Where did January go? How is it February already! Is this going to be the 1st sentence of every monthly recap :) 

So far 22 is looking pretty promising! I love the calm stillness of January, its such a time of renewal and starting fresh! Making plans for the new year and buttoning up last years goals! Did you make resolutions? I turned my computer monitor screen into mine. When I write it down, it happens!

According tho the Facebook test my 2022 is going to be smooth, lets keep our fingers crossed :) I think we could all use a smooth year!

You guys I won!!!! I won 1st place in PPWC's annual image competition in the Studio Portrait category and 3rd place in the Wedding category! Every other month I enter 2-4 images to be one critiqued by Master Photographers. This has been the greatest learning experience of my life! It's very humbling to have your images inspected down to the pixels. But every single month I learn! We have some of the most amazingly talented judges, and they are kind and thoughtful with their thoughts. I highly encourage all photographers to find a group like this. 

Can we talk for a minute about this image that I won with. If you grew up in Sonoma County then you most likely know who Harvey Henningenson is. Being a Sebastopol kids I grew up admiring his work, and never imagined that some day I would get to stand in his studio take his photo and call him a friend and a mentor. Im always amazed at the paths life can take.

My Wedding category win was from a beautiful wedding, that took place at one of my favorite venues in Santa Rosa. Johns Ash Vintners Inn and Resort is easily one of my favorite places to photograph. Beautiful rooms, gorgeous landscapes and all centrally located so were not putting in any extra miles on our feet on an already busy day. I wrote all about Tess & Vinhs big day here. 

January is usually pretty quiet, but 22 has proven to get me moving early on the wedding scene this year. Wedding #1 is already photographed. The Gretsch wedding took place a Spring Hill Estates and we couldn't have asked for a more stunning day with the weather. To see more of this beautiful day click here! 

To prep for the season I created a guide for my Apple Watch face. Its basically a checklist of my usual shots and a little reminder of my favorites. You'll see below one of the faces I've listed my top 6 poses that I can get 36 total different photos from. It's great to have a quick little reference. The Apple Watch has made my job so much more organized, I also keep the schedule on it and set up alerts for different parts of the day. I get little taps reminding me of what we should be doing. 

I spent a big chunk of time planning Februarys mini sessions. Im very excited to be partnering with Paradise Ridge winery to offer mini photoshoots in honor of Valentines Day! Click here for more details on that. Doing all of the behind the scenes office work has been fun, promo shoots, website updates, social media graphics. I hope to plan out all of my events this well this year! 

Speaking of social media and planning, I have a new Intern! Jenny, she is one of my class of 22 seniors and I am super excited to have her on the team. Our main focus is going to be social media for Studio J Seniors, but she will be helping with lots of behind the scenes task. To read see a little more about Jenny check out her session!

Did you see last months contest? It was on the Studio J Seniors Instagram page. Jenny helped get the word out and promote this! We gave away 1 mini session and a cute make up case full of some fun items. The prize also included 3 mini accordion albums. 

In my personal life, we got to do some fun things!

The whole family -minus Kylie :(  went to Tahoe. We had a cabin for 3 days and enjoyed the snow and spending time together! Its been a little while since we've done a Johnson Family Vacation. Im hoping to do it again soon! 

While in Tahoe we got to meet a new addition to the Family, little Rylee Sage. She is absolutely adorable!

My niece Hailey turned 6! She's such a big girl! We brought her home a snowman from Tahoe! I think it was a hit! 

Spent lots of Sundays with this handsome guy. We've been exploring downtown areas close by, I love that he also loves new restaurants,  Antique shops and the beach! It's funny how want to go for a drive usually turns into a beach day. Check out the mimosa from Cape Fear, we will definatly be going back there!

Got to hang out with the girls! Always a good time meeting up with other industry professionals. Also had fun night with my friends that I grew up with! We can go years without speaking and pick right back up where we left off. We have a new goal of getting together more often.

Worked with my siblings! Love spending time with them, even if we are working.

On the homefront, Avery and Grace fixed up the chicken coop. It now has a solar powered door that opens and closes on its own for better protection against the foxes and weasels. And it looks really good with its new paint job! 

Lots of working/playing with vehicles, seems like there is always something going on in the yard. Kylie and Avery both doing their brakes at the same time had Kerr running back and forth, but trust me I know he loved every minute of it! 

The lemon trees look amazing, I'm thinking about offering some Lemon Aid stand mini sessions. Let me know if your interested! 

2022 seems to be off to a good start, January was fun! I'm looking forward to keeping the resolutions and commitments I've made and I think this year is going to be great! How was your January? I'd love to keep in touch...... :)