Facebook Joanna Jodko Photography Referral Contest: Win Free Photo Session!!!

Dear Friends, 

I am so excited to let you know that I decided to run a very first contest here on Facebook as a thank you all for your support. It starts now until Thanksgiving, November 22 at 10pm ET.  You will have ONE WEEK to win. And the prize? FREE Photo session of your choice: family, maternity, couples, seniors, equine... and more. You pick!!! See the details below.

Winner will be announced the following day: Friday, November 23, and contacted through Facebook.

How to Enter: 

1. Get your friends, family, neighbors, anyone you know to "LIKE" Joanna Jodko Photography page:  https://www.facebook.com/JoannaJodkoPhotography. Text them , call them, email them, whatever it takes to have as many people you know "like" my page. Share my note on your wall, so more people can see it!

2. Once they "like" my page, they need to leave a "COMMENT" below the post: "REFERRED BY..(here will be your name)" so I know who to give the point to. If the person "likes" the page AND leaves a comment with your name, the point is assigned to you.

* Once you like my page and leave the comment, you can start earning the points yourself! :) 

3. Bonus point if you leave a comment under this post!!!

Rules:

~ The winner will be the person who referred the most people = received the most points.

~ If I reach 1000 fans, I will add one more free session for the second top person who refer!!!!!!!!!!

~ The winner must be located in Palm Beach, Broward or Dade counties, the winner outside the counties listed will be charged travel fee depending on the distance. 

~ Prize must be redeemed within three months from Thanksgiving (until the end of February 2013)

Prize: 

* One hour long photo session on location and three 8x10 prints FOR FREE!!!

~ This contest is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Facebook.

If you have any questions feel free to message me :) 

Ready? Set? GOOOO!

Good luck!

Much love,

Joanna Jodko

Homestead Rodeo Queen 2012 Aubrey Jones and Rodeo Queen 2013 runner Lizzie Alger

Oh my!!! These two ladies had me laughing so hard I was afraid that all the photos will be ruined! Thanks god for the image stabilization in my lens!
I had the greatest fun working with both of them: Aubrey and Lizzie, and so grateful for all the help I received from Natasha and Matthew. 
Aubrey is 2012 Homestead Rodeo Queen and one of her photos will be placed on the cover of rodeo program in 2013. Lizzie is running for 2013 Homestead Rodeo Queen title. I will be present at the crowning ceremony in January and I hope I will be photographing her again, but wearing the crown this time :) 

Locomotion ~ the horse made of mist and fire.

Do you remember Masaryk from my previous post? Him and Locomotion are stable buddies. After the session with Masaryk, I walked to the stable just to see handsome Locomotion getting ready for the photo shoot. Beautiful eye, silky mane, and tail touching the ground... And what manners! Just a gentleman. I had a very special moment just before going out the stable, when he rested his chin on my shoulder. 

As son as he was let out on the paddock, the fire lit... All the beauty shined... I couldn't take my camera away from the eye. Just kept shooting.

Just after that I was surprised with a little treat. Joy dressed Locomotion and herself in a beautiful show costume, and let me photograph them doing a parade just for me.

I am looking forward visiting the farm again when the weather cools down. I enjoyed visiting at the farm immensely. It was a real pleasure to spend time with happy, shiny horses and very nice owners.

Masaryk ~ a beautiful horse I photographed in Homestead

Two weeks ago I had an amazing opportunity to photograph three wonderful horses at my friends' farm. Today I will speak about one of them.
Meet Masaryk: Polish Arabian with gold specks in his coat, flowing mane and tail, and lots of personality.
What a stunning horse he is! I do not speak well about beauty, let me photos speak for me.

I would like to take this opportunity and thank Marjorie, Joy and Patrick one more time for having me over at their farm, and helping during the photo shoot!

Independence Day

Dear Freinds, 
I would like to wish you a wonderful holidays. Stay happy and safe!

Quick Hello ~

It has been quite long time since I posted anything. Apparently the chain of events and happenings left me unable to photograph. It was quite a challenge for me to go day after day with my passion put on hold.
Well, my unleashed creative side sent me to explore some resources and learn new things. I had to keep myself occupied and stepping forward. Even if it was just a tiny half of the step. Keep moving forward.
Setbacks are part of the progress. Although it felt like chasing after own tail at times, it was making me stronger. 
When faced with difficult moments, I like to think that they are happening for a reason. For some wicked, crazy reason I don't know yet. You might call it silly, but it makes it a little bit more easier for me to withstand hard times.
I wonder how do you deal with the tough moments. What keeps you going? What makes an option to give up not an option?
Share it with me in comment section. 


Wishing you all bright days!

Time to get back in a saddle...Legacy Farms of Jupiter

Hello Everyone
Saddle... not literally, although that is on my list too.
Many changes around me kept me very occupied for a while now. And it doesn't seem like it will slow down any time soon! But it is not fair to you that I didn't even stop for a second to say "Hi" for a while now.
 I recently moved, and I am still trying to get situated in new house to make it my home. My computer was in old place for a while leaving me unable to work and just feeling weird without the connection with the outside world ... Very weird feeling. Are you addicted to the internet like me?
The fact that I didn't post anything for a long time doesn't mean that I wasn't out and photographing. The most recent equine photoshoot took place at the breathtaking farm of Deborah Berger in Jupiter.  
Her gorgeous black P.R.E. stallion Conquistador Del Sol and beautiful dressage rider Jules Anderson of Teamwork Dressage were my models.

Jules was wearing Spanish style red dress, nicely contrasting with the stallion. It really brought a special mood to the scene. We started the session with the portraits of both on the ground. As soon as the girl sat in the saddle the time stopped, I was pressing the shutter like in a dream, catching the moments like little snowflakes on my hand, wanting to keep them forever. 

Beauty is what makes me often take my eyes away from the camera and just stare. I am lost in a moment for just a split second, and then I remember that I really want to take that very moment with me...so I grab my camera and press the shutter, and press...

The session was wonderful. I was surrounded by the people who put so much heart into making everything work perfect during the photo shoot. Although we were all nervous, we had a great time. Laughter was filling up the morning air as everyone was working on setting up another shot.

What more I can say...? Thank you Debi, Jules and Conquistador!