About Me, My Family and My Photography Hi, my name is Judy Donnelson, and I am the owner and sole employee of Memories Captured by Judy. I live in Las Vegas, Nevada with my husband, Ken, and our 12-year-old cocker spaniel, Nicky. Also residing in the Las Vegas Valley are our three daughters and their respective spouses. They have blessed us with five incredibly beautiful grandchildren (Grandma's pride talking), that have served as the inspiration for most of my photography. In the SlideShows , you can see the most recent collages and montages that I have done with Savannah (6½), Diego (4), Sarah (3½), Rebekah (1) and Ava (6 months) as the more or less willing subjects of my ever-present flash camera. The slides also include work that I've done for other clien ts.  Until very recently, my business was only a hobby, which actually got started a little less than seven years ago when Savannah was born, and I "discovered" digital photography. I began by simply editing photos and putting Cool Edges around them. Then I did some memory album pages for family and friends, and finally, a little over a year ago, when I retired as a school librarian, I began creating the styles of collages you can view now on this website. They are all unique and personalized and no two are exactly alike. Since most of my experience with collages has taken place in the last few years or so, let me give you a brief (not a word I use a lot) description of my previous projects and qualifications. No matter what I did, picture-taking and layouts of some kind were almost always involved in my work (just read the highlighted words to see for yourself.) I have been taking pictures since I was 10, all over the U.S. and, as an adult, in Europe I was a high school Spanish teacher in the early days of my career, so I speak and write it fluently and can do photo captions in either language For several years I sold newspater display advertising. I had to take pictures and do layouts of ads, both large and small When I was busy raising children, I did either part-time or volunteer work, often putting together layouts of bulletins and newsletters and, as always, taking pictures I was an elementary school librarian for 12 years, making hundreds of signs, notices, awards, etc., using photos and/or clip art in my layouts
I recently helped with a church pictorial directory, taking all the family pictures *, creating a number of collages reflecting church activities, and working on layout I do church bulletin boards with collages of a variety of events , including baby showers, retreats, drama and youth functions--and I am often the photographer at these events I currently work part-time at Heavensent Christian Books and Gifts in Las Vegas, where I am not only in sales, but also attend to many of their advertising needs by making signs, ads, promotions--often with photo montages
*While we were putting together the directory, people were even paying me to take extra pictures and create some photo montages for Christmas gifts. That's when I started to think that I might be able to turn my hobby and past experience into a business. After prayer, counseling and encouragement from family, friends and "satisfied customers," I decided to take the plunge. And here I am, ready to create an original, customized, personalized collage just for YOU. |