brett + eliza (are awesome)

today was great. i was awakened by a text message from hannah asking if I could sit for zoe while she worked today. of COURSE, because zoe just happens to be the cutest little baby in the world. then i saw spiderwick chronicles with gracie julie and jade which was a little weird (i overdosed on slimey frog-beast-like-creatures) but mostly good. so anyways, lets rewind. yesterday was amazing. first i got to babysit two of my favorite kids michaela (3) and malachi (2) [photo shoot of them in the near future!] for most of the day. i had so much fun taking care of them, and feeding them, coloring with them, throwing them in the air, jumping on the bed with them, and well, just loving on them! i was exhausted to the core by the end of it; but in a good way : ) ! then it was off to meet with my engagement shoot couple for the day in oxnard. we met at the coffee bean in the new shopping center, and right away (my first time meeting them) I knew they were awesome. smiling right off the bat, they had a nervous excitement that i was stoked about. i LOVE when my clients really get into my work and my ideas, and then totally trust me during my time with them. they were the the second out of two free engagement sessions that I gave out coupons for at the bridal fair in january, and i am oh-so-glad they won! they are getting married in pennsylvania this october and already have a local photog doing the job there. we started out taking photos around the shopping center.. (i'm not kidding, it was really pretty!) and then headed down to a nice little part of the beach around oxnard shores. they were so sweet together, and so confident and comfortable in their love, that there was just a big giant bubble of peace around the whole shoot. every move and motion radiated a deep sense of connection between them, even when they wouldn't say a word. sounds cheesy, i know, but love doesn't have to look a certain way or even make sense to be true, we all know that. anyway, blah blah blah lets get to the photos- heres a few that i like the most!





























congratulations to you two, i hope your wedding is all you dream of and more!

*random note to self for a tuesday*
if you pray for something, expect to get it. if you pray for patience, you get opportunities to be patient. if you pray for wisdom, you get opportunities to use wisdom. if you pray for a servants heart, you're gonna get opportunities that stretch you to be a servant. i think the Lord does this so that we truly come to the end of ourselves, and must rely on him (which is a fantastic place to be). ask and you shall recieve! how awesome is that! : )

<3annajoy

lecrae

so into this song right now. i'm serious!



okay this one too. what? why are you laughing so hard?!





<333annajoy

meet Liz!

i stopped by my old high school a month or so ago to say hi to my teachers and principal. mrs sims was asking about my photography and such, and we got to talking about Liz, a senior that was pursuing her talents in photography. i was intrigued, and through mrs sims set up an interview with Liz. she showed me her portfolio and we chatted about our love of starbucks, chipotle, polaroids, and how we are bad at math, etc etc... so basically we hit it off :) she is super talented, and I couldn't wait to hang with her again. she helped me out at christi & jaimeson's shoot a few weeks ago, and did a great job. something about her quiet confidence and big heart made me feel totally at ease. we got together again on friday along with gracie, to purposely go out and shoot at 'bad lighting' times of day. i wanted to mess around with my old sunbounce reflector, (my new ones in the mail on its way!) and try some cool things to manipulate the light. we ended up at a boarded up victorian house down the avenue, and Liz told us stories of the fake blood and crazy things that were inside when she was there before... too bad we couldn't get in this time! we forgot about photos for the most part because we became involved in a full-fledged lizard chase. gracie was determined to capture this lizard that was stalking us, and caught it on a stick and put it in a starbucks cup, while most of the time i was squealing my head off standing a million miles away so it wouldn't jump on me...


photo by Liz

anyways, we tried a few things with the reflector, but then decided to get chipotle then go to the beach, because man was it hot out. i love my job! anyway, heres a few more pics of Liz, she is absolutley GORGEOUS!






i can't wait to work more with her and have her talent rub off on me. that girl is going places in life, i'm glad i get to witness a small part of it! we are working on getting her a blog so she can showcase her awesome stuff.


anyway, more photos comin soon, thanks for checking in!

<3annajoy

new things, spring things!

hello all,

i apologize for the non-photo-y blog posts lately. there is a ton of stuff going on at annajoyphoto, so don't give up on me just yet!

some cool stuff coming up in the near future:

1) a peek into my post-processing...process...

2) an insider view of the annajoyphoto office

3) an awesome photoshoot at the w hotel in beverly hills

4) pictures from wppi (i promise!),

5) my personal review of my much longed for and finally owned shootsac

6) my personal review of the new handheld size of california sunbounce reflector

7) many exciting photobooth pictures of my best friend and I doing everything from eating chipotle to throwing and eating confetti

8) these numbers probably won't be in this order, so don't get too excited

10) some new bands that have grown on me

11) my desktop, if you're the least bit interested...



12) what happened to number 9?



happy tuesday! it is beautiful outside!


<3annajoy

He is risen!

"...John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
John 1:29

"Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come... For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.""
Luke 19:9-10

"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
Matthew 20:28

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
2 corinthians 5:17

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
John 10:10


Praise be to Jesus that by his death and resurrection we can die to our old selves- full of sin, brokenness, and separation from God, and have a new vibrant life through him and with him!! Happy Easter everyone!



<3annajoy

20 years

ago today i was born :) I just got back from wppi which I will post about later. I spent all day in the car driving home but it was fun :) I got home and my room was all decked out in balloons and streamers and happy birthdays from my friend gracie and my mom put a bunch of sweeeeeet presents in there too (including a nice guitar case!). I also found my desktop was covered in this photo:




awesome. anyway, more on all that later. thank you to any blog readers i have left who put up with my long non-posting dry spells!

<3annajoy

christi & jaimeson

today was awesome! I got to shoot with a beautiful couple in SB, and work with my new intern/assistant, Liz. she was a total blessing to have helping and did great for her first time working with me. christi & jaimeson were pure joy to shoot. they are SUPER good looking and are so sweet together! christi works with college kids at southern methodist university in texas and will be moving to lovely santa barbara after their wedding this july. jaimeson is a campus minister for RUF at UCSB; what a perfect pair :) anyways, on to the pictures! these are a couple that caught my eye, I will probably post more soon, when I get back from WPPI in vegas on wednesday. have a great weekend everyone!




















<3annajoy

fun fact # 3,570

i used to be really into this band a few years ago, and they recently surfaced again in my itunes. and faster than you can say 'bobs your uncle' a new playlist was birthed for editing photos at 2am :D

<3annajoy


* LOL at 1:21 - 1:43 !

fun fact # 3,569

this is way too cute, therefore: it is now my desktop.

mexican medical ministry

last weekend gerardo, erich, brendan and I headed down to the mexican medical headquarters in san diego, ca.

us staying entertained on what became a 6 hour drive...





there we met up with the rest of the crew for the weekend, a bunch of pre-med students from ucsd, they were so nice and ridiculously smart! we caravanned in three different cars from there across the border and into the heart of tijuana, the number one most violent city in mexico. we could feel the burden on our hearts for all the people there, and how powerful this weekend would be for everyone involved. at about 1:30 on friday afternoon we started cleaning, building, and setting up everything that would become the health fair the next day.





we were by the side of a big road in a parking lot, a great location to be seen and serve the two large communities around us.



erich and g with one of the security guards watching our tents for the night,




the sun setting from the health fair site





we stayed at a hospital,



fortunately there were no patients there at the time!

steve from mexican medical cooked us up an awesome dinner of tacos,


g made one the size of his head...





up bright and early for breakfast, devotionals and prayer for the day. g read a great verse out of deuteronomy chapter 4, about how we must take possession of the land back from the enemy for the glory of the Lord!

hellooooo 5:30am...








i had a thing for this tree, i don't know.



we drove back to the site and met the new 40 team members that arrived that morning to help with the day. there was an exhortation from the word and group prayer for the day:




the reality crew:





we were in charge of the kids, because we didn't fluently speak spanish (except g!). the first half of the day in the kids section was about health: how to wash your hands, which foods and drinks are good for you and which are bad, how to care for your teeth and hair, lice checks, games, etc etc.




all the lessons in the kids section and throughout the rest of the fair were centered on Jesus' love. by HIS wounds we are healed (isaiah 53:5), if we drink and eat of HIM we will never hunger or thirst; HE is living water and the bread of life (john 4:10 & john 6:35), HIS word is health to our whole bodies (proverbs 4:22), we are rich in HIM (ephesians 2:7), HE has given us everything we need for life and godliness (2 peter 1:3), we are HIS masterpiece (ephesians 2:10), etc etc etc!

tons of other cool things were going on around the fair- free haircuts, free surgeries, free dental, free blood work, a fully stocked free pharmacy, free eyeglasses, free gospel's of john in spanish, free prayer in the evangelism tent, and best of all, FREE SALVATION (ephesians 2:8-9 & romans 5:16-17) !










the second half of the day in the kids tent was simliar to vbs in US churches, complete with stories, songs and crafts. the kids were SO adorable it took every ounce of will power to not take them all home with me. there was a little girl named nadia that was holding my hand the whole time, *sigh*














here are some other random pictures... gerardo on a horse (?), the coolest car, and me and hugo, who kept calling me 'anna montana', sweet!






so overall, we made a lot of new friends,






and saw 250 new believers come into a personal relationship with the creator and lover of the world, it was unbelievable. i was so blessed to be able to be a part of this trip, and i hope there are many more in the future. i love the saying that 'God uses us for his purposes because of our AVAILABILITY, not our ability'. i maybe know 10 words of spanish, but the love of Jesus was still manifested through me (and all of us) because His love is universal, and knows no bounds. the word says that His eyes go to and fro across the earth looking for men & women with hearts surrendered to him who he can strongly support (paraphrased from 2 chronicles 16:9). because of the sacrifice Jesus made 2000+ years ago, we all have the opportunity to be made clean, new, righteous, and unblemished before a holy God, and to be turned from our sins in the other direction to lead others to this same gift of grace. praise the Lord that He uses imperfect, broken, stained people like us to communicate his love.


<3 annajoy