Whew, picture judging at Chelsea Community Fair was not the ‘piece of cake’ that the judges in the cake decorating committe had!

The photo competition-it took over two hours to judge everything- had at least a dozen different categories, color, bw, animal, people, landscape, collage and more.

My greatest overall impression is that young photographers rock! In the 6-8 year category a photo of a duckling from a very low vantage point was a standout. I felt the 9 to 12 year photographer color landscape photography category was the strongest category of all. A gorgeous 1/2 above &1/2 below water image was a pastel beauty . The second place pond picture with strong cattails in the foreground was a sunny delight. And the third place winner of Lake Michigan sunset was a moody beauty while the 4th place little 4×6 sunset was better than most sunsets in all other categories.

When judging the children portrait categories, Lori Zahn instructed me to judge each image as to “how well the photographer conveyed the child’s ‘spirit’”. That was difficult because of uneven print quality. A few images showed promising personality and spirit, but were printed too darkly or were mis-focused or the composition was a hindrance. Several images were technically sharp and well printed, but the smiles were frozen and ‘unspirited’. One photograph had beautiful lighting, was crisp with nice composition but the little persons demeanor was not pleasing… So I relied heavily on overall ‘impact’ to choose the blue ribbon images.

After judging I suggested they split the children’s categories into ‘professional portraits’ and ‘non professional portraits’. When they told me ALL the portraits in the Children’s categories were professional portraits I was surprised. I expect consistent high quality from professional portrait providers. Lori told me many area professionals sell digital images and the prints were made by the moms–so that explains the poor print quality. (This is precisely why I do not want Photo Generations clients printing images we make–I want to control what the final image looks like!–a poor print can ruin a gorgeous portrait).

All in all, the photo judging was a lot of fun. I’ve returned to the studio happy, feeling strongly that the images I provide for my clients truly are of excellent, if not top quality available in the Ann Arbor area .

A sneak peak of little Alex, who visited the studio last week, just 10 days old, with a brand new belly button! Aaron and Lucy, he is beautiful!

Highlights of Jennifer’s family session we did a few evenings ago. What a pleasure! After the pictures by the rocks we Tried to do another portrait in the tall grasses–but the mosquitos were too thick!! We jumped around swatting the skeeters, and disturbed a few deer, who were relaxing in the tall grass before we showed up.

Here is a sneak peek at images made yesterday of newborn Madeline. Madeline was quite stylish! Just 20 days old in her polka dot dress and matching hair band.
but her ‘dogs’ or her feet were the center of attention for this portrait wanted by her mom Molly.
Awesome idea Molly! thanks for visiting the studio.

Connor James arrived extremely alert in his red car carrier Tuesday.  Blessed with balmy spring weather, his face welcoming the warm soft breeze, his mom said he’s been outside on walks  several times in the first 23 days since birth.  I think al the fresh air gave him a HUGE appetite, as he was very hungry during our portrait session!  Congratulations Ericka and Jim!

Pictured here is my favorite announcement for baby Connor, but his parents preferred a version with three sepia images.

Also made a cool little video:

Live near Ann Arbor and looking for some holiday fun next weekend?  You are in luck:

Frday Dec. 3, Saturday December 4 and Sunday Dec. 5th, Youth Dance Theatre in Chelsea is presenting the annual Nutcracker Dance—preceded by something all the little girls will love:   the Sugar Plum Tea.  at the Chelsea High School Commons.  For details go to youthdancetheatre.org

Saturday December 4, the Village of Dexter is hosting the Holiday Hustle-a 5K run through town–this precedes the annual Christmas tree lighting.

Many other Home for the Holidays events on Sat. including bake sale–here is Dexter Village facebook linK:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dexter-MI/Village-of-Dexter-Michigan/261417684307

Then, a week from Saturday, If you would like to volunteer help, on Dec 12 the Dexter Chamber is looking for help assembling and delivering the Luminaria that will set the village aglow Christmas eve.

dexter ann arbor family portraits in the park sale:  oct 16 & 17 .  Times Remain! Contact Studio for times pricing and availability!

see this link for holiday card pricing

Ah summer, family picnics, shady maple trees…Sunday was a great day for a drive out from Washtenaw County in Dexter, to Milford in Oakland County.   We made pictures during a family portrait session at the home of the great-grandparents.  Shade was provided by trees planted 40 years ago!  Cool, beautiful and easy on the eyes, we had a relaxed session before sitting down to a wonderful summer meal.

What’s Least interesting to a 3-year old: a) seven day old new little brother b) plastic spider climbing toy 3) trucks driving on Baker Road

complimentary dadday & me picture session at studio, and first in Baby First Year in portraits

Everything but newborn baby brother interested Andrew Saturday morning.  Luckily, the plastic climbing spider got his attention to get the family portrait his parents wanted!  Thanks Meghan for coming in from Plymouth, and backtracing from the Ann Arbor truck-a-looza for the late morning session.  The boys are beautiful!   Answer to quiz caption:  newborn baby brother is least interesting–especially it seems at portrait time!