I made an announcement about this a while back, but I wanted to have this information easily accessible for everyone. During my time in Memphis, I have been very privileged to work with so many awesome couples.

The journey is not over, it is simply taking a different turn. Studio J is being placed on a long hiatus as I am leaving to travel the world at the end of January. Those of you who have followed for a while will notice that there is a new look for the now combined site.

There will be opportunities coming soon to be a part of the journey ahead. In the meantime, feel free to check out my travel work at

Sincerely,
Jake

2012 will be a huge year of change.  I am leaving Memphis at the end of this month to go spend some time with my family.  There will be some return trips to Memphis so that I can make sure my wedding clients will be taken care of properly.

Ok, so that answers the Who (me) and the When (2012).  Let me answer the other big W’s for you.

What will I be doing? I’m glad you asked.  I love to travel.  As I was sitting with some friends this spring, one of them asked me “If you could do anything, what would you do?”  To make a long story short, about an hour later I had the motivation and encouragement to really explore going after that dream.

Over the last few months, I have been working to lay the groundwork for a new brand for my travel work.  Some of you know that I spent my college years studying for a degree in English as my passion for photography was not in my life at that point.  I really wanted to find a way to incorporate what I pursued and enjoyed in school with what I love to do now, and out of that Travelogue Photography was born.

Check out the newly launched site at www.traveloguephoto.com

Where will I be going? I will leave at the start of February and will be in Europe through mid to late June.  The plan is to spend about one month in Turkey, one month in Greece, two weeks in Croatia, and two months in Italy.  Then I will come back to the US for a few weeks and head to Australia and New Zealand for several months.  There will be lots of information about all of this over on the new blog.

Why am I going? Because the opportunities to pursue your dreams is not one that comes along every day, most of the time you have to make the opportunity happen and then choose to walk through the door.  I feel like the work I’ve done over the last few years has created this opportunity and now it’s time to run headlong after my dreams.

What will this mean for you? (Ok, so I needed one more “what”)  The Studio J Blog will remain intact so you can see all of the images from the past weddings and events.  Please note that after I wrap up my last wedding of this year, all of my blogging energy will be devoted to Travelogue so you will need to follow me over there if you want to see what I am doing.  Since I will be travelling overseas for most of the year, I will only take on a very limited number of weddings next year and they will be special cases that fit my timelines.

Also, you will probably see some minor changes to this site as I bring over some galleries and combine the blog with my main wedding portfolio.

There are a lot of things that will be changing this year. I tried back in the fall to blog 31 days in a row and failed miserably. Well, the silence of the blog has been the quiet before the amazing storm that is the new 31 Days of Blogging.

There are a lot of sessions, a wedding, and other images in store for the next few weeks. So buckle up folks. I can’t wait.

The first thing that I want to tell you is that my Twitter link up top is no more. Sorry to anyone who was constantly checking up on me, but honestly I didn’t update anymore and hated for people to think I fell off the face of the planet. I’m trying to simplify things so that I can be even better at the things I do.

There is a bit of dialogue in the wonderful movie “You’ve Got Mail” that has always stuck with me.

Its *personal* to a lot of people. And whats so wrong with being personal, anyway?

Uh, nothing.

Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.

And that ladies and gentlemen is the focus of where Studio J is going, as fast as possible. There will still be some of the “BIG” photos as I call them. I will still keep the funkiness when it fits.

But the following weeks will be spent getting back to intimate, personal relationships and what makes the people in them special. To each other, to their friends, to their family, and even to the rest of the world.

While it will mean a bunch of extra work on my part to take the time to learn and personalize, I am totally excited by the challenge.

What will it mean to my clients? I hope that the time and energy to answer questions and think about who you are will be rewarded with incredibly meaningful images. It also means that more time will be needed for certain things. I am realizing that creating a comfort with people that allows them to open up and become intimately involved in the images requires more time than I have been asking for.

I promise that visual representations are coming soon. For now, just know that I am totally excited about the idea and believe that when you see what I am talking about that you will be too.

In case you haven’t seen the little “Twitter” link up on the main bar, you can keep up with me that way if you really want to know what goes on in my crazy little world.

If you have been following me, then you know that I am absolutely in love with the new show “Glee”. If you haven’t seen it, go over to Hulu and catch up.

Ok, so here’s the BIG news. I am going to be blogging daily for the rest of the month. I’ll try to include images in each post, but some things will need to be all about the info. And at the end of the month, I will be announcing something HUGE! I promise that it will be worth sticking around. So for now, just know there will be lots of fun stuff coming your way this month along with lots of new things.

First, let me just give a heads up to everyone. I just finished the busiest part of my year. Lots and lots and lots of images are being finished. And all of this is taking place while I am waiting for custom boxes to be made.

Second, something BIG is coming very soon. I’m talking a major overhaul of lots of things that I think you will really love.

She had the wedding at the Memphis Zoo, and the fabulous folks at Southern Event Planners helped put it all together.

Well, she is up for The Knot’s “Real Wedding Award”. You can click here to see a few of the images and vote for her wedding.

Yes, I am still alive and going strong.  I have something big to announce.  I am officially in midtown now.  Ever since I moved the office to midtown, I have fallen in love with the area.

The office will be moving to the new address at the end of the month.  I will make a big announcement, with photos, when it is all ready.

In the meantime, I am working on a blog post for tomorrow.  And there will be another new wedding for you to see on Tuesday.

Check out the new galleries, especially the new featured weddings, at www.thestudioj.com

The blog is going into the shop early next week and should come out the other side looking all spiffy and everything.  I promise that the new, improved, and upgraded version will look pretty awesome.

For now, check out the new stuff on the site.