Hi! My name is Tonette but my friends call me Toni. I love to take photos and discovered Shutterfly in March 2009! My passion for making photobooks started a week or two later and I was hooked! I was so surpised when I got my 1st photobook featured in June of 2009! Then in July of 2009 I was asked to be a Shutterfly Guru! It was such an honor to join a team of such talented, kind, wonderful, compassionate, helpful, understanding, creative, and inspirational group of people! This past year I have been inspired in so many ways! After viewing other gallery members nature books I decided I would try to experiment for the 1st time! It is so much fun and it gives my teens and family a break from me taking their photos all the time!

Here was one of my 1st attempts in the summer of 2009 with my Sony point and shoot camera:

 

 

In the past, I took my camera everywhere to take mainly just people photos. Many of them were posed shots of family and friends at outings, events, or special occasions. My entire family always knows I will arrive with a camera over my shoulder and some snapshots that I had developed from our last outing each time we get together. They are tickled pink seeing the snapshots! My family and friends really enjoy the photos I send them in the mail randomly throughout the year. I mostly took photos to remember the time we shared together but now I am expanding my horizons and trying new things. I never took a photography class and I have 0 photoshop skills but I'm determined to learn someday!

 

I am having so much fun experimenting and trying new and different things. I just discovered Picnik when a friend inspired me with her photos. I used the free stuff until February 2011 I got a premium account because they had textures. One of the 1st attempts with the textures got featured on the Shutter Sisters Daily Click blog on February 12, 2011. It was an old favorite flower and bee photo from my garden. Here it is:

 

 

This is the link to where it was featured on the Shutter Sisters Daily click blog on February 12, 2011:

 

shuttersisters.com/the-daily-click/2011/2/12/tonetteb.htm...

 

In my opinion, nothing is better than family, love, happiness, friendship, good health, celebrating the everyday moments, peaceful moments, joy, photography, gardening, baking, relaxing on the porch or in our gazebo gazing at our beautiful flowers in our garden, reading, dancing, taking long walks, bike rides, babies, romance, surprises, freedom, exploring, warm summer breezes, sand under my feet, and traveling! I'm so blessed to have been to so many amazing places in my life. My husband Rob, my 18 year old son Joe, my 16 year old daughter Marina and I all love to travel together! I have so many fun travel photos and hope to someday have them all in Shutterfly photobooks!

 

Happiness is:

 

   

  

  

I look forward to being a part of many new and exciting Flickr groups! This site is amazing and full of inspiration! I just got get my 1st DSLR camera at the end of November 2010! I have used a Sony point and shoot digital camera that acted up all the time! I hope I can someday take photography lessons!

 

Please email me at sfgurutoni@ymail.com if you want to check out my shutterfly sharesite. I will send you the link.

Thanks so much for looking!

 

Here is the Shutterfly Friends group I help run if you would like to check it out. Please come and join the fun:

 

www.flickr.com/groups/shutterflyfriends/

 

Look at all the inspirational photos in the Shutterfly Friends group:

 

  

I just joined a FLICKR group called Focus-52. It is a fun 52 week project from the twoscoopz blog. Here is the link to the blog if you want to find out more information and if you are interested in joining in on all the fun:

 

  

Focus-52 group widget:

 

 

I love the Project 64: Out of the Box blog: