The Results are IN! {2018 Shoot & Share Contest}
This is my fourth year entering The Photo Contest put on by Shoot & Share. The process began in January as they opened up submissions, voting takes place over the course of a month, and then the results take about another month to wait as they announce the winners here in late March. I love to see all the beautiful work that others submit and the voting can be addicting. Each year, the contest grows and the competition becomes stiffer. This year I only saw 4 of the images I entered the entire time voting was open (and I voted for a LOT of hours!)! There were 413,065 images submitted this year and I'm so excited to share which images received awards this year. I've noted the category each image was submitted to as well as the exact place within that genre in the captions.
This was definitely one of my favorite images taken last year, so I'm very pleased that it was also my best performing entry in this year's contest, SO close to making it to the 12th round as a Finalist. The funny thing about this session is that there were people everywhere in the background here and I used the sunflowers here to both frame the couple as well as block out some of the extra folks wandering around back there! A wedding image of mine last year I did a similar thing and that one placed well too! It's funny how a challenge can help push you into a more creative approach!
Engagement & Couples: 1,469/37,145
Top 10% of all images submitted
This one makes my Mama heart so happy! The day before this, we had our own family session with another photographer. Our original session date had been rained out, my third little guy bashed up his nose just days before the rescheduled session, and after a week of rain our final session date was overcast. I had really wanted to make a beautiful canvas gallery this year from our family portraits to place on our great room wall, but knew I still needed individual images of the boys as well as all of them together. There's this little field literally around the corner from our home with perfect sunset light streaming through. The day after our overcast session, I decided on a whim to get the boys re-dressed in their clothes and grab what I needed.
Kids: 2,025/35,570
Top 10% of all images submitted
This was no easy task, attempting to coordinate four boys ages 6 & under for the picture perfect shot while working completely alone! I brought this special quilt with me---the wedding quilt my mom handmade for us almost 10 years ago. Rather than keeping it spread out, they bundled themselves up in it and made it into a tent. Not what I had envisioned. My littlest just wasn't happy and I couldn't get my 3-year-old to look my direction. I didn't capture what I had envisioned, but when I got home and began editing the images, I fell in LOVE with this image right here. So happy that others loved it, too!
This sweet black and white newborn image was also the parents' favorite! They ordered this image as the 26x26 centerpiece in a beautiful canvas gallery. Most of the inquiries I get for newborn sessions are strictly focused on getting images of just the baby and might be considering being involved as well. However, I find that every time I include the parents in the session, even if it is just incorporating their hands like this, they always select those for their artwork!
Birth & Newborn: 1,921/29,560
Top 10% of all images submitted
Here is another gorgeous shot from the sunflower engagement session. The light was just amazing that evening. This was taken here in Cumming at the Anderson's Sunflower field. I'm so sad that they will likely not be open in the future since the lot is up for sale, but it certainly made a stunning setting!
Engagement & Couples: 5,116/37,145
Top 20% of all images submitted
Meet little Luke & Lucy! Twins are so much fun to work with and I just really loved this snuggly bear image. Luke, who you can see wide awake in another image below, was just not feeling too sleepy for the longest time. He didn't fall asleep until I snuggled him up next to his sister. This image was another parent favorite---one of four images selected for a framed gallery at the base of their stairwell.
Birth & Newborn: 6,757/29,560
Top 30% of all images submitted
Birth & Newborn: 7,471/29,560
Top 30% of all images submitted
Here we are, 4th of July weekend playing at Grandma & Grandpa's pool. Our oldest, Evan, loves to be launched. His brothers, as you can probably tell behind them, anxiously wait their turn! I love to be able to document moments like this for my boys. One day, they'll be reminded how much their Daddy loved them and was willing to spend hours tossing them in the pool! One of my favorite elements of this image is the water. It's amazing to see what you don't notice in real time!
Lifestyle / Family Documentary: 3,917/19,330
Top 30% of all images submitted
Babies & Toddlers: 7,852/28,425
Top 30% of all images submitted
Here's proof that Jace wasn't a grump the entire time I had the boys out for their portraits! Keep a kid content with a tuft of grass. Remember that canvas gallery I mentioned earlier? I walk by this sweet little image every day. He's changed so much even in just the few short months since this was taken. His hair now is almost to the point where I'm going to have to cave and take him for his first haircut. But this portrait is precious to me because all my little guy needed here to be happy was a little tuft of grass.