Get to know me better

Hi, I'm Jessica

I’ve always had a love for photography. When I was younger, I’d sneak my dad’s fancy camera and spend hours snapping photos of my sister’s traveling basketball team at tournaments, my friends on the weekends, the flowers in our garden bed, and the lake near home. But as college picked up and nursing school demanded more of me, I had to put that creative part of myself on pause. I still took photos during holiday and summer breaks, but it wasn’t until after graduating and starting my career as an ICU nurse that I found my way back to photography.

The ICU was relentless. My mental health took a hit. I needed a way to breathe again. At the time, I was also working on my Master’s degree in Forensic Nursing. I was learning to document crime scenes, how to photograph trauma and evidence with precision. It brought me back to photography, but this time with a deeper purpose: to preserve, to tell stories, to capture truth.

Eventually, I followed my dream and became a travel nurse, leaving my husband Josh and our other dog Dak back home for a couple months. My first contract took me to Las Vegas in 2021. I packed up everything I owned, brought my camera, and moved into a tiny one-bedroom apartment with my dog Ivy. On weekends, friends would visit, we’d hike, and I’d bring my camera everywhere. I even had the honor of photographing my sister’s proposal on one of those hikes.

I wanted to share my photos but didn’t want to name the page after myself, I wanted it to reflect what grounded me when I was at my lowest. As I scrolled through my galleries, I realized most of my photos featured Ivy, my loyal hiking companion, and many were taken at Red Rock Canyon or in the cedar-filled forests of Mount Charleston, where blue jays darted through the trees.

That’s how Cedar Ivy Images came to be. My healing happened in those moments.. with Ivy by my side, surrounded by fresh mountain air and the scent of cedar trees. The things that brought me peace became the heart of my photography.. to live life.