An Explanation...

Everyone looks at "photography" in a different way...

Some see it as art, some as storytelling, some as documentation...sometimes a combination of all of those and even a bit more...

There are many styles or categories of photography as well...ranging from landscape to journalistic to people portraits and animal photography.

With the way that I'm wired, the way that I "see life through the lens", I tend to lean into the "storytelling" aspect of photography...Of course I want it to be pretty & artistic...of course I use it as a memory tool...but, my goal...my end all...is that the images that I produce are ones that are REAL...

For me, REAL means that it isn't always planned, set up or even staged...it's this crazy dance I play in my mind and in the moment...I'm always watching, talking, moving, positioning myself in different ways...because I'm wanting to not just create an image that "looks good" on a canvas, but one that evokes emotion & a memory of a specific moment in time.

Maybe you would gather that I "overthink" it...but, this is how my mind works...this is how the world of photography stays fresh and challenging and fun for me...

There are always "rules" to follow and I DO want to better my "craft"...however, for me, it's not about the clothes, the styling, the locations...as much as it is that I've been able to give someone the gift of just BEing in front of the camera...

ENTER: THE CONTEST!!!

I've mentioned this a couple of times, but I wanted to give you the WHOLE scoop on this so that you would understand the ins and outs of it all!

I'm in a unique group of photographers that have the philosophy to "Shoot and then to Share" the images.  Back in the "film age" you would only have access to prints...this is how most photographers made their living, by selling the prints.  As we entered the digital age, most photographers continued with this set up...however, my love of scrapbooking, artsy decor, memorabilia that I create with my hands and just a whole lot more, led me to believe that for CT PhotoMemories, I was going to be a Shoot & Share photographer...one that charged an upfront cost, but I wouldn't make anymore income from there out because I would give over my digital images, my "art" to my clients.

In this group of similar minded people, there are photographers that range from all ages, from hobbyiests to professionals, from countries all over the world.  About 3 years ago they started a fun contest...basically for those photographers to join together to encourage, but also to challenge one another...

There are 25 categories in which you can enter.  Many are wedding categories, but there are some like Families, Preschoolers, Pets, Seniors, and even iphone Photography.

Each participant is allowed to enter up to 50 images...you can put all 50 into one category or mix it up.

This year was my first year to enter.  I entered 46 images because I was nervous and entered at the last possible second. (just being honest) The categories I chose were Families, Preschoolers, Kids, Seniors and I entered one into Pet Photography.

There were just over 225,000 images that were submitted.
There were 51,473 unique voters from over 135 countries...
Ultimately over 26 MILLION votes were cast on the images...

The contest took about 3 weeks to complete after the submissions were entered and the algorithm set up to shuffle the images into the appropriate categories and allow voters to click on their favorites around the clock for the 3 weeks...

At the end of the voting they would finally let you know where you placed out of the 225,000 images...

I was ecstatic to discover that many of my entries made it into the top 30, 20 and even 10%...and I even had one that made it into the Finalist round (meaning that it placed in the top 3.5%)

To know that my images were chosen time and time again as favorites meant a lot to me...

Not because they are "pretty" (they are) but, because I know the stories behind these images...I know the sweat and tears that sometimes were happening behind the scenes...I know the energy it took and the tremendous amount of respect & love I have for these people that I have photographed...they have become a part of my OWN life timeline...

and I'm just so, so grateful!

Here is a screenshot of some of my top scoring images:

There were some images that were entered by others that were "stylized" (meaning that everything was setup ahead of time, planned, styled, etc...) I purposefully entered images that were from "real life" sessions...because I wanted my entries to be authentic and I wanted to see how what I produced somewhat "on the fly" measured up to others that perhaps were more planned & posed.

I was thrilled!

Thank you to my beautiful clients...who trust me and come back year after year!