Hey,

I'm Jolena

ABOUT ME and my passion

I am a PNW photographer based out of Washington State. When I'm not behind my camera I work as a NeuroTrauma ICU nurse. I have worked in healthcare for over 10 years now, and honestly, I think my experience in healthcare has truly made me appreciate living so much more. Everyday that I go to work I see people on their worst days. I see how quickly a life can change, and I often experience grief with my patients and families. But even after those hard days, photography gives me the opportunity to see people in a different light. I get to watch people experience wonder and awe, I see love as it is shared on mountainsides, and I see nature as it was intended to exist.

When I'm out in nature I feel like I can take as long as I need to breath and I can enjoy the little moments, like how sunlight drapes over the foggy mountain range as the sun rises. After years of seeing the bad, I appreciate the times that photography brings me the good.

I dream of beautiful moments with couples in the mountains, a quiet sunset with a bear in the trees, the sound of orcas blowing as they pass me on the beach. Its these moments that drive my photography passion. I know that every love has a story, and I believe that every story is worth telling authentically. I want to be part of your storytelling with images that are timeless and worth cherishing for years to come.

ABOUT MY WORK and how I started

I started doing photography as a hobby back in 2009. It was more for fun then, and eventually I stopped picking up my camera. Fast forward a few years and I was living in the PNW for the first time. This is where I picked up my camera again. It started with just simple photos while out exploring, and then one day in 2018 I got to see orcas for the first time from a ferry.

This orca sighting opened my eyes to how much wildlife and beauty there really was here. I started looking for opportunities to go out and see the orcas. At that time I was apprehensive to go too far by myself, so my adventures stayed relatively tame. I eventually moved back to the East Coast and started to lightly dabble in portrait work while continuing with light wildlife work.

In 2023 I moved back to the PNW and dove right back into photography headfirst. I knew how much I missed the PNW when living on the East Coast, and I felt like I needed to make up for lost time. I started hiking more, doing more portrait work, and going out on solo adventures in my trusty 4runner. Since 2023 I have grown significantly in my photography, with both people and wildlife. My landscape work has continued to evolve, and I've started to dedicate more time to astrophotography. If I'm not working at the hospital I can usually be found hiking, watching the orcas, looking for wildlife, or camping somewhere.

While my start was with landscape and wildlife photography, I believe it has helped me grow tremendously as a portrait photographer. My knowledge and expertise comes from being in uncontrollable and unpredictable wildlife settings. I know how to work with rapidly changing conditions, and I have developed a consistently rich, true to color style through years of trial and error. I am still growing and evolving as a photographer, but I believe my work speaks for my abilities and talent.

If you've made it this far, I want to say thank you for being here. I hope that something I have said resonates with you.

Jolena