We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jenda Zych a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jenda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter a friend and I took a 4 hour photography class one Saturday. This was my first taste of learning over exposure, under exposure, Lightroom, tones, etc. It made me think about photography and who all those play into the end result. It wasn’t until I took Photography 101 at a our local junior college that I really got to know how to use these functionalities to tell a story with my photos.

Knowing what I know now I think staying consistent and working with models would help learning the process. Practicing more and more every day or even every week would definitely help with learning the process. I also think that being able to just play around and finding your creative style is also an advantage to practicing often.

In my opinion I think the most essential skill is learning lighting. Lighting is everything with photography. It can give you a drastic moody feel or give you a light airy feel when you look at photos.

For me the obstacles that stand in my way is me being inside of my head. Getting in a creative slump can take a toll sometimes and one of those tolls is not wanting to learn more or being afraid to get out of your comfort zone

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

My name is Jenda Zych. I am a mom and wife by day & photographer by night lol. I’ve always thought photography was fascinating. Growing up my parents always documented family vacations, holidays, etc. with photos and it was just the norm for us. While in high school I actually wanted to become a model. I did a number of model searches from the age of 12-22 with always getting to the end of the search but never getting closer to having a modeling contract. It wasn’t until a college roommate took a photography elective course that made me start thinking about actually getting into photography. Now that I think about it, God has a great sense of humor on how my dreams of becoming a model actually led me to becoming a photographer lol. To be honest it wasn’t until I was pregnant with my oldest that I decided to try photography out as a hobby and learn more.

I was working full time for Outback Steakhouse’s corporate office and doing photography on the side. One day after our youngest was born I told my husband that I really wanted to stay home with our kiddos and take my photography to the next step. So, we talked about it and worked the numbers out (I have a degree in economics and was an accountant for Outback Steakhouse) so that we would be able to allow me to stay home with our kiddos and be home more with them all while building my photography business.

That was about 5 years ago and here we are :). I have photographed a few different avenues within photography but the ones that stick with me the most and I feel is really my niche would have to be photographing families, seniors (high school and college), and couples (engagement sessions). I have done a few weddings but weddings are a whole other level for me. I have a few friends who I have photographed their weddings, I actually have one coming up in November for a fellow voice over cast member and friend, but it’s just not the avenue for me right now. You never know things could change down the road.

When a client books me for a session I am so excited to talk to them about outfit coordination, talking to them about their vision that they have, taking their Pinterest ideas and making them their own, and really just getting to know them. Laughing with them during the funny moments and crying during the hard moments. Being able to capture their story the way they tell it every day is something that brings so much happiness to me.

The thing that I am most proud about is being able to connect with clients. Talking to them during our sessions and getting to know them. When I have a senior in front of my lense I love to find out about their talents that they have, what their next step is (if they have one and if not hey it took me so long to find mine), what extracurricular they are into, I love talking to the parents and just seeing the joy and proud moments coming from their faces just makes my heart burst. Being in the restaurant industry pretty much my whole life has helped me to be able to connect with people, that and the fact that I LOVE TO TALK! I think that is what makes me stand out the most. My ability to talk to just about anyone. Don’t get me wrong when I am in the room by myself I get anxiety and clam up but once I am in work mode I flip the switch to restaurant mode (or work mode) and I am a Chatty Cathy.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Oh this one is a tough one lol. Photography, like many creative industries, is an amazing creative outlet. It allows people to express many emotions through the power of photographs. With that sometimes comes critical thoughts and comments from others that may not understand or see the creative aspect that is being portrayed within a photo. Imposter syndrome is a real thing in the photography world and it can definitely put a damper on your creative flow at times. I can honestly say that I have let the imposter syndrome capture a number of times and have had me doubt myself and my photography work. I have had a few photographers tell me that I am not a great photographer and that definitely put me into a spiral at times. HOWEVER, there are so many people that support me and CHEER LOUDER than the negative thoughts that are in my head and negative thoughts of others that keeps pushing me to continue to do photography. Hearing a mom tell me that the photos of her son’s Marine homecoming photos are amazing and something that she will cherish forever, or a parent of a very shy teenager telling me “when we left he told me “you know mom that was fun she made me feel comfortable”. I can’t thank you enough for making him feel so comfortable and confident in these photos.”, or the teenager who came home from his senior prom telling his mom “MOM SHE KILLED IT!!! She AMAZING” or getting Christmas cards from clients with your photos you took make all the negative self doubt go away and make this journey so worth it.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

I think the best source of new clients for me would have to be word of mouth. I mean you can’t get any better marketing than word of mouth. Clients have friends and they see their Christmas cards or their child’s senior photos posted on social media or I did a session for a family member. We are made for community and what better way to get exposure than from your clients telling their friends and family about their experience with Jenda Nichole Photography. I said it before that I LOVE to talk and you can ask anyone around me that once I get to talking about something that I am PASSIONATE about or EXCITED about you can hear the excitement just exuding from me. And I don’t know about you but when one of my friends is excited about something and puts their trust into someone else that provides a service I am dang sure going to be reaching out to that business the next time I am in need of that service.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jendanicholephotog/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jendanicholephotography
• Other: email: jendanicholephotography@gmail.com