~Nature's Beauty~

It was a beautiful day today. Temp. in the 60's, so warm for this time of year. Thought I would post another one of my gerbera series. I really like this one, because of the cheery red color and the shape. The shape reminds me of the cute pettiskirts that are all the rage by little girls. A good example of nature's beauty! Tomorrow is Friday! Hope everyone has a great weekend:)

~Basketball~

I know, I know, I'm blowing my project 365! Ms. Lyndsie started basketball this month and it's her first time. She really seems to like it and is picking it up quickly. Her very first day was a game, she hadn't even had practice yet. We were so impressed, she dribbled the ball well and she made a basket during the practice before the game. My first attempt at sports photography was at her game this past Saturday. My friend Tressie gave me some pointers on camera settings, etc. Tressie has been photographing her son since he was in first grade he's now 15, so she's had a lot of practice! I was pretty happy I caught this shot. Our girl is rebounding!! According to Lyndsie's dad, basketball is all about the rebounds. He told her they say in the NBA, no rebounds no ring! That doesn't quite apply here but we were pretty proud of her! They all got fruit roll ups at the end! Hope everyone is having a great week. Hard to believe that it's the last week of January. Happy Wednesday everyone:)

December Better Photo Contest Second Place Winner!!!

Received some fantastic news today!! I found out this afternoon that my finalist photo, see below, I talked about yesterday in my blog was awarded second place winner. Needless to say, I was thrilled. I'm too tired to write much else. I hope everyone had a fabulous Friday and will have a great weekend. Here is the link and info, if anyone would like to check it out:)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1/23/2009 Photographer Chris Henning of Sacramento, CA, has won Second Place for December in the prestigious photography contest sponsored by BetterPhoto.com, the site's founder, Jim Miotke, announced Friday.
More than 19300 entries were submitted to the online photography contest, which attracted contestants from around the world and featured 10 separate categories.
Henning's stunning image, "Looking back", garnered top honors after being submitted in the People category.
All of the winning images can be viewed at BetterPhoto.com's contest page:
http://www.betterphoto.com/contest/winners/0812.asp
The contest is conducted each month. Categories include Nature and Landscapes, Animals, People, Elements of Design, Digital Darkroom, Travel and Place, Flowers, Details and Macro, Catch-All, and Monthly Theme. Judging is performed by a panel of professional photographers.
Besides its free, popular photo contest, BetterPhoto.com also offers a variety of services: digital camera reviews, online photo courses, free newsletters, a discussion forum, Web sites for photographers, question-and-answer section, how-to articles, photo galleries, and more.
Photographers can enter this month's contest and learn more about photography at: www.BetterPhoto.com

December Better Photo contest finalist

Oh man, I missed a day of posting. There goes my project 365! LOL! I received some wonderful news yesterday. One of my images was picked as a finalist in the Better Photo contest. Better Photo is a wonderful site for photographers at all levels, to meet, share their work, offer encouragement, friendly critiques and develop friendships/connections. It's amazing how photography connects so many people. I feel so lucky to have met so many inspiring photographers. I hope to continue to learn and grow as a photographer with the encouragement of my BP friends. Thank you to the N family. I just love this image of their daughter, it's one of my favs. Happy Thursday everyone, it's almost Friday:)

Hello sunshine!

Hope everyone had a wonderful inaugural Tuesday! Meant to post this morning but the day got away from me. Funny how that happens a lot:) This is another from my gerbera series. I thought this little flower looked so sunny! We'll need something cheery, now that it looks like we'll finally be getting some much needed rain. On a photography note, I'm working on updating my website and hope you'll all check back in a couple weeks to see the changes.
Happy Wednesday everyone:)

Cheery

Yikes, it's been a long time since I posted. Every year, I get asked what are my new year resolutions, and my response is sad, I don't have any. Truthfully though, I always have good intentions of having new years resolutions. But when I start to make a list, I realize that it's too overwhelming because the list is too darn long:)! Ha! That brings to mind something neat my sil decided to do. It's called project 365. She will post a photo and a journal entry in her blog for every day in 2009. How cool is that? Lifestyle photos for every day of the year. Which she will then enter into a family album for 2009. I think that's pretty cool. So, she has inspired me. I'm going to do my best to post a photo and journal entry of my favorite photos from last year and this year. These mini gerbera daisies reminded me of spring with their bright and cheery colors. Have a happy Tuesday everyone!

Sweet snowman surprise!

Hope the new year is treating everyone well. For me, it has been hard to get back into the swing of things. It was so nice having my husband and daughter home for many days at a time. We usually only have weekends all together and it never seems enough. So, the quiet in my house has been unsettling. But something wonderful did happen that touched my heart and brightened my days. This week my daughter, Lyndsie, came home from school with an envelope and said "Mom you need to open this with Dad". I had no idea what it was but I said okay. Brett got home after Lyndsie was in bed and we opened it together just as she instructed. Inside is this beautiful belated christmas card she made in art class that said "Mom and Dad, I love you so much, your the best parents ever. Oh my!! That is what I needed!
Happy New Year everyone, wishing you the best in 2009:)