Jessica has been recognized as a preferred vendor to work with by her industry peers, earned TheKnot.com’s Best of Weddings award 9 times, and been inducted into TheKnot.com Hall of Fame. Jessica is a multi-award-winning photographer, a leader in her industry, and an educator to up-and-coming photographers through her Embark Retreat.
Wow. Yesterday was our last day of 3 traveling with 91 WWII veterans from Bakersfield to Washington DC for their Honor Flight to visit their WWII Memorial. I know the guys were all ready last night to get home, see their families and sleep in their own beds but also were so humbled to be able to go on this journey and make so many new friends with other service members. After being awake yesterday for 22 hours and being by their sides for 3 days, I would have to agree! It was the most memorable, exhausting, emotional trip I’ve taken in a while and I wouldn’t trade those 3 days for anything. I feel so blessed to have been asked to photograph this journey and after getting to know many of these heros, I think I may have taken away more than I gave. Their stories are incredible and it was an honor just to sit and talk with them and capture their emotions at each stop in our travels. I hope some of these photos and the ones to come give you a glimpse at how special this organization is…please, if you can donate or attend an Honor Flight in your area (there’s 100 hubs around the country!) PLEASE give!! If you want our local Kern County hub to receive your donations, please call 544-VETS !
I’ll have all the photos up soon (hopefully next week) and will be posting the gallery link in as many places as I can (http://www.JFPClients.com/HonorFlightKernCounty), but today….after some much needed rest, I want to share just a few photos and Ch. 17’s video of our amazing welcome home last night at the airport!!
CLICK ON LINK BELOW TO VIEW NEWS STORY!
http://www.kget.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3835284
**Also, if you’re local my new friend and fellow ‘media team’ Katey will be doing her report at 5pm and 6pm on Channel 17 TODAY!
From Thursday’s Bakersfield Californian…..we got a full page of color photos!
Yesterday, we got a special tour with our Congressmen, Kevin McCarthy – House Majority Whip. We were invited onto the House Floor and enjoyed a visit and talk by Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan and posed for a group photo with John Boehner.
3 Generations!!!
My new dance partner at the Crystal Palace….the studly Gil 😉 We put on a street performance to entertain our awaiting vets….Hurry up and wait!
Quick stop at the Air and Space Museum Annex to view the Discovery Shuttle and Enola Gay!
LOVED getting to chat with David, who was in the Battle of the Bulge….here’s a great shot of how excited he was to receive mail from our local community thanking him for his service!
And my amazing seat mates, Leonard and Moe!
THANK YOU to our amazing community for giving these 91 Veterans an amazing welcome home last night, it was such a blessing to see it all unfold. Guardians – thank you for all that you did for your veterans, it’s been my pleasure meeting you and helping out as much as I could!!
Have a great weekend everyone!
-Jessica
Jessica Frey is an award-winning, Texas Hill Country-based international wedding and event photographer committed to delivering a high-quality experience complete with stunning and joyful images.
These photos really capture their joy! .. and yet, tears in my eyes!!