Wednesday, January 29, 2014

52 Weeks of 2014 - Week 4

Meet my nephew and niece. Great kids. The thing I love about family is that there is no pretense, you see the good and the bad and you love through it all. I have watched these children grow up, the cuddles, the tantrums (fortunately not directed at me), highs and lows and I love that I get to see them developing into the people they will become.

If you have children, or grew up not as an only child, you know that they can be the best of friends and the worst of enemies. They love each other, yet they can bicker and quarrel and torment each other. At the end of the day though, they will have each others backs. The shared history, the mutual grievances with parents, the secrets they share, or keep from each other. There is nothing like the bond you have with your siblings.

It's true, over and over again in relationships, from marriages, to parent and child and of course with siblings, no matter how mad each may be with the other, if they can laugh together, all can be right in their world.

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Riley Family Sneak Peek {Marin County Family Photographer}


This family holds a special place in my heart. This is our pastor who has the ability to make everyone feel loved and special and taken care of! When I moved to America, their oldest son Jared was away at school, whilst Jon and Becky were teenagers in the high school youth group. Now look at them, all grown up.

Jared is now married and living in Utah, Rebecca is a vet in North Carolina and Jon recently also came on as full-time staff at Open Door Church, in San Rafael, here in California. It's not often that they are all around at the same time, so we had to do a few photos just after Christmas.


They have been married for thirty years and still look at each other like this and can just laugh together, love it!


The 'children' all grown up.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

52 Weeks of 2014 - Week 3


Last week I accompanied my daughter's kindergarten class on a field trip to the Lawrence Hall of Science, in Berkeley. It was so great. Their group had a 'Fizz, Pop, Wow!' science class where they learned about mixing different ingredients and watching reactions, observing the properties of solids, liquids and gases. Then they got to explore the main halls, full of exhibits and hands-on displays. It really was a place that showed how fun learning can be. The groans when it was time to leave, were heartfelt and everybody agreed that the time had been too short.

It is so wonderful to see children's eyes light up as they learn and get excited at discoveries they make for themselves. The joy of understanding something new and feeling empowered. If you live in the Bay Area and haven't already visited, I would thoroughly recommend it.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Sneak Peek - Westbrook Family {Marin County Family Photographer}

This great family contacted me asking for some family photos to use for a ministerial resume. Not quite as formal as regular head shots, but not as informal as one of my normal family sessions. Of course we made sure to get some cute one-on-one shots with the kids and their parents too.

This is one attractive family, with stunning eyes and gorgeous smiles. Enjoy!










Wednesday, January 15, 2014

52 Weeks of 2014 - Week 2


We need rain, I know it, yet one of the things I love most about living where we live, is the sunshine. Even if it is cold, our days are normally bright and I have come to realize how much my mood, my outlook is impacted when the sun disappears. When the sun is in hiding, everything seems just a little harder for me.

We had one day of rain this past weekend and I was struck, at one point, about my need to keep perspective, to keep control of my thoughts, to not go down a negative path, you know, one of those that can so quickly spiral downwards.

It was a busy morning, my husband had to go to the city for a music practice, I had to run my son to karate and drag my reluctant girls with me. We had to fit in a few frantic errands, then do a pick up from karate, with two extra cousins and a trunk full, which meant re-arranging the whole car to be able to make seats work...all in the rain. One daughter had to be back in our town for a birthday party while the other two did not want the cousin fun to end and it was all going to be a far too short turnaround. Well the play time got to be extended and as I drove my daughter to her party I connected with my husband, who it turned out was leaving too. I asked him if he'd eaten, as I was starving and he hadn't, I told him I hadn't either. I figured we'd be able to get something together. I dropped my daughter to her party and checked in again to see about our little date we would be able to sneak in before collecting our other kids, only to find out he'd already grabbed something to eat.

I started to feel rejected and sad, then upset. It was quickly escalating and yet, somehow, I was able to force myself to step outside of my situation to acknowledge that my husband loves me and is a good, kind man. He may have been a little thoughtless but he had not intentionally avoided spending time with me. We had poorly communicated. Believe me, there was a battle going on in my mind, that I was completely aware of. It was like one of those cartoons with a demon on one shoulder and an angel on the other, both trying to shout in my ear, each trying to drown out the other...and the rain, the grey day, the rain drops distorting my view. Wow it was hard. I can't say that the clouds broke and I saw the light and all was wonderful again, the rain continued and my mood did not significantly improve, but I chose to not water that seed of negativity any further. I chose to deprive it of oxygen and not feed it and let it grow. I believe it was God who gave me the ability to see a little clearer in those moments and who helped me when I cried out, through gritted teeth, for the strength I needed go in the right direction.

Later when the rain stopped, I could see all the droplets clinging to blades of grass and I was inspired to snap and thoughts started to jumble and formulate in my mind. A drop of water can itself act as a lens, like a very simple camera lens in fact, BUT the refracted image is upside down. It's a true image, but distorted, turned completely on it's head. That's how my mind had been working earlier, the facts were true, but they had potentially been distorted, maybe by all those water droplets? Maybe by outside forces trying to cause division in my family, in my marriage?

We have choices to make every day and we have the freedom to make good or bad decisions. We can stop and wallow in self pity, or anger, or rage or we can acknowledge them for what they are and keep moving forward. It's not always an easy choice, sometimes it can be tempting to stay in that place, but I promise you nothing good can come of feeding distorted thoughts. Do all you can to get the right perspective, call on friends you can trust to speak truth to you, pray, fight with all your might to get out of that place. Force yourself to look for the positives and the things you have to be grateful for and soon enough the rain will hopefully clear and the images will once again be the right side up.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Sneak Peek - Baby Bjerke {Marin County Newborn Photographer}


Ah wonderful newborns! There's nothing like capturing those early days...blink and they are gone and without photographs, with the lack of sleep and reduced brainpower it can be hard to remember all those precious details.




These are days you will never get back, which you will look back on with fondness, even if in the moment it can seem so hard and at times overwhelming.



I think that they are all smitten!





Just look at her little personality already shining through and she is most definitely her mother's mini-me as well as looking so much like her brother (click here to see his newborn photos).


So much love to you sweet Bjerkes. Congratulations on your beautiful growing family.

If you are interested in newborn photography, do not hesitate to contact me at juanita@juanitacannanphotography.com or through the contact page on my website www.juanitacannanphotography.com

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

52 Weeks of 2014 - Week 1

A favorite photo for each week of the year. It may not always be stunning, but it encourages me to keep carrying my camera and keep documenting the moments for me and my family too. After all, this is where it all started.

Why not join me?