ES-Sense Photography – Wedding Photographer – Ako'y Iglesia Ni Cristo! Based in Southern California, City of Long Beach bio picture
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    My name is Joan Solitario and I'm a photographer :)

    I did not find photography and photography did not find me. Instead, I believe it was a gift from God. He gave me the opportunity to learn photography so that I can help people capture their memories. Most of all, I can use this gift for His glory.

    Photography has given me the opportunity to meet and get to know so many wonderful people! It has also given me the opportunity to photograph events that has helped in strengthening my faith. These events have also given me inspiration and memories that will truly last a lifetime! Hopefully, I can inspire someone by sharing these memories through my posts.

    I believe that everything that has happened in my life; everything that I have experienced; and every single person that I have met in my life were all part of God's plan for me. So, unto Him, I return all praise, honor, and glory.

    Ako'y Iglesia Ni Cristo! (I am a member of the Church of Christ!)

Personal : Rework

When Ryan and I decided to start our own business, we had no idea what we were doing.  All we knew was that we needed to figure out a name for our business (the story about where “ES-SENSE” came from will be for another time) and make sure we had done all the state and federal requirements necessary to get licenses and permits. After that was all done, we didn’t know where to start. We didn’t have a business plan and the only plan we knew of is that I was going to be a photographer.

So with my camera and my lenses in hand, off I went asking my family and friends if I could take their picture. You know, I’m really blessed to have WONDERFUL and SUPPORTIVE people in my life! Whenever I offered to take portraits of them, I never got denied. My family and friends were always willing to take an hour or two of their day to help me grow and learn to use my camera. To all my friends and family, I’m forever grateful! With your help, our humble business is still up and running!

Although ES-Sense has definitely come a long way from the time it began, there are always improvements that need to be made! There’s always something new to learn and new areas to explore. So what do we to to keep our business minds open to new ideas? We read! Ryan ordered a book called, “Rework“. He had finished the whole book in a couple of days, but you could probably finish it non-stop in less than a day because it is such an easy read! The ideas that the authors have about ”business is totally opposite from what I had learned in school, but it makes sense… common sense! :)  I really recommend those planning to start their business as well as those who already started their business to get this book! If only this book was available to me back then.. then I wouldn’t have given myself a hard time about not having a business plan… and I’m not saying that having one is a bad thing…

2 comments

Joan - You’re very welcome Tasha! :)

Tasha - thanks for your recommendation! and thanks again for always giving me advice and information whenever i need it!

Personal : Seal Beach Portraits and Gallery Testing

Ryan and I needed to take a break. We’ve been so busy for the past 2 months since the beginning of 2010 that I told him we needed to make Sunday “our day”.  We decided to go to the beach today and just enjoy the weather and the sun.  Daylight Savings Time started today so we were able to enjoy being outside this afternoon and we also got to see the sunset. We went to Seal Beach and walked around Main Street and because I wanted to take some new “profile pictures for our website”, Ryan was acting photographer and took photos of me.

You know what – I really appreciate my friends who have given me the opportunity to photograph them.  Posing in front of the camera is really hard! After you see the following photos, you will see that it is proof and a really good reason that I belong BEHIND THE LENS, not in front.

Anyways, I REALLY don’t like these photos.. but I wanted to test this slideshow option that ProPhotoBlogs provides.  I really am loving ProPhotoBlogs! Here’s a $10 discount code (JOASOL449) they gave to me in case anyone is interested in creating their blog design using ProPhotoBlogs.

4 comments

Joan - Thanks for the kindness Tasha, Janice and Adrienne. I really don’t like my cheeks. They make my face look swollen haha.

Adrienne Gunde - Love the new blog! And love the portraits of you & Ryan! Sounds like you had a super relaxing Sunday :)

Janice - These are nice shots! :)

I miss the beach!

Tasha - it’s about time we see a whole bunch of pictures of YOU! heheheh! yeah i like your slideshow feature too :)

Personal : New Blog Design

Taa Daa!!! We have a new blog design! I’ve been telling Ryan how I needed to change our design because we’ve had the old one for over a year now! Plus, I wanted our blog to match the feel of our website. Even though the design is new, it’s still has the same feel as my old design :). One of the major change the blog has is that the side menu is gone. The menu is now on top where it is easily accessible. It’s nice and simple and clean. That’s how I want my blog to be. I didn’t want too many things going on because our lives already have a lot of things going on!

We decided to go with ProPhotoBlog.com to create and customize our blog design. It’s really pretty simple and I was actually surprised that I was able to customize the look of the site easily. Plus, if I need to make changes to my blog design in the future, I can do it myself quickly and easily! It took me one whole day to finish my blog site to the way I want it to be. If you’re interested in purchasing ProPhotoBlog, here’s a $10 Discount Code that they gave me to share with you: JOASOL449. Here’s an overview of what ProPhotoBlog can do: http://www.prophotoblogs.com/overview/

Well, I hope you enjoy visiting our blog site! Ryan and I really do appreciate your support and trust!

Here’s a screen shot of our old blog design. It has been good to us but it’s time to say goodbye!

5 comments

Joan - Thanks Janice, Iris, Jen, and Amanda! I should’ve done our design through ProPhotoBlogs a long time ago!

amanda thiessen - Joan!! Love this new blog layout!! very nice :)
And thank you for the love and goodluck wishes for the amy wenzel workshop!!! it’s totally a long shot but i thought what the hey, it’d be a sweet road trip if it happened! haha!! congrats on your new blog and website – exciting!

jenc - I like the new blog! very clean and simple :)

IRIS CHEUNG - Love your new blog and your bio!

Janice - Nice new blog and website!