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MJ's Interweb Open House!

Thanks for stopping by!  Sit back, relax, and go grab a drink...get ready for a glimpse into "my world".  Enjoy this area.  It's for you, my clients, friends, and family.  Here, you'll get sneak peeks into my latest photo shoots and glimpses into my crazy world!

A hopeless believer that I'll one day make the PGA (Profesional Golfers Association) Tour, I'm just your average guy.  I'm Michael.  I'm a father, husband, son, brother, and dog lover.  I've got the most beautiful wife, the smartest, funniest, and most handsome son, the sweetest baby girl, and a dog who loves me unconditionally.  I love my life.  It's simple, uncomplicated, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

I write, eat, shave, and brush my teeth left-handed.  Everything else (throwing a football, etc.) I do right-handed.  What's that mean?  Who knows.  I like to think that I've got the best of both worlds...I'm structured and creative.  Take a look at my work and you'll see those traits shining through!

Cheers!

Kris’ Killer Kookies & Pastries | Tallahassee Lifestyle Product Photography

Monday, August 30, 2010 at 9:00am Posted in Business, Personal

Alright, so it’s time to share the love and throw a little shout out to a wonderful friend and extremely talented baker/cook/chef/decorator (so, can you tell I’m a guy and am not too sure as to how I should refer to her?)!!  Regardless of her title, Kris can delight you with her amazing cookie and pastry designs.  And after you’re done salivating with your eyes, you actually taste her creations and just about sing the Hallelujah chorus because they’re THAT good.  F’real!  She has worked tirelessly to cater to our cookie needs for my son’s birthday parties and continues to knock our socks off with creations that are pure genius for baby showers, gatherings, and parties of all sorts.  If you can imagine it, she can probably create it.  And if you can’t, let her help you to come up with a design that’ll instantly WOW you!

Take a look at these simple treats she whipped up for my son’s zoo animal themed birthday party and a baby shower that my wife put on for a friend and recognize that the pictures don’t even do their taste justice.  If you’re interested in hiring Kris to come up with a creation for your special event, you can get in touch with her at hoover652@yahoo.com .  Or, if you don’t even have a reason but just want some treats (don’t worry, I won’t tell), get in touch with Kris!  In the meantime, if you need me, I’ll be doing my best impression of cookie monster while scarfing down about 3 more of my test models below…

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by MJ

3 comments

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August 31, 2010 - 8:50 am Kris Hoover - It was my pleasure, Julie. I'm so glad you enjoyed them!

August 30, 2010 - 8:38 pm Julie Howell - I can attest to the goodness in these cookies. YUMMY! They are soooooooooooo good. Too bad you don't have some kind of tasting feature on this website Michael, but I'm thinking that might be a bit messy! :) Great job Kris, thanks so much for doing them for Mattox and Alexandra's goodie boxes for their zoo party.

August 30, 2010 - 6:42 pm Kris Hoover - Thank you so much, Michael, for the 'shout out.' Your photos, as always, are beautiful and I'm honored that you reserved some precious real estate on your blog to showcase my cookies and whoppie pies!!

Landon Heath | Tallahassee Newborn Portrait Photography

Friday, August 27, 2010 at 9:46am Posted in Newborns, Portraits

Arriving bright and early on August 12th at 5:19am and weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 19.7 inches long, Landon Heath was welcomed by his proud and loving parents.  With the majority of newborn sessions that I shoot, there is significant time spent acclimating the baby to the “new” environment of the in-home studio set up, feeding, and most-importantly trying to get them to sleep.  With Landon’s shoot, there was NONE of that.  This little fella was out cold nearly the entire time I was there!  His parents don’t even know how good they have it with his sleeping habits already.  So, I did my best to try to hide my jealousy and spent the rest of the time enjoying the ability to pose Landon however we wanted and talking to the new parents about all the fun and joy their new baby boy was going to bring them.  Congratulations to Brooke and Nick and all of their family for their beautiful Landon Heath’s birth!  Enjoy these images of my night spent with the new parents and their pride and joy.

Now, I also have to give a shout out to Brooke’s custom design and embroidery business, White Lace Designs.  Take some time to browse through her shops, both in her main site (linked) and her Etsy site, and then swing over to her blog (you can link from her main site) to see what’s new that she’s cooking up.  If you’re in the market for custom designs to compliment your new baby, a wedding, or just about any other occasion, Brooke probably has a product that will knock your socks off!  Check out this PERFECT little burp cloth and pacifier clip that I got for my daughter, Morgan, in preparation for her first Florida State football season.  Go Noles!

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by MJ

5 comments

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August 30, 2010 - 1:36 pm Bob Hayward - Fabulous pictures of fabulous Landon!!!

August 29, 2010 - 8:47 pm Kim Ritchey - These are incredible! The basket looks so cozy. He is just beautiful.

August 27, 2010 - 4:13 pm Deborah Golino - I love the little green hat pose! I burst out laughing when I saw it! How did you get that adorable little baby boy posed like that? Brooke did a very nice job on the burp cloth!

August 27, 2010 - 2:35 pm Gretchen Jones - Once again, Michael ROCKS! Amazing! The green hat shot is mind-boggling!

August 27, 2010 - 11:35 am Allison Bradbury - That one with the green hat may be the cutest picture I've ever seen!

Family & Scallops | Dekle Beach Lifestyle Portrait Photography

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 at 7:00am Posted in Family, Personal

This past weekend was our family’s annual scalloping weekend in Dekle Beach.  What?  You’ve never heard of it?  Don’t worry…me neither, until I started dating my wife and learned that her family had been doing this annual trip for years.  Dekle beach is down Highway 27 (Apalachee Parkway) just Southeast of Perry.  You basically listen for the owl to hoot and then you take a right, got it?   :)

Despite the beach being a bit off the beaten path, it’s still a time honored tradition that we all look forward to every year.  It allows us to spend a weekend among the family celebrating in fellowship around amazing meals and time in the water hunting for Florida’s famous bay scallops.  Now I’m not talking about the shark fin or stingray-stamped circular scallops that you’ll find in the frozen food section of your local grocer.  These are the tender, juicy, and succulent pearls of Florida’s shallow, grassy bay waters.  Deelish!  As fun as it is to gather them, it’s just as much work to clean and prepare them.  And with some the size of a small grape, you can imagine how many you have to gather and prepare to make a full meal…for nearly 15 of us!  In our family, however, the cleaning and preparing of the scallops is a rite of passage and all of our kids have and continue to pass with flying colors!

Enjoy some images that I captured to remember our 2010 trip…Mattox had an absolute blast and baby Morgan got to witness all the fun and work that goes into making every year’s trip such a fun event!  I made sure to sneak a few minutes in to grab some portraits of my beautiful family.

We rent both houses on stilts and enjoy this private pier. Ours, on the left, is named "The Osprey".

Here's how our house gets its name!

The prized jewel of our weekend!

If you get the opportunity, try the "wet/dry vac technique" to clean your scallops...it'll save time!

With all the "goo" sucked up, you're left with only the succulent meat.

Although it looks like chaos, we're a finely tuned machine. Everyone has a role. Everyone.

The "cousins" are scallop cleaning rock-stars!

Even Mattox gets in on the act.

The elusive golden orange scallop.

Even baby Morgan came out to spectate.

We follow up all of our play with amazing meals...let the salivating begin.

Anyone up for some prosciutto wrapped cantaloupe?

Can you hear the "Andy Griffith" song whistling in your head?

Our little slice of heaven...

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by MJ

3 comments

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August 20, 2010 - 10:21 am Meg Kennedy - Absolutely GORGEOUS pictures! Love that little Monkey & Morgie & those precious grins! The new website is amazing – you’re incredibly talented!

August 19, 2010 - 4:54 am Deborah Golino - Michael, thank you for capturing our memories. You are right...it is our little slice of heaven! The colors and emotions you captured are amazing. When you look at nature such as this, you realize how awesome God is!

August 18, 2010 - 5:55 pm BaBa and NiNi - These are world-class images, Michael. Of course, we love the ones of our beautiful grandchildren, but the scenery is also gorgeous. Great job.

3…2…1…Launch!

Monday, August 16, 2010 at 12:00pm Posted in Business

If you’re one of my regular blog-stalkers, you may have noticed that I haven’t posted in a couple weeks.  For that, I apologize, but I promise to remedy that!  During my little sebatical, I took the opportunity to finally finalize my newly developed sites that I’ve been working on in order to solidy, organize, and consolidate my brand.  So, after MUCH delay, I wanted to introduce my newly designed Wedding and Lifestyle Portraiture websites where past, current, and prospective clients can get all information regarding Michael B. Johnston Photography’s services and product offerings.  The sites, in my opinion, are cleaner, more polished, and provide easier access to the information that you need.  Clients can now have a one-stop-shop where they can land and decide whether they want to explore weddings, portraits, my blog, or my proofing galleries.  Within any of those sections you’ll get to learn a little about me, my style, my inspiration, and examples of my work.  Please visit  www.mbjphoto.com or click the “Portfolio” link in the main menu above to be redirected to my site.  And if you feel so inclined, leave me a comment and let me know what you think of the changes!

The MBJPhoto.com Splash Page

MBJPhoto.com Weddings Site

MBJPhoto Lifestyle Portraiture Site

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by MJ

3 comments

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August 17, 2010 - 10:25 pm Jill Pope - WOW! I LOVE the new site! So professional and BEAUTIFUL! You should be really proud!!

August 17, 2010 - 7:50 pm MJ - Thanks Angie! I also forgot to mention that my sites are all accessible by mobile device as well...a definite bonus for those wanting to surf on the fly. I can't wait for your next session either...it'll be so exciting!

August 16, 2010 - 1:12 pm Angie - love the changes! the website is very organized and its easy to find things plus i think it shows off your work better. i cant wait to book our next session:)

Heather | Dorothy B. Oven Park Lifestyle Maternity Portrait Photography

Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 7:00am Posted in Maternity, Portraits

Heather is pretty cool.  Any lady with a boxer qualifies as “cool” in my book.  Especially one named “Mosel”, after the Mosel River that winds through Western Germany through beautiful wine country and amazing castles.  This is the region known for making those tasty Reisling wines that are so freakin’ delicious to suck down on a hot summer day.  I only know all of this because I spent nearly all of 2000 living in Germany and travelling that area.  But I digress…

Where was I?  Oh yeah, cool Heather.  She and her husband, John, are expecting their first baby in September and asked that I capture some images for them of this very special time.  So go grab a bottle of that refreshing wine I mentioned above, pour us all a glass, and check out these sweet images of Heather, John, and their beautiful pooch, Mosel.  Cheers!

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by MJ

7 comments

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August 11, 2010 - 2:45 pm Kimmie Dawn - The pictures are soooooo beautiful you guys. I don't have the words to descibe how they made me feel. I Love You Forever.

July 31, 2010 - 8:00 pm Aunt Beth & Uncle Clark - Wow!! What amazing photos - we loved each and every one of them....got us thinking about "back in the day"....yadayadayada. These will be so special to look back upon - what a great idea! Miss you and can't wait to see you soon - hugs and kisses

July 31, 2010 - 8:29 am Jess - Beautiful pics! You guys looks so happy (and Mo looks ready to guard her new little buddy) - can't wait to see you next weekend.

July 31, 2010 - 8:19 am Aunt Debbie - I can't wait to meet my beautiful (okay, handsome!) great-nephew! What a wonderful memory those photos will be. Thanks for sharing your special time with all of us who love you!

July 30, 2010 - 8:53 am Heather Taylor - Wow - Michael, these pics look fantastic...you have such a good eye! Thanks again for making this a good experience despite the weather conditions.

July 30, 2010 - 7:30 am Susanne Korta - Beautiful photos! I'm so happy for Heather and John and I can't wait to meet little "John Jr" :-) Susanne

July 29, 2010 - 11:22 am Kris Hoover - Michael, your maternity photos always make me cry for some reason...in a good way. It's just a wonderful peek into a very special and tender time in a soon-to-be mommy and daddy's lives. Well done, again!