PHOTO OF THE WEEK #38 - Who is Who?

Last week I went on another photo walk with my little guy. It's always a fun time and I love to see what things he thinks are interesting to photograph. There are several of him that didn't make the photo of the week, but I'll put them in my Photo of the Week reject album on my facebook page ;)

Here it is. The two of us.......

"Who is Who?"

Thanks so much for looking :)

-- Lisa P.

MY COMMUNITY: Remembering Carly

You may remember that last Fall I had the opportunity to photograph some awesome dogs. One of those dogs was Carly. Unfortunately, Carly didn't make it and she passed away on March 17, 2010.

I previously had photos from the Aussie Bounce for sale on my site with part of the proceeds to be donated to Carly's eye surgery. Between then and now, there have been no purchases from that gallery, however I will still leave it up, but will change it to proceeds going to the Southern Ontario branch of Aussie Rescue and Placement Helpline, Inc. in general vs. to one specific dog or event they are raising funds for.

Remembering Carly

Thanks for looking.

-- Lisa P.

ON THE BUSINESS SIDE: Stats from the ballot bag

I've finally been able to sort through the ballot bag from the show last weekend. 

In case you missed it in my post on Sunday, the winner of the complementary photo session was Diane H from Woodbridge. Diane has been contacted and hopefully we can schedule a session soon :)

I found out who won the photo session that I donated to the silent auction as well. It was Sonia M in the 705 area code :) Sonia, I will be contacting you this weekend to discuss when you want to schedule your session for.

Congratulations to both of you! :)

So here are the stats from my ballot bag:

93 people filled in a ballot

• 33 of those people indicated they wanted to be added to the mailing list :)
• 6 of those people indicated they wantd to be added to my mailing list but unfortunately didn't provide their e-mail address :( (If you think you signed up for the mailing list but don't remember if you included your e-mail address, contact me if you don't receive an e-mail within the next week)
• 3 of those people included their e-mail address but didn't indicate whether or not they wanted to be added to the list, so I've added them  ;)
• 51 of those people indicated they did not want to be added to the mailing list.

I know there was a fair number of people who stopped by who didn't fill in a ballot as well.  My guesstimate would be around 20 or so people, but my assistants may have a better idea.

I will hopefully get you 33 people added to the mailing list this weekend and will send out a message.

I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by for doing so.  I wish I could have met and chatted with everyone.  Hopefully I'll get that opportunity in the future :)

Here is another peek at one of the photos I took at the show.

Thanks for reading.

 -- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #37: First Vendor Show

What an exciting week last week was. Well, at least the weekend :)

My first vendor show. It was such fun and I learned so much. I wish I would have raised a bit more money for "My Sister's Place", as it was a charity vendor show, but maybe next time will be better with respect to that.

I had to pick a photo that related to the show so I choose one of my booth. Not the most exciting, I know. But definitely relative to what was important in my life last week.

You've seen it before, but here it is again as my Photo of the Week.

"First Vendor Show"

Thanks for looking.

-- Lisa P.

ON THE BUSINESS SIDE: My feet hurt!

It's the end of the day of my first vendor show. My feet are sore, I'm very tired and I learned a lot today. It was such a good day :)

First I want to thank my AWESOME Assistants. I wouldn't have made it through the day without you. Thanks so much Debbie & Jane. You guys are FANTASTIC!! :))

Also, big thanks to Al for bringing us food and drinks. You're awesome!! :)

I rented a double space so that I could set up a spot to take photos on site, which was my little fundraiser activity. 25% of the proceeds from that activity I donated to "My Sister's Place", along with the item for the silent auction (a free photo session). There weren't many takers on the on the spot portrait, but I did manage to add another $12.75 to what I contributed. Not tons, but better than nothing. :)

And here was one of the little cuties who got her portrait taken and printed on-site.

For next time, I don't think I'll try and do the portraits on-site as it took up a lot of extra space and wasn't very popular. Perhaps if there had been more kids attending? I think I'll have to just determine up front if I think it will be worth it.

I also did a draw for a complementary photo session at my booth. Congratulations to Diane H. from Woodbridge who won that! :) I'm not sure who ended up with the session from the silent auction. Once I find out, I'll post the info.

I did get a lot of people stopping by to have a look, which was great for local exposure. I just found out that there were about 350 people in attendance at the show today. Not bad for the little town of Tottenham, ON. :) I still have to go through my draw entry forms to see how many people entered. Not everyone who stopped by filled in a ballot, but it will give me a rough idea of how many visitors I had.

I almost forgot to take some shots of my booth. The space was smaller than I was expecting and at the beginning there were stacks of chairs in the corner. But with some creative adjustments, things worked out just fine.

Lara, the banner design you made for my web site looked so good as a large banner as well. :)

Here are the pics:

After looking at it now, I should have tossed the extra white sheet I had over those chairs!!

All in all it was a good day :)

I saw some familiar faces, met A LOT of new people, snuck in some time to see some of the great businesses run by women in South Simcoe, did a little bit of networking, learned a lot about being in a vendor show and had a lot of fun along the way!!

Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by today and also thank you to Sarah Toth and everyone who helped with organizing the event.

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #36: Shiney Balloons

OK, so last week I was busier with work on my computer vs. work behind my camera.  I was working on so many things to get them done for the local vendor show this Sunday. 

The only pictures I took were some test shots I did while experimenting with the lighting for this Sunday. 

The subjects of those photos?  Hmmmm....

• my 6 yr old with a messy face, in his PJs, making silly faces
• my hubby who ran in front of the background while making dinner
• my 6 yr old's toy robot
• and this......

"Shiney Ballons"

Yes, I know. *hangs head in shame*

I need to take more photos!! I'm working on it!!!! :))

Thanks for looking.

-- Lisa P.

ON THE BUSINESS SIDE: Women's Showcase of South Simcoe

This weekend I'm going to be in a local vendor show in Tottenham, ON that is supporting a local Women's Shelter ("My Sister's Place" in Alliston, ON).

I'm very excited as this is my first formal introduction to the local community.  There will be a lot of local Business Women participating and I can't wait to see what products and services everyone has to offer and am looking forward to hopefully raising some money for "My Sister's Place".

If you're in or close to the area, I hope to see you there!!  Stop by, say hi and get your photo taken and printed on-site.  Part of the proceeds will be donated to "My Sister's Place".

Please see the following information for more details.

There is also information posted on my Facebook Page.
Thanks so much for looking.

 -- Lisa P.

PHOTOGRAPHY FOR FUN: Olympic Fever & The Muffin Man

I had hoped to post this earlier in the week, but time just slipped by so quickly!.

I just wanted to catch up and share some fun shots with family and friends. Such good times! :)

Of course, we had that awesome opportunity to get some photos with an Olympic Relay Torch. Soooo much fun and super cool!

Yup, Here's Me :)

Hubby Getting In On The Torch Action

Always can't resist a chance to get a photo with my little guy

He's the serious one of the bunch ;)

The kids grow up way too fast!

Thank you guys so much for sharing this opportunity with us!

And recently I've been making a lot of Amish Friendship Bread. To add some variety, I sometimes will make some of it into muffins. Even that was getting tiring so I decided to use this new pan Ben got for Christmas.

Look out Muffin Man!

Even the biggest boy in the house was trying to sneak one!

Thanks so much for looking. :)

-- Lisa P.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK #35: A Fresh Blanket

Last week we finally received some snow worth mentioning. I had the opportunity on the Tuesday to get out and capture a little bit of that snow. I love when it's so fresh, clean and white. It doesn't stay that way for long in the city, but in the more rural areas where I live, that clean, white freshness can last a few days.

"A Fresh Blanket"

Thanks for looking.

-- Lisa P.