I am so excited to finally be sharing my new logo from Jayme at Lucid Design & Photography. She was SO awesome to work with and I would highly recommend her to anyone needing graphic design! She took my very disjointed thoughts and absolutely blew me away with the concepts she came up with. She is really a rockstar!

And, without further ado, here is my new logo and look! I can’t wait to roll this out into my site and blog.

Liz is the mom-owner of Stapleton Moms a local blog that showcases local happenings in and around Denver, interesting articles, and of course keeps up with what is happening in Stapleton. She posted about our nursery contest, which is fantastic as I’m sure there are a ton of gorgeous babies (and nurseries) in this hip up and coming area of town!

We considered moving here when we first got to town, and I definitely need to get back over there and check it out!  If you are interested in the Stapleton area and have kids, this is a blog you’ll want to check out!

Is your baby under 24 months old?
Do you have a super cool nursery?
Would you be interested in winning a free session and mini-print package?

If you answered yes to all three of these questions, we would love to see pictures.  What’s in it for you?  A chance to win a free photography session featuring your baby and your nursery!  We would like to see between 1-4 photographs of your space.  At least one photograph must include your child in the nursery itself.  We are looking for creative use of light, color and design elements.  Images must be taken by you or someone in your family (we are really saying “please don’t submit images taken by another professional photographer.”)

All submissions must be received by midnight, March 5, 2010.

Entries will be judged by a panel of photographers who will narrow down the selection to 5 nurseries.  The finalists will be posted on participating photographer’s blogs and the winner will be chosen via a public voting poll. Voting will occur between March 10-March 17, 2010. There are specific rules around voting that will be clarified during the voting round of the contest.

Winners will be announced on March 19, 2010. There will be 2nd & 3rd place prizes also awarded. Winning session must take place between March 27 – May 10. Winners must sign a release to allow participating photographers to display images on blog, website, Facebook Business Page and any other print or web materials as deemed appropriate.

To Enter the contest, go to: Denver Nursery Photo Contest

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Don’t live in the Denver area? Have friends across the country? Check out these photographers who have nursery contests running in other cities! Their contest, terms and conditions may vary, so please make sure you read the details with care.

Birmingham, AL: Stephanie Fisher Photography
Northwest Alabama: Jennifer Weddington Photography
Connecticut: Crista Acosta Photography
Central Indiana: Kristi Hibbetts Photography
Metro New Orleans, LA: Amy Drouet Photography
Frederick, MD & Washington DC/Baltimore metro: Shey Marin Photography
Boston, MA (including North Shore & Metro-West): Kristina Young Photography
Mississippi Gulf Coast and Pearl River County: Emotional Imagery by Brandi Head Photography
Central New Jersey: Kim Schmidt Photography
Northern New Jersey: Christie Adams Photography
Cincinnati, OH and Northern Kentucky Area: Jessica Wright of Memories That R Precious
Columbus, OH: Andrea Roberts Photography
Philadelphia and Main Line, PA: Bernadette Uzcategui Photography
Pittsburgh, PA: Seedlings Photography
Rhode Island and South Shore of Boston: Amy Ro Photography
Houston, TX: Kerri Mathis Photography
Northern Virginia, Washington DC: Little Moon Photography
Seattle/Bellevue/Tacoma, WA (and surrounding areas): Susan Berman of Whimsical Photo Design
Spokane, WA: Jaidean Baker Photography

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The Fine Print.

This is our contest, we make the rules.  We have researched many different ways of voting and there are pros and cons and hanging chads in just about every method out there.  This is how we have decided to run our contest, if it’s not a fit for you, we respectfully accept your decision to decline participation.  We also know there are ways to work around the system, so we will actively monitor IP addresses and research anything that appears to be fishy.  We reserve the right to disqualify any entry that appears to be suspicious.

All participants must agree to sign a model release allowing images to be displayed on participating blogs.  Winning participants must sign a release allowing images taken by participating photographers to be displayed on web site, blog, Facebook and print advertising sources.  Participants must also agree to standard Terms & Conditions of participating photographers.

Winning participants will receive a complimentary session with Vibrant Life Photography focusing on nursery, baby and/or family.  The session will last approximately 1 hour, and will result in an online gallery of approximately 15 images for you to choose from.  Winner will receive 1 8×10, 2 5×7s and additional prints or products will be 20% off regular prices. Regular session terms and conditions apply.

We require an electronically marked consent that you are entering this contest voluntarily and that participating photographer is not promising any winnings or other compensation for participation.

Denver metro area and Co Springs metro area only. Thank you!

Our family’s move to Denver coincides perfectly with my two year anniversary in this business. It was about 2 years ago that I realized photography is how I am meant to leave my mark on this world. I had struggled for as long as I could remember trying to figure out just what it was exactly that I wanted to spend my life doing. I had tried so many different things, but nothing seemed to fit. Until this. The only thing I didn’t realize 2 years ago was how difficult this journey would be. I thought simply having the drive and desire and love of photography would be enough. In reality, I had no idea what it takes to run a business (I didn’t even know that I needed to know this!), nor how much I had yet to learn in my craft. I eagerly dove into anything photography related that I could find. I found some great places online where I knew surely they would instantly see my photography genius, and then when I posted my photos online and got a dose of reality I was crushed. Did they not see my amazing talent? After many hours of reading and watching, I finally realized I had to start from the beginning, and it would take much more dedication and lost sleep and perseverance than I had ever expected to make this into a real business.

It has been humbling, challenging, inspiring and exhausting all at the same time, but I wouldn’t give up the last two years of my life as a photographer for anything! I’ve had some amazingly beautiful and funny and nice clients who have helped me create some wonderful images. They would not have been as wonderful without your gorgeous faces in them! I’ve learned a ton about customer service, and that running a business isn’t always smooth. I’ve learned that most people are wonderful to work with, and witnessed amazing moments over and over; like the complete adoration a new mother has for her new baby, the proud look on a father’s face watching me take photos of his firstborn, the funny looks when a dad gets ‘initiated’ into baby photography for the first time (aka, gets poo’ed or pee’d on at our session), the silly love of parents together when I finally get them alone, or the sweet love a mother has for her last born son when the other kids have run off. These are the moments I love to capture.

I’ve also been fortunate to meet some talented photographers who are on the same journey I am, and we’ve become great friends and even greater colleagues. I’m so thankful that I found them (you all know who you are), and am smart enough to know that I couldn’t have done this alone. I’ve been incredibly, insanely busy much of the time, but when you are truly doing something you love it is so worth it. I only hope that I will get more sleep in 2010 than I did in the first two years in this business.

So, with this new move I knew the time had come for me to get serious about a new brand for Laura Renee Photography. I have felt for a while now that I wanted a brand that I could fully embrace, and that would stand the test of time and take me forward into my new market here in Denver.

So from now on, Laura Renee Photography will be

I’ve moved everything over to www.vibrantlifephotography.com/blog, so you should see all the old posts from the other blog here. I’m so excited about my new brand and I’m working with an incredible Graphic Designer and Photographer out of Boise, ID, Jayme, and she has some amazing things in store for my brand that I can’t wait to share with you all! I will be unveiling all of that on my new blog in the next few weeks, so I will see you all over there!

Wow, I can’t believe January is already gone. Where did the time go?  I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of my clients who helped make 2009 a fabulous year for me professionally. I really appreciate you and the trust you put in me to capture your family’s memories. I think you will see from the images below that I had some gorgeous subjects to work with. Lucky me!

As you know, we’ve left Portland and made our way to Denver (I think that has a lot to do with the month of January being a complete wash around here!).  It was a long drive, but the kids were troopers and we are slowly getting settled into our new home.  The kids (big kid, anyway) is in school and we are finding our way around. My office is a total disaster, but we are slowly digging our way out and I’m ready to blog and have a few fun things and a big announcement coming up on the blog!

Portland clients, if you know anyone in the Denver area who might be interested in a photography session in 2010, send them my way. If you refer a new client, both you and the client will receive something special from me.

Thank you 2009, and welcome 2010! I’m looking forward to another great year!