“My favorite part about photography is the emotional connection that comes from capturing a moment in time,” says Jenny Walters, the head of the Lakota West photography team. She’s been partnered with Lakota West for over seven years and still looks forward to all the new experiences coming her way! She was first introduced to the camera in elementary school. Walters would take pictures for her siblings who were in high school at the time for sports, prom, and other events. “Being trusted with that job was pretty cool for a young kid,” she states.

Walters’ favorite part about photographing for Lakota West is how it’s “like a whirlwind of a thousand things happening at once!” Having such a big responsibility should be difficult but she says it has her feeling young, and beyond blessed to have so many great friendships at Lakota West. She also shares how a photograph is just as important as the experience itself and how a person’s emotions can just take them back to the moment right then and there. One of her biggest inspirations is her former photography teacher Janet Roberts from sophomore year! “My favorite thing about the class was learning how to use my camera, a Canon AE-1, manually, and working in the darkroom.”

To store all the photos she takes on a daily basis Walters has “an 8TB RAID that spans across five hard drives. I have to thank my husband, Dan, for taking care of my photos for me – he is my in-home tech support,” she says. She also uses Flickr, as well as her other portrait work which can be accessed it at https://jennywaltersphotography.smugmug.com. She also frequently posts on Facebook and Twitter (@jenwaltersphoto) which are “are two of the best sharing tools for any photographer!”