Images for a Cure: A National Fundraising Event for Photographers

Announcing the 2009 Images for a Cure Photography Giveaway winners list!

A special thanks to Amanda McMahon for joining me to eat Rolos, wear my Snuggie, and perplex over the boy in the balloon. Oh yeah, and she also helped to draw the names, keep track of the winners and make phone calls! We shot the intro and winner’s announcement on her Canon 5D Mark II and Ryan Poirier graciously edited them to make our video! Because of the length of the drawing, we didn’t record each individual drawing – we figured it wouldn’t be much exciting anyways But be sure to watch to see if you’re a winner!

*If you won a prize that you already own, or have, kindly let me know so I can draw another lucky winner!
**SmugMug winners cannot currently have a SmugMug account already. Due to this, the winners may be different than I announce in the video. Scroll to see updated list.
***Winners, please contact me to claim your prize or account details! Must claim within 14 days or another winner will be drawn.

SmugMug Pro Accounts
Diane Johnson, Diane Johnson Photography
Connie Rollins, PhotoArt by Connie
Joe Sanfilippo, Joe Sanfilippo Photography

SmugMug Power Accounts
Brock Lawson, Brock Lawson Photography

SanDisk Extreme III Cards
16GB: Jennifer Ring, Jennifer Ring Photography
16GB: Melissa Tirado, Tirado Photography
8GB: Neil Cowley, Make Love Real
8GB: Mark Doescher, Mark Doescher Photography

Collages.net $250 Print Credit
Jolene Grizzle, Snapshots by Jolene

Shootsac and Baroque Cover
Amy Dungan, Amy Dungan Photography

Totally Rad Actions
TRA 1: Brooke Lowther, MaddiePie Creations
TRA 2: Deborah Montgomery, Deborah Kaye Photography
Dirty Pictures: Amanda McMahon, Amanda McMahon Photography

Adorama
$250: Ann M. Ruttle
$150: Laura Leslie Thompson, Laura Leslie Photography
$150: Allen Taylor, Allen Taylor Photography

FMN Design, Album Design
Susan Prater, Designs by Prater
Taryn Williams
Brent Michael, Photography by Brent Michael

Jennifer Frances Professional Retouching (2 Images Each)
Jenn Hyman, C&C Photography
Doug Hilton, Doug Hilton Photography
Nicole Benitez, Perfectly Posh Photography
Christy Penn, Christy Penn Photography
Paula Herko, Splendid! Photography

Zoe’s Collection Camera Straps
Crystal Balazik, Little Lane Photography
Caroline Sullivan, Creative Photos by Caroline
Stephanie Reinish, Mel Stephens Photography

Rockstar Imaging (5 action sets)
Tod O’Driscoll, O’Driscoll Photography
Clark Lara II, Clark Lara Photography
Chad Webster, Bowen Rain Photography
Diane Kovach, DB Impressions
Chris Shepard, Shepard Photography

OneWed.com – 1 Year Platinum Vendor Listing Grand Prize
Sara Kauss, Sara Kauss Photography

Photographers, don’t forget about the awesome donations made to ALL of our photographers!
I’ll be sending an email with discount codes and how to redeem these prizes in the next day or 2.

15% Discount on AdoramaPix Photobooks (limited time)
20% Discount on Jennifer Frances Retouching (until November 11)
Colleges.net Unlimited Posting account for 6 months
Collages.net $25 Print Credit

A HUGE thank you to all of our amazing sponsors! I can’t wait until next year, and I hope you’ll all participate again!

Sara Kauss: I couldn’t be more honored to have been a part of such an amazing event. I look forward to next year, more planning, more sessions, more donations for Images for a Cure! Thank you Kristen for putting this together. You’re the hardest working person I know! And thank you One Wed! So excited. — Sara
nicole paul: Thank you to all the amazing sponsors for going above and beyond….to all my photog friends…thank you for all you do. I am honored to sit amongst you….Kristin…you inspire me. Keep being you. I look forward to next year….and congrats to all the winners!
Laura Leslie: SO stoked! Thank to the awesome sponsors and photogs
Paula Herko: I am SOOOOO excited! Thank you guys so much!!! I can’t wait to send over 2 images….
Nicole Benitez: Awesome!!! The sponsors rock!!
Jennifer Ring: That is so awesome! They are all such great prizes! Thank you
Brooke: Whoop! Whoop! Yeah for me!!! So excited, can’t hardly wait.
Caroline Sullivan: Hey! I’m excited! Thanks for the awesome camera strap! and Congrats to all the wonderful photographers who participated!
Amy Dungan: Whoo Hoo! I’m so excited! Thanks so much!
Clark Lara II: WOW! I won something awesome. A HUGE THANKS to all the sponsors, are all amazing for doing this. I was grateful to be a part of this.

My favorite part about organizing this event, has been hearing the amazing stories from other photographers. I got this email tonight, and wanted to share – Kristen

Kristen,

This is the McElhenny Family. Mom, Dad, and 6 siblings. Their beautiful mother was diagnosed 7 years ago nearly to the day of the Images for a Cure Event with Breast Cancer. She is a survivor! Her birthday and wedding anniversary were the following day. Her beautiful children and husband decided to surprise her with a photoshoot in honor of being a Breast Cancer survivor. They came from just outside of Baltimore, Md to see me in Woodbridge, Va. 2 of the kids came in from out of state to surprise their mom and to celebrate…her. She had no idea where they were going or what the day held until they pulled up to where we would meet. Tears streamed down her face as she sat in shock, surrounded by the love of her husband and children.

We laughed the afternoon away as I imagined what it must have been like to grow up in their home. One full of love, life and dreams.

I send this email to celebrate you. You have touched so many lives with your vision for Images for a Cure. I am honored to be part of your vision and spread the cause that so dearly touches lives across the world daily.

Thank you for an amazing opportunity to support this great cause.

Always,

*Nicole

www.perfectlyposhphotography.com
www.perfectlyposhphotography.blogspot.com

Bev Luckraft: That is one of the most beautiful and heartwarming photos and stories I’ve ever seen. I feel truly blessed to have Penny & Joe as my friends … they are a wonderful example of what a close and loving family should be. Bev
Holly: They truly are an amazing family! I have been friends of the family for roughly 15 years now. I have never met any family as welcoming, loving, beautiful and humurous as this family. The McElhenny’s truly are amazing people. We are so blessed that Mrs. Mc is where she is today. She is the one of the most amazing women I have ever met. Thanks for sharing the email and pic. Holly
Nicole Paul: thank you so much for sharing this story. what an amazing family….
Kristin Kraczek: That is so sweet! I can’t wait until next year
Leigh - Broken Road Photography: What an awesome story and beautiful family.
bethany: That is such an amazing and touching story! What a beautiful family!!!

In my last post, I mentioned how Ryan Poirier shadowed us on Sunday at the Images for a Cure event, well he took some amazing behind the scenes photos and I’d love to share them! All the credit for these images goes to Ryan, who not only gave up his Sunday to hang out with me – but was just a super sweet guy and fantastic photographer! My clients loved him and will love his photos! – Kristen Weaver

You can see more of Ryan’s work at http://www.ryanpoirierphotography.com!

The team of the day – Christina and James from In Motion Video Productions, and my 2nd shooter, Reema!

My first session was with Jessica and Tim, recently engaged and so much fun!

My girl, Reema – rocking out her Canon!

Christina and James

Eye-level with my second little clients of the day, Sky and Wes!

My assistant, Angie, helping Wes

Wes is “popped-collar” cool

Ryan really got the essence of their session in this shot. Wes made that face all day, and Sky looked like a little angel

Oviedo is known for their chickens, which, yes – run rampant all day.

I should make a note not to hunch over when I shoot sitting down. In my defense, I was about to fall backwards down that hill.

I’m not sure how Ryan thought he’d get out of this one… I had to share the end of the session – Ryan made a new friend

Yes, I did a quick wardrobe change due to the insane heat for my third session, Melissa and Sean. I actually love this shot of us

Here’s my view of Melissa

I <3 Ryan for capturing this. It’s gorgeous.

My shot

Look how much fun we had! Melissa’s face says it all

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WOW! What a great combination! My favorite time of year and a fabulous cause! Photographing kids picking out their pumpkins is always a fun way to spend the afternoon. Thanks to Lakeshore United Methodist Church in Jacksonville Florida for graciously allowing me to use their space as a backdrop. I was so honored to participate in this and I thank Kristen Weaver for all her hard work.

I think what made this all worth it, donations aside, was after I was wrapping up for the day, a volunteer at the patch inquired to the purpose (she missed the craziness of my video shoot with In Motion Video Productions, she was the closing shift volunteer). When I explained, she thanked me personally as a survivor. What a way to end the day! As if I wasn’t already sure about ding this again next year- this sealed the deal.

picking out a pumpkin

benji and pumpkins

afternoon light at the patch

Please Visit WhitBlacPhoto’s Blog for more images!

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I want to share a major thank you to Kristen and all the other fabulous photographers and vendors who have helped make Images for a Cure such a success. My family and I just received some wonderful news last week that the mass the doctors had found in my mother-in-law’s breast was not cancerous! We had quite a scare because she had just recovered from successful surgery to remove cancer cells the docs had found in the wall of her uterus. Plus, her mother had passed away from cancer that started in her breast and spread through her body when my husband was still a toddler. So you can imagine how grateful we are to get such a good report now! So, again thanks to all who are helping The Breast Cancer Research Foundation® make a difference!

Also, I wanted to post some teasers from my Images for a Cure session this weekend with Ashton, a senior in HS. She and her mother were an absolute delight to work with, and they went above and beyond by donating more than the session fee I had set up! We found some great shots in the Historic Downtown Collierville Square, and thankfully the rain held off long enough to get their entire session in. I can’t wait to share the rest of their images with them

To see more of my work, visit my website at www.designsbyprater.com, my fan page at www.facebook.com/designsbyprater, and follow me at www.twitter.com/designsbyprater!

Susan Prater
Designs by Prater

Kristen Weaver: Love these shots! Send me one or 2 high res for our video So glad your mother-in-law is well Thanks for all your hard work!!