I’m stoked beyond belief! I finally won an award! No kidding. Me, winning awards…. Who’d'a thought!

On a whim, I submitted an image I shot of Stepahnie’s wedding dress I took on January 5th to the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association.   From looking at the image in the LCD screen on my camera, the shot instantly struck me as a keeper, due to it’s sterile, simple and clean appeal. Rob and I hung the dress up in a window at Stepanie’s mom house while she was getting ready. I loved how the sun came right through the dress and allowed me to over-exposed the day-time light coming in from the window, leaving only the dress’s fine detail in the shot. With some minor touch-ups, the shot came out so incredibly cool. The image is now being used as part of my promotional branding campaign for my business. From shooting my abandoned series of work, I’ve drawn on my enthusiasm for shooting amazing detail shots and scenes at weddings.

The above image was awarded 6th place in the Winter 2006/2007 {AG}WPJA International Photo Competition. Joseph Victor Stefanchik judged the contest and had the following to say about the photograph.

“Blowing out the background is a great start to this simple yet elegant image. The subtle toning keeps just enough of the detail in dress to make the image feel light but not feel like I’m missing information about the dress.”

I know I’m gloating, but shooting quality images that stand apart from the crowd is what drives me with each and every new wedding I shoot.

I’ve been having some recent problems with my eyes, which until today, has caused me some considerable concern…as you can imagine. About 7 years ago I developed a “floater” in my left eye. Many people have floaters (a small artifact that floats across your vision, that looks like a hair or small dark blurry spot). About one month ago I began to notice this floater again, which is now constantly in my vision. More than anything, it’s very annoying.

So today, I made a trip to the opthalmologist. The exam was, well, interesting. After numbing both eyes with a local anesthetic and dilating my pupils, I couldn’t see a thing. Just one blurry mess! The results were just fine. I have 20/25 vision. Dr. Wage told me that my eyes are very healthy, and that these “floaters” may disappear or move over time. He told me It’s a common problem and that with time, my eyes will adjust to them and my over active brain will learn to live with them. Needless to say, when it comes to eye issues, ya’ll can feel my concerns. So if it looks like I’m frantically looking around at nothing on the next photo shoot, don’t worry. I’m perfectly sane!

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Limp Bizkit