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Meet Jen

Jen Lucas Photography

Hiya!

I’m Jen, a Documentary Family Photographer in Madison, Wisconsin…

We all have extraordinary moments in our life—be it birth, recitals, trophies, graduations, weddings, promotions.  They should be celebrated & documented with zeal and savored with the emotional tug those memories provide.  For sure, hands down, absolutely.

In all honesty, however, when I’m flipping through childhood or high school or college snapshots, it isn’t the ones where we’re all together, smiling, looking our best that are emotive.  They’re pretty. They’re frame-worthy. They’re lovely. I’m entirely grateful to have them. But the ones with the toys strewn across the floor and I’m wearing my favorite rainbow shirt and my hair was a tangled disaster and my little brother was darting out of the frame zips me back in a second.  The toys, the clothes, the hair, down to the way I’m sitting (limber, anyone?) all in their imperfection, doesn’t bring me to one moment in my life, it brings me to an entire Era. I’m rollerskating down Memory Lane in one image–pulling stories and heartstrings in a singular grainy 3×5 print. Imagine what an entire album of one whole ordinary morning or afternoon would do!

I was never a formal portrait photographer, but my style and philosophy of capturing the beautifully ordinary snippets of my life, your life evolved several years ago when my then 8-year-old was approaching 9. I thought, “double the years and he leaves for college….this chapter is half over.” How can that be when some days are years? And there we were, standing that halfway mark in a blink. While you’ll still see me at a violin concert, the big soccer game, talent show performances, and certainly future graduations and dances (::sniff::) with my camera, it is on my hip for our everyday life too. Breakfasts, after-dinner walks, homework, Legos, kayaking, library, grocery store…

Time stands still best in moments that look suspiciously like ordinary life.

Brian Andreas

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Boy looks at Popsicle that is glowing in the lightCleaning up a milk spill at dinnerYoung child washes window of carYoung boy picks tomatoes out of small urban garden Boy reads in a window seat near lake and sunsetThree young boys explore on computer Young boy holds small lovey to face while his dinner goes untouched. Child looks out hotel curtainsBoy explores touch screen at National Civil Rights Museum

teen stands next to pond in the mountains boy sweeps small backyard on summer morningblack adn white. boy drinks from a glass in low light. boy jumps over a sand trench next to lake boy cracks egg over a bowlchild looks through binoculars out at sunset on the lake, lake is reflected in glass teen boys stands in shallow water at sunset

black and white, boy floats in lakeTop down view of child inspecting his dirty feet on the sidewalk A puppy sits patiently while young boy eats a bowl of cereal at the tableBoy drinks a glass of milk from a mason jar. Scene is framed by a pink bouquet of peonies and a milk jug. Black and white. Boy stands on ladder at the end of dock at a lake. Teen walking down outside stairs to beach carrying pool noodles, buckets, floaties all by self. Three boys sit on a front stoop eating ice cream bars. Huge bouquet of white peonies on dining room table is the focus. 3 boys eat dinner and board game out of focusBoy stands on sidewalk in a rain and sunshine storm. Interesting light and shadows. Boy wades in shallow lake water near sunset.Puppy shakes water off himself in a lake. Teen on the sand dunes in summertime.Two boys walk along deserted shoreline at dusk. Three boys and a dog play on a deserted beach.

portrait of teen in dramatic light view of freshly clipped hair on back and shouldersBoy wears scuba goggles on the beach over a smoky fire while roasting hot dogsTeen stands at counter and drinks a cup of coffee in early morning light Child walks in a shallow lake at dusk with a sliver of warm light at horizonThree boys have water balloon fight in a driveway. A pink water balloon is in mid-air.Man grills vegetables and steak while Golden Retriever sits and watches. Man and young boy light a sparkler at duskBoy sits on kitchen floor on the laptop while fan blows on himBoy holds dog's paw on the floor while the both look up at cameraBoy uses tongs to grab hot foot out of a bowl at the dining room table. Steam is visible.Three boys eat Popsicles on a front stoop while dog reaches for one of them over a boy's shoulderBoy outstretches arms with eyes closed against a blue sky and white clouds.top view of family working on coloring in a giant numeral 10.Boy lies in shallow like, floating. Blue lake, blue sky and white fluffy clouds are prominent.

boy wearing a baseball hat licks ice cream cone in a parkthree kids are sitting on a play structure and silhouetted against twilight skyThree boys play on the beach at sunset black and white. Boy two boys sit at dining room table. One boy is all in shadows with rim light on profile, one boy is silhouetted against bright window Family of four crouches over rows of strawberries at sunset three teen boys sit on front stoop eating watermelon on summer's dayboy swings from a tire swing in a backyard on a summer's daytwo boys standing in the lake form a diagonal with their arms as they hand off a skipping stone black and white. Boy drinks water from a Mason jar while backlit from the sun. His fingers and sunflare are visible through the drinking jar and his body is outlined with rim light Three boys play in the lake, forming a diagonal with their bodies as they swim toward the horizon line with the sun setting a young child's hand reaches through a rip in an indoor screen to pet a golden retriever dogA preteen child lays still in shallow water, only face above water, while the sun sets behind him.

Life is amazing. And then it’s awful. And then it’s amazing again. And in between the amazing and awful, it’s ordinary and mundane and routine. Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful, and relax and exhale during the ordinary. That’s just living heartbreaking, soul-healing, amazing, awful, ordinary life. And it’s breathtakingly beautiful.

L.R. Knost

xo, Jen

What’s your family’s story?  Reach out to me today for your own Beautifully Ordinary session.

 

Beautifully Ordinary trademarkBeautifully Ordinary is a trademark of Jen Lucas Photography, LLC.