Oh…Professional Photographer’s of Idaho…how I love thee.  Let me count thy ways.

1.  Lori Nordstrom – see her website – she is an amazing woman who was incredibly insightful at her workshop this weekend.  I am so thankful that I did not have to miss any of her talks.  Thank you, LORI!

2.  Meeting Other Photographers – sooo fun!  I always attribute the success of my photography business to the friendship of other photographers.  I have been blessed BLESSED by other photographers in the area.

3.  The Food – okay.  Could it have tasted better?  Yes.  Could it have been any more convenient?  No.  What’s more convenient than having someone else prepare your food and take it away?

4.  Scott and Adina Hayne – see their website – it was great to see them shoot OCF – can’t wait to try it on some of my senior models!

5.  COMPETITION!!!  Okay – so I am extremely competitive.  EXTREMELY.  There are some AMAZING photographers in the State of Idaho who always do very VERY well in competition, so I am not necessarily competing for one of their titles, but I do compete for myself.  The first year I entered, I received two judge’s choice awards and merited 5 out of my 7 entries (a merit is a good thing!).  This year, I had three of my entries merit.  I also won 2nd place for Composite – Other.  I am very honored any time I win an award, because I know that the people who judge these competitions are AMAZINGLY talented.  I’ve found a good thing, if I can get some feedback from them.

So, there ya go, People.  The five top reasons I LOVE PPI (Professional Photographers of Idaho) conference.  If you are a photographer and you have not yet tapped into this amazing resource and wealth of information, you need to do it.  You should have done it yesterday, but fortunately, you are still alive today to do it now.  Don’t waste another minute.  I said, do it NOW!

Okay – now that you’re back after registering with your local PPA affiliate, let me share with you the portraits I submitted for competition.

This was the Award Winning Print

"Change in Perspective"

These ones merited (I also had a Senior Album merit, but it’s not going to be uploaded this evening).

"Cowboy Up"

"Tuesday's Child"

These ones were entered and did not merit.

"And Then They Kissed"

"Organic Beauty"

"The Posse"

"Symphony in Blue"

I had a photography conference this weekend, so I have been away.  Kind of.  Away from work, anyway.  

Good news?  Well…I won 2nd place for one of my prints.  I’ll leave the details of that for another post.  Much love, y’all.

I love my husband.  Sure.  We have the everyday struggles of ANYONE who is married (don’t let ‘em fool ya if they tell you otherwise!).  Sometimes, he puts on a pair of holey underwear (don’t tell him I told you that).  Sometimes, he leaves the dishes in the sink.  Sometimes, he spends all night studying.  But – ALL THE TIME – I am thankful to be married to him.

My love for him started out as a bit of an immature love.  I was attracted to him.  I loved how he spoke to me.  I loved his skin color.  I loved his accent.  I even loved the fact that he was from a different country.  Amongst the surfaced attraction, however, there was a deeper attraction as well.  An attraction to his character.  We had differing ideas on a few things before we got married .  I knew each of our views would change as we grew as human beings, so it wasn’t vital that he and I agreed on EVERYTHING.  It was vital that I trusted his character enough to know that he would seek the truth in every matter and that he would do the right thing.

After six years, he has not disappointed me.  The things that may have been an original “deal-breaker” in my single days, have become so unimportant.  What matters now is how FANTASTIC of  a father he is; of how much of an incredible example of Christ’s love he is to our family; of how he unconditionally supports me; of how he balances me out.

So, Baby (yes, that’s what I call him), here’s to you.  May we have another 50+ birthdays to celebrate together.  I love you with all my being…

Okay – so I have the three storyboards ordered for The Lotus Tree.  I am so excited to see how these turn out.  I think they will be absolutely adorable!!!  I’ll let you know when the entire display is up so that you can look for yourself .  Enjoy!

I finished my last shoot for The Lotus Tree on Monday.  Here’s the finished product!

Like I said earlier this month, I’ve had a beautiful display at the Lotus Tree for the last year and half. Now that they are adding a Speech Therapy Division, I’ve volunteered my time again to help decorate the new addition of their business.

Julius and I attend a playgroup where I was able to photograph some gorgeous little guys and girls. Here are the photographs we’ll be displaying HUGE! So – be sure to make it to the Open House so that you can see the new display at the Lotus Tree – Speech Therapy Division!!!

I am currently working on a project for The Lotus Tree, a sensory integration clinic in Bown Crossing. I have had some beautiful photographs up as a display for over a year. They are now adding a Speech Therapy division, for which I am also donating time for their decor. For one of their rooms, we bought some rad vintage-looking cars from Ross (my favorite place to shop!!!) and took some pics of Miss “E” playing with them.

However – as a girl – the cars weren’t that interesting. While we had trouble keeping Julius away from them, Miss “E” wasn’t having anything to do with them. So – our solution? Place some cookies in the car. IT WORKED!!! Shhhh…don’t tell anyone my secret .