I took two glorious months to give my full focus to welcoming our newest family member and then in October I photographed a quick maternity session for a dear friend, followed by Brittany + Akash’s two-day McGovern Centennial Gardens in Houston, TX.
Next up out was Melissa + Nik’s New Orleans, LA wedding — my first time to New Orleans and my first time to witness the fun that is a second line band at a wedding reception. Melissa + Nik are so down to earth and about their people. They had actually waited a year longer than originally intended to have their wedding due to the pandemic. The hidden gift of the wait was that instead of their wedding being the day after daylight savings time, it was now the day OF daylight savings time which meant we were gifted the most glorious hour of sunlight after their wedding ceremony that we were not anticipating having and boy, oh, boy did we bask in it!
As promised, we’ve arrived at the second Poe session of 2021 starring their newest member, Luke.
And do you remember my cousin’s teeny baby at the beginning of this post? It sure was fun to get to document these updated family photos of their sweet one-year-old at the end of the year.
My last wedding of the year was Thao + Chris’ and it was SUCH a fun one to close out 2021 with. The photos I chose to share in this post barely scratches the surface of Thao + Chris’ THREE ceremonies in one day but I have high hopes of blogging the whole thing on its own later this year.
We celebrated Christmas with family and I ended the year with two more past JZP couples who are expecting sweet babies along with one engagement session for a 2022 JZP bride + groom.
What a year, what a year.
Thank you, Lord, for an eleventh year getting to tell so many sweet stories for such lovely humans. What a gift it is.
blissfully engaged , familiar love , mentor sessions , newborn , personal , with this ring
Jillian Zamora Photography 2020 recap
Listen, I know it’s April and we’re a solid quarter of the way into 2021 but this is my first and probably last chance this year that I could fit in the time to devote to a 2020 year in review blogpost. And something in me would just not let me skip it. I think it’s because 2020 was such a hard, hard year for so many that it can almost feel like a pointless, wasted year to some. Or at the very least, a year many would like to forget.
When I reflect back on these photos taken during that calendar year I have to remind myself, there was so much joy in it too. That doesn’t negate the pain of loss many experienced, by any means. But the joy was there too. These moments of beautiful human connection and growth happened too. And these are only *some* that one individual person witnessed + documented. How many more must there have been?
If you know what my children look like, you may notice I mixed in several personal photos I took of them throughout the course of the year into this JZP recap post too. Because so many of my 2020 weddings were cancelled or rescheduled to 2021, I spent a lot more time just being mom and documenting my own kids with my DSLR camera and thought those might be fun to include as well.
So here it is, a look back at JZP’s 2020. I hope it’s as helpful for y’all to look through these as it was for me.
You can see my full blogposts of my last pre-pandemic wedding here and here. For the sake of this post I had to narrow down my favorites from Cybil + Ambika’s three-day wedding weekend — the following is my best attempt at that haha.
I so enjoyed getting to do a photography mentor session with Madeline this summer — it’s such a joy of mine to encourage other photographers in their strengths + growing their businesses (and bonus is getting to give them some updated headshots like the ones of Madeline below). Our models for the mentor session were newlyweds who had a downsized pandemic wedding in the backyard so it was special to be able to take these portraits of them!
My sister had a bone marrow transplant in a pandemic. Any point I felt scared of something in the uncertainty of 2020 I told myself, “If Jalesa can face what she did in the midst of a pandemic then I can certainly face this.” Her God-given courage — which, let us remember is not the lack of fear but the ability to do something in the face of fear — over the past several years as she battled leukemia, went into remission, celebrated, then immediately faced relapse, a bone marrow transplant at the beginning of a pandemic and slow, important, difficult recovery from the transplant throughout the remainder of the pandemic is a source of inspiration to me, and to many. Below are some portraits I took of her (socially distanced) about three months post-transplant.
My friends created thriving, successful businesses in 2020 (both that I recommend SO HIGHLY to each and every one of you)!! Below you’ll see some headshots I took of my long time friend Brittney of BGD Digital Marketing. SO DANG PROUD of what she’s built and she does such quality marketing/social media work. And then you’ll see some mouthwatering photos of some pretzels that come from none other than Heimat Baking Company out of Arlington, TX. I have taste tested (and photographed) each and every one of their German pretzels + baked goods and let me tell you GO ORDER SOME NOW AND THANK ME LATER.
In August 2020 JZP celebrated 10 years of business! It’s still so bizarre for me to type — a DECADE of getting to do this beautiful work with so many beautiful souls. To mark it, some sweet past clients recorded testimonial videos that you can see on my JZP IGTV if you missed them this summer (they STILL make me teary) and James took an updated headshot for me (because I hate being in front of the camera by myself and hadn’t done so in years OOPS).
It was right after the above very photo-ful weekend trip to Texas that I came home to discover that I’m pregnant with our third child! Beautiful, joyful news that was really complicated for me to process two months after a move to a new state (our second cross-country move in less than one calendar year) and still trying to get my bearings in Louisiana. If I’m honest (after all, that is one of JZP’s brand words), I’m still trying to get my bearings in Louisiana after so much transition we’ve experienced in the past year with my husband’s job bouncing back and forth across the country. It’s been a difficult transition for me. But the news of this third child has been a bright spot in the midst of the hard.
And that, my dears, was JZP’s 2020 in photo form that spanned DFW, Houston, Austin, and sent me into Arizona + Oklahoma and on back to Louisiana. If you made it to the end, thank you, I know it was a long post. All these people, all these individual moments of connection + joy I got to witness, are why I do what I do and why I love what I do.
Love, Jillian
blissfully engaged , familiar love , first look , Indian wedding , personal , with this ring
2019 year in review // jillian zamora photography
2019. Man. A year in review blogpost serves lots of purposes. First, it gets a whole lot of images that would have never seen the light of day (beyond the client galleries/homes of course) onto my blog. Since becoming a mom-of-two my work hours got cut down by about three quarters. I never knew how quickly I could edit until my main editing hours became those I used waking up before the kids woke up, nap time and then the hours after they go to bed. I learned I could be HIGHLY EFFICIENT and honestly do just as thorough an editing job before. If 2015 Jillian could see 2019 Jillian edit she’d be REAL real impressed. But it does mean my blogging time is nearly non-existent. HENCE my massive year in review post that, at the very least, shows you I’m still working 🙂 The second purpose of a year in review blogpost is for me to reflect on the previous year’s weddings and portrait sessions. GOODNESS GRACIOUS so much thankfulness washes over me as I look through these images and think about these souls who’ve entrusted me with something so precious as recording their memories on such special days. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to all my clients this past year. Thank you for your trust. Thank you for connecting with me and my work out of the hundredsssss and hundreds of other photographers out there. It means so much to me. If I wasn’t afraid the length of my text would keep you from actually getting to the photo portion of this post I’d keep going. But know, from the bottom of my heart, I am so appreciative of you.
Now on to the photos!
Kicked off 2019 with Connor and Allie’s wedding at The Nest at Ruth Farms. This is one of the *two* full weddings I got up on my blog last year (*Jillian hides in corner in shame*) so if you’d like to see more images from this lovely day feel free to click here for a whole bunch more.
This sweet January babe has just celebrated her FIRST birthday — I can hardly believe it looking at these photos from Sutton’s newborn session.
I love me a family session in homes full of windows and love like the Windle family.
Then came the engagement sessions — I loved each and every one of ’em.
My first time to photograph the lovely Katy was at her bridal session and I knew we were kindred sprits when she started to tear up during her session when I asked her to think about marrying her (now husband) Ryan.
I only did one round of mini sessions in 2019 (after three rounds in 2018) — here were a few of my favorites from that stormy day of sessions at The Lumen Room.
Lily + Nick eloped at the Japanese Gardens and I so enjoyed their quiet little ceremony + wandering the garden together for a bit afterwards.
Katy + Ryan’s got married at the Hall of State in April and a full blogpost from their wedding will be up soon because I have a really hard time narrowing down photos of people as expressive as these two. This first image is Katy’s (now, but at the time very-soon-to-be) step-son’s helping dry her tears after she read the letters + drawings they made for her to read on the morning of the wedding. Sweet sweet sweet sweet sweet. More to come from this one.
You’ll note from this teeny preview from Jessica + Sal’s engagement session that I REALLY like photographing these two in a close up hahaha. I just love them so much I couldn’t step further away from them!! (I did, however, put plenty of further back ones in their gallery haha all my favorites just happened to be pretty extreme close ups hahaha).
Oh sweet Katie and Jacob. These two flew me out for their California wedding last May and we kicked off photos with some portraits before their rehearsal dinner.
More portrait sessions — summer engagements, an equestrian shoot (!) and a sunrise newborn session to welcome the third little Vanderpool child.
Aynav + Adam — goodness gracious these two (and their Houston wedding at The Crystal Ballroom) just make me smile.
I had fun at Melanie + Michael’s engagement session playing with shadows and sunset reflections.
No smiles can compete with Lauren and Billy’s smiles, I’m thoroughly convinced. Also that last picture of he and his mom singing through their mother-son dance at the reception is one of my favorites.
Cynthia + Bryan’s June wedding was full of family, mariachi and perhaps my personal favorite detail, her handmade veil from Mexico.
This was my first wedding to photograph at Hidden Waters in Waxahachie and it was such a treat for my first wedding here to be Emily and Trent’s.
You guys, it had been a hot minute since I’d had the joy of documenting a proposal but Casey and Samuel’s at Klyde Warren Park had me feeling all kinds of feelings.
Ahhhhh Ameena + Sahir — it’s almost laughable for me to try and narrow down my favorites from their three-day wedding at The Dallas Renaissance so feel free to check out their full blogposts here, here and here (hey, I told you it was three days!).
In August I had the joy to photograph the lovely Tori at The Lumen Room.
Marion + David were so expressive during their ceremony and I COULD NOT HANDLE the cuteness.
Fun fact:Â I went straight from Taylor + Ryan’s Dallas engagement session (so. much. fun.) to the hospital to photograph a dear friend’s baby being born. Now THAT is a good day.
Brooke + Gordon on White Rock Lake, what dreams are made of.
Y’all, this is coming to a blog near you REAL soon. The last time I photographed portraits of these two (outside of their wedding day) we hit up the Brooklyn Bridge at sunrise and these sunrise portraits for their second anniversary were (IMO) equally as epic. Texas was showin’ OFF that morning.
Tori and Paul –Â two of the nicest humans around and now they’re married.
I PHOTOGRAPHED THEIR WEDDING AND NOW THEY HAVE A BABY NAMED LUCA AND I’M NOT CRYING, YOU’RE CRYING!!
Baby Henry, your aunt Jillian lovvvvvvvvvvves you.
It’s just. I have no words. I loved this day. I love shooting at Cliff House. I love Erin + Kevin and all their people (and their pup).
Taylor + Micah were married at Knotting Hill Place and danced the night away under a full moon.
Chelsea + Patrick are TOP NOTCH. I want to shout it again TOP NOTCH!! Their wedding at The Fort Worth Zoo was so beyond fun, like these two. I also always, always love working with Jen Rios Weddings and, fun fact, this was our second wedding together at the zoo!
Isn’t it so nice to see people you knew growing up so HAPPY? Does the soul good. It was a privilege to document this jr-and-high-school-friend of mine marry the love of her life in October.
Okay one of my favorite memories of this day was when the groom couldn’t find parking around their wedding venue (which was at The Dallas Farmer’s market on a Saturday) so he went back to the AirBnB and rode one of those rented scooters to his wedding. Still cracks me up each time I see that photo — I just happened to be scouting for their first look when he pulled up with two of his groomsmen on those scooters and I’m SO glad I was there to document.
Too many favorite parts of Taylor + Ryan’s wedding day to even recount — the super touching toasts and Taylor’s dad barely holding it together during the father-daughter dance are at the top for me.
My last wedding of 2019 and MAN did it end with a BANG with Jessica + Sal’s wedding. There is no way I could possibly condense the beauty of this day into a few images but here’s me trying my best. Cloud Creative Events and Moss Floral went above and beyond on this one.
Oh hey, we moved to South Dakota. Surprise. I’m still shooting DFW weddings (I feel the need to compulsively say that each time I share the SD news with people). This was my very first shoot ever in the snow. I loved getting to document a bit of the Carlin’s pregnancy.
Remember Casey and Samuel? From the proposal up there? Well I ended the year with their December engagement session and it was peachy as all get out.
If you made it to the end of this post *HIGH FIVE* Thank you for caring. For supporting. And for listening to my rambling. I’m ending this year in review with a few of my favorite personal photos from the year featuring YOU GUESSED IT my family. They mean the world to me. And I think that should matter to you, prospective clients. If you know I love and treasure my family then you know that I understand the importance of documenting yours — your first day of your new family on your wedding day, your newborn days, your big-kid running wild days. They matter. And I care a whole big bunch, about my family AND yours.
SO MUCH LOVE TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU,
xoxo Jillian
blissfully engaged , familiar love , first look , in expectation , personal , with this ring
2018 in review // wedding + family photojournalism
I’m going to share with you some of my favorite images from the course of 2018. I am so unbelievably thankful thankful thankful to all the people who trusted me to document their lives this year. I know these moments are precious, I feel it in my bones, and I never take that responsibility lightly. I witnessed the very first day of many families, the additions of new life into the world and homes. I captured the momentous and also quite a bit of the everyday. With my camera I documented stories of love, hope, growth, waiting, beauty and joy. So much joy. What a beautiful year spent photographing some of the most beautiful souls. Thank you all.
It started off with Jessica + Ryan’s Hall of State wedding
Included a whole lot of families photographed in their homes (my favorite place to photograph families)
Shai + Brent made Dallas look real good for their engagement session.
My first ever round of mini sessions at The Lumen Room were so much fun that I planned a second round of mini’s just five months later. Here are some from the first round:
More state park weddings in 2019, please. I so enjoyed Adi + Julian’s relaxed and intimate Huntsville state park wedding.
I got the honor and privilege of photographing several previous brides’ and grooms’ welcoming new babies into their families!
I documented Jacob + Liz in their first home before they jumped into a brand new adventure together.
In April I flew to South Carolina for Emmaline + Nikita’s engagement session on Duke University campus.
Aanchal + Nick had two full days of wedding celebration complete with mariachi + barat!
Esther +Â Trevor’s SMU Perkins Chapel + Filter Building wedding day was a dream dream dream.
I so enjoyed shooting at The Darkroom studio for the first time for Taylor’s bridal portraits.
I don’t always get to do birth photography with my wedding schedule but it just so worked out for me to be at little Ella’s birth and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Taylor + Johnny’s Brik wedding with Cloud Creative Events + Everly Alaine Florals was dreamy as all get out.
Annnnnd then came the second round of mini sessions at The Lumen Room (shot while I was 32 weeks pregnant).
Emmaline + Nikita’s wedding was my first Russian Orthodox wedding ceremony to photography, which was so fun. I so enjoyed their portraits + reception at Hotel Crescent Court.
Jessica + Kolby’s Cliff House morning wedding was such an absolute delight.
And I wrapped up 2018 with Katie + Kyle’s Oklahoma wedding at Southwind Hills.
If you’re still reading, GOOD JOB! It’s a longgggg post, a whole year’s worth, in fact!
 To end, I could think of no better way to further illustrate how much I value documentation and preserving memories than by showing that I do the same for my family. This year we were so blessed by the addition of baby boy Jones Cedar to our family. Here are a few of my favorite images I’ve captured in my own home over the past couple months since his arrival.
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