It is seriously the most nerve wracking of experiences, putting yourself out there – every ounce of your creative soul on show for all to see. It’s brutal, harsh and intense. It requires mountains of courage. At this point you’re probably wondering why in the world one would put themselves through such an experience. This is the second year I’ve entered the Australian Professional Photography Awards and both times a cloud of regret falls over me just before I see the panel of judges (the best photographers in the country) sitting before my print scrutinising, commenting and then judging it a score (out of 100). It is the most painful yet exhilarating experience all at the same time. It’s eye opening, compelling and exhausting; it is these vast array of emotions that lure you to enter. There is nothing quite like it.

There are no winners or losers. There is no prize at the end of the tunnel. What there is, is an ‘achievement’; an achievement I consider obtained just by taking the courage to enter. I truly admire anyone who does. That said, when entering there is always a hope you will achieve a level of recognition measured in the industry though awards; Silver (80-84), Silver Distinction (85-90), Gold (90-94) and Gold Distinction (95-100).

Last year I entered and was elated to win two Silver awards out of three prints entered. This year I set a goal of achieving 3 Silvers out of 4 prints entered. How utterly thrilled, beyond belief, was I to have been awarded those three silvers but also to receive a much sought after, hard to obtain, Gold!! My photography journey just gets better, more exciting each and every year. It’s truly soul nourishing having your work recognised on a national stage. I’m so very humbled.

A big shout out to all my beautiful photography friends who shared this journey with me and allowed me to share their journey too – Australia seriously has an amazing, inspirational talent poole and I’m so grateful to call many of them my friends! They achieved great things this past week and I’m honoured to have witnessed their accomplishments.

Below are my awarded prints (I have also included a print entered in the QLD awards this past April that I have not shared previously).

Abbi, soon to be Miss 4, is just beautiful, and looking at the photos you’ll have to agree. So cheeky and loveable. We talked flowers, and colours and TV characters. We talked jewellery and fairies. Sigh. Three is such a whimsical, beautiful age. The world through their eyes is so freeing.

We must not forget the parents, because as good parents know, their children are a reflection of them…which means Abbi and Archer are two lucky children indeed…

So, with the kids in tow, we packed up the car and headed to a Bathurst farm so the most talented of photographers, Jen Stocks, could take our family portraits. To say she did an amazing job is, well, an understatement. There are no words to describe just how much it means to have beautiful family memories to treasure all of my own. I adore them with every inch of my soul. As always, she captures such joy and happiness and general goodness in her images. If you would like to take a look at my family portraits, you can check them out HERE…

So, that brings me to the entry below, and the most gorgeous of families captured within. Meet, Damien, Jen, Dusty, Beau and Mitch. I know she knows this already, but Jen is the luckiest of ladies to be surrounded by the most gorgeous of boys…amazing beauty, inside and out.

I had such a fun time following them around their gorgeous surrounds – sigh…so absolutely beautiful – and exploring things and places I’ve never ever been. She has a dream location for photographers and it’s her own back yard. That’s so totally cool if you ask me. I’ve always wanted to venture into a crop (they’re oats if you’re wondering) to shoot and am so chuffed I got the opportunity on this occasion.

Anyway, that’s enough of a ramble from me. I hope you enjoy the rather large *blush* selection of images from a very special session.

Miss Jen…thank you once again…I so truly hope these images touch you like yours did me. xxx

We all know that life in general is a case of “blink and you miss it“. Particularly so, when it involves your own children! Time passes us by so very quickly and before we know it, they are no longer babies. No longer toddlers. About to start school…and so on and so forth. Then there are times we look through our photos and realise we as the adults in the family are hardly represented in any of the photos we happened to capture along the way (what memories are we leaving for our children?).

Which brings me to the reason I adore my photography…simple memories.  I have this innate ability to freeze time. I am fortunate to be able to capture my own children, in all their glory, just as they are, as often as I like. I am truly blessed to be able to do this. Whether I use my ‘big’ camera or my small point and shoot, I do my very best to try to capture something every once in while. But what about me, and my photos? Again, I’m so very fortunate to have such wonderful friends (who also happen to be photographers) that I can call on to capture some memories of me and my family. As it happens I’m off on a family holiday and will be getting my own family portraits in November – what to wear? what to wear? (I’m sure I’ll love being on the other side of the camera….eek!).

Anyway, I digress, I’ve been thinking about the fortunate position I find myself in and about those that are not.  I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to ‘pay it forward’. I wanted to create some lifelong memories for someone special and in doing so decided that I didn’t just want people to win a ‘few free prints’. I wanted to properly give someone the chance to capture their newborn, baby or child/ren and create some life long memories.

So, I’d like to announce that I am running an amazing competition – the chance to Win a Complete Portraiture Experience!

THE PRIZE:

Sheer Delight Collection

• A portrait session for up to 4 members of a Family.
• 20 individually processed images on CD presented in a beautiful leather CD case and box.
• Two custom 11×14″ enlargements matted within 16×20″ white mats, ready for framing.
• A beautifully presented handmade leather album containing the 20 5×7″ images from your session.

Total value – $1,745 ($150 session booking fee + $1,595 for the Sheer Delight Collection)

But that’s not all!!!!

All entries will automatically be eligible to receive 15% off of their session fee and Collection of choice,  now or in the future (that is of course if you chose to book a session). So, even if you don’t win, you can still have a photographic session discounted by 15% – just because you entered.

HOW TO ENTER:

- Read and familiarise yourself with the Terms and Conditions for this competition.

- Email me a picture of your baby or child/ren to nicole@nicoleramsay.com (if you are pregnant, I’m happy to receive a shot of you/your ultrasound/your bump!)

- In the subject of the email, type “Competition Entry”.

- Provide your full name; your contact telephone number; and the name/s and age/s of your child or children and your location.

- Once entries have closed, each photograph will be displayed on my blog (watermarked with an entry number). The competition will be run by public vote, so you will need to spread the news of the competition far and wide to your family and friends, so that they know to come and vote and give you a better chance to win!

Entries are open as of this evening (1st of September 2010), and close at 11:59pm on 8th of September, 2010.

Voting will commence on the 14th of September 2010 and will cease at 11:59pm on 21st of September, 2010. The winner will be announced by Friday, 24th of September, 2010.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

- Winners will be determined by public vote (an online poll). The winner will not be chosen by Nicole Ramsay Photography.

- By entering the competition and providing an image for this purpose, you are giving permission for this image to be used by Nicole Ramsay for advertising and promotional purposes. All valid entries will be made public on the photography blog for the competition.

- This competition is only available for residents of Brisbane or the surrounding areas. However, should you reside interstate or do not live in the metropolitan or surrounding areas of Brisbane, but are willing to travel to Brisbane for the photographic session or alternatively meet the travel and accommodation expenses of Nicole Ramsay Photography in traveling to your destination (within Australia), you will be eligible to enter.

- The prize is not redeemable for cash, nor is it transferable to any other session or person.

- The prize is not valid for Maternity or Wedding Photography.

- This competition is not valid for clients of Nicole Ramsay Photography who already have a current booking.

- Entries are limited to one image per family.

- The photographic session must take place before 31 March, 2011.

- The winners of the Photographic Session agree to any images resulting from the photographic session to be used by Nicole RamsayPhotography for promotion and advertising purposes.

- The winners will also adhere to conditions as outlined in the Portrait Agreement, as per any ‘normal’ session held.

Little Jett here, 14 days new, was a complete delight; as good as they come. He’s a perfect little man with lips to die for…

We have however for the most part found a happy medium in Scooby Doo (Thank God!).

…and thank God for 7:01pm – BED TIME!

Summer…here I come!!!

It’s been so hot (read SO hot) the last few weeks. We don’t have a pool (just the kiddie wading type of cause) but mum does, so guess where we spent some time over the weekend!? The kids and I had a ball and oh my I felt like a kid again. I have an underwater housing for my camera so I couldn’t help but pull it out to capture a few summer memories.

Here are just a few…

…and just because I’ve been meaning to share my new favourite picture of Willow for about a month now and haven’t got around to it so I thought I would chuck it in here.

Miss Willow at just over four months…