Bellini Portraits » Giveaways

chicken dinnah

admin — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:10:34 +0000

It’s February 1st! Did you remember to say ‘Rabbit, Rabbit’? Or do you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about?? For those of you who do not, it’s something you say on the 1st day of each month and it’s supposed to bring you luck for that month. Additionally, it should be the first thing that you say but my first words this morning were, “oh look, it’s snowing already!” We are getting pummeled with snow here in the North East. We already have a couple of feet on the ground and another foot is expected today. This would be fine and dandy if I actually liked the snow but since I don’t ski and I’m not a chionophile (had to look that one up) I’m not too keen on snow anytime after Christmas. Not much can be done but accept it and make the best of it. Today I will bake and cook to my hearts content with my two little boys at my side and the dog, no doubt, at my feet looking for something to fall in his path. I’m a day late with this post as I announced that these prints would be delivered in January but here are the WINNERS from my Best of 2010 contest! Can’t wait to get them out to my clients! Enjoy! x0x0

16 x 20 canvas with decorative border

decorative border option

11 x 14 print mounted on styrene

ooooh exciting

admin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 19:38:23 +0000

How about a little contest to add even more excitement to the holiday season?? I’ve taken inspiration, with permission, from fellow photographer Bre Thurston of Southern Cali, to kick off my first ever Best Portrait Contest. I had a blast going back through all of my client image folders and picking my favs that I felt really represented each session best. Now it’s your turn to cast your vote and let us know which you think is the best of 2010.

[here are the rules]

1. Each individual person may vote for one photo, one time only. IP’s will be tracked so please don’t be shady and try to vote more than that. Please and thanks :-)

2. To cast your vote, just leave me a comment in the comment section below. Please include comment under this blog post “ooooh exciting” and not within another blog post comment box. Please identify by coordinating image number.

3. If you’re not a Fan on Facebook, head on over and hit “Like” now. Fans, and only fans, will get a ONE MORE VOTE! Please indicate in your comment below that you have “Liked” the Fan Page.

Also, winners will be announced on the Bellini Portraits Facebook Fan Page so keep checking there for updates!

4. Please double check to be sure your email is typed in correctly.

5. Send this to all of your friends and family and get them to vote, too!

[here are the prizes]

1st place : (1) 16 x 20 Gallery Wrapped Canvas of the winning photo

2nd & 3rd place : 11 x 14 styrene mounted print of the 2nd & 3rd place photos.

4th & 5th place : $50 print credits towards future session.

Contest will end Sunday December 5th at 11:59pm!! So go cast your vote!!

without further ado, here are the images!!!!!

1. “baby on white fur”

2. “girl in lavender dress”

3. “girl holding lemons & apples”

4. “baby with flower headband”

5. “girl in vintage stork rocker”

6. “girl on white rocker”

7. “baby blue eyes”

8. “baby girl sticking out tongue”

9. “dad and son”

10. “newborn sleeping”

11. “baby bear”

12. “girl in rowboat”

13. “climbing the fence”

14. “baby smiling on quilt”

15. “girl smiling on quilt”

16. “rainbow”

17. “cherries”

18. “b&w rocker”

19. “gone fishing”

20. “bella nina”

21. ”newborn in crocheted wrap”

22. ”boy in overalls”

23. ”boy on crate”

24. ”newborn profile”

25. “twins on beach”

26. ”L-O-V-E”

27. ”boy on blue boat”

28. ”brothers on boat”

29. ”brothers IN boat”

30. ”family under tree”

31. ”boy on blue canoe”

32. “girl and flower”

33. ”big beautiful eyes”

34. ”engagement”

35. ”nina 2″

36. ”brothers”

37. ”b&w family”

38. ”boy and wagon”

39. ”the tent shot!”

40. “girl in field”

41. “boy agains green barn”

42. ”boy in shed”

43. ”boy & apples”

44. “girl in rocker”

45. ”baby makes 3″

46. ”star tree”

47. ”banner boy”

48. ”newborn in blue hat”

49 . ”girl with candy colored necklace”

50. ”boy on tire”

51. ”boy in cornfield”

52. ”boy with a pear”

53. “pretty paige”

54. “baby on bed in b&w”

THE FINE PRINT:

I reserve the right to make changes to the contest at any point. Clients may not ask to change the photo chosen for the contest. Prizes will be delivered in January 2011.

Thanks for playin’!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING.

Gobble Gobble.

It really IS awesome. (insert big happy sigh here)

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:24:37 +0000

Last December I teamed up with hundreds of photographers from the US and around the world for a project called “Giving Is Awesome”. It was a charitable endeavor for each photographer to give a deserving family a free photographic session and a generous gift of prints and products. Families would be nominated by a friend or family member and the chosen family was selected on Christmas Eve 2008. When I received this letter, my heart went out to this family and I knew immediately that this was my GIA family! Here’s the letter:

“The family I would like to nominate is that of a friend and co-worker. I have known Karen for several years and she has always been an inspiration to me. She is fearless, always has the best attitude, and a great sense of humor. Whenever I am struggling to juggle life I think “WWKD?” (what would Karen do?)

Four years ago, Karen pulled me aside in her office to say she was pregnant; after many years of infertility she had finally conceived twin girls! I was so excited, I actually jumped up and down! However, after the 29th week, everything went horribly wrong. One of her babies stopped growing, and then passed away. In order to give the surviving twin a better chance at making it, Karen continued to carry the baby for several weeks more, before Alexandra was born early but healthy, in 2005. Fast forward a few years…following several more failed attempts, Karen was pregnant again — this time with with twin boys!

Thankfully, her pregnancy was completely healthy this time around….and she delivered Cameron and Harrison full term in July (2008)! They were overjoyed at the birth of their sons. Unfortunately, bad luck struck again, though, when some routine testing in the hospital revealed that despite all the prenatal tests being normal, Cameron had been born with mosaic Down’s syndrome. As Karen put it…”that really took the wind out of our sails!” Just as Karen and her family were getting used to Cam’s diagnosis, Karen herself received some very bad news; she has malignant breast cancer. So for the last 5 months Karen has been a new mother of twins (something I can testify is challenging) with a precocious preschooler, and has undergone a mastectomy and is now in the midst of chemotherapy. In order to survive, their entire extended family has really pulled together to take nights feedings, prepare meals, and get Karen to her appointments. Despite all of this, Karen is back at work full time and looks fantastic!

Given all that they survived this year so far, and their incredible strength and resilence, I cannot think of a more deserving family for the opportunity of your custom photography. They would be truly touched to be able to have a great set of memories to celebrate surviving twins and cancer in one year. ”

We finally had our session yesterday afternoon after a couple of failed attempts due to the bad weather we had this spring and early summer. They are a wonderful, loving and kind family. I had such a nice time meeting them and spending time with their beautiful children. I hope that this images bring some smiles to their faces and happiness to their lives!