Foodie To Be - Food and Event Photography

I have recently taken a liking to taking a picture of the food I'm eating it and posting it on Facebook. I have only done a few so far, but I have a feeling this could become a fun hobby fast.

I love food. Always have. I was never one of those picky eaters...I've always had that try-everything-let's-experience-more-and-have-fun attitude with food. Then I grew up a little. And then I got to know Cynthia and Val.

Two fabulously amazing women, plus the most amazing mother in the world (my own), plus countless bottles of olive oil and and wine, plus the loudest laughter and love that warms a kitchen better than any stove or oven could, plus lots of other friends and moments and memories...have all added up to create this amazing appreciation for food that now embraces my life.

I'm not quite sure if Cynthia and Val (and amazing Amanda) would bestow the Foodie title upon me yet. But I'm on my way.

I'm going to make some more memories tonight with some wonderful women I haven't seen in awhile. Hannah, Cecilia, Brandi (maybe Myrlee?!)...let the Foodie-fun-times begin!


Images taken at the Dinner for Serious Foodies (event) last year at Cynthia's house...mmm...













Then two from Chez Saratoga, where my Foodie-To-Be days all began...



ps--how many times did I say 'amazing' in this post? I'm just amazed!

Fit to Model - Portrait Photography

I decided to take a break from introspection and personal growth for a day or two and do some actual work this past week. Just kidding. Kind of. Not really. But mostly.

I was thinking to myself one day when one of my favorite personal trainers, MK, called me to tell me that I HAD to shoot his client because she is PERFECT for fitness modeling. 'She is so fit,' he kept saying.

And I was impressed with not just the truth to his sayings (and his work!), but also to how great it was to work with MK and Corie. A new friend and assistant of mine, Dan and I loaded the car with gear and set out to the Land of Gracious Living last week to meet Corie, her mom, Laurie and MK for a really pleasant morning. We shot a couple hours and Corie was great in front of the camera, and Dan, MK and Laurie were great behind it.

So I spent some time with Corie last week to work on her image as she prepares to show it to the world. Fitness Magazine, Shape, Health and Fitness, etc, etc, are the pages in which she wants to turn next. Rock it, girl, I say.

Tanzania to SoCal - Documentary Photography - Documentary Thinking

Here's what I think:

I think life is GOOD.
I think all people, deep down, are good.
I think that most of our daily experiences are interpreted with conditioning: if we condition ourselves with negativity, we will be depressed; if we condition ourselves with magazines, we will want to be skinny; if we condition ourselves with taking care of our dogs, we will walk with them every day.
I think that if we show love, we will feel love. Every day.
I think that uncontrollably laughing is one of the greatest feelings in the world.
I think that betrayal is one of the worst feelings in the world.
I think there is time to talk, and time to listen.
I think that life in Southern California costs too much.
I think that life in the Midwest is filled with more eye contact.
I think that Avatar is a beautiful movie, and that all of its creators have amazing minds.
I think that food, it's creation, it's portion controlled consumption, and it's sharing with friends, is one of life's greatest joys.
I think that building a business is one of the most challenging things I've ever done.
I think Karma is real.
I think that photography is going to change my life beyond my wildest dreams.
I think Dorothea Lange said it best when she said 'the camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera.'
I think that African human skin is strong and beautiful.
I think God has shown me a shade of this world that far too many will never see.
I think that connecting with people, through touch, embrace, tears, intellect, emotion and beyond, is crucial.
I think I need to make more money.
I think I'm conditioned to think I need more money.
I think I have too many bills.
I think I have too much stuff.
I think I need to give more.
I think that if Tanzanians can live on less than one dollar a day, I majorly over-consume.
I think I need to keep thinking.










All images shot in Tanzania with the Diana F+ lomography 35mm.

Tanzania TRIP - Documentary Photography

It's been a few days since my last post, and though I have had a strong desire to do a post every day for awhile, I've also had a strange desire to do nothing but think.

It was an incredible trip, some 35 hours of travel to the other side of the world. Two weeks living in a whole new world. Then 35 hours back. And I can't help but admit that it's been even more of a trip since our return.

Now I am constantly thinking, processing, remembering and longing for change. Life is different for me now. Life has changed. Life will continue to change.

Life will not, however, change for my friends in Tanzania. Life will continue on without clean water, with limited bars of soap, with babies bound to their small sibling's back, with two feet as the primary means of transportation and the simplicity of happiness through touch, eye contact and smiles.

Life for most Orange County residents will not change either. Life will continue on with pitchers of draft beer, with painted nails, with over-consumed calories to be burned off at the gym, with shiny, leased cars, and the simplicity of swiping a piece of plastic to buy anything at any time.

"The burden of change lies first in me." So if what I saw and who I met in AFRICA truly changed me and my life, then this trip continues on. This journey has just begun.

Mission IS Possible - Africa 2010 from Jackie Lovato on Vimeo.

Secondary School - TANZANIA - Documentary Photography

On the second to last day of clinics, we went to St. Sosthenes Secondary School to meet the bishop and a few priests for a blessing of the school. It was a lovely ceremony, but the students themselves were most lovely of all.

Upon the arrival of our bus, they promptly emptied their classrooms and carried their chairs for on which we could sit. The bishop was running a few minutes late, so we had some time with the kids before the formalities began.

They started by singing us a welcome song. Then they sang us the national anthem, and the Tanzanian national song. It was a relatively cool day, but it made me warmer inside than I'd ever been...

The students were so cute and shy while they were singing. Standing straight and tall, eyes downcast, some fidgeting and shifting, like they were telling a secret they weren't supposed to share...then they brought out the drums. And with that bold beat, out came a boldness of their own.

The kids made a circle and clapped and chanted with the drums, while two people at a time got in the center to shake their thing. Two of our team, Angela and Ben, hopped up and joined in. Then Alex took over a drum and joined in there. It was so fun!

After the ceremony and blessing, about ten kids were selected to come with us to our clinic to help translate. Several of them struggled with the English, but several of them shined. In particular, Oscar, who helped us in triage, knew English very well, and learned a lot about taking vitals that day too. He wants to be a doctor one day, and I will continue to pray that God may grant that to be.



the head school master, so proud :)





out of their shells they come!







Oscar, learning with Kathi

Facing Disease - TANZANIA - Documentary Photography

Yesterday, someone asked me if I was scared during my trip to Tanzania. My immediate answer was no, but after a few moments as the two weeks on the other side of the world flooded my head and heart, I responded again with a quick story:

For some reason, the first few days in Africa, my hands were assaulted with five or six small and minor cuts. Not quite sure how or when these tiny little wounds were inflicted, but it was definitely something I couldn't help but notice. Mainly because, they all quickly turned black. Despite our diligent efforts to sanitize, it was just dirty. We were dirty.

So gloves quickly became more of a hassle than a help. For us in triage, we'd only put on gloves if there was a strange skin issue that might be contagious on contact. Which might not have been the smartest move on my part, with the open skin scattered across my hands, but when in Africa...

So on our fifth day of clinics, a handsome man sits down in my chair, looking relatively healthy. I glance at his registration sheet and the capital letters of HIV command my focus. I quickly scan his hands and arms for any open wounds, and when I saw none, I proceeded to get his heart rate and blood pressure, glove-less.

The squeeze in my chest didn't come until I was taking the thermometer out of his mouth, and a big glob of drool came with it. My heart pounded as the open skin on my hands was inches from the saliva of a man with a deadly disease. I understand that HIV doesn't typically get transmitted through saliva, but the possibility still caused the adrenaline to release. It was the only moment that I experienced fear with these people and this land that I quickly grew to love.

I successfully threw away the therm probe cover without fluid contact, I smiled at my patient and told him 'subeedi doctari,' or, 'wait for the doctor,' and we sat together in silence until the next doctor was ready.

My face to face experience with that fatal disease had passed, and I was ready for the next patient. Fearless again.

Here are some images of medical conditions we saw...


a fungal rash on this man's foot and leg
a hemorrhoid protrudes on a 4 year old
a woman has had this goiter for years
she also suffers from leprosy on her hands


this man can no longer walk from this infection on his foot that he's had for 7 years
this woman has lived with this growth in her mouth for 5 years