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full circle | january 2013 | monterey lifestyle photographer

02-02-2013

full circle | january 2013 | close-up portraiture

this year, i signed up for a lot of projects to help develop my photography skills and push me creatively.  i am participating in a blog circle with a fabulous group of women that i have met (virtually…yep, e-friends!) through the Clickin’ Moms forum.  if you haven’t heard me rave about this forum before…well, now here’s your chance!  i owe a lot of what i have learned about photography through their forum, blog, and workshops…there are an incredible amount of amazingly talented women that are committed to helping each other and pushing creative boundaries.  i am extremely grateful to have happened upon their site…and extremely grateful and honored to be a part of their blog circle challenge this year- so, after you check this post out, make sure you go the full circle and check out their amazing work!

each month, we have a theme.  In January, our theme was “close-up portraiture”.  i found this challenging- especially when your subject is an unwilling, quickly moving child.  however, i accepted the challenge head on…literally!  and i walked away with a greater appreciation of close-up portraiture.

when you finish checking out my pictures, please head over to Dani’s website and see her incredible work! and remember…make the full circle!

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Deb Moll - Love your close up portraits! I just want to squeeze those freckly little cheeks! The kissing images made me smile.

Rhonda - JoAnna I love love love your sons’ eyelashes and freckles!! Your portraits are awesome!

Katie Myrick - I am such a sucker for a redheaded freckled child :) so I love that one!! The b&w portrait of the woman is wonderful…have you taken the CM natural light indoors? this picture reminds me of that workshop. and I love love the kissy one.. so appropriate for valentines!

melissa - these are precious!!! what great photos! <3

Mickisha - These are beautiful Joanna! That’s a self-portrait of you in the middle right? Well, either way that is my favorite. Love the lighting and moodiness of it!

J. Reynolds Photography - thank you, katie! i actually have not taken that class, but i have thought about it often (dang CM with all of their really good workshops!). the picture is actually a selfie…really pushing myself to be on the other side of the camera this year- so i have taken to pulling out my remote and learning how to use the interval timer!

Kirsty - I love your use of light in these and that first image with the freckles, just divine!

Erica Collins - These are beautiful portraits, JoAnna! I could stare at your son’s eyelashes and freckles all day!!

Lissa - Gorgeous! I love all the black and white conversions.

365 | week four | monterey lifestyle photographer

01-27-2013

21 | 365

barnum

i tried to get a picture of him doing what he does best…sleep! however, when he saw me moving things around, he thought he was time to play and get pet. instead, we just kind of stared at each other!

 

22 | 365

new do!

i love hair cut day! aside from the fact that i get all of the crazy hairs tamed (and colored), i LOVE, LOVE, LOVE getting my hair washed (people- i used capital letters…i mean it!). one of the women i work with played a game with her family.  they talk about what their heaven looks like…i tell you, i might not be sure about all of the details, but in my heaven, having my hair washed the way my stylist washes it, is how i would start every day! it’s the best! (ignore the fact that this shot is slightly out of focus…just note that i actually put on make-up- that’s huge!)

 

23 | 365

seeing clearly

after my run this morning, i decided that i would start including pictures of the place where i currently live.  i walked around fisherman’s wharf, took lots of pictures, and just enjoyed the overcast day before the rain set in.  i know this picture doesn’t scream monterey…but when i downloaded all of my pictures, this one just stuck out! sometimes we need to just turn off the path we are currently on to see things clearly- perhaps this was a sign?!

 

24 | 365

searching

my son made binoculars at school today.  after a bribery pack of gummi worms, he let me take some pictures of him peeking out the door.

 

25 | 365

observing

another playdate with the little kids after i let my son stay home from school for a “mental health” day…yeah- i’m a sucker (and possible mom guilt for upcoming trip).  they were watching the big kids outside- deciding whether or not they wanted to leave the warm house behind.

 

26 | 365

hunger games…the backyard edition

another playdate!  nobody was harmed or starved during the process of taking this picture.

 

27 | 365

travel day

i am feeling incredibly proud of myself for my fierce dedication thus far to this project!  i’m actually writing this post somewhere in the air between the west and east coasts! it is a travel day for me! i was concerned that i was going to fall behind when traveling, but i actually really enjoyed taking pictures on my first flight and during my layover (gasp…i wished i had more time, but alas, i had to leave one terminal at LAX and walk to another one and go back through security- it really cut into my shooting time!). so, here i am making good use of my air time…i edited pictures and am completing this post! i’m all over this! woohoo!

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Erica Collins - Searching….wow. Amazing capture. I love his smushed up nose!! And, nice haircut!!

365 | week three | monterey lifestyle photographer

01-17-2013

14 | 365

kisses

i was more than willing to set aside housework to have coffee and catch-up with my friend. throughout our coffee-talk, her daughter would snuggle up with her mama and then go back to playing.  before they left, it was the ultimate snuggle fest…i couldn’t pass the moment up!

 

15 | 365

favorite things

the night before, i asked my son what was one of his favorite things from the day. he told me that getting a hug from his sister was his favorite thing.  catching this moment the next day after homework just reminded me of how much they love each other- it definitely makes my heart happy and my good stuff for the day!

 

16 | 365

locals posing as tourists?

yes, we did the tourist thing today.  got our yogurt down on cannery row followed by climbing rocks on the beach.  unfortunately, my daughter didn’t calculate the tide as well as she could have and proceeded to get her shorts wet wading back to the shore.  despite what some might think, monterey is not southern california (we know this but were very ill-prepared for out outing)!  needless to say, she was cold and wet…which led us to the nearest sweatshirt shop to buy her a new pair of sweatpants.  i’m pretty sure she has worn them everyday since- at least i got my money’s worth!

 

17 | 365

 battle

battle indeed…once my daughter’s friends left to play at the pool, it was an epic battle between mother and daughter about attending karate class as promised by daughter earlier in the week.  it got ugly for a few moments.  however, in the end, we had a good discussion about what’s important to both of us, she was glad she went, and i was happy i stayed for the class to see her.  i’ll chalk it up as a victory for both of us!

 

18 | 365

pajama day

my son had pajama day at school.  i’m wondering if we could institute a national pajama day?  i think the world would be a much happier place if we all just got to keep our superhero pjs on all day.

 

19 | 365

flip-flop weather

it finally warmed up! i got to bust out my flip-flops for the day…which meant i got to bust out the 5-second pedicure!  don’t look too close- it’s far from professional!

 

20 | 365

old soul

this month’s creativity challenge on Clickin’ Moms was the unconventional self portrait.  it challenged people to think about self portraits from a different perspective.  so, today i decided to take pictures of my hands.  i’ve always been told that my hands are a palm reader’s dream! if you to do the “who is the mother?” contest between my mother’s hands and mine- i would definitely appear as the older person!  i’ve always been fascinated by my hands- how many lines there are and how different the left and right are from each other. i also like to think that i just have a lot going on in my life that i need all of these lines to capture everything that is going on.  they’re just another thing that i think makes me unique!

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52 of you | week two | monterey lifestyle photographer

01-16-2013

2 | 52 of you | favorite activity

yogurt with my girl

on wednesdays, my daughter has early-release from school.  one of our favorite activities, when weather permits, is to ride our bikes down to cannery row, get yogurt, and then climb on rocks down by the beach.  i cherish this time spent with her…i know before long, she will be a teenager and will probably want nothing to do with her crazy-embarassing mother (hard to imagine for those that know me, huh?). so, i am very happy to have captured one of our girl-time dates on camera- with me included!

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