CLINTON – Jennifer Freitas loves taking portraits of children, couples, families and pets.
Freitas began her photography journey by documenting the life of her first puppy, Goliath, and then her foster brother, Goose. When her firstborn “two-legged son” Lucien arrived, she took a “bajillion photos” of him as a baby, she said. But all of these photos were from “a not-so-great cell phone” and weren’t of high quality.
When Freitas was pregnant four years ago with her second son, Daemon, she was given a DSLR (single-lens digital reflex) camera. Freitas realized she could “never go back to cellphone images.”
After her father died and she realized the lack of quality photos of him, documenting the love of the family – no matter how many legs they have – became her mission.
“It captures a memory for you to look back and remember your 11-year-old dog without your son’s grays or curls before his first haircut,” Freitas said.
After realizing how much she loved using the DSLR, Freitas asked all her friends and family to help her practice and she quickly decided she wanted to pursue professional photography.
A year after starting digital photography, with a few workshops and educational groups under his belt, Freitas received his business certificate and Emerald Moon Photography began.
Freitas grew up in Medford, but moved to Clinton six years ago to her new husband’s house. She met her husband, Jody, in the Army National Guard, but they didn’t become a couple until they both left the military and stayed in touch as friends. Their sons are now a 6-year-old freshman and an almost 4-year-old preschooler.
“Our bed almost always has at least one dog and one child,” Freitas said. But she said she wouldn’t change being a mother to a dog or a boy for the world.
She laughed, adding: ‘My eldest already has ‘photographer’s child syndrome’. This is where they hate having their picture taken because their parent took an endless amount of it.
As a mother, Freitas enjoys being in control of her photography schedule and owning her own small business. But, above all, she enjoys being involved in creating images of other people’s loved ones to give them memories they can remember for the rest of their lives, “to give people something that is truly for always” that doesn’t get worn out, worn out, or obsolete.
The downside is that sometimes “nothing works” to get a child, teenager or pet to engage with them or the camera; Freitas always feels bad when this happens, even though she knows “you really can’t control your subject” for portraits.
Freitas said it was “heartbreaking to see a beautiful person, but that person doesn’t like themselves in the photos”, even though she thinks it’s “pretty hypocritical”. Like many who spend a lot of time behind the camera, she feels the same way.
“But I know seeing a photo of you that you think is beautiful is an amazing feeling,” she said.
Freitas said she also enjoys looking at the photos she took, “ohh-ing and aww-ing out loud in my office” when they first see them.
Freitas said there is always more to learn with photography. It’s “something you can keep learning and improving endlessly,” she said. She enjoys “spending time learning more techniques and better ways of doing things every day.”
Her goal is to be a full-time photographer, but Freitas currently works for an environmental construction company as an inspector and project monitor.
Freitas also does photography for charities, particularly for the Clinton VFW. She and her husband are both veterans and her husband has served in city, district and state positions.
“Veterans’ issues are important to us,” Freitas said.
She has also had photos of children and families published in magazines such as Designer Child, Youthful Talent, Brand Model, Rising Model and Pretty Little Poser. Now that COVID is less of an issue, Freitas would like to do some screenings of his photography.
Freitas advertises that she is a “woman-owned, veteran, and LGBT-owned business” and joins professional associations for being female, bisexual, and proudly serving her country.
Her photography studio is in Boxborough (“one exit off I-495,” she said).
When not taking photos or honing her craft, Freitas said she enjoys reading, hosting, “trying to learn Japanese”, camping (especially campfires), riding motorbikes, fishing, making fireworks, zombies, playing all the Zeldas that have been released and “the dogs, dogs and dogs.
Freitas’ website is www.emeraldmoonphotography.com. Her Facebook is www.facebook.com/EmeraldMoonPhotographyMA, and her Instagram is @emeraldmoon_photography. You can email her at [email protected]