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Posted on January 21, 2011
When I was younger, we used to make Valentines for Vets every year in Camp Fire. It was always one of my favorite activities even though I really don’t think I could have fully realized how special those cards were to hospitalized veterans. I was reminded of that this week when I saw on facebook that Florabella had posted free Valentine card and bookmark templates with the request that you send an extra one or two to a program called Hugs for Soldiers which would mail them to our military serving overseas.
As I designed Valentines for my little girl with the intention of sending extras to the program, I had a light bulb moment. Why not change the back of the design slightly so that it was appropriate for our soldiers? So I did. And I’m sending a batch of them to Hugs for Soldiers, P.O. Box 2887, Duluth, GA 30096 so they can be sent overseas.
Why don’t you send them something too? They must be received no later than January 28th. Or if you can’t do that, deliver some valentines to your local VA hospital or center for Valentines for Vets! After all, John 15:13 says “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” And isn’t that what our soldiers are willing to do for us every day?
Posted on January 12, 2011
I, like many of you, make personal New Year’s resolutions. You know the ones…. like exercise daily, stop drinking colas, and all the others you’ve probably already broken at least once by now. But mostly I resolve to improve in certain areas from the previous year mainly because it’s easier not to have all your resolutions blow up in your face before the 15th of January!
I also make New Year’s resolutions regarding my photography business in the same way. This year I resolved to try and improve communications with my clients by actually trying to use my blog…yep, I’ve had the blog since March and this is my 2nd post. Obviously, improving will only take posting 2 times this year but I plan to conquer my fear of WordPress by just jumping in. (If anyone wants to give me WordPress lessons, I’ll gladly accept.)
I also resolved to improve myself through continuing education such as seminars, my involvement in our local Brazos Valley Professional Photographer’s Association (BVPPA), and attendance at conferences such as Imaging USA in San Antonio next week.
One of my other professional resolutions was to enter print competition. Print competition against other professional photographers is a tad bit intimidating because merit worthy prints are and have to be exceptionally executed both technically and emotionally. A beautiful portrait that would sell to any parent is not necessarily a merit worthy print in competition. SO I entered a print last night at our local BVPPA print competition. I titled it Big League Dreams. You can see it above as it was sent to the lab.
It won 2nd place behind first place by 1 point. And yes, there were more than 2 entries. Last night, I think I counted 10 entries but I could be off by 1 or 2. The guest speaker judged it as one point below merit worthy. I was very excited because the judge thought it would be merit worthy in official print competitions with a few minor changes. What did he think needed to change? The baseball was too bright white as was the towel in the basket. The baby should be the brightest point in his opinion. He also would like to see more of the red background. *disclaimer here – On my computer screen, the red was brighter than what actually showed up in the print itself that I took to the print competition so I have to be very careful with monitor calibration…* All of those changes are minor post processing changes I can easily make.
SO, I do plan to make those changes and enter it again in print competition where I can get PPA merit points if it merits. It’s a learning process and I am thankful for constructive criticism. Through these competitions, I will become a better photographer for you!
