To contest or not to contest....

"Gossip Girl"
All Rights Reserved. Copy Right 2009. Lisa E Photography.

So, after a lot of internal debate I decided to enter a contest with one of my favorite photos of my little one. The contest is "best shot of a child" with not too many other qualifiers except that you link everything back to the contest blog and whatnot. I guess I should think about something like that, talk about a traffic booster. So the "rules" were sorta tough since there are so few parameters. My choice has surprised many people who know my work and some of the photos I have taken of my little one thru the years, photographically speaking this is not necessarily my best shot, lighting, shadow, iso etc wise. This to me is one of the best shots that I have captured though in terms of emotion, personality, and general expression. I am not now, nor have I ever been that mom or photographer that only values the fake cheese smile. I prefer the shots that capture moments that will become memories. Shots that tell a little story. I will pick these shots over the perfect photo every day. I prefer to photograph in a lifestyle, photojournalist sort of way. This is why ultimately I would like to be shooting families, on location, with only natural light. To me that is best. That's just me. There is a whole set of people out there who disagree with that, but there are a ton of people who agree with that though too so it is what it is, that's just me. Today I am feeling a bit grumpy and overwhelmed because that precious girl in the photos is in a mood, let me tell you. But at the end of the day she is normally the sweet ray of sunshine pictured above, playing games, acting silly -- she has been a comedian and little entertainer since day one. Anyways, there are 300 entries currently, the contest closes tonight. Wish me luck! I will keep you posted as I hear any news.

Check out the blog and contest here.... Paper Mama