Dear families, dog people, and anyone who has ever wished they could press pause for just a minute,
I’m Jenny, the photographer behind Dear Jenny Photo.
This little business began with a simple feeling: life moves much too quickly.
The babies grow. The missing teeth come and go. The dog’s face turns a little grayer. The ordinary afternoons we barely notice become the ones we would give anything to step back into.
Becoming a mother made me feel that passage of time in a completely new way. Suddenly, the smallest things felt important. A hand resting on my shoulder. A sleepy face after a nap. The way my daughter fits in my arms right now, knowing she will not fit there quite the same way forever.
I wanted to create photographs that hold onto those things.
Creativity has always been my work and my way of seeing the world. I began my career as a designer and have spent more than a decade professionally photographing people, places, and the small details that tell a story. Dear Jenny Photo brings that experience into something deeply personal.
Dear Jenny Photo is for families, children, and pets throughout Arlington, Northern Virginia, Washington, DC, and nearby Maryland. It is for the people you love, exactly as they are in this season of life.
My sessions are a little posed, a little playful, and a little perfectly imperfect. We may begin with everyone looking at the camera, but the photographs I often love most happen just after. The laugh that breaks through. The toddler making a run for it. The dog deciding the entire session is actually about them.
I am drawn to personality, movement, connection, and the little in-between moments that make a family feel like itself.
You do not need perfectly coordinated outfits, perfectly behaved children, or a dog with excellent listening skills. You only need to show up as yourselves.
The name Dear Jenny felt right because photographs are a little like letters to our future selves.
They say: This is how small they were. This is how we loved each other. This happened. We were here.
And it was dear to us.
I’m so glad you found your way here. I hope this journal becomes a place for session stories, simple photography tips, favorite places around the DMV, and small reminders to notice what is already beautiful.
For the moments we hold dear.
P.S. Perfect is overrated. The good stuff usually happens right after everyone stops trying.