Janean Lindner of Giggle Moon Photography

Hi there!  I am Janean.  I am a professional photographer residing in beautiful sunny southern California.  I am a mom to 4 boys; Taylor age 18, Trenton age 13, Turner age 6 and Trevan age 5.

I have always had a love for beautiful things and a passion for children.  I started taking photos when I was a very young girl with a Kodak Instamatic X25 with Flash Cubes.  It belonged to my Grandmother and I was so proud that she trusted me to use it.  I went on vacation in 1975 to
Colorado and fell in love with photography.  I could not get enough.  Back in the day, photos had to be developed.  Something my kids do not know much about.  I learned to choose my subject matter carefully and that less is more.  I was taught by my very thrifty Grandmother that you did not take lots of photos of the same thing.  You had to make your roll of film last!

I continued taking photos and making albums my whole life.  Saving my babysitting money to buy nicer equipment. 


I went to work in a photography studio in high school and was taught how to use a medium format camera for portraits. 
I was enthralled and learned all I could from photographer Andrew at Andrew's Photography
in Irvine, CA.  He ran a very busy and popular studio in Woodbridge.  I learned about studio portraiture and working with families, kids and pets in an indoor studio.  I helped "proof" photographs and assisted customers in choosing their final prints and portrait packages. I was hooked.  I continued taking photos into my late teens and early 20's just for fun.  I would on occasion do portraits for friends and relatives for Christmas, special events and the like.  After I got married and had my son, Taylor I started shooting Weddings in Missiouri. 

In 1990 I had purchased a Canon EOS 650 and a host of used lenses.  I was dabbling in perfecting my black and white film portraiture and landscape techniques.  The beautiful Missouri countryside proved quite useful for this!  I had a new baby and was in love with capturing him on film.  Everywhere I went I had a diaper bag and a Camera Bag!  I had taken hundreds of photos by the time my second son was born in 1995. 

I kept practicing and expermenting with lighting, composition, and tricks of the trade.  Overall I was usually quite pleased with my outcome.  I have never been afforeded the opportunity of formal education.  I have not taken any classes on photography, photo editing or graphic design.  I am fully self taught - with hours and years of trial and error under my belt.  I have a hunger to learn and if I do not have the ability to receive formal education - I will teach myself!  It took me 2 years to learn the photo editing techniques I now use in Photoshop.  I would sit up many nights well into the wee hours trying to master one thing after the other.  I would grow frustrated - take a break and get back at it.  I also learned HTML this way.  I knew that if others could do it - by darn - so could I.  I would decode, try and recode HTML to make templates and build web pages.

Would it not have been easier to take classes, you ask?  Certainly!  I had small kids at home and ran a daycare.  I was not able to find the time to invest outside of the home - so I just did what I could with the resources on the internet and here I am today!

I was using a Canon EOS XTi for many years with a lens I just LOVE.  I have loaned that camera to a friend who is dabbling in the fine art of photography.  I usually use it as my back up camera for Weddings and Special Events.  I really like it - it is a great camera!


I now enjoy my EOS 5D.  I have a host of lenses for it and it goes with me most everywhere.  I do a lot of outdoor photography and it can get a bit heavy - but that is the price you must pay for amazing shots!

I hope to share with you the knowledge that I have accumulated over my lifetime of photography loving.  I do not profess to be an expert, only a self taught artist in the field of creative lifestyle portraiture.  I am happy to help others become all they can be through my sharing what I know!  Email me anytime with questions!
GiggleMoon@mac.com

For some of my work you can visit my website at:
Giggle Moon Photography

To learn more about me - I have a Blog - "It's Not The Destination...It's The Journey.
Just Janean

Blessings!
xoxo
Janean