March 03rd, 2016

Sharing Dreams..

Hi, wow where do I start?.. I'm YJ, Yvette Jones and I'm a natural light, outdoor portrait photographer & I LOVE what I do! I'm happily married to my husband Sion and we have a little Sprollie called Suki and two little cats, Silver & Sydney. I'm based in Holywell, North Wales UK.

I was always a little envious of those people.. You know the ones that had it all figured out! Straight A’s types. All my life I've met people who are excelling in subjects that they have a connection with & feel passionately about and I can honestly say that I never had that. I tried subjects in college, I qualified as a masseuse in 1999 after studying body massage, then I went onto Indian head massage, I'm also a Reiki healer, touched on jewellery design, basic counselling, beauty therapy, studied as a TA. What I essentially did was get a college prospectus run my finger down each column circling subjects of interest and essentially I studied! I never actually fully gravitated to or had a particular niche. So I have qualifications in subjects that I find “interesting” but I never really took any further to make my career with.

Although I can still dabble. What can I say? I'm a dabbler.. I did dabble, I dabbled more-so with jewellery design and my massage therapy as I tried selling a few pieces on the side and also taking on a few clients, but it went no further than that because my heart wasn't fully in it. Although it was an experience.

Yes! I'm that flowery person who does everything with my heart. I FEEL things out, so If it “feels” right I’ll do it, and if not, (you guessed it) I don't! I can get it wrong from time to time tho, and it turns out that the reason usually is that my head/ego has taken over. The older I get, the more I feel it's important to follow that inner feeling and not do things for any other reason than, really they “feel” right.

So back to it. Photography always “felt” right. Like it was something I knew I was going to do, somewhere deep down, it's just when the timing or more so, the “feeling” came to light.


Really though.. Who wants to go through life and not in some form or another, love what they do? We all have such a short time in this life, that that should be of priority. We don't necessarily get taught that in school.. School is about specific grades in specified subjects. Which is Great! They give you the foundation.. But what drives the rest? Passion. Passion for what you do. I think Kids should have classes on how to pinpoint that inner flame, identify what resonates early on in life. I got to 32 before I figured out what I wanted in life! I came across a famous photographer who flat out inspired me to pick up where I left off from all of those years ago, and to essentially follow my dreams. Even though there were people who told me that “it's not going to work” there's “no money in photography”.. I should just “train to become a nurse” and get a “real” career. It got to the point that I was so.. Borderline desperate! to find my passion, that money was essentially no object and not important. The object was “what is going to ignite that spark” what do I enjoy? what do I want to learn? Everything pointed to photography.

Years ago I bought a “film” twin lens camera but I never actually got to grips with the camera itself, the settings etc. I had no clue! At the time I was working full time in my Dad’s family business working a 6xday week. With long days and I just (cliche) “didn't have the time” yes that old chestnut. I always thought.. “When I get time, I'll pursue it. I'll do what's in my heart. When I get time”

Time? You MAKE it. You aren't guaranteed anything! So get busy doing what you love and surround yourself with those you love. I'm trusting my heart because I have something to share. I'm not sure about how that serves the bigger picture just yet! but I BELIEVE what I'm doing is right. I pray that I can keep sharing what I do & develop as an artist and as an individual. Art is subjective. I'm never going to be the most technical photographer out there but I know how my camera works for me, and as long as I can keep shooting, expanding my skills & experiences and more so delivering images that resonate with my heart, then that's all that matters to me.
I actually like to call it “sharing dreams” YJ