Jen Adams captures life's best moments

Jen Adams remembers the first real camera she ever owned.

At her high school graduation in 1987, Adams’ dad handed over a brand new Olympus film camera — from there, she utilized it as much as she could.

“He taught me how to use it — he took some classes up at Bowling Green State University — and so I knew how to use that camera, so when I went to Florida State and I was in rush, I would always take pictures,” Adams said. “Everybody I knew was like, ‘I need to borrow your negatives, you take the best pictures,’ so I already had a naturally knack for things like that and just kept honing it and honing it.”

That camera —which holds so many memories — still sits in her house in Winter Park as a representation of her past, and of her present as Adams runs her own photo business out of her home.

With Jen Adams Photography, Adams is continuously honing her craft in her field by concentrating on a variety of subjects — including portraits, weddings and events — and she has developed quite the following.

She did photoshoots for 4 Rivers’ owner John Rivers — her first big time client — before his restaurant exploded in popularity, and has photographed a slew of students throughout the area. For Adams, of all the work she does though, taking senior portraits is one of her favorite assignments to do — since it’s such a happy time in their life, she said.

Running from assignment to assignment, one would think that she would get tired of her work, but that’s not actually the case, Adams said. It takes that kind of attitude when you actually stop and look at the workload that Adams deals with.

Actually going to events is one thing, but when you add on the time spent in front of the computer editing, it’s another.

“I do three rounds of editing,” Adams said. “The first round is just familiarize myself with the pictures — if the flash doesn’t go off or if it’s blurry, I delete it. Then I do a second round where I hone in on it a little better, and then in the third round I’m editing for composition, for lighting and removing blemishes.”

While she spends a lot of time in her home editing, it’s actually a positive for Adams, as being home with her family is what helped her get started on this career path in the first place.

Before she got into photography full-time, Adams worked as a sales rep for a chemical company, but when Adams got pregnant with her first child, she gave thought to doing videography.

After meeting a woman in her lamaze class who worked as a wedding coordinator, Adams told her about her idea of doing cheap videography. The woman pitched the idea to her boss, and got Adams a gig doing some video work.

“She’s like, ‘They’re going to book the diddle out of you,’ I remember that,” Adams said with a laugh. “I started doing videos for $250 for five hours … that started in ’99.”

From there, a year later, Adams was asked randomly about doing photography, which she eagerly took on the challenge without hesitation.

Adams knew if she could take on the photo role as a full-time job, she wouldn’t have to worry about leaving her family to go on business trips as she had to do when she was working as a sales rep. That enticement alone was enough to push her forward through any difficulties she had at the very beginning.

“Personally I made this choice when I had my children so I could be a stay-at-home mom that also provided income for my family,” Adams said. “I can always be at every tennis match for my daughter, every swim meet for my son — I can always build my schedule around what they need.”

Her job has also led her to be able to do one of the most important things: help others during the best moments of their lives.

Whether it be seniors celebrating an upcoming graduation, or a couple who are about to embark on a shared life journey, Adams is simply glad to be there to offer folks a helping hand during those big, life changing moments.

“It’s hard work, I probably work 360 days a year — there’s very rarely a day that I don’t work,” Adams said. “But I don’t look at it as work, I look at it as something I enjoy.”