Is your baby under 18 months old?
Do you have a super cool nursery?
Would you be interested in winning a free mini session and print package?
Do you live in Pearl River, Forrest, Hancock, Harrison, Lamar, or Stone county?

If you answered yes to all of these questions, we would love to see pictures.  What’s in it for you?  A chance to win a free mini photography session featuring your baby and your nursery!  We would like to see between 1-4 photographs of your space.  At least one photograph must include your child in the nursery itself.  We are looking for creative use of light, color and design elements.  Images must be taken by you or someone in your family (we are really saying “please don’t submit images taken by another professional photographer.”)

All submissions must be received by midnight, March 5, 2010.

Entries will be judged by a panel of photographers who will narrow down the selection to 5 nurseries.  The finalists will be posted on participating photographer’s blogs and the winner will be chosen via a public voting poll. Voting will occur between March 7-March 13, 2010. There are specific rules around voting that will be clarified during the voting round of the contest.

Winners will be announced on March 15, 2010.

The grand prize includes a free mini photography session, approximately 30 minutes in length resulting in 10 to 15 digital proofs in an online gallery, a print package including an 8×10, 2 5×7s, and 2 sheets of wallets, and VIP pricing on any further purchases.  Every entry (one per household, please) that meets the rules of the contest will receive a coupon for a discounted session just for participating! Winning session must take place between March 22 – April 25. Winners must sign a release to allow participating photographers to display images on blog, website, Facebook Business Page and any other print or web materials as deemed appropriate.

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The Fine Print.

This is our contest, we make the rules. We have researched many different ways of voting and there are pros and cons and hanging chads in just about every method out there. This is how we have decided to run our contest, if it’s not a fit for you, we respectfully accept your decision to decline participation. We also know there are ways to work around the system, so we will actively monitor IP addresses and research anything that appears to be fishy. We reserve the right to disqualify any entry that appears to be suspicious.

All participants must agree to sign a model release allowing images to be displayed on participating blogs. Participant’’s nurseries must be located in one of the following Mississippi counties: Pearl River, Stone, Hancock, or Harrison. Participant must have a child under 18 months old at the time of contest entry. Winning participants must sign a release allowing images taken by participating photographers to be displayed on web site, blog, Facebook and print advertising sources. Participants must also agree to standard Terms & Conditions of participating photographers.

Winning participants will receive a complimentary session focusing on nursery, baby and/or family as outlined by participating photographer. Additional items may also be included. Regular session terms and conditions apply.

We require an electronically marked consent that you are entering this contest voluntarily and that participating photographer is not promising any winnings or other compensation for participation.

If you are ready to enter your nursery in the contest, please click here to use the online registration form!

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Don’t live in Pearl River County or the MS Gulf Coast? Have friends across the country? Check out these photographers who have nursery contests running in other cities! Their contest, terms and conditions may vary, so please make sure you read the details with care.

Birmingham, AL: Stephanie Fisher Photography
Northwest Alabama: Jennifer Weddington Photography
Denver, CO: Laura Werner of Vibrant Life Photography
Connecticut: Crista Acosta Photography
Central Indiana: Kristi Hibbetts Photography
Metro New Orleans, LA: Amy Drouet Photography
Frederick, MD & Washington DC/Baltimore metro: Shey Marin Photography
Boston, MA (including North Shore & Metro-West): Kristina Young Photography
Central New Jersey: Kim Schmidt Photography
Northern New Jersey: Christie Adams Photography
Cincinnati, OH and Northern Kentucky Area: Jessica Wright of Memories That R Precious
Columbus, OH: Andrea Roberts Photography
Philadelphia and Main Line, PA: Bernadette Uzcategui Photography
Pittsburgh, PA: Seedlings Photography
Rhode Island and South Shore of Boston: Amy Ro Photography
Houston, TX: Kerri Mathis Photography
Northern Virginia and Washington DC: Amber Scruggs of Little Moon Photography
Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma, WA (and surrounding areas): Susan Berman of Whimsical Photo Design
Spokane, WA: Jaidean Baker Photography

Let’s just call her Sleeping Beauty.

Miss Ella is such a beautiful little girl. Tons (and I mean TONS) of blond hair and a perfect little face.

She was so sweet and content yesterday, even when she was awake.

Cute little toes peeking through

Big Yawn!

And back to sleep. Just look at her perfect little lashes

S Family – Thanks so much for allowing me to photograph your sweet little girl. Wishing you the best for Monday’s events.

I’ve been so very busy for the last few months, I have really neglected the blog. You’ll find several new posts below.   Christmas mini sessions (here and here), engagement photos, a vow renewal, and some of my personal pictures from our Christmas vacation to Puerto Rico.  There will be more Puerto Rico pictures coming soon. Check ‘em out!

What is PCS you ask? Every photographer with children knows PCS and must deal with this illness from time to time. For the non-photographer, PCS stands for Photographer’s Child Syndrome. The condition usually makes it first appearance around the age of 2, give or take a few months. The condition primarily shows its signs when the mother or father photographer attempts to photograph their child. Symptoms begin with a lack of eye contact, or limited eye contract present only with narrowed eyes and a furrowed brow. As the disease progresses, the child becomes more agitated and vocal about their resistance to having their picture taken. They run from the camera, yelling vulgarities such as “nnoooooo mommmmyyyyy! no camera! no pictures!”. At its worst, the disease is characterized by full on tantrums, plenty of alligator tears, and occasional violence against camera equipment. The only real cure for the disease is to stop taking the child’s picture and allow them ample time to recover. For some lucky photographers, the condition only lasts a few months. For others, it can last years. PCS is generally found in children under the age of 4, but can also make a reappearance in the teenage years.

Ethan’s PCS first appeared just a few months before his second birthday. At first it was minor and manageable. He didn’t really want to look at the camera every day, but as long as I gave him a few days of rest, he would cooperate to a degree. As the months went by, his condition worsened. It reached its peak in December. The following photos are not for the faint of heart and display a pretty good representation of a child in the throws of a PCS induced tantrum.

Do you see the intense look of pleading and desperation in his eyes? This session ended a few seconds later with Ethan attempted to violently knock the camera from my hands. I’m glad this phase has passed. We have put Ethan through an intense course of rest from the camera, and he has made some improvements. Generally he still refuses to look and he will make verbal protests “noooooo peek-shure! no mommy cam-rah!”. Sometimes he will even cover his face or attempt to push the camera away. But I do have lucky days where he willingly cooperates. Mornings are generally best. I’ll take any cooperation, even if I only get a look like this:

A few shots from our trek through the rain forest on Christmas Day 2009.

For all of you photographers out there, most of these were shot during the middle of the day in broad daylight, yet required an ISO over 2000. That is how incredibly dark the rain forest is. Amazing!