The Fight Against Muscular Distrophy!

A very dear friend of mine has an amazing little girl with Muscular Distrophy.  I was honored in June to be the photography for the anual Safeway Walk For Muscular Distrophy in Red Deer.  I was surprised at how many times I had to stop myself from bursting into tears and how many times I had to take a moment to wipe tears away.  The individuals with muscular distrophy are so inspirational.  They don't take any movement for granted.  Things that I wouldn't think twice about doing is sometimes a struggle for the people fighting this disease!  I also have discovered that it's the entire family and close friends that are fighting this right along with them.  The families I saw have such a great support system.  Even members of the Red Deer Fire Department had members that came out to show their support.  They brought a fire truck with them, gave the kids tours of the inside of the truck and pulled out one of their hoses and let the kids take turns spraying the water. I am in awe of every person I met and the great connection that the Red Deer Chapter has with each other.  Here are a few photos I took.  I will be going next year whether or not I'm taking the photos.  A special thank you to Amy for all of her hard work getting the walk this year organized and for your amazing spirit as a mom to my sweet friend, Jeslyn! 

 Boxing gloves were available for everyone to show their fight against Muscular Distrophy





California!

Recently we (me, my husband and our son) went to California for a family vacation!  We had a ton of fun and the photo ops were endless!  Here are a few pictures that I got that I am madly in love with and I want to plaster them all over my house!  We went to Sea World, San Diego Zoo, Legoland, Laguna Beach, The Hollywood Sign, Disneyland and California Adventure!

When I was a little girl I wished for the day that I'd get to go to Disneyland and meet all the characters.  I fulfilled that wish in 2007 when me and my husband when to Disneyworld.  This time it was a whole new experience witnessing my son meet all the characters, and at a much younger age than I was!  :)  Looking at these pictures, still makes my heart happy!

At Laguna Beach:

With Tigger

With Eeyore

With Pooh

With Pluto

With Lightning and Mater

With Sully

With Jesse

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to everyone!  I hope 2012 has treated you kindly so far!

With the dawn of a new year I am going to be posting my favorite edit of the day/week/month - depending on what my social life and family life allow me to do!

My very first "favorite edit of the day" is a photo of a friend of mine who is due on February 14th!  I took maternity photos and this is one of my fav's!

My Friend, Lilah

I need to send a shout out to my friend, Lilah, who got me started with this blog, and also allowed me to wrangle her munchkins for a photo shoot!  She has an amazing blog as well, and it's a lot of fun to read as well as very inspiring.  I sometimes read her blog to remember the kind of Mom, wife, and woman I want to be!  Check it out: http://www.canadianmama.ca/

My Journey

I received my camera in May of 2011 (Canon Rebel T2i) with my lens 18mm-55mm.  I have since acquired a UV filter, a polorizing filter, a lens hood and have taken 2 photography courses at SAIT.  I want to get an external flash and a tripod as my next purchases.  I am doing the research right now to figure out which ones will be best with where I want my photography to go.  I originally thought that all I wanted to take pictures of was maternity and new born baby.  I still have a passion for new life and the wonder of it all, but have also acquired a love of family as a whole.  I also want to dabble in engagement photos.  

Here are a few examples of the photographs that I've taken over the last 7 months!

In July I shot my first "family photo shoot".  Looking back at those photos I'd like to redo them, now that I have a bit more experience and a keener eye of what to look for! 

Me, my husband and my son went to Panorama Mountain Resort in August for a family vacation.  There were a lot of beautiful things to take photos of, and the following are some of my favorites.

This one is a bridge that crossed over the river to a second pathway along the mountain:

This broken water pump was along our walk: 

 On our way back from BC, I took this photo from our truck:

 I'm standing on the bridge (from the first photo) to take this picture:

In September I did my 2nd "photo shoot" with my friend, Diana.  We went to Eau Claire and Prince's Island Park.  It was a beautiful fall day and the weather was perfect.  I learned from my first shoot that I needed "closer" shots, rather than trying to encapture the background and surroundings of the people in the photograph.



In  October I did a family photo shoot and it turned out much better than my first attempt at a family photo shoot.  I definitely had more photos to chose from as my favorite from this session:

At the beginning of November, my son and I went to a friends house for a visit and while we were there I took some photos of their family!



Also in November I was asked by a friend to take 1 year old photos of her son and some casual shots of her other son (who is 3).  I knew this was going to be my biggest undertaking, as it was indoors (lighting is much different) and it was two little boys that are on the move!  I had a ton of fun (children have a way of making that happen) and I managed to get a few good photos from it as well:

Thank you to all of my friends and family for volunteering yourselves and your children to help me gain experience and learn each day from mistakes and triumphs!  It's been an interesting road and I'm looking forward to the next 7 months and what they will bring my way! 

Janna

Newbie!

BLOG #1: Hello!!!  I am new to blogging.  I think it will be a great way to showcase some of my photography.  My friend Lilah convinced me to get blogging so this is the beginning....be patient with me while I get the hang of it all!  : )