Happy New Year! Enjoy some of my favorite images from 2008. ??Click "View Slideshow" under the mosaic to see these images in full screen.

With the recent holidays, this past month has included a lot of family time for me. ??On a recent trip to Virginia to visit extended family, I shot this image of me and my son at my great-aunt's house. ??There are some photographic treasures in these older homes and I'm glad I was able to capture this image. ??I remember playing in this bedroom as a child and now my child has had that experience too. ??I am loving my son's continued interest in my camera. ??Despite whether it's just for the sake of play, I do hope he will show some interest in photography some day. ??This is quite possibly my favorite photo currently.

In order to challenge myself creatively, I have set up a new daily photoblog where I intend to post a single image [nearly] each day. Because I live with three "JJ's" who are the center of my world, they will be the subject of most of these photos. "Isn't it called JJ squared?", you might ask. Well, my intention is to capture at least 1 to 2 of my JJ's, Jonathan (my husband), Jonas (our toddler), or Jack (our black lab), and I highly doubt I could get all three to hold still long enough to achieve anything more than just a snapshot.So check out JJ squared DAILY and don't forget to subscribe to the feed!

Back in September, I joined a group on Flickr called a day in the life of, or??DILO. ??The idea is that you capture your life in a single day through photography. ??Since I enjoy learning about people through photography, I found this group to be especially interesting. ??So I participated in the September DILO and had a great time carrying my camera around with me all day! ??Here are my September DILO submissions. ??The next DILO was this past weekend, just before Christmas. ??The optional theme of the DILO was "ground level", and most of my shots adhere to that theme.So, about my day: ??My mom, son, and I made a trip to southwestern Virginia to visit with family. ??Most of my life now is spent chasing after my toddler son, so the first set of photographs include him exploring my grandmother's house and playing in his first snow. ??The 21st was also the day that we travelled home. ??I was somewhat bummed that I would be on the road for most of DILO day, so my mom suggested we go exploring to some places she remembered from her youth. ??We ventured up a mountain near the highway looking for "Hidden Valley Lake". ??Once we found it, we were both very excited... the lake was beautiful and pristine. ??Though I was not quite prepared clothing-wise to trek into the woods in 30 degree temps, I did anyway to capture the beautiful scenery and blue sky. ??Afterwards my hands were so cold I could barely move them, but it was so worth it. ??Further down the road, we stopped in Historic Abingdon, VA. ??I only got a couple shots there since it was lunchtime for my little guy who was previously napping during our mountain trek. ??Our last detour was Shot Tower State Park, which much to my disappointment was closed for the season. ??There were several old barns nearby, so it wasn't a complete loss. ??Here are some select images from my December DILO. ??The complete set can be found here.

When Carly was 3 months old, I took her first portraits. ??Now Carly is 6 months old and her parents wanted me to capture their sweet little girl again; I was so excited! ??I am always in awe of the rapid development of babies... before you know it they are sitting, crawling, walking, talking, all within a single year! ??I've found the only way to stop time and all that development is to capture each stage through photography. ??Here are a couple shots of sweet Carly.

This was my first attempt at panning. ??I had a great subject to try it out on and my Nikon D300 handled it very well. ??This shot was taken hand-held, so I am quite pleased with how it turned out. ??This is Richard Armstrong, a professional triathlete and proud daddy-to-be of Mack.

Bellies are one of my most popular subjects right now. ??I just love photographing the excitement and anticipation of soon-to-be parents. ??Rhett and Julie were simply adorable and Julie is so beautifully pregnant. She definitely has that "pregnancy glow" you always hear about. ??Here are some photos from the shoot.

I LOVE this family!?? This is my second photo shoot with them.?? They are so photogenic and hardly need any directing.?? Michelle is pregnant with baby #2 (here is a shot from her pregnancy with Herrison).?? We had so much fun and Michelle let me try some new things, which I was totally excited about.?? I've shot lots of bellies lately, so it was fun to do something different.?? Here are a few shots from the shoot.

This season brings many people a lot of joy, but for some it only brings struggle and uncertainty. I have chosen to be a part of a movement in Charlotte, a movement to clothe the 5,000 homeless men, women, and children in our city and to photograph that effort. Take a look at this video.. Joe really says it all.

http://vimeo.com/2299622

Clothe Charlotte '08 from Kinetic Church on Vimeo.

Will you join us in providing warmth? Providing some stability to the uncertainty? We are collecting winter clothing kits for the homeless of Charlotte and will hand them out on December 20th. Each kit needs to contain a warm coat, hat, and gloves. Mark the size and man/woman/youth on the outside of the bag. ??Either send kits to ClotheCharlotte, 545-C Pitts School Road, Concord, NC 28027 or bring them to the benefit concert on December 13th, 4pm at Freedom Park in Charlotte. ??Find out more here.

I had the best time photographing my stylist, Kimberly Thomas, and her family. I don't think that Allyson and I have ever laughed quite so hard while interacting with our subjects. We had the best time! Some of my favorite shots of the day were of Kimberly's neices, ages 13 and 11. Wow, did I learn a lot about sisters! I grew up with a brother, but luckily Allyson has a sister and knew exactly what to do. Here are some photos from the shoot.

And once again, Allyson totally rocked it out!

Photos by Allyson Hodges

I LOVE photographing bellies, especially when there's a special little life growing inside them. This is my friend Melanie. I had the best time photographing her and her belly (and daddy too ;) ). ??She was such a good sport for being 30 weeks pregnant! She allowed me to paint the baby's name on her belly (the last photo) and little Mack kept kicking my paint brush away! It made me remember how much I loved feeling my little man kick me from the inside.

These are some of my favorite people!?? I had the great opportunity to photograph the Perkins family recently: Stephanie, Daniel, and Evelyn.?? We spent a fun-filled afternoon at a local park.?? Evelyn is so sweet and cute; she's one of the few who is pre-approved for my son to pal around with.?? :)

My assistant Allyson totally rocked it out with this shot!??

Photo by Allyson Hodges

I had a great time photographing the Mauney family!?? I've known Steven and Betsy for several years.?? Isaac is approaching his first birthday; it's been fun watching him grow this past year on Betsy's blog.?? As for this photo, maybe I'm partial to the Father/Son shot since I love to photograph my own husband and our son, but this is one of my favorites from the shoot.?? Here is first-time dad, Steven, and little Isaac.?? How sweet are their coordinating button-ups!?? For more, check out my Flickr.

This is Liam. He is one of the happiest little boys I have ever photographed. At the time of the shoot, he was about 4 months old. Liam can hold his head up pretty well and just loved being on his tummy, which is great for photographing this age.?? For more, check out my Flickr.

My wonderful assistant, Allyson, captured a few images of me in action from our informal portrait session with Salina. I really hate having my picture taken, which is why I'm always the one behind the camera, but these are really neat..?? I never get to see myself working. Thanks Allyson!?? By the way, no laughing at my hat!

See the results of this shoot here.

I have been so excited about these portraits since I took them over a week ago!?? This is Salina, a friend of mine who has an amazing story!?? She graciously allowed me to photograph her and I am so glad that I did.?? I had an extremely hard time picking out my favorites though.?? While editing, my husband asked what I did to make her skin glow.. the answer is absolutely nothing.?? Seriously, her skin is just that radiant.?? All I did was apply the "Lori Touch".?? The shots were flawless directly from the camera! For more, check out my Flickr.

Having a child is like having a forever evolving subject to photograph.?? I love photographing my 14-month-old son.?? He's been staring at my lens since the day after he was born, so he's become a ham for the camera.?? We took him to the pumpkin patch this week and it was the first time he was able to walk among the pumpkins.?? Most of my snapshots of him are just that, snapshots, but I felt compelled to share these because I thought they turned out really well.

I absolutely had the best time photographing Olivia.?? She is only a couple months younger than my own little boy, so this was fun!?? Olivia has the most amazing blue eyes!?? I still cannot get over how beautiful they are.?? I am so excited that I was able to capture this moment of her life for her mom and dad.?? Olivia's first birthday is coming up on November 3rd (one day before mine!).?? So Happy Birthday Sweet Olivia!?? For more, check out my Flickr.

I just love shooting family portraits!?? Children grow up so fast, it give me so much joy to freeze time for their parents through family portraits.?? Below is a shot of the youngest Trotter.?? Shelby was just an amazing little model.?? She could not have been more cute!

I had the wonderful privilege of shooting headshots for Salon Piper Glen. The staff and stylists there are so much fun! We found this great burgundy painted brick wall out back that made an excellent backdrop for these modern-looking headshots. These and other images will be displayed on their website very soon: http://www.salonpiperglen.com/. I cannot wait to see my work "published"!?? All the images turned out great; here are a select few that I couldn't resist posting.?? For more, check out my Flickr.

Meet Jade. This young lady is amazing! She was such a pleasure to hang out with and photograph. When I told her she was a natural, she said, "Yeah, that's what people tell me." Classic! For more photos of Jade, click the image to visit my Flickr photostream.

Recently I had the pleasure of photographing the Jimenez family. Little Emmanuel was only about 6 weeks old at the time of this shoot and so precious. I just loved capturing mom and dad's interactions with their new little one. The love and joy during this time in life is so priceless; I am honored that they asked me capture it for them.

Autumn is, by far, my favorite season.?? Quoting from one of my favorite movies, You've Got Mail...

Don't you love New York in the fall??? It makes me want to buy school supplies.?? I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.

Don't you love NC in the fall!!??? In honor of this glorious season, I am offering a special discount for all portraits sessions that are booked during the month of October.?? Your session doesn't have to take place during October, it just must be booked during October.?? Better hurry though, this deal won't be around for long!Contact Lori at lsjackson[at]gmail[dot]com to book your session today!

October Portrait Special

$100

(includes one location, either studio or outdoor, and online proof/purchase of prints)????

Cassie and Harper Murray... This could be you too!

I had a great photo shoot with the Murray Family. These guys are great and Harper is by far, one of my favorite little models. Some may recognize her from this photo in July. This time we adventured to South End and the Blue Line and what a great time we had capturing this fun family!

This was an experiment in outdoor lighting and split toning. I ended up with a somewhat retro look for these outdoor portraits. A bit of a confession here though, this is actually my family and no, I didn't take the last photo (of myself), Jonathan did. We were also trying out some new lighting ideas. I think we might have found an inexpensive way to get some pretty even lighting outdoors.

I had a portrait sitting this past weekend with Mandy and Todd and their sweet little girl, Carly. Carly was a trooper; she handled all the flashes like a pro! It was such a privilege spending some time with little Carly!

As Labor Day is generally a time for gathering with family and friends, I took the opportunity to photograph my child and a friend's child as they played in the last of the summer heat (hopefully). I am looking forward to many new assignments coming up this fall. Stay tuned!