The Winner of the Olivia Act is...

Last month, I saw a Facebook post from a photographer friend in Mass who was participating in the Olivia Act.  As I read her post, I decided that I wanted to participate in this as well since it was a great cause and the Connecticut elementary school shooting was such a tragedy.

I had posted here and also on my Facebook pages about the Olivia Act and here is a recap in case you missed the post.

The Olivia Act, named after one of the children killed in Newtown, was started by a photographer who wishes to be anonymous. Olivia’s family had pictures taken a short time before she was killed. Those pictures are now priceless to them. Upon hearing this, one photographer was moved to give away a 30 minute family photo shoot and has challenged other photographers to do the same. We go about our daily lives and sometimes we don’t take the time or have the resources to have family photos taken. What an honor to be able to give that gift to a family that would truly appreciate it at this point in their lives.

So in my post last month I said that I would take part in this and take nominations until January 7th.  Therefore, today is the day that I announce a winner for the following:

• Free photo shoot (up to an hour)
• Free CD or DVD with full resolution and edited pictures
• Full rights to print the pictures

But before I announce the winner, I was really moved by 2 of the nominations that I received.  So moved that it was very tough to choose a winner.  I began to reflect on the fact that The Olivia Act is not about giving the gift of a free photo session but about capturing a family at a moment in their lives, a moment that will soon pass them by, a moment that will become the memory of where and how they were.  After considering that, I could not bring myself to just pick one family.  Both stories have touched my heart and I want to help both families capture these moments that will become memories.

I will be offering both of these families the same deal - Free photo shoot, CD or DVD with their images and full rights to print the pictures.

So without further delay, the 2 families (I only have the mother's names for now) are:

• Tami Dana Cannon from Logan, Utah

                                    and

• Brianne Sherwood Faulring from Orem, Utah

They were both nominated by a friend of mine who I will let break the news to them :)  I look forward to helping these families create beautiful memories of their families.  Please follow my blog to see the pictures from these photo shoots once a date is selected and the photos are posted.

Let's not forget the tragedy in Connecticut and let's be grateful for those around us.

Perspective Challenge

  Here is my photo for the perspective challenge that Katrina gave me a few days ago.  The story behind the picture is that we went to Sundance, Utah for Brunch (which is amazing) and once we were done, Monica and Katrina were looking in one of the shops and I went outside to sit on a rocking chair.  As I was sitting I started to think of what I could use for this perspective challenge.  I first walked over to a bridge and thought about using the metal lines of the walls but the background on the sides of piled up snow (with some yellow snow from dogs) did not make for a great background, even if it was going to be blurred.  I then walked over to a table and 4 chairs that were set up on a corner of the outside walk way.  Along the entire side was a rope that was used as a wall.  I immediately thought that it would be cool to have the rope be a close up focus of the picture and have the table and chairs blurred in the background.  I really liked that idea and after about 3 test shots from different angles, I finally came up with a winner.

The following picture is what I chose to fulfill my challenge and I really do love it!  Not only do I like the chairs and table blurred in the back, but I LOVE the shallow depth of field and detail on the focused part of the rope.  This was taken with my iPhone 4s (I forgot my camera in the car). Let me know what you think in the comments section.