Local Photography Contest!

oooooh, my bad - I forgot to post about this contest at the beginning of the month! The contest is sponsored by Soroptimist International of Hood River and Columbia Center for the Arts in conjunction with the upcoming production of the play, "If We Are Women," to be performed by CAST and presented June 12, 13, 14, & 19, 20, 21. (More about the production in a future post, promise!)

Submitted photographs (limit 3 photos per photographer) should depict women in families: good times and bad, alienation and coming together, joy and grief. The makeup of 'family' can be varied: two women together, daughters caring for family members, extended family, or a woman and her dog...think creatively!

Prizes will be awarded for professional and amateur/student categories. Display of finalists will be concurrent with the production of the play "If We Are Women" during the month of June 2008 at the Columbia Center for the Arts. The Grand Prize winning photo will be featured on the program cover for "If We Are Women".

Submitted photo must have at least one dimension of ten inches and be in a 16” x 20” white window mat and ready for hanging. To be considered for the program cover you must also submit a CD with a high resolution image (300 dpi) jpeg file of your photo. Submission deadline is April 30, 2008. The Entry Fee per photo is $10 each for Professional images and $5 each for Amatuer/Student images. Entry fees must accompany all submitted photos. Contest questions should be directed to Kate at 541-386-3850.

You may hand-deliver matted photos Tuesday through Sunday at the Columbia Center for the Arts at 215 Cascade Avenue in Hood River now though April 30, 2008. Each submitted photo must include the following information attached to the back of the print mat: Your name, address, telephone, email information, and a brief description of the photo. In addition, please print out the following statement, signed with your signature and include it with each submitted photo: "I hereby certify that the photo I am submitting is my original work, that I am the sole copyright owner. I am entering this photo as an honest effort of my personal work and I understand that it may be published as the program cover."

Winners will be announced at First Friday, June 6th at the Columbia Center for the Arts. Submitted photos will be available for pickup up until June 30th at the Columbia Center for the Arts.

Who doesn't love jewelry?

Especially when it features a petite portrait of a beloved child or family member?

I have recently made the acquaintance of a fabulous artist who creates the most marvelous jewelry! She hand-sculpts polymer tiles and incorporates a small photo onto the tile, finishing the tile off with a rock-hard protective coating. She then decorates them with a variety of silver beads and Swarovski crystals and strings them on polished leather cords to create unique and very personal necklaces.

I fell in love with these, just adore the whole idea of wearing such a precious memento close to my heart...so I've signed up to become the exclusive NW retailer for her jewlery! For a limited time only, I'm offering them at the Very Special Introductory price of just $99.00 - a 20% savings over what will be the regular retail price.

This Special Introductory price is only available for sessions booked between April 15th and May 31st - so call TODAY (541-436-2755) to schedule your portrait design appointment and learn more about this one time offer!

In gratitude...

Just a public "thank you" to the wonderful Louise McCulloch for helping me hang the My Best Friend exhibit today - she's my #1 cheerleader and promoter and I owe her so much for letting me bend her ear on countless occasions as I talked endlessly about photography...

Louise, you're the best!

My Best Friend

I'm very excited! This afternoon I'll be hanging a personal photo project of mine - My Best Friend - at The Garden Cafe located at 1086 Tucker Road in Hood River. The exhibit will be up for the month of April and will be followed in May by the photographic works of the Girl Scouts of the Gorge who are participating in my current Photography Class.

The My Best Friend project was started several years ago, when I was living in the small town of Brisbane, California. When I moved to Hood River 2 years ago, I was interviewed by Louise McCulloch for the local publication, Gorge Living; I really like how Louise summed the project up, so with her permission, I'm quoting it here:

"Friendship resonates deeply for Denise. A dear friendship had lapsed, and as this friend was going through a life-changing experience, she called Denise for support. Denise was at her side in a heartbeat. The reunion of the two best friends gave Denise the idea for a series of images entitled My Best Friend - A Celebration of Friendship. She invited local people to bring their best friend into the studio for a photo session. “Each friendship has its’ own story,” says Denise. “I discovered I wanted to share these wonderful stories as well as the images.” So she asked a new friend, writer Diane Glazman, of Ink Communications, to sit in on a session and a collaboration was born. Denise says of Diane, “She writes what I feel.” These are poignant words from a woman who feels and sees with a camera. The first installment of the My Best Friend series premiered at Brisbane’s City Hall with much local fanfare and has been exhibited widely throughout the San Francisco peninsula."

To celebrate this exhibition of My Best Friend, I have decided to have a Best Friends Portrait Special for the months of April and May: purchase a Best Friends session and receive TWO 5x7 CUSTOM PRINTS OF YOUR FAVORITE IMAGE as my gift to you - a $60 value! There are a limited number of these sessions available and I expect them to book quickly, so call me today at 541-436-2755 to reserve your Best Friends session!