In this interview, Joanna tells us about her first toe-dip into the world of photo books, her love of capturing family life, and the inspiration she gets from Shutterfly Gallery. Joanna also gives us great advice on how to be the best storyteller you can be.
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My name is Joanna, everyone calls me Joey, though. My nieces and nephews whom I talk a lot about, call me JoJo. I live in Fargo, ND. I do have a fairly busy life. Sometimes it may seem boring but that’s just fine with me. I am the family photographer and Photoboks have inspired me to take even more pictures and make more books! I just love everything about the site. It’s so user friendly, plus the Gallery is beyond awesome.
What got you interested in making photo books?
I first got interested in making photobooks when I got a free 8×8 one. I think I was a bit timid at first to try. Once I saw how beautiful they turned out, I spent more time with my other books and have been very inspired by the books in Gallery. I keep seeing ones I would love to do. It didn’t take me long to get hooked!
What are your favorite images to capture and why?
I guess I’d have to say my nieces and nephews are my favorite images to capture, just because I’m always around them. But I may have to broaden my horizon and take photos of nature, of different ‘everyday’ things. I just love taking pictures no matter what it is and I love looking at others pictures. Gives me ideas on what I could do different with my picture taking. I’m not a professional by any means, I just love to do this and Shutterfly makes it so easy. It has become my new passion.
Who inspires you?
As far as photobooks, I think just looking at other Gallery books is so inspiring and that inspires me to try and make the best books I can that my family will enjoy, as well as others viewing through Gallery. With each book I have done, I have incorporated more journaling, different backgrounds and layouts. Although I seem to stick with basic backgrounds…My mind is spinning with ideas. ‘receiving positive feedback from others is also a huge motivation for me and is very inspiring.’
What kind of stories do you like to tell in your photo books?
I like to tell stories that relate to the photos in the book. This is something I’m still working on and find it fun and challenging.
What advice would you give your fellow photo book storytellers?
To just keep trying. I’ve learned a lot by reading others storytelling, and when I went to do my book, I kind of made it my own by things they may have said. That gives me a jumpstart to ideas.
What’s your next photo book project?
I’m actually working on 4 on and off at the same time. I’m working on a birthday book for my mom (I’m waiting for messages from my siblings), and I’m working on a book for one of my sisters. These both need to be done the week of June 9th. (I’m hoping). Then I’m working on 2 anniversary books. One is for family/friends 50th, that’s pretty much done but here again I’m waiting for messages. They add a nice touch but I get impatient waiting for people. The other one is for my brother-in-law’s grandparents 60th. Both those are for August, but the sooner I get them done the better.
What are some of your favorite Gallery photo books and why?
I love books that touch my heart, sometimes they may be about a parent losing their child. Or vise versa. I love the family ones where it shows everyone has a strong connection. Birthday books are always one of my favorites. The Art ones are really different and cool to view. I basically like to look at them all. Everyone has great pictures and great stories to tell. I’m literally in awe by more than a lot of them. This is a very popular site seeing the books come in so fast. It’s all so very exciting.
Check out Joanna’s photo books on her Gallery profile page.
June 12th, 2008 at 7:24 am
Hi Joanna! Great interview! You say all the gallery members are inspirational to you… as you are to them! :o)
June 20th, 2008 at 11:25 am
Hi Joanna,
I am a new Shutterfly user (other than the intial “Save the Date” card I did a month ago) and read where you put together a 50th Golden Anniversary Photo Book. I’d love to do that for my parents anniversary, which is coming up in August. I’m afraid I don’t know where to begin! I have some old photos I snuck out of my parents’ house from their wedding and just over the past 50 years, plus I have some beautiful recent photos with them and their grandchildren and other family members. Do you scan photos prior to developing them through Shutterfly, and how do you determine size, different formats, etc.? Any help or advice you can give would be much appreciated!! Thanks so much.
Dana
June 24th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Dana,
Thanks for the message. Sorry i couldn’t respond right away. I hope you check back because I’m not sure how else to contact you. I’m actually still working on the 50th anniversary book. I’m just about done. i am waiting for personal messages from their kids to put at the end of the book. Adds a nice touch; just a fond memory, an anniversary wish whatever.
You are off to a great start with all your photos. Once you get them all together, start scanning them and save to a folder on your computer like ‘50th anniv pics’, Then once all your photos are scanned, you upload them to Shutterfly. No need to order prints. These books are Amazing, its a simple drag and drop. To upload photos to Shutterfly, i use Picasa, its a free download. It will scan your computer and put all your pictures in this Picasa album. Its really slick. You just click the photos you want to upload (i think iit says ‘order prints’) It gives you a bunch of photo websites, pick Shutterfly, and then your upload begins. Start scanning in photos then how about if you email me when you get ready for the next step. j6618@msn.com
Once you start doing these books, you’ll see how easy they are and FUN. Now they may seem overwhelming. Email me and i’ll help you along. Or if anyone else has an easier way to upload photos to Shutterfly, chime in. Oh, i guess when you are in My Pictures in your Shutterfly account, you can click on the upload button and add your pictures that way. This may actually be easier than Picasa. You can always do that at another time. I think there are tips in this blog on how to get started on photobooks. You just have to leap into it. Do you need to scan all your photos or are some on your camera card?
Good luck and email me. Don’t be nervous, have fun with it.
Joanna
June 24th, 2008 at 9:51 pm
Hi Joanna,
Thank you for all your many kind words of encouragement and praise. You are really busy on this site with inspiring other “Shutterflies”. I take my hat off to you. I liked your interview and like you, I found it very easy to get hooked onto making photo books through Shutterfly. There are so many hidden talents out there and it’s great to be able to see some of the beautiful work in this Gallery … to further inspire us to create even more projects!
Looking forward to seeing more of your work in the future.
Take care,
Claire
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
June 28th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Hi, Joanna -
I enjoyed your interview. You always have such helpful, encouraging things to say and share with fellow members. You’re a great asset to the Guru Team.
LindaMHodnett
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
July 10th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Hey girl,
I feel horrible that it has taken me so long to leave a comment. I have been very busy this summer and have not spent much time here on the blog. So, thanks for your comments that you left me. I do feel “famous” too. It’s so fun, love this place and the Guru Team. So, I saw that you were working on 4 books. How are they going? That’s a lot to juggle, but some one has to do it right? LOL, I know what it’s like to be dubbed the photographer. It’s fun yet full of responsibilities too. I agree with your answer about photo books that touch the heart. Some times I find myself with tears in my eyes, there are som amazing books out posted in the gallery. I love looking at them all. Well, take care! I’ll see you around the fly.
Hugs,
AmyS2310
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
July 15th, 2008 at 1:32 am
I loved your interview. You are so upbeat and positive and always inspiring. You have so many books and have provided me with much support on the books I have created. I really ejnoy looking at your latest books and revisiting your collection for ideas and different techniques.
I look forward to your additional books. I too seem to have several ‘in the works’. Right now I am working on a collection for my family of 2008 memories. I am up to 56 pages and am trying to capture as the year progresses.
Thank you for all of your inspiring books, and inspiring comments.
Kelli
July 15th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Nice interview. You and Tiffany may just get me to try out these photo books.
July 15th, 2008 at 6:54 am
Joanna,
What a sweet and generous person you are. You may have time but you put it to good use by encouraging and always thinking of others. I don’t know if you realize how inspiring you are. …but you are. You and your books touch the hearts of all who read them.
It is fun being on the team together.
BarbaraK57
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
July 15th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Hello Joanna,
Great to see you featured! I didnt know you were from Fargo. How cool, now I know some one from way up north. How about some great pictures of the snow this winter. I am in Sacramento and all we get is rain. I have to go to the mountians for those kind of pics. Your books are so filled with the love of family. They are great - looking foward to all of your projects coming soon. Also thank you for your time checking out my books ( and others too). Your comments are heartfelt!
Ann Abbott
Proud Shutterfly Community Memeber
July 15th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Joanna,
Congratulations of being featured this week! It’s great working with such wonderful people.
LindaMHodnett
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
July 15th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Hi, I saw you were featured and wanted to give a quick hello.
See ya around,
AmyS2310
Shutterflly Gallery Guru
July 20th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Joanna,
I just want to thank you for being so generous and helping people with things on here. I saw the post where you were helping someone upload and just thought I would mention this for anyone who has a mac. While in iPhoto highlight the pictures you want to upload, go to File then Export. A box will pop up with different tabs to choose where you want to export the pictures you have highlighted. Honestly I am not sure how Shutterfly became one of my options. After i got signed up it just appeared there. Then you can choose the name of the album, you can add to an existing album or make a new one. Then click export and it will move them all over. I am not sure about anyone else but this does take a while. Recently I uploaded about 100 pictures and it took an hour and 20 minutes. So I suggest adding pictures to Shutterfly pretty often that way when you start a project you have everything there and don’t have to wait any longer.
Hope this helps!
Jess
July 20th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
Thanks Jessica for the tips on uploading from a MAC. These are very helpful. I keep forgetting that MAC’s and PC’s are different. Wow, that is a long time to upload pictures. Do you have dial-up? If you have books, let me know, i’d love to check them out and be inspired by more ideas.
Thanks again for your tip.
Joanna T
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
July 21st, 2008 at 11:33 am
Great interview! I saw you were featured so I had to come check it out! You are very talented, keep sharing and inspiring the rest of us!
Bmrivinius
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
August 4th, 2008 at 10:11 am
I’m a new shutterfly user, and I tried having my 14-year-old scan some of our old family albums, but lets just say that I wasn’t satisfied. I found a company online that would scan my entire collection of albums in less than a week. I was so impressed with the results that i have to share them with you. The company is http://www.echomymedia.com. They can scan negatives, slides, and photos from any format. All the images came back enhanced and ready upload to shutterfly.
I hope this helps someone.
Robin Burgs
August 14th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Robin,
Thank you for the above information. I’ll pass it on. Scanning is intimidating and time consuming.
Thanks for sharing your info. i didn’t know how else to contact you, so i hope you come back here. If you have any questions on Shutterfly, feel free to ask any of us.
Thanks again,
Joanna T
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Thanks Joanna for all of your comments on my blogs and throughout the site. So heartfelt and much appreciated. I’m really enjoying looking at your photo books too. Hope you continue sharing with us…
Susie