Jen Amato Photography Blog »

Hi, my name is Jen and I am a Natural Light Photographer based out of New Orleans! Welcome! I specialize in Engagement, Maternity, Family, Children, and Birth Photography. As a wife and mom of 5, I understand how important capturing those fleeting moments are. Making my clients feel comfortable in front of the lens, photographing priceless memories and building relationships with people in the process are my main goals. There's always lots of fun couples, sweet families and precious babies gracing the presence of my site! Be sure to check back, I'm always posting new sessions! Click the "Information" tab above to email me if you're interested in scheduling a shoot :) I can't wait to hear from you!

Matt & Frances :: Wedding

Thursday, June 16, 2011 Posted in Weddings

Matt and Frances were an awesome couple to work with! When I photographed their Engagements, I knew their Wedding would be alot of fun, too! I’m sure you also remember Frances’ Bridals I just posted the other day as well. Frances and I both having grown up in River Ridge, it was no surprise that I was going to bump into a ton of people I knew at the Wedding. Love that, it was so nice to see a bunch of familiar faces. Frances’ mom actually taught my husband Randy when he was in middle school! Small world.

These two lovebirds married on June 3, 2011. Preparation was held at the Westin hotel, the Ceremony was at First Baptist Church on Canal, then the Reception was back at the Westin Grand Ballroom. Mojeaux is always a blast to work with, they surely were entertaining the crowd! Thank you Matt & Frances for letting us be a part of your beautiful Wedding, we had a great time with you guys!I love when I’m photographing Prep and I come across a sweet little note like that ;)LOVED Fran’s shoes!! Bling bling!This was a fun group of girls! The largest Wedding party I’ve ever photographed, too!!!Fran and her father Terry before they walked down the aisle…That’s a big ole’ group!!! :)Their favors were amazing! A little red bag with Zapps, Barqs, Chocolate covered almonds and hot sauce! LOVED!Fran’s good friend Josh sang their first dance!! (I’ve photographed Josh & Kalee’s son Cooper a bunch of times!) I was blown away by Josh’s voice, awesome isn’t the word!!A little photobooth fun!

Posted in Weddings

Frances :: Bridals

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 Posted in Bridals

I had a great time photographing Frances a few weeks ago for her Bridals! Her dad owns Progressive Barge, which are the huge barge’s that you see on the River sometimes. Frances works for her Dad, so she wanted to incorporate that into her shoot! I love when brides have new and fresh ideas! Definitely gets the creative parts moving around in my head! Her dad also loves this old car that he keeps in his warehouse, so we did some fun photos with the blue car as well! We headed back to River Ridge to do a few with her pups afterward- all around great shoot!

It was a pleasure to photograph both Frances’ Engagement Session and her Bridals! Looking forward to sharing her Wedding images sometime this week!!

Posted in Bridals

Nick :: Portraits

Monday, June 13, 2011 Posted in Portraits

A couple of months ago I had somewhat of a different request for photos….. to photograph a FIREFIGHTER! In his gear! Nick contacted me via the good ole’ facebook page which has done wonders for my business. I am thankful day in and day out for all the people who are able to view my work via facebook. So anyway, Nick told me that every year the fire department puts together a calendar of all the local fireman. He wanted to book a shoot to take some photos of him in his gear and some nice dress clothes.

I am soo used to photographing kids, families and weddings. I was a little unsure how to approach this shoot! He just told me what types of images the calendar was looking for and I went with it! We chatted alot about old cars, which I was a huge fan of the red mustang he brought along! Also, he told me how just a couple of nights before he had been called out to fight a fire. Re-living the whole thing, he explained how it is to be the man behind the fire proof suit. He said it is such rush when you’re out there! This reminded me of the tough job that these guys really have!

As always, I am so fortunate that my career allows me to meet so many new people on a weekly basis. I love hearing everyone’s stories. I only hope that my blog can take you into their lives for a quick peek by sharing a little bit and showing some photos.

So here is Nick! Lets hope he makes the 2012 Fireman calendar!!

Posted in Portraits

Tutti Frutti River Ridge = OPEN!!

Friday, June 10, 2011 Posted in Personal

So it’s been a long time coming! I’ve watched my brother turn on old cleaners in River Ridge into a place that our community really needed! Over the past week, I’ve seen dancing school girls, sports teams, parents, kids and grandparents all gathering together to enjoy a cup of yogurt. Laughing, smiling, and happy to be in each others company!! My brother made the decision to purchase a Tutti Frutti franchise about 6 months ago. It was a name and a brand that came with a reputation. An unbelievable reputation. It’s known for it’s bright colors, delicious yogurt and fun toppings. You can please the ones who are health conscious with original tart and fresh fruit. Then you can please the ones who love peanut butter and cake batter with candy toppings! Yogurt is something that does our body well, the probiotics are necessary! Yogurt strengthens the immune system, helps prevent colon cancer, lowers blood pressure & cholesterol, prevents infections, reduces inflammation, improves mineral absorption, prevents harmful bacterial and growth under stress. I’ve lost of couple of lbs since they’ve opened!!

The first day of the opening was amazing. I had just finished up a shoot that morning and headed to the store to spend time with my family and help get things ready. It was fun to see all of us in our Tutti Frutti shirts greeting people! I was so happy to see a good bit of my photography clients walk thru the door. THANK YOU!! I am so proud of my brother and it’s really nice to see so many people supporting him. This is something that is going to do well in our little River Ridge community- we’re all like family around here! Everyone knows everyone. People were evening coming from the St. Rose, Destrehan area, as well as down in Jefferson. Awesome!

So here is a peek at Opening Day. June 7th, 2011. It’s been a world wind around here, spending lots of nights hanging out over there now. It’s brought our family closer together and I can’t wait to see all the great things that are to come!

9029 Jefferson Highway in River Ridge, come check it out guys!

My grandmother in her glory!! She has owned a Snowball/Ice cream Stand for 30+ years!! Yogurt is HER THING! She has been an amazing help over the past few months! We love her so much!My fav toppings!!!First customers!! They even rode their bikes there :)Special thanks to my future sis in law Jen Russo for printing these awesome shirts!! Email me if any of you guys need shirts, she has a professional t-shirt press machine and does great work!!A very happy dude! Congrats JIM!!!Proud Mama!! ;)Some of the Tutti Frutti crew!!Happy customer!My mom and her best friend of 40+ years!!! Mrs. Roxie’s daughter Bridgette works at Tutti Frutti and has been such a HUGE help!!Checking out how the machines work in the back kitchen!Mamaw and my Uncle Pat!Some of the Bootcamp crew!!

Posted in Personal

Ross & Tallie :: Wedding

Friday, June 10, 2011 Posted in Weddings

I’m sure you guys remember Ross and Tallie from when I photographed their Engagement Session back in March. I was blown away by the 75+ “LIKES” that their Session received on the blog. Sweet as can be, you can tell this couple is LOVED by so many people! It was an honor to photograph their Wedding and awesome to get to spend time with these guys! Ross and Tallie married on May 27th, 2011. Preparation began at the Sheraton, the Ceremony was at the beautiful St. Louis Cathedral and their Reception was back at the Ballroom of the Sheraton.

Tallie & Ross, thanks for allowing Kacie and I to photograph such an amazing Wedding, we had a great time! Happy to hear that you enjoyed your honeymoon! Live up the newlywed Bliss! :)

Ross opening his Wedding gifts from Tallie. Gotta LOVE the book! hahaDon’t think we didn’t jump in the photobooth to take a quick shot!!! :)