Hello from Vezzani Photography
Hi! I’m Juventa from Vezzani Photography! Welcome to my world. I have loved taking photos since I got my first 110mm camera when I was 8 years old and have been taking pictures ever since. I love being out in nature, hiking, and visiting new places. One of my favorite places is Yosemite National Park. That said, the more I see the world, the more places I want to add to my list of favorites.
I am a portrait photographer, stock photographer, and landscape photographer. If I’m not taking pictures, I’m running kids to/from school, writing blog posts, attending church, writing music, or watching TV. I am a salty sweet kind of girl who loves chocolate covered pretzels, fresh from the oven cinnamon rolls, and popcorn (all kinds)! I also love watermelon, garden fresh veggies, and grapes off the vine. My favorite part of photography is capturing the moments in time.
Why I started this blog
I used to think that in order to take a good photograph, you needed to wait for the perfect moment. You know what I’m talking about – that perfect sunset, the ideal time of day, the right sky or weather conditions. I’ve learned over the years, that more often than not, you need to seize the moment or pretty soon, that moment will be gone.
Drives with my dad
Years ago, I lived in Wild, Wonderful, West Virginia just minutes away from historic Harper’s Ferry. My dad lived a little under 30 minutes from me. We started a tradition where once a week we would get in the car and go on long drives together. Dad would show me all of his secret and favorite places. Things that he thought were beautiful and that merited a photograph. More often than not, they were old stone bridges, mills, hidden houses or ruins tucked away down an old mountain road. Sometimes they were beautiful vistas like Skyline Drive or back roads and monuments in Washington D.C. and the surrounding area.
We would leave early in the morning and drive until the sun set, soaking in as much time as we could together. We didn’t talk much. Dad never did. The nice thing about our drives was just being together enjoying each others company. There was no social pressure to have to think up something to say. We were just there, together, enjoying this beautiful earth and some of mankind’s creations.
Letting go of my perfection
It was on those drives that I started learning to be flexible about my “ideal conditions.” Often it would rain, or worse, was noon day with full sun. I would sometimes take a photo to humor dad and think in the back of my mind, “I’ll come back at sunset.” But I never did. Honestly many of these places I would never be able to find again as they were tucked in locations I would never think to drive. Sometimes dad would say, “I wonder what’s down this road” and turn before I could object.
We found old barns, hay bales, long horned cows, and hidden vistas of mountains and valleys. Often there was no place to safely pull over and so the photograph couldn’t be taken, but many times dad would find a small bit of gravel, pull over and say, “Take it quick!” So I did.
Photography is one of my true loves
I’ve started this blog for several reasons. One is that I have loved photography since I was a little girl. I grew up in Virginia in the suburbs of Washington D.C., and as soon as I knew what a camera was, I wanted one for my birthday. I got my first camera when I was 8 years old. It was a little 110mm point and shoot camera and I was in heaven. That was back in the day when digital cameras were an impossible dream and the internet and e-mail were unheard of.
It’s amazing, really, how far we have come. I took as many pictures as I could based upon the film I could afford to buy. I would then wait several days for my pictures to be processed and returned to me. Several rolls of film were completely filled with “selfie” of my best friend Gracie and me. Several were taken on family vacations as I wanted to capture every moment I could. I have been taking pictures ever since.
Travel is another one of my true loves
The other reason why I started this blog is because I LOVE to travel. I grew up with 8 kids in my family and was number 5. When I was really young, dad would announce that we were going to the beach. He then proceeded to the car. I would jump off the couch, run upstairs, throw on a swimsuit and grab a towel. Dad and I used to sit in the car, sometimes over an hour, while we waited for my mom and the rest of the kids to come to the car.
I was ready for an adventure, hungry even, and didn’t care about important things like food. Now that I’m a mom of six kids, I have a lot more empathy for my mom. I can envision her frantically looking for swimsuits and towels, packing lunches, getting changes of clothes, shoes, sunscreen, etc. She was gracious enough to humor my dad on these last minute wild adventures, but I can only imagine the stress it put on her. Thanks mom for helping us make memories! No really, thank you.
My first travel memories
Probably my favorite memory as a small child was when dad came home one day with a motor home that he had purchased. It was the perfect blend of travel and spontaneity. Mom could have her kitchen and we could have our beds and a bathroom/shower. We even had a table where we would sit for hours and play card games and braid each others hair. I liked to climb up top over the driver’s seat so that I could peer out of the little window to see the beautiful sights.
One time, dad decided he wanted to go to New York and Canada to see Niagara falls. I, as usual, grabbed an outfit and shoes and jumped in the motor home. Dad may have sent me back in to help my mom. I can’t remember. Eventually we were all in the motor home off on our big journey. When we hit the first gas station, we all wanted to get out.
The lost shoes
My little brother, Michael, was a toddler. We put our shoes on and realized that he didn’t have any. None. In hindsight, I think I was the one who carried him to the motor home, unaware that there was even a need for such things as shoes. Surely mom would remember, right? Barefoot, my mom brought him into the gas station and purchased a pair of flip flops for him. He was our little Houdini and did NOT like to wear shoes.
When we finally arrived at Niagara falls, I went up with my little brother and some siblings to look over the edge. Within a blink of an eye, I saw something go over the falls in a perfect trajectory and then looked down at my brother’s feet. No shoes. He had thrown his new flip flops over the falls! I don’t remember what my mom did, or even if new shoes were obtained, but I always laugh when I think about that moment.
Spontaneity lives on
I, for better or worse, have been born with this same innate sense of spontaneity and need for adventure. My kids can attest to the many times when I have jumped in the car and invited all who wanted to come to get in, the most infamous one to date being our trip to Death Valley, aka “The Valley of Death,” in the middle of summer (but that is a story for another day). I don’t need grandeur, but I would love to see the world one day and capture it with my camera.
I’m not a big city girl, never have been, but I do love and appreciate hidden beauty everywhere I go. It really is the simple things in life that can bring the greatest joy. Since moving to California and then to Utah, my photography adventures with my dad have stopped. I flew home twice just to go on a drive with him but it’s not the same – and that’s okay. I will always cherish the memories I made. My imperfect photographs have become priceless to me because of the sentiment attached to them.
Sharing my photos with others is one way to give back
I would like to dedicate this blog to my dad. These beautiful places need to be seen. Some of the posts will be better than others in terms of the quality of the photography as I plan on sharing some from when I was younger and less experienced or when I had no control over the conditions during the photo shoot.
I am learning that I need to let go of my perfectionism and simply want to share what I’ve seen and experienced with you, dear reader. That is the beauty of life. Sometimes we get picture perfect moments in our lives and other times we get rain or blinding light (literally as well as metaphorically). During those times, we can still find beauty and capture it or we can say, “Someday” or “When the time is right” and let life pass us by. Really, it’s up to you. Plus, the more we try, the more we learn and grow.
Finding joy in the journey
I’d like to end with a quote from one of my favorite movies, “Ever After.” I am paraphrasing from memory. Near the end of the movie, the older woman is finishing up her story about Danielle (Cinderella) and the prince. When she is done, she says, “The point isn’t that they lived happily every after. The point is that they LIVED.” And so my dad’s legacy continues. May we enjoy this journey together as I share my photography, lessons learned, and life with you!
Happy travels!
Juventa Vezzani
Read more of my travel stories here!
To purchase some of my photographs through the stock agency, visit Shutterstock today!
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