Feature Writer of the Week - jamesAnn Photography

The Sweetest Mother's Day Gift!

Tell me a little about yourself.

My Instagram bio says- Lover of photography, dogs, tattoos, doughnuts, Liz Lemon and Lincoln, NE – which just about sums it up!
Really though, I am Jamie Steckelberg Scott, owner and photographer behind jamesAnn Photography L.L.C, and mom of two beautiful kiddos, Mara (8) and Preston (3), and two pups, Gertie and Elsa. I am also the Director of Spiritual Development and Worship Arts at Saint Paul United Methodist Church in Lincoln, NE. In my spare time I can usually be found creating some sort of mess with my kids, or studying for my Masters of Arts in Counseling degree.

Tell us a bit about your business?

jamesAnn Photography was founded because of my deep love of the arts and of people.

I love working with families to create beautiful pieces of art that capture the spirit and personality of who they are. It is such an honor to be asked to be included in such wonderful and meaningful moments in people’s lives.

Who/what inspired you to get started?

I have been loving photography for as long as I can remember. My dad and I have talked cameras and darkrooms and technique since I was a little girl. The idea of preserving memories and pieces of time forever is such a beautiful gift. Giving families the opportunity to relive, revisit, and hold on to important moments in time is, to me, priceless.

What are some of your favorite sites on the ‘net?

Instagram is so much fun! One of my favorite photographers, Annie Leibowitz, says – The best camera is the one you have with you. Instagram is proof of that! All those moments captured!

www.PackDog.com is another one of my favorite Go-To websites. I flippin LOVE dogs. Love. Love. Love. Dogs. And Pack is an amazing little social networking sight of dogs and their people. It’s basically Instagram for dogs and I love it. (Shameless plug here, I’m even the curator of the German Wiredhaired Pointer Pack… so come check us out!)

What does a typical day look like for you? (Ha – what’s typical!)

I’m not sure there IS such a thing as a typical day for the Scott family! Ha! MOST days I go to work at Saint Paul for the majority of the day, and a few times a week head to the studio for a session or two. Then after work/school evenings are spent with the kiddos and their various activities, and once they are down for the night my husband, Jeff, and I usually watch a show or movie together, and because I am an EXTREME night owl, I stay up well into the night editing photos working on blog posts and client orders!

What advice do you have for someone who wants to blog or start their own business?

EDUCATE, EDUCATE, EDUCATE. Mostly yourself, but others too. Learn your craft. Love your craft. Become an expert, and learn to visit the sites/pages/blogs/whatever of others who do what you do only with an observational lens, not a comparative one! Be YOU be your voice, be your style. Do you, and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing. It may take longer to find your own groove, but once you do, you will be happier and more in love with what you are doing than you could imagine.

How can people follow you?
Website- www.jamesann.com/blog
Instagram – @jamesannphoto
Facebook – www.facebook.com/jamesannphotography

*Note* Jamie also provides numerous feature photos for Her View From Home. We thank her times a million!!

So God Made a Grandmother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Order Now!

featured writer of the week jamesann photography

Her View From Home

Millions of mothers connected by love, friendship, family and faith. Join our growing community. 1,000+ writers strong. We pay too! Find more information on how you can become a writer on Her View From Home at https://herviewfromhome.com/contact-us/write-for-her//

Maybe that “Mean Mom” Is Just Busy

In: Friendship

Ever since Ashley Tisdale wrote about leaving her toxic mom group, I have noticed something shift among women my age, moms in our 40s who built friendships through school drop-offs, soccer sidelines, neighborhood walks, and birthday parties. Here is the thing….no one wants to be labeled the “mean girls mom group.” Recently, I was out to dinner with a friend when she shared something that stuck with me. A woman had quietly left their local moms’ group and later treated them as if they were exclusionary. The final straw? She had sent a group text at dinnertime and no one...

Keep Reading

I’m Going to Tell You the Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

In: Living, Motherhood

During my oldest daughter’s freshman year of college, I started being haunted by a recurring dream of an old-fashioned suitcase—one of those hard-sided ones that’s as big as they come. In the dream, when I open the suitcase, it’s overflowing with clothing, shoes, and all kinds of stuff that belongs to me and each of my three daughters. Everything in the suitcase is all jumbled together. Nobody else in the dream is worried about sorting through everything, but I am totally stressed about it. To top it all off, I have to deal with this suitcase while preparing for a...

Keep Reading

Your Worth Is Not Someone Else’s To Measure

In: Faith, Living

Insecurity is something we all carry in one form or another. For me, it has probably always looked confident and outgoing from the outside. But internally, it can feel heavy, complicated, and exhausting at times. And when someone comes along whose behavior reinforces those insecurities, it amplifies what was already there. There was someone I had hoped to genuinely connect with, but it was clear from the start that the feeling wasn’t mutual. From the beginning, their wall was up. No matter how kind I tried to be or how carefully I showed up, it never came down. Their distance...

Keep Reading

My In-Laws Don’t Like Me and It Breaks My Heart

In: Living

Since I was a little girl, I dreamed of what it might be like to gain an entire family when I got married. My parents were lovely. I never wanted for anything, and I had very involved grandparents. However, any other family was far away, and much of my childhood was lonely. I dreamed of brothers-in-law or sisters-in-law and their spouses to do life with. Maybe we would go on road trips together or stay in and play games and have a few drinks. I dreamed of raising our kids together and giving my children the cousin memories I only...

Keep Reading

We Fell Out of Friendship

In: Friendship

It was just a normal Monday afternoon, sitting in the waiting room at the dentist’s office. I had one kid reading her Kindle quietly, one loudly proclaiming facts about the different fish in the large tank, and one arguing with her just because he could. I had completed all the forms online before our appointment, so we were simply waiting. Then you walked in. You, who used to be the sister of my heart. Summers of sleeping in tents in my parents’ backyard, while you told me terrifying stories. The smell of hairspray from ’90s dance recitals while we twirled...

Keep Reading

There Was a Shooting at My High School; Can I Keep My Kids Safe Anymore?

In: Living

Kids with backpacks in front of school, view from behind

It is enough. I have had it. I had thought this year would be better. I tried to will it. I tried to convince myself with my resolutions during that first week in January. I typed my goals up in a neat little list. I was specific. Looked at it each morning. My goals focused primarily on being a good person. On prioritizing spending time with the people I love and the people I am responsible for. My goals focused on seeking the good while I feel there is a foot in a heavy boot on the center of my...

Keep Reading

Every Neighborhood Needs a Baby

In: Living

Woman playing pat-a-cake with a baby as toddler looks on

My grandmother was astounded when I told her I had met so many of her neighbors after we had only lived in her house for a couple of weeks. Grandma had decided to move into a senior citizens’ apartment building, and the timing was wonderful. John and I had been renting a townhouse, but once our baby, Christopher, was born, the situation wasn’t ideal any longer. Christopher was very fond of being awake and vociferous during the night, and the paper-thin walls of the duplex were horrible. When Grandma broached the idea of us renting her small two-bedroom home as...

Keep Reading

God Carries Me Through the Deep Waters of Change

In: Faith, Living, Motherhood

“Ahhh!” My underwater scream garbled in my snorkel tube as the manta ray’s cavernous mouth swept a hand’s distance from my face. My fingers tightened around the surfboard until my knuckles ached. My arms trembled. I jerked my head side to side, searching for my daughters, Mia and Megan. Recent college graduates, they had joined me on one last mother-daughter vacation before launching their adult lives. They floated easily on the vibrant Hawaiian water, relaxed, trusting. I wanted to borrow their calm. Earlier, our guide had explained that the LED lights built into the surfboard attracted plankton the way college...

Keep Reading

When Did We Change, Mama?

In: Living

When did we change, Mama? Was it a moment? Or a gradual shift? When did I stop coming to you with my burdens and fears, and make room for you to come to me with yours? When did I sense you needed more comfort and guidance than I did? That it was time to present only my best side? My confident, reassuring, everything is fine side? So you wouldn’t have to worry needlessly, obsessively, like always before. Was it when I first began to notice you struggling to ease out of your favorite chair? Or the times you started forgetting...

Keep Reading

My ‘Dusty Son’ is 5

In: Living, Motherhood

Little boy holding out dandelion bouquet

As moms, we categorize everything. Girl mom. Boy mom. Wine mom. Outdoor mom. Farm mom. City mom. Now there’s been an uptick in social media trends about exposing our girls to worldly and fancy experiences so someday they’re “not impressed by your dusty son.” I won the parenting jackpot (in my humble opinion) and have an older daughter and a younger son. He’s five. Not a grown man making real-world decisions. Not a college kid learning how to adult. He’s five. He loves dinosaurs and Mario. His big sissy and his Great Dane. He is incapable of cruelty and is...

Keep Reading

Never really gone.

Death of a Parent

Never really gone.

I Cried in June

Death of a Parent

Feature Writer of the Week – jamesAnn Photography

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Her View From Home

Maybe that “Mean Mom” Is Just Busy

I’m Going to Tell You the Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

Your Worth Is Not Someone Else’s To Measure

My In-Laws Don’t Like Me and It Breaks My Heart

We Fell Out of Friendship

There Was a Shooting at My High School; Can I Keep My Kids Safe Anymore?

Every Neighborhood Needs a Baby

God Carries Me Through the Deep Waters of Change

When Did We Change, Mama?

My ‘Dusty Son’ is 5

Get It Now

So God Made a Mother

Feature Writer of the Week – jamesAnn Photography

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Maybe that “Mean Mom” Is Just Busy

I’m Going to Tell You the Things Your Mom Should Have Told You

Your Worth Is Not Someone Else’s To Measure

My In-Laws Don’t Like Me and It Breaks My Heart

We Fell Out of Friendship

There Was a Shooting at My High School; Can I Keep My Kids Safe Anymore?

Every Neighborhood Needs a Baby

God Carries Me Through the Deep Waters of Change

When Did We Change, Mama?

My ‘Dusty Son’ is 5

Previous Post

Next Post

You May Also Like