About Me
Hi! I'm Jodee
I was born and raised in Ohio. After graduating from college, I decided to spend a year teaching English in Taiwan and do some traveling. I ended up spending 8 years teaching in Taiwan. I did a lot of travelling and came home to visit family and friends often as well. I met my husband, who is from South Africa, while teaching in Taiwan. After getting married in 2001, we decided it was time to make the decision on where to spend the rest of our lives and start a family. My parents were living in Zanesville, so we decided it was a good place to start. 20 years and 2 children later, here we remain!
For as long as I can remember, I have always owned a camera of some sort and have always been drawn to photography. I have storage bins FULL of albums and negatives in my basement and I love seeing the expressions and laughter of my high school classmates when I bring them to our reunions! My first "big girl" camera was a Nikon SLR. And when digital cameras first came on the market, I was adamant that I would never own one...that didn't last long of course LOL.
So how did I get to where I am now? Well, my best friend had been trying to convince me to start a photography business for quite a while. I always had an excuse...I don't have time, I don't know how to start, I don't know what to name my business etc. Then, a church friend asked me to do her daughter's senior pictures. That was my first paid job. My best friend continued to push me. The next year, I did her daughter's senior pictures and she pulled in a few of her friends. Now it was getting real...
For almost a year I couldn't think of a name...nobody can pronounce my last name, and my first name is boring, so that wouldn't work...so what describes me and my personality? Well, I love travelling, last-minute road trips and exploring new places. So, one day, on my way to work (which includes a dirt road), it came to me...Backroads. And so, it began...Backroads Photography.