Photo Friday #5

I have had an amazing photography week!  It started on Sunday when I decided to do our Christmas card photo shoot of the kids.  Originally I wanted snow in my picture, but decided doing this on a 60 degree day was a much better idea since I didn't want them to wear coats for the photo.  I had everything all ready to go and we set the kids in place....only for Wyatt to immediately start whining and try to get away...over and over.  After about 5 minutes of this (it felt like 20), I threw in the towel.  I had an image in my head of the kids laughing and there was just no way this was going to be happening.  My amazing assistant (aka, my husband) had a great idea though, that turned this shoot from disaster to phenomenal!  In just a few minutes I got the exact shot I was hoping for, and more!!  I still cannot believe I was able to capture this image I had in my head for weeks!  So excited!!  (sorry, can't show the picture until cards have been sent out)

Then, on Wednesday morning I woke up to discover in an email that I had won an award in my first ever photography contest!!  The Des Moines Camera Club that I joined this fall has a monthly photography contest, in which a member can submit any photo they want.  The club has hundreds of very talented members and I was very nervous to submit a photo, but I also figured, "why not??"  The awards handed out each month are 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place as well as an Honorable Mention.  I had one particular image that I was very proud of and decided to submit that one for my first contest.  I couldn't make it to the meeting Tuesday night to find out in person if I won, but as soon as my eyes opened Wednesday morning, I checked my email.  My photo won the Honorable Mention award!!  I was soo excited!!  There were 37 amazing entries, some from very experienced photographers.  To have my photo placed above 30+ others was quite an honor.  One of the three judges gave me a perfect score!  Here is the picture.

 

In addition to this award, the photo gets an automatic placement in the "Best of the Best" contest next year, in which all award winning photos from this year are judged together.  Also, I now have some points next to my name, in the quest to move from novice to advanced.  Every new member is automatically a novice, regardless of experience.  In order to move to the advanced category, a member must earn so many points, which are only awarded when your photo wins an award.  I think a person has to win about 15 awards before moving to the next level, so it will be awhile for me.  From Advanced, a member moves on to the Master level....that one will be years away for me. 

Finally, my other exciting news this weeks is that I had a picture in this week's 365 project make it to the popular page!!  This means that my image was viewed, commented on, and "favorited" by a certain number of people, making it one of the most popular images on the site this week.  Interestingly, I knew the second I snapped the picture that it was going to be liked by the photographers on the website, but I never expected it to make the popular page.  Here is that photo.

 

 

 

And here are the rest of the photos from this week's project:

 

One photographer commented on this image and said, "This horse has been to so many imaginary places, it surely has some great stories to tell."

 

I took a walk around my property for something interesting to photograph.  I wasn't in a very creative mood this day, so the water pump thingy was the best I got.  Yeah, I don't know what it's called.

 

I took this image for a challenge called "mundane mouse", in which the photos must contain a computer mouse.  I was having a hard time getting the shot I wanted, and then I opened the curtain next to my desk to let a little sunlight in, and it lit the mouse up so perfectly.

 

This is on an abandoned property about a mile from my house.  I actually stopped by there to photograph the worn down house, but ended up liking this subject better.  This has been my 2nd most popular image on the project.

 

Wyatt was just not a fan of this hat I wanted him to wear for pictures.

My favorite little helper.  Every day I hear, "Mom, I can help you with that."