Portraiture in a Wedding Dress - Niceville, Fl

Monday was my first wedding-ish shoot in a while. I say wedding-ish because there was no actual wedding :) Jessica has been married for about 10 months or so, but has yet to have her ceremony. To some of you this may be odd, but for us military folk... totally NOT odd. They will be having their actual ceremony wedding bash in May, and though they have a photographer she really wanted to get some shots of just her in her dress. Her husband is out for the week so what better timing than now? Aside from the threats of thunderstorm (stupid weather.com!) we had a LOVELY session, and the weather ended up being perfect. So glad we decided to take our chances :) Jessica is absolutely gorgeous and we had a wonderful time near Boggy Bayou in Niceville... or perhaps it's technically Valparaiso. Seriously, I think she will be stunning on her wedding day! And I have to point out that nothing in photoshop touched her face. She is naturally just that beautiful.



We were on the side of the road and she suggested we get in the middle of the road. Awesome. I love LOVE clients who want to do things like this :) She even wanted to sit on a tree branch and totally would have had we been able to find the right one... maybe another day.



Jessica and her man have the cutest story. She has known him since she was seven years old. Always had a crush on him. However, he is five years older than her so he didn't notice her quite the way she noticed him at first. Sometime around twelve though she got up the courage to throw it out there. Their families were friends and he had left his bag at her grandma's house (or it may have been a cousin, not sure which), and she slipped a picture of her with her phone number in the bag for him to find later. He found it, called her the next day,and the rest is history. How cute is that!?!





I was LOVING the dock and her shoes! So many awesome shots there. And I have to give Brian credit for finding this spot :) We were driving around looking for new locations to shoot at and he randomly found this little loop with all these great photo places. It's a real keeper!

Japan - A Few of My Favorite Things

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, I simply just think of my favorite things and I don't feeeel soooo baaaaaad! Once upon a time I had the opportunity to photograph a very talented musical family. John wanted studio shots of him with his instruments, but we did the family shots outside because Nadine was allergic to dogs and Shugo is in fact, a dog. Their little girl Justine was SO cute with her curls and her little violin. I LOVE the violin. Not sure why, but I do, and if I ever had the patience for it I would learn to play it. I don't think my patience could last that many years though, so it will be quite unlikely.



As we were taking pictures I had them playing different songs. It was seriously one of my favorite shoots! As we were walking back toward my house/studio a neighbor excitedly came out of her home... "My Favorite Things Kudasai! Play. Kudasai. Hi. My Favorite Things. My Favorite Things." John response? Ughhhh... Honey? How does that go? The Japanese woman, my neighbor, whom I have never met, nor even waved to (or bowed since that is their custom), nor did I even knew she spoke a single word of English, bursts out humming the tune. He tried to play it, and she quite forcefully corrected him. iie. iie. La La LA la. La La LA la... We were in the middle of our shoot, and also the middle of the street, trying to move on and continue. He was very polite though and he later informed me that what happened was a completely normal occurrence. He made that woman's day. I bet she never thought she would get a personal performance from a US Navy Band member right in her own yard. Of course she probably also never thought an American musician wouldn't know that song by heart.



Japan is still hurting. The mess caused by the earthquake will not be taken care of anytime soon. The lives that have been forever changed... Japan is still in desperate need of our prayers and support. I realize this post is a day late (and probably a dollar short too), but I saw this on a fellow photog's blog and wanted to post it up too. It was the reason for my not posting on Friday. If you want to help Japan and are not sure where to start, here is an option. The picture below looks pretty terribly on here, but there was a bloggers "Day of Silence" Friday started by For Japan With Love. Check it out and help our Japanese friends!

Horse Photography - Alaqua Animal Refuge

Saturday I had my first successful Horse Volunteer work day at Alaqua :) We got the horses groomed and got pictures of them for the website. There were a few that had to be complicated and wouldn't perk their ears up... *cough* Bucky *cough*... however! We got a great one when he was distracted by his girlfriend ;) His golden shot is the last one on the left.  Directly below we have Joe. All these horses are adoptable and they are all pretty darn sweet. Some of the Alaqua horses are rid-able and some aren't. I think I mentioned it before, but I am heading up the horse volunteer department at Alaqua. We have a really great group of volunteers who are in love with the horses and want to help out in any way possible. It amazes me as to how much Alaqua does with the small amount of staff they have on hand. It is such a HUGE facility and they are very dependent on volunteers to help them do what they do. I am currently working on a "Day in the life of Alaqua" project with the Alaqua public relations girl (Lori). Our goal is to show people that Alaqua is not what you would expect from a animal shelter. It's an amazing facility on ten acres, and probably the exact opposite from anything you have seen or experienced when visiting a shelter or animal control sort of place. So! At some point you will see shots for that and maybe even an article somewhere :)





Sarah.



Bucky and Spirit are in the "senior pasture" at Alaqua livin' the life!

Nichole and Josh's Wedding

I know it has been a couple of weeks, but what can I say? If it does not NEED to be done and I don't do it immediately, it just tends to sit on the back burner until I get sick of seeing it on my to do list. I was in my friend, Nichole's wedding a couple weeks ago in California. It was a beautiful wedding and I am so happy that I was able to be a part of it. She looked amazing and now she has a lovely new name :)



Nichole and I go way back to 6th grade when she was the new girl in school. We sat next to each other in class. One day in class we were all quietly working on some math homework when one of us went to pick up a hair that was sitting on the other's sheet only to realize that it was a pencil marking. This odd incident was quite hysterical from an eleven year old's perspective, and we hit it off from there. A weird way to start a friendship. I know. That's how it happened though ;)





Back to the wedding. It was at Catta Verdera in Lincoln, California. A pretty snazzy venue indeed. I had a wonderful time photographing us girls getting ready, and of course tagged behind the photographer and got some of my own shots of the bride :) I would recognize the photographer, but I cannot for the life of me remember their names... though I did see a couple shots posted on Nichole's Facebook and I must say they did a FABULOUS job! I am so excited to see the rest of their images! The wedding went off without a hitch, minus a few raindrops, or adding a few raindrops. Seriously, the second we stepped outside to begin the ceremony it started to sprinkle. Not a lot, but a little and it started a little harder and we thought we were in for it, but it stayed light and everything was wonderful. I think Nichole may have even been a little relieved because it forced her father and Josh's father to keep their talking under control :) So yes, a few rain drops to seal the deal and we were off for more pictures and the reception. The food. Oh the FOOD. Filet Mignon anyone? I would have taken a picture of it had I not eaten it so quickly.



I love love LOVE their family. Above is her sweet dad and below is her brother both getting teary eyed seeing her ready to be married ;) I can remember her brother driving us to Homecoming once as we were all dressed up and giving us advice on how not to be that ditsy girl smacking her gum. Not that we needed that advice, but it was said anyway ;)



All us bridesmaids. Her two sisters and a dear friend of hers. Yes I am totally blurry. At least I got someone in focus right? I am still working on mastering those hand held shots :)



Really though, who does not want this shot from their wedding day? It is a must. Absolutely.



This one too...



It was really a blast being a part of her special day. I really enjoyed spending so much time with her and her family the few days before her wedding.

Furry Fanatics Portrait Party

Saturday April 2, 2011 we are having a party. A portrait party! Furry Fanatics in Gulf Place has invited me, Joy Jill Photography, out to do a portrait party for their clients! We are having 15 minute sessions all day long from 10am to 5pm! This is the perfect opportunity to get your Mothers Day gift early :) Yes, that's right Mothers Day. Because it is almost upon us yet again. Bring your pet out to get some nice portraits done and if you don't have a pet that's OK! I photograph people too :) We'll have 15 minutes to photograph whoever you'd like. Furry Fanatics will have frames available for purchasing and all images will be posted online within a couple days so you can order prints or albums for Mother's Day! Please stop by Furry Fanatics or give them a call, 850.278.6902 to sign up. There are limited time slots and they are filling up fast!



So come on out to Gulf Place in Santa Rosa Beach on Saturday, April 2, 2011 to get some dog photography (or people photography!) done. I'd love to see you out there!

Back in the Game!

It's true! He's back in the game! YAY! Yesterday I got a lovely text from Brian that he will be classing up today :) I am so SO happy for him! It has been three an a half weeks now and I think we were both getting a little discouraged. There is no information on anything. He just goes in each day to work hoping that they will give him good news, but they give him nothing. Until today! Isn't it amazing? One day he's waiting and the next he is immediately back in class. Apparently he got into the Navy class behind him which is really cool. I was a little worried about him being in an Army class. Not that there is anything wrong with Army people, or that there is anything wrong with Brian's people skills. I just figured things might be a little more complicated for him if he was the only Navy guy in an Army class. Mixing different branches can be awkward at times. Since he is in a Navy class he already knows some people in the class so that is really cool. A friend of his is in the class, or was in the class. He double-tapped and that is the spot that Brian is taking. I told him he should thank the guy. He said he almost did, but thought better of it. Maybe another day.

Anyway, we are quite excited about this news! Just pray that things go smoothly and he isn't nervous. Three weeks off hopefully didn't make him lazy, or forget anything! He has a few days of practice before he has to take the test that he failed again. I am confident that he will pass it, but there are more difficult things ahead so keep praying that he keeps his head on straight.

Pray For Japan

Japan has really been on my mind a lot lately, and I am sure many of yours as well. I know there have been a few huge earthquakes in other countries in the last couple of years, and not to sound heartless, but I didn't seem to care as much when the other ones occurred. It's hard for me to attach myself emotionally to something when I am so far away in my safe comfortable America. It's not that I didn't care about the other countries who have been hit by earthquakes, it's devastating but since I have no connection to them in any way I was not as interested in following the details as much as I am with Japan. I lived in Japan for almost two years and it was an amazing experience. I grew to love the country and it's people. I was not excited about moving to Japan initially. I was excited to go somewhere new and be in another country, but Japan was not exactly the top of my list on countries to visit. Yet I fell in love with the country and it became my home for two years.

It is amazing watching the footage and reading about the effects of the earthquake. I still have many friends there with the military and a few Japanese friends as well. Everyone is safe. The area that I lived in felt the earthquake, but thankfully they were not affected in the way that the Sendai area has been. I am in awe of natural disasters. Makes me remember that we are so small. We tend to think we can do and accomplish anything, but we are not as powerful as we tend to think we are. The people of Japan are not more special than the people in Haiti or Chili or any other country that has been hit by a big earthquake lately, but I have a personal connection with Japan and they have been in my prayers and on my mind a lot lately. Please keep praying for Japan as there are so many without homes and they are still trying to control problems that have arose due to the earthquake.



Both of these pictures were taken by Brian as he was heading out to sea. I know I put my name on them, but I could not find this shot ANYWHERE! I know it's on our hard drive, but Brian keeps his stuff in his own folders and I could not find it for the life of me. I just happened to have created a copy for something a while back and put my name on it so it couldn't be snagged. They are probably my all time favorite shots taken during our time in Japan. Enjoy!

Horse Photography - Alaqua Animal Refuge

Yes, there are horses at Alaqua Animal Refuge. The proper question would be what animals do they not have? As most of you know I am a horse person. Since I don't have a horse anymore I have signed on to be the new volunteer coordinator for the horse department at Alaqua :) Now not all of the horses are ride-able, but it has been nice spending a bit more time with the horses even if it's not riding. Earlier this week I worked with a couple volunteers grooming horses and getting new photos taken. It took us a few hours, but we got five horses done and they looked MUCH better! Now is the season of shedding so they all were definitely in need of a good brushing. Next Saturday we are working on getting the rest done. Below is one of the minis at the shelter. Super cute and super sweet little guy. I haven't heard this one's background yet, but I know that many of the horses here came from some bad situations.



The horses could all use some extra love so if anyone knows anyone who might be interested in volunteering with them we'd love to have more people on board! Horses are much more complicated animals than dogs and if you don't know how to work with them it can be dangerous (even if you do know how to work with them it can be dangerous!). Safety is always of utmost importance, and I am currently revamping the volunteer plan of action so that we can have people working with the horses as often as possible and as safe as possible. The less the horses are worked with the more difficult they will become to handle. To keep them in a state of being adoptable animals we really depend on volunteers to work with them. So thank you to all volunteers! Every bit of help is much appreciated :)

Blooming Spring

It's that time of year again. The time of blooming blossoms and the sneezing people who are allergic to them :) My trip to Auburn was wonderful and my friend's wedding was amazing (pictures are coming I promise!). I was excited to find that I did not miss Alaqua's 2011 Canine Carnival at Gulf Place, but disappointed to find that though I will be in town on the rescheduled date, I will unfortunately be in class that entire day :( It was not meant to be apparently.

I have lots of new pictures to be posting. Wedding, horses, dogs, cats, so many wonderful things happening this spring! It is spring isn't it? I am working with Furry Fanatics on scheduling something special :) so look forward to news on that! I think it's going to be a good spring. I have a lot of exciting plans and different things going on. More pictures and updates are on their way!

Back to Florida

I am home in Florida today. Back to my busy schedule and warmer weather. Visits home are always nice, but tend to be a little busy trying to visit with as many people as possible while I am in town. It's not so bad though since I was in Auburn so recently. Long day of traveling yesterday though. I flew out of Sacramento at 9:30am and landed in Florida at 9:30pm. Not fun. You'd think I was flying to another country or something, but that is what you get when you select the cheapest flight possible that lands you when your husband is not at work. With that full day of traveling and the time change I think I want to do nothing and might just crash on the couch with the mongrels.

Japan

Just a funny ad that I saw in Japan. This thing was posted all over and every time I saw it I just had no words. Still, seven months later there are no words.

Chancho

Chancho is growing. It's what puppies do these days. The other morning when I got him out of his crate, I looked at him and thought he'd grown inches overnight! He has been very hot at night and wakes me up to let him out and he just runs outside and plops his tired body onto the cool sand (our backyard is basically sand despite the fact that we do not live on the water). So here is a shot of them playing when I first got him. Look at the size of Chancho's tiny little head!



And now... yesterday, the growth! Chancho's head can barely fit in Shugo's mouth now!



And Chancho can almost put Shugo's head in his mouth! This is the most important way in which to check the size change of your pet. Who's mouth could his/her head fit into?



Yet, they are buddies. Whether we take Shugo and leave Chancho or if we take Chancho and leave Shugo the one left behind is very depressed and sits by the door waiting until their return. It's so cute!

Homeward Bound

I am leaving town today to head to a friend's wedding in California. Off I go to my homeland and the wonderful wedding madness. Actually, it won't be wedding madness because my friend, Nichole, is a super organized awesome person who will be totally calm and relaxed and have everything in order to enjoy her day. And if (or rather when) something goes awry (because something always does) she will not bat an eye. And likely because of her awesome perfectionism whatever it is that may go wrong will be so minor that no one in their right mind would care anyway. And she is definitely in her right mind.

When I return I will absolutely post some special moments from the day. I will not be the photographer, but actually a bridesmaid so the images you see will be limited as I will not be standing up there with my camera in hand (how weird would that be!). Yet, you will see images from the wedding I promise! Let's just hope they don't come 3 months after the event like my travel images :) For now just LOOK at what I get to go home and visit for possibly the last time. Dear, sweet Gunther is getting old and who knows when I will return and if he will be there or not...