Joni is so passionate about photography that she never goes anywhere without her trusty camera. She’s also member of our Shutterfly Gallery Guru team, dedicated to supporting your photo book and storytelling creativity. You’ve probably seen Joni’s helpful comments throughout the Gallery - maybe even on your own photo book.

In this interview, Joni tells us about her love for her family, how she got hooked on Shutterfly, and her vicarious vacations via Gallery Travel photo books.

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I am someone who treasures my family.  I am a mother of three, I have a son and twin daughters.  I am married to a man who makes me feel like the most important person alive.  This alone is a treasure to me.  I have been lucky enough to be able to stay home with my children who thus far, who are now 10,and 8.  Three years ago I started doing photography part time and it has become my other passion.  People who know me will laugh, because its rare that you catch me without my camera on my side.   I love life, and the adventures and surprises around every corner that it has to offer.

Because I take so many pictures and have such great stories to tell I thought what better way than a book.  I had happened across another company which was much more costly when I found Shutterfly.  My friend was given a book a present.  From that moment on I was sold!  I couldn’t believe the quality.  You couldn’t even print pictures and put them in your own album for the cost of a book.  I love how thin they are for easy storage.  I love to display mine on a table.  It makes a great conversation piece! 

I love to capture my family and the nature or monuments that surround us wherever we go.  I also try to carry something to write on.  This is so I can jot down cute things said, that I want to remember to put into my book later, or small things that I might want to journal.  For me when I look back on my book it really takes me back to the place and time.  It truly tells my story.  So in each of my books, it is my goal to tell a story.  I love to use a beautiful full page picture,  at least 2 times in a book it really makes your story pop.

I have just completed yearbooks for my daughters teachers.  Gave them to them as gifts yesterday.  Got tears from one!  They are my favorite gifts to give.  I go in all throughout the year and take pictures of the kids in the classroom. Take individual shots of the children at the beginning of the year ( this way you can see how much they have changed). I save them all to my computer.  The teachers are so amazed… where did you get all these pictures they always ask me.  Because they have forgotten.  Its a favorite gift.  Shutterfly gifts are always my favorite gift to give.   Because its made straight from your heart. 

I love looking at other photographers work in the gallery.  Gives me new ideas and I generally I am just drawn to that.  Nature books take me to different places of the world I would like to see.  I live in Southern California where a lot of you may think is paradise.  When I look into a book set on a farm or an Oregon coast… I want to go there.  I enjoy so much flipping through the pages of your lives.  Thank you for sharing your stories with me.  Keep writing your treasures.  They will be heirlooms to your future generations.

Check out Joni’s photo books on her Gallery profile page.