i {heart} faces "Pets"

This week the i {heart} faces challenge is "Pets." This is Vegas who belongs to my sister-in-law Megan. Vegas is not just a pet, she is Megan's life. This is her "give us a kiss" picture that I gave to Megan for Christmas last year.

PMPN Summer Masthead Winner

For each season PMPN has a photography contest for the picture on their masthead which appears on all of their website pages. I won for the summer! Here was my entry that will now be on PMPN for the next three months! Members who sign into the Lounge can read: For the first time, PMPN has a two-time winner. Laurie Hunsaker of Laurie Marie Photography in Salem, Oregon has won her second photo contest in a row. Her picture of Cape Kiwanda on the Oregon coast has been selected to be PMPN's masthead photo for the next three months. Congratulations Laurie. Your picture captures the beauty and sights that await photographers who make the summertime trek to the Pacific Northwest coast. There few places on earth that are more photogenic and photographically challenging as our rugged and always colorful summertime coast. You are also the winner of a "Composer" from our good friends and contest sponsors at Lensbaby. We are excited to see what new imagery you create as you explore the exciting visual opportunities that the "Composer" will provide you. Thank you PMPN and Lensbaby! I am so incredibly excited to play with the Composer, I did a little happy dance for the family I was visiting in Ohio when I found out yesterday! (I am back in Salem now and wedding pictures from that trip will be coming soon!)

i {heart} faces "All About Babies"

This week the i {heart} faces challenge is All About Babies. I decided to pull this picture back up because how many babies do you get to pose with pumpkins!? This precious one was a Halloween baby after Mom and Dad tried a very long time to get her here. She was certainly the sweetest treat of the day!

See the rest of baby Julie here: K+K's Surprise Newborn Is...

PMPN May Contest Winner

Over at PMPN they have a monthly themed photography contest. May's theme was "People at Work." It was my first time to enter so I was excited to see an email this morning announcing Laurie Marie Photography won! From PMPN: As one of our contest judges said, "I love the lighting, textures, color, smoke, sparks and overall feel of this image."

From PMPN: All submitted photos will be displayed in our Photo Challenge Gallery on the PMPN website. Each September, PMPN will publish the entire collection of the year's winning and runner up photos in a special PMPN Photo Challenge Magazine. The photo selected as Photo Challenge's "Picture of the Year" will be featured on the cover of this special edition magazine. That's pretty cool, right!? So thank you judges Andrew Darlow, David Saffir and Robert Brummitt and also to ThinkTank Photo, OnOne Sofware and MagCloud for providing prizes!

And thanks to my husband for enduring my non-stop camera when he was building a gate for us (and all the rest of the time too!)

i {heart} faces "Play"

So many pictures to choose from for the theme Play! In the end I chose this one because it was the first time my oldest boy had played on a baseball field. He was my little rookie and I had some extra fun making this more of a vintage baseball shot.

New Address!

It's time to update your bookmarks and links because Laurie Marie Photography now has it's own domain! www.lauriemariephotography.com You can now subscribe to Laurie Marie Photography using the orange rss feed button in the top right where there are also buttons to find me on Facebook and Yelp. At the bottom of the page you can get the code for adding my button to your blog! Thanks for all of your support!

And because all posts need pictures, here's a bunch supporting each other too!

I Heart Faces "Barefoot Week"

I Heart Faces is a great site and I've been meaning to participate in their weekly photo callenges for a while now. As it happens, this first entry for me falls on a special non-competition week, but I just had to get in on it! The theme for this photo challenge is in honor of the wonderful charity Soles4Souls who is celebrating Barefoot Week this week.

When I first read about the theme I instantly thought of this picture and had to share!

For another pair of adorable bare feet, check out K+K's Surprise Newborn Is...

About Soles4Souls: Soles4Souls is a Nashville-based charity that collects shoes from the warehouses of footwear companies and the closets of people like you. The charity distributes these shoes free of charge to people in need, regardless of race, religion, class, or any other criteria. Since 2005, Soles4Souls has given away over 7 million pairs of new and gently worn shoes (currently donating one pair every 9 seconds.) The shoes have been distributed to people in over 125 countries, including Kenya, Thailand, Nepal and the United States. Soles4Souls has been featured in Runner's World, Ladies’ Home Journal, National Geographic’s Green Guide, and The New York Times. It has appeared on CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, BBC, CNN and thousands of regional news outlets across North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS and donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Anyone can join our cause, and we need your help.