Meet Jessica Davis of Jess Elaine Photography in Orland Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Davis.

Jessica, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My story as a photographer started around the prime age of 3 when my Papa gifted me a toy camera for Christmas. As a child, I wanted to be just like him. He was always skillfully and carefully capturing everything we did, everything. And if he wasn’t preserving our memories with his camera, he was making beautiful art shooting landscapes, flowers and nature. He is who inspired me to be a photographer.

So I played with toy cameras. I grew up making photographs, home movies, drawings, recordings… anything that I could use to capture a moment in time, fascinated me. Once I reached high school, it became clear to me that I had to pursue my infatuation with picture making. I was fortunate enough to attend a high school that offered a plethora of art courses, and I immersed myself in as much of them as I could, but nothing held a candle to photography. It was something that gave me confidence, and something I knew I was good at and most importantly to me, something I truly enjoyed doing. I made a vow to myself at that age, to never commit my life to doing something I do not enjoy. I told myself that my most important goal in life was to fulfill that promise.

I actually had my eyes set on Columbia College Chicago as early as my freshman year of high school. I would say to my family, “I’m going to go to Columbia College and become a famous photographer!” My poor parents were most definitely a tad bit weary at first, as I’m sure most parents would be when they hear their child aspires to be an artist. I knew I needed to prove to them that I could do it, that I could be a successful photographer… I just had to figure out how.

During my 4+ years at Columbia, I soaked up everything I possibly could for my craft. I explored all different genres of photography but ultimately fell particularly in love with portraiture. Portraiture excited me, it challenged me and it pushed me to be creative. I spent a lot of time focusing on fashion and beauty photography. During this time I also started working as a makeup artist. I’ve always had a passion for beauty and aesthetics and my skills as a makeup artist went hand in hand with beauty and fashion photography. The studio became my home. I found that I thoroughly enjoyed the creative freedom of being able to completely compose and make an image. I learned how to use light to convey feeling and emotion; a story. I learned how to style with props, clothing and accessories. I used makeup to infuse my work with color and another art form I adore. I learned all of the technical aspects like which lenses to use for what and how to use all of my settings to capture the image in the way I desired. Doing all of this allowed me to have 100% creative control over my art. Everything I do is with intention. Because of my education I am able to pull all the pieces together and not just hope that they fall into place.

After completing college and doing some assisting work I began to feel that my hopes and dreams to be a commercial, fashion and beauty photographer were drifting away. I found myself thinking heavily about my future and what I wanted it to look like, and I just wasn’t seeing myself as a city girl living in LA or NY and jet setting around the globe. I thought to myself, I want to have my own business, I want to be a portrait photographer, I want to be near my family and most importantly I want to make a family of my own. It wasn’t until my first nephew was born that it all made sense to me. I had photographed newborns and babies before and enjoyed it but never really gave it a lot of thought. That all changed when Blaine arrived. I found that I just adored planning and styling the setups, lighting the shots and posing the babies! It is everything I fell in love with about photography and it comes with a lifestyle I want to live! I decided then that I wanted my business to be all about newborn, baby and family oriented photography.

I started my business doing some free model sessions, where I would take the photos for free and then sell any images the families wanted from the shoot. This got me experience and portfolio work. I also spent countless hours researching everything from shooting and posing to business practices in the industry. I invested in workshops and bootcamps specifically for newborn and baby photography. I invested loads of money into more photography equipment, software and stocking my forever growing prop collection. I poured everything I had into starting my business.

At first I would travel to my clients homes but for newborn sessions specifically, that was just exhausting and frustrating. The light was hardly ever just right and I had no control over the environment I was in. Not to mention I had to drag loads of equipment and props into their home. I knew I needed a studio space to really be able to make work I felt proud to make so I set out to find one. Unfortunately when you are a new business owner and a young 20 something year old women, you don’t have much capital to invest. I quickly realized there was no way I could afford a space. Luckily, I come from a family of entrepreneurs and I was able to utilize my resources by setting up shop above my family’s real estate office. They had space that was not being used and I asked if I could occupy it!

Around November of 2014 I moved in all of my photo gear and started to save up and slowly furnish the space. Now it is a fully furnished and organized working studio space that I use for all of my posed newborn, baby milestone and studio maternity sessions. It’s not my perfect dream space but it is getting me there! I shoot outdoor sessions of all kinds and I love shooting in the natural light. I also still shoot in client’s homes but they are lifestyle sessions focused on a documentary style of photography. Capturing the real and raw emotions and moments of growing families is something I enjoy dearly. Studio and lifestyle portraiture gives me everything I need to feel fulfilled in my work.

I am so excited for the future of my business. I have dreams of a beautiful store front studio with large windows and shooting space galore! I will continue to work hard towards that goal and I feel it is just on the horizon as I prepare to start a new chapter in my life this June, marriage! My soon to be husband and I will be in the market for a house to call home and once that is established, next up will be where to relocate my business to its forever home. I truly feel I have found my calling as corny as it sounds. I cannot fathom anything else I would rather be doing and I urge anyone and everyone to find the same feeling and purpose for their life!

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?
Finding clients and marketing my business has probably been the hardest part. Positioning your business in front of your intended consumer is hard! Ultimately for my specific industry, I have found that it mostly just takes time to establish a word of mouth and an online presence. You have to keep pushing on and doing what you do the best you possibly can and trust that it will all be worth it. My motto is, be patient, trust your journey.

Please tell us about Jess Elaine Photography.
I specialize in newborn, baby, maternity and family photography. I am most known for my newborn and baby milestone work, as that is what I book the most of!

I feel that my style and ultimately my education is what sets me apart from others in my field. There definitely are not as many photographers in this industry that have degrees in photography. A lot of them are self-taught, commonly mother’s, who decided to pick up photography as a hobby so they can photograph their children and then turned it into a business…and I commend them! There is nothing wrong with that at all and it’s certainly inspiring. However, I do believe my education and training sets me apart. Because of the culmination of everything I learned and absorbed from my college education I feel that I have all of the necessary skills to create a cohesive style and brand. Everything I do is with intention and I owe that to my education for giving me the tools to understand what those intentions are, why I have them and how to execute them.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Oh boy that’s a loaded question, so many memories came flooding in to my mind. Some of my favorite childhood memories took place at my family’s cabin in the U.P, of Michigan. My great grandfather built a log cabin hunting camp up there many many years ago and it has been built onto and kept in my family ever since. I have been there at least once every year since before my birth even! My mom was pregnant with me the first time “I” went.

The cabin is filled with loads of memorabilia, antiques, taxidermy and old photographs. I bet you can guess what my favorite things to look at were and still are… the old photographs. Most of the photos were taken by my papa, who was my inspiration to become a photographer. Whether they were portraits of family members or beautiful natural landscapes and rural north woods scenery, I loved walking around and looking at each and every one and I still do. To this day on every trip I take I will walk around the cabin to each room and look at all of the photos. There are so many to look at and think about, each with a story attached that I’ve either been told about or lived myself. Spending time at my cabin in general makes me the happiest girl in the world and it always has and always will as long as it exists!

Contact Info:

• Address: 14340 S. La Grange Rd, Orland Park, IL 60462
• Website: www.jesselainephotography.com
• Phone: 7084761243
• Email: jessica@jesselainephotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/jesselainephoto/
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/JessElainePhoto/
• Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/jess-elaine-photography-orland-park?osq=photography
• Other: http://directory.bestnewbornphotographers.com/photographer/jess-elaine-photography/

Image Credit:
Headshot & behind the scenes photo taken by Alyssa.Mae Photography | Edited by Jess Elaine Photography
All other photos copyright Jess Elaine Photography

Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.