by Elsa Jensen | Mar 13, 2015 | Blog-category, Designs, Home Page
The most important part of branding that I have learned is direction. I first began working on a logo and branding for Pizzeria Amore just simply by designing things that I thought looked good but I soon realized that it was difficult to keep working through the rest of my project without a sense of direction and main major element. Once I sat down and established the message that I was trying to convey with the business and the target audience and what they would be interested in, it gave me a major sense of direction and purpose that helped to drive me throughout everything I created from the photography to the video to the website. As a part of that, I decided to share my design and branding inspiration and process at the senior showcase at BYU-Idaho. I think its very helpful to see the process laid out and the basic guidelines for the brand that need to be followed through with the elements. Here’s a small look at that – it’s what I like to call a simplified visual style...
by Elsa Jensen | Mar 4, 2015 | Blog-category, Home Page, Photos, Things
My dad is a big foodie – he loves all types of food and even more so, he loves cooking all types of food (thank heavens for my mother, who does not like cooking as much). And when we went to Italy for the first time in 2009, my dad became obsessed with his next food adventure – pizza. Not just regular pizza thrown in the oven, but real authentic Italian pizza in a real authentic Italian pizza oven. So for a few years, he saved money to finally buy an authentic pizza oven that came all the way from Italy, and for the last two summers we have been engrossed in the pizza world, inspiring me to feel that the only appropriate way to keep this pizza going is to document the entire process (and use it mercilessly for my senior project). Now Mike doesn’t just make one kind of pizza – he makes them all. Regular pepperoni, bar-b-que chicken, garlic chicken, margherita, Thai chicken (a crowd favorite), spicy buffalo, pesto, and Mexican taco (my personal favorite). It’s always a huge ordeal that takes most of the day – heating up the oven to a substantially hot and burning degree, making the homemade dough (thanks to mama!), cooking, cutting, mixing all of the various foods he uses, and finally making the pizzas. And there’s usually way too much pizza, so with either a gaggle of neighbors and friends over or pizzas to deliver around the block, the food is always shared. It’s become a family event that happens almost weekly, and I’ve decided there’s nothing more fun...
by Elsa Jensen | Feb 13, 2015 | Blog-category, Home Page, People, Photos, Weddings
One year ago, I set out to Oakdale, California for my very best friend’s wedding. Not only was it a glorious day to be a part of and be in, it also jump started my experiences in photographing and filming weddings. It is, what I believe, the reason that I gained wedding recognition and I am ever so grateful to my dear friend and her husband for asking me to start with their wedding. It was a beautiful wedding at the Oakland LDS Temple in Oakland, California, and I loved the beautiful place that it was. We also stopped to do some bridals the day before in the beautiful barely blooming almond tree fields in Oakdale, California. In memory and recognition of that day, I feel its only appropriate to share these pictures (they do hold some of my most favorite pictures ever, after all). Happy one year anniversary Boltons! ...
by Elsa Jensen | Feb 2, 2015 | Blog-category, Designs, Home Page
This last semester at school I took a research fundamentals class in which I worked with a group on a research project gathering data, making sense of it, and then presenting it. My group decided to find out more about college students and fast food – we wanted to know more behind it, like why college students eat, how much they spend, and other things. We learned some very interesting things about the fast food epidemic on BYU-Idaho’s campus and I made an infographic for our final presentation to show the results simply. I love infographics – they show a lot of information in a concise and more visually appealing way and making them is even more fun than reading them. This one was even more fun because I was a part of finding the...
by Elsa Jensen | Jan 6, 2015 | Blog-category, Home Page, Videos, Weddings
I’ve been feeling so lucky with opportunities lately. My good friend Annie got married last weekend and I was not only able to be a part of the wedding by being a bridesmaid, but I was also asked by her to make a little bridal video for her reception. We went to the Salt Lake Capital building to film and spent the time there capturing footage of Annie and Trent together. I had such a great time with them and developing my skills in video. I know that I sure loved making this video – I hope you enjoy it! Annie & Trent from Elsa Jensen on...
by Elsa Jensen | Dec 8, 2014 | Blog-category, Home Page, People, Photos
I absolutely loved photographing these lovely ladies! As a girl with all brothers, I’ve always been a tad bit envious of sisters, and this group of ladies were the essence of everything fun about a sisters and mother relationship. Always giggling and always beautiful, these ladies made for a wonderful time and even more wonderful pictures....
by Elsa Jensen | Dec 2, 2014 | Blog-category, Home Page, People, Photos
Family pictures are always full of fun energy and happiness and this family was no exception. I have known the Ellis family since our family moved to Utah 8 years ago – I even used to babysit their kids. Look how big they are now, and each of them are as beautiful and handsome and fun as the last! The personality of each member and this family was genuine and I loved seeing that in each picture. The Ellis’ are a great family that I was happy to be able to photograph!...
by Elsa Jensen | Nov 29, 2014 | Blog-category, Home Page, People, Photos, Weddings
I think that there isn’t anything cooler than following a couple through their engagement and marriage. Chelsea and Alex have been such a wonderful couple to become friends with and experience their love and relationship firsthand. They are fun loving and laid back at the same time and the way they interact with each other is so sweet. You can tell how much they love each other and see their personalities in each picture. I loved this wedding – here is just a small sample of their...
by Elsa Jensen | Nov 10, 2014 | Blog-category, Home Page, People, Photos, Portfolio
Park City, Utah is an area with gorgeous landscapes and sophisticated artsy feel. Every time I visit, I feel like a part of a beautiful culture and movement that inspires me (and makes me want to move to the mountains). I’ve always loved Main Street and wanted to photograph there, so it seemed like the perfect place for a lifestyle session. The couple we used are some of my favorite people to be around – their fun loving and sweet personalities and relationship is contagious in every photo. They are my favorite couple to photograph and they fit perfectly on Main Street. \...
by Elsa Jensen | Nov 10, 2014 | Blog-category, Home Page, People, Photos, Portfolio
Isn’t the fall season just so beautiful? With the beauty all around the changing earth, I always end up wanting to photograph everything and everyone during fall. It’s no surprise that Park City, Utah is an absolutely beautiful area this time of year and photographing portraits there is even more dreamy. Deer Vally, Main Street, and the McPolin Farm are both famous and popular areas in the city and beautiful places to be at while photographing portraits. To compliment the beautiful lighting and wonderful couples, I used apertures ranging in a f/2.5 to an f/4.5 with faster shutter speeds to accompany that. I tried pushing myself by trying new poses and ideas with each picture. It was a beautiful day full of beautiful people and personalities – the perfect mixture for portraits. ...
by Elsa Jensen | Nov 10, 2014 | Blog-category, Home Page, People, Photos, Portfolio
There’s always something that feels so cool and sophisticated about fashion photography – the clothes, the poses, the models, the lighting. I have always admired the great fashion photographers of our time and looked to many for inspiration like Lindsey Adler and Patrick Demarchelier and if there is one thing that I’ve noticed, its that there is always a distinct theme and idea. The feel and theme that I and my fellow photographers, Erica White and Whitney Majors were envisioning was a very rustic fall feel as it turns into winter. We chose a spot that had a little bit of fall color left with a variety of dead and alive plants and we decided to shoot in the morning as the sun rose to give a more even a cool light. To create more of a mood, I used primarily low apertures and tried free lensing for a photo or two. Our model and my dear friend, Cortney, was such a perfect fit. I have always loved photographing her – her sophisticated yet kind and spunky personality fits well for so many photos and always shines...
