The Avon Walk is quickly approaching; there are only 45 days left!!  We are making great progress toward our goals but now it’s crunch time!  Over the next few weeks, we will walk over 120 miles in preparation for the event.

On the fundraising front, we have reached $7,660 of our $9,000 commitment.  That’s 85%!!  But that means we still have a little bit more to go.  To help us reach our fundraising goals, I have offered to raffle off a FREE photography session plus the DIGITAL NEGATIVES (over a $400 value) to one lucky winner who donates to our team.

To enter:

1) Receive one entry in the raffle for every $10 you donate.  Go to our team page and donate to one of our team members who still needs to meet the $1800 minimum goal.*

2) Come back to this post and submit a comment answering this question: What type of session you would choose if you win – maternity, baby, family, engagement?  Your entry is not complete without this.

3) For an extra entry create a Facebook or Twitter post about this contest.  Make sure you are a fan/follower of Amber Katrina Photography and link to my page.

Details:

The contest ends at 12pm on August 13, 2010.

All completed entries will be entered into a raffle for one FREE photo shoot.  The winner of this photo shoot will get a 1-2 hour session and the digital negatives on a CD (over $400 value).  The session must take place in the Los Angeles area by September 30^th, 2010.  Your choice of a maternity, baby, family, couple or engagement session (excludes wedding sessions).

100% of the proceeds go to support the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.

*Donations already made to our team may be submitted to the raffle by commenting on this post.

I am so excited to announce that my work has been featured on the new mormon.org website!!  I was contacted several months ago by an LDS Church representative, asking if they could have permission to use some of my photographs for the redesign of their website.    After weeks of working with them and then waiting for the necessary approvals, it has just gone live!

So instead of just sharing screen shots of where they are located, I thought we could have a little fun.  Let’s have a treasure hunt to see if you can find all of my photographs on the mormon.org website.  To sweeten the pot, I will give away 1 FREE mini photo shoot to one lucky winner.

To enter:  There are 3 of my pictures featured on the momon.org website.  All of these photos are here on my blog.  First, visit mormon.org and figure out which pictures are mine.  Then, come back to my blog and find the ORIGINAL blog posts containing the pictures.  Leave a comment on each blog post, saying where the pictures are located on mormon.org.

You can get an additional entry in two ways:

1) Leave a comment on Facebook, Twitter or a Blog Post telling your friends about this contest.  Then come back to this post and leave a comment.

2) Find a “hidden” 4th picture and leave a comment on the blog post containing that picture.

The rules: All entries must be completed by Monday, July 19th at midnight.  Any incomplete or incorrect entries will not be counted.  If more than one person identifies all the pictures correctly, there will be a drawing to choose the winner.

The details: The mini photo shoot includes a 45 minute session and the fully retouched digital negatives on a CD.  The session must take place within 15 miles of 91722 before August 31, 2010.

And because a post is always better with a photo, here is a fun sneak peak from a recent family session.

Even though it’s a few days late, I wanted to share some pictures from our 4th of July celebration at our new house.  This is the first year we have lived somewhere that allows “safe and sane” fireworks.  I was so excited to light some small fireworks with Elijah since I have so many fond memories of holding sparklers and lighting fountains when I was a kid.  I was a little worried that Eli would be scared so I made sure not to get any fireworks that were too loud or scary.

We started the day by talking about “America’s Birthday” and telling Eli that we were going to throw a party.  I even baked a cake – a yummy carrot cake made with fresh carrots from our garden.  When it started getting dark, we lit some of the small snakes and smoke bombs.  And Eli got into it.  He especially loved the poppers and sparklers.  He kept asking for more and more fireworks.  When we were done lighting our flowers and fountains, we went out front and watched some of the many many big fireworks in the sky.

Brian and I had a little fun with the sparklers as it got dark.  Oh la la…

Lately I’ve been thinking about how I can make this blog more useful for my clients and friends interested in photography, so I thought I should start sharing tips and tricks.

Many people ask me how I process my images.  I edit each photo in photoshop, where I retouch color, exposure, sharpen among other things.  To do many of these routine things, I use several different “actions” which is how photoshop records a certain set of events that I want to repeat quickly over and over again.  You can purchase sets of these actions, and when I first started editing my own images this was a lifesaver.  It saves so much time and allows you to try different artistic approaches to your images.  Two places I have would definitely recommend actions from are: MCP Actions and Totally Rad Actions.

Right now, MCP Actions is having a contest where they are giving away a free version of Photoshop CS5.  If you like photography, Photoshop is essential to help finish off your images.  To enter, MCP Actions is asking for a creative use of their name/logo showing what their actions mean to you.  My creative husband Brian thought of this idea to use a directors clapboard to signify “action” and the production of your images.

I thought these images of little Levi were so cute, I just had to share my entry.   :)

I’ve been experimenting with some new lighting techniques.  So what better way to practice blow out, background lighting than with my angelic baby Levi.  He really is just perfect, especially that cute baby bottom.

I needed to pull out these pictures and share.  It’s been a tough day.  This afternoon, big brother Elijah threw a rock.  A BIG rock about the size of a baseball.  It bounced and hit Levi in the face.  Levi got a bloody nose and fat lip.  When he calmed down enough for me to look and see what the damage was, I realized he had a pretty deep gash inside his mouth.  His top teeth severed the little tendon that attaches the gums to the lips.  The doctor says they won’t fix it.  Apparently it’s just cosmetic.  But it just kills me that my perfect baby boy will always have this scar.  His first blemish from this world.

I am grateful to know that it is merely a physical blemish that will fade.  More important than that is the relationship between these two brothers.  They love each other so much.  Elijah always wants to help get the baby new toys or books and is very quick to share.  He sits in front of him making faces, while they both giggle together.  And most of all, he worries about him when Levi cries and is hurt.  I can tell that Elijah felt very sorry for what he did.  I’m sure they will be back playing together tomorrow.  And I hope they will always be close throughout their lives.