Friday, January 27, 2012
The Hartman Family
The entire Hartman Family has been such a special part of my families lives over the years. I was excited to be able to snap a few pictures for them to announce their new arrival coming in May. We can't wait to meet baby H.
Jessica Johnson Photography
It was been way too long since I have posted anything on here and there is a good reason for that. Saying my life has been busy is probably an under statement. I am working my full-time sales job, which all by itself is probably enough work/stress for one person. In addition to that I have been spending ALL of my spare/free time working on getting my photography business up and running. I started this mostly as a hobby. I have always LOVED babies and I was just loving the idea of photographing them their first few days into the world. It has been so much fun! I am working on getting a dedicated Jessica Johnson Photography blog going, but until then I will just post my work on here...
Here are a few of the holiday sessions I have done over the last couple months...ENJOY! I will post some of the newborn ones in the next blog...
The Meeka Family: Holiday Session
The "Newly Married" Flatebo's: Holiday Session
The Montgomery Family: Holiday/Maternity
I am looking forward to launching the photography blog in the next few months. I hope you all have a great weekend.
Jess
Here are a few of the holiday sessions I have done over the last couple months...ENJOY! I will post some of the newborn ones in the next blog...
The Meeka Family: Holiday Session
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| Trying to get Briley interested in taking pictures :) |
The "Newly Married" Flatebo's: Holiday Session
The Montgomery Family: Holiday/Maternity
I am looking forward to launching the photography blog in the next few months. I hope you all have a great weekend.
Jess
Friday, October 14, 2011
For the LOVE of Photography!
Well, I recently decided I am NOT getting any younger and I better find something in life that I am really passionate about. I have always loved photography and editing programs. I almost majored in graphic design in college, but thought I should stick to an emphasis I would use, HA which is ironic since I have not done ANYTHING with Public Affairs my entire professional career. I guess when we look back there are always things we would change, oh well!
Anyways, we purchased our 1st Digital SLR camera almost a year ago. After my husband did months of research (he does this with any large gadget purchase) we decided on a Nikon D90. My best friend has the same camera and loves it. I was busy planning a wedding, buying a house and working a full-time job, so I didn't jump into messing with the camera right away. My firefighter on the other hand was kind of obsessed with our new toy!! He was reading all about how to use it. He was taking all kinds of pictures. Since he loved it so much, I bought him a 50mm 1.4 lens for Christmas and his grandma bought him the program Photoshop CS5. As you could imagine he was stoked!
The next few months flew by and I hardly ever picked up the camera. I was so fascinated with photography though as we went through the wedding process. We had booked some AMAZING photographers. You can visit there website here www.palosstudio.com. They are wonderful. So sweet and very talented.
The wedding passed and I found more time on my hands. I decided to get more acquainted with the camera we purchase. I started reading blogs, books, etc. Then I found the website Pinterest... Oh my was I in trouble. This website is amazing on so many levels. I started seeing all of these adorable newborn pictures. I have always been a tad obsessed with babies... My husband is probably in trouble haha. After seeing this I started doing some research. I found a local photographer Jen Gagliardi Photography was hosting a Newborn Photography Workshop. I was intrigued. I asked my husband if he was up for me spending the money on the class. Being as supportive as he of my dream (probably since he has about as much interest in it as I do) he said YES! YAY!
I took the class last weekend and OH MY I am officially hooked. I have found my dream job. I love photography and babies of course. I have gained the confidence to go ahead and pursue my dream. My wedding photography has even offered for me to tag along with them to learn more... What a amazing opportunity. Below are some of the pictures I have taken over the last week. I hope there are many more to come!!!
Anyways, we purchased our 1st Digital SLR camera almost a year ago. After my husband did months of research (he does this with any large gadget purchase) we decided on a Nikon D90. My best friend has the same camera and loves it. I was busy planning a wedding, buying a house and working a full-time job, so I didn't jump into messing with the camera right away. My firefighter on the other hand was kind of obsessed with our new toy!! He was reading all about how to use it. He was taking all kinds of pictures. Since he loved it so much, I bought him a 50mm 1.4 lens for Christmas and his grandma bought him the program Photoshop CS5. As you could imagine he was stoked!
The next few months flew by and I hardly ever picked up the camera. I was so fascinated with photography though as we went through the wedding process. We had booked some AMAZING photographers. You can visit there website here www.palosstudio.com. They are wonderful. So sweet and very talented.
The wedding passed and I found more time on my hands. I decided to get more acquainted with the camera we purchase. I started reading blogs, books, etc. Then I found the website Pinterest... Oh my was I in trouble. This website is amazing on so many levels. I started seeing all of these adorable newborn pictures. I have always been a tad obsessed with babies... My husband is probably in trouble haha. After seeing this I started doing some research. I found a local photographer Jen Gagliardi Photography was hosting a Newborn Photography Workshop. I was intrigued. I asked my husband if he was up for me spending the money on the class. Being as supportive as he of my dream (probably since he has about as much interest in it as I do) he said YES! YAY!
I took the class last weekend and OH MY I am officially hooked. I have found my dream job. I love photography and babies of course. I have gained the confidence to go ahead and pursue my dream. My wedding photography has even offered for me to tag along with them to learn more... What a amazing opportunity. Below are some of the pictures I have taken over the last week. I hope there are many more to come!!!
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Saturday, October 1, 2011
My 1st DIY Project....
Ok... So, I have been struggling with how exactly I can decorate on a budget. Being in our house a little over 5 months, I should be further along then I am. I feel like I am wandering aimlessly through all of the local decorating stores... Michael's, Home Goods, Tai Pan Trading without ANY luck. I leave each store and think to myself how on earth am I not finding anything?! I think the main problem is I am cheap and can't bring myself to buy anything I feel is over priced.
This left me with only one option. Try and make some of the stuff I have around the house work for me. Which left me taking baby steps towards DIY projects. The project I decided to tackle first was our bedroom lamps. I new I wanted to accent the room with a teal color and I knew our lamps had to go or be spruced up... I bought a can of light blue spray paint from Walmart and my project was under way. Unfortunately, I had a few stumbles along the way. I will start by showing you exactly what our lamps look like before.
Ok... So after I did the prep work, I was off and spray painting. I felt like a baby taking my very first steps. I was stumbling along the way and covering myself with more spray paint then the lamp. After the 1st coat of paint, I realized I was not IN LOVE with my product. The color wasn't right, so I thought I will paint them a different color... Maybe ivory?! This caused an even bigger mess then I expected. The paint was not compatible with the original blue I painted on the lamp. Who knew paints could not be compatible?! Not ME, but I sure do know now. ;) Below is a picture of what I was left with... I was panicking at this point thinking my husband will never let me do another DIY project if I can't fix this.
Oops!!!! That doesn't look right. I did the unthinkable and admitted I was at a loss and needed some assistance. I asked my husband to help me. He said I could sand it down and paint it again. Thank goodness. This was news to my ears. I ran to Home Depot, bought some sand paper and a new spray paint. I was in the process of recovering the mess I made. It turned out to look just like I had hoped. With new lamp shades and beautiful new paint. Our room is really starting to look more and more like what I was expected.
I am officially HOOKED. I will now becoming obsessed with revamping the little details around the house. Of course, I will still have to add new items to the mix since I have never had to furnish a entire house before, so I am in need of more materials. Anyways, it will be a fun process. I am starting to really enjoy the decorating process.
This left me with only one option. Try and make some of the stuff I have around the house work for me. Which left me taking baby steps towards DIY projects. The project I decided to tackle first was our bedroom lamps. I new I wanted to accent the room with a teal color and I knew our lamps had to go or be spruced up... I bought a can of light blue spray paint from Walmart and my project was under way. Unfortunately, I had a few stumbles along the way. I will start by showing you exactly what our lamps look like before.
 |
| Before |
 | ||||
| During...Not LOVING what I was getting! |
Oops!!!! That doesn't look right. I did the unthinkable and admitted I was at a loss and needed some assistance. I asked my husband to help me. He said I could sand it down and paint it again. Thank goodness. This was news to my ears. I ran to Home Depot, bought some sand paper and a new spray paint. I was in the process of recovering the mess I made. It turned out to look just like I had hoped. With new lamp shades and beautiful new paint. Our room is really starting to look more and more like what I was expected.
 |
| AFTER... SOOOOO Cute! |
I am officially HOOKED. I will now becoming obsessed with revamping the little details around the house. Of course, I will still have to add new items to the mix since I have never had to furnish a entire house before, so I am in need of more materials. Anyways, it will be a fun process. I am starting to really enjoy the decorating process.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Too Close For Comfort!
When you marry into the Fire Family you are never thinking that you will be the one to experience the reality of the job. Unfortunately, this past month I got a taste of what that reality could be. On September 3rd a typical Saturday, I received a call that shook me to my core. Being the football fan I was, I had jumped at the chance to tag along with my friend to the USC football game for the day while my firefighter worked an overtime shift. About 10 minutes after arriving in Los Angeles (roughly a hour from home without any traffic) I saw an unfamiliar number calling me. I hesitated for a moment and thought about not answering...Who would be calling me from a 559 area code?! I answered and on the other line I heard...
"Jessica? This is Dustin Griffin... I work with your husband!" At this moment I thought... I wonder why he is calling me? He proceeded to tell me that they had an accident during a training and they were transporting my husband to the local emergency room. They said they had a wall collapse and and that they wanted me to stay calm and not drive fast... My brain began to race. I don't have a car of my own.. I am over an hour away from him, what was I going to do? My first instinct was to call my little sister. She was probably shocked to hear the calmness in my voice ( I have never been known as a clam individual) as I began to give her the details of the accident. Not knowing much myself... I knew he had a broken finger and a possible back injury. What did this mean for him? Only being 28 and so early into his career a back injury could be career ending and possibly life changing. All I knew is I needed to get to him as fast as I could. They had put him on speaker phone and he just kept saying "DRIVE SAFE." I knew he wasn't remembering it was a Saturday and that I was in LA for the football game. My little sister without hesitation offered to drive out to pick me up... She hoped into her car and drove right over to our life-long friends house (The Hartman's). They were in route to pick me up. This meant it would be over 2 hours before I was to my husband. My head was spinning... How could I get to him faster? If I could only fly... As I made call after call my good friend began to see the fear in my eyes and offered to drive my right to the hospital.
The whole ride home I just kept replaying the call in my head. Where were they training? What kind of wall collapsed on him? At a moment like this it is almost like the world stands still. I was lucky enough to know my husband was conscious and was able to communicate with me. This gave me a sense of ease while I was trying to get to him. God truly gave me strength to stay calm in a time that I didn't know what to do. It is amazing the strength and protection he can give us in a time like this. As I began to speak to more and more people I became aware that my husband wasn't the only injury. Captain Griffin was injured as well. He had been airlifted to Loma Linda University. I was hearing he possibly had 2 broken legs. Being relatively new to the department, I am not too familiar with all of the wives. As we drove I began to get text message after text message. It was fellow firefighter wives checking up on me to see how we were doing. I was overcome with feelings of support. We haven't been in the department long and they were all lending out their love and support. I was beginning to see exactly what they meant by a "Fire Family." I was so eager to get to my husband's side. To find out what really happened?
I entered the hospital to find my sister and good friend waiting in the emergency waiting room. It was so nice to have familiar faces there for us. I quickly ran back into the room. There he was. My everything laying in the emergency room hospital bed. As soon as I arrived the doctor came into the room with was probably the best news. There were no broken bones in his back and the only injury he really saw was the broken finger and what he was saying was a bruised back. This was amazing news. My firefighter would still be able to live out his dream of working as a firefighter. Our concerns then began to focus on Captain Griffin. Being close to retirement and having bi-lateral fractures of both legs meant a very long road to recovery. Our thoughts and prayers immediately went out to his family. What a close call our fire department had during such a routine training. It was something that none of planned on happening. It was a close call and we are all so thankful that the injuries weren't worse.
It has now been a few weeks since the accident has passed. My firefighter is still on light duty and counting down the days until he can go back to work on the engine. He misses his crew and his normal duties. He was blessed to be able to get this time to heal, but will be happy to be back to work. We are so thankful for everyone that was so supportive during the days after the accident. We truly love our fire family and would not change anything for the world.
"Jessica? This is Dustin Griffin... I work with your husband!" At this moment I thought... I wonder why he is calling me? He proceeded to tell me that they had an accident during a training and they were transporting my husband to the local emergency room. They said they had a wall collapse and and that they wanted me to stay calm and not drive fast... My brain began to race. I don't have a car of my own.. I am over an hour away from him, what was I going to do? My first instinct was to call my little sister. She was probably shocked to hear the calmness in my voice ( I have never been known as a clam individual) as I began to give her the details of the accident. Not knowing much myself... I knew he had a broken finger and a possible back injury. What did this mean for him? Only being 28 and so early into his career a back injury could be career ending and possibly life changing. All I knew is I needed to get to him as fast as I could. They had put him on speaker phone and he just kept saying "DRIVE SAFE." I knew he wasn't remembering it was a Saturday and that I was in LA for the football game. My little sister without hesitation offered to drive out to pick me up... She hoped into her car and drove right over to our life-long friends house (The Hartman's). They were in route to pick me up. This meant it would be over 2 hours before I was to my husband. My head was spinning... How could I get to him faster? If I could only fly... As I made call after call my good friend began to see the fear in my eyes and offered to drive my right to the hospital.
The whole ride home I just kept replaying the call in my head. Where were they training? What kind of wall collapsed on him? At a moment like this it is almost like the world stands still. I was lucky enough to know my husband was conscious and was able to communicate with me. This gave me a sense of ease while I was trying to get to him. God truly gave me strength to stay calm in a time that I didn't know what to do. It is amazing the strength and protection he can give us in a time like this. As I began to speak to more and more people I became aware that my husband wasn't the only injury. Captain Griffin was injured as well. He had been airlifted to Loma Linda University. I was hearing he possibly had 2 broken legs. Being relatively new to the department, I am not too familiar with all of the wives. As we drove I began to get text message after text message. It was fellow firefighter wives checking up on me to see how we were doing. I was overcome with feelings of support. We haven't been in the department long and they were all lending out their love and support. I was beginning to see exactly what they meant by a "Fire Family." I was so eager to get to my husband's side. To find out what really happened?
I entered the hospital to find my sister and good friend waiting in the emergency waiting room. It was so nice to have familiar faces there for us. I quickly ran back into the room. There he was. My everything laying in the emergency room hospital bed. As soon as I arrived the doctor came into the room with was probably the best news. There were no broken bones in his back and the only injury he really saw was the broken finger and what he was saying was a bruised back. This was amazing news. My firefighter would still be able to live out his dream of working as a firefighter. Our concerns then began to focus on Captain Griffin. Being close to retirement and having bi-lateral fractures of both legs meant a very long road to recovery. Our thoughts and prayers immediately went out to his family. What a close call our fire department had during such a routine training. It was something that none of planned on happening. It was a close call and we are all so thankful that the injuries weren't worse.
It has now been a few weeks since the accident has passed. My firefighter is still on light duty and counting down the days until he can go back to work on the engine. He misses his crew and his normal duties. He was blessed to be able to get this time to heal, but will be happy to be back to work. We are so thankful for everyone that was so supportive during the days after the accident. We truly love our fire family and would not change anything for the world.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Testing My Learning Skills...
Oh my goodness.... What have I gotten myself into?! I am trying to tackle a skill I established back in college. Editing photos in Photoshop! I remembered that this semester long class on this one program was hard, but what I didn't realize that 6 years later I have NOT retained any of the information. I am searching and searching online to try and spark some sort of remembrance of this challenging yet so useful program... HELP me anyone that has a good resource. I am tempted to enroll myself into a class. I have been exploring the idea of taking a photography class as well... Maybe I should add this to the mix as well... I am starting to feel very very defeated. I will hopefully one day be back to the level I was in college!
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