Meeting Jillian is like opening a window on a bright spring day. Her presence is cheerful and her heart is genuinely compassionate. She is deeply in tune with the feelings of people around her and documenting meaningful moments is a mission she has felt called to since childhood. She first began capturing the beauty of fleeting milestones at 11-years-old when her baby brother was born. She would carry her camera around and try to catch memories as they unfolded before her eyes as she watched him grow from a baby into a child.

Twenty three years later she has photographed hundreds of important moments for people all over the globe. She has documented weddings + portrait sessions for clients in Europe, Mexico and all over the United States. But it doesn’t matter where the location is. If there is even a little light present in a simple place, she is able to capture the grandeur of the love she sees within.

Now that she has experienced the unique intertwining of joys and trials in marriage and motherhood, she feels even more empathy whenever she wields her camera during the momentous occasions she is invited into. She’s always keenly aware of the privilege it is to be invited into intimate relational space with those she is photographing.

Jillian is able to help those around her feel confident when being photographed, even if they don’t naturally enjoy being in front of a camera (because neither does she). Her presence is encouraging and relaxing. For Jillian, the value of photographs isn’t in the resulting visual alone, but in the story and in the people photographed. Her main concern is always to preserve the delicate interactions happening in front of her, as if handling falling snowflakes. She doesn’t want the presence of the camera to alter the moment but rather makes it her goal to have her camera be an extension of her loving hand.

— Mandy Cave