An Update...

Here's an update on the BetterPhoto.com entry I mentioned yesterday - I took Second Place! This is quite an honor, as there are thousands of entries and I never made it even to to the final round before.

To see the finalists, please visit HERE. I am in the "Details and Macro" category.

I find it just wonderful that one of my favorite Michigan photographers, Dean Pennala took First Place in the very same category. I'm flattered to even be featured alongside such amazing talent.

It's All in the Details...

This evening I received the following email:

Congratulations! You have placed as a finalist in this month's BetterPhoto Contest!

Over 23900 photos were entered into the competition; it is an honor to have your image selected among the top finalist photos. During the next few days, the judges select the top winning photos. If your image is selected as a winner, you will be emailed again.

To see the photo enlarged, visit BetterPhoto.com. The image is a very detailed macro of a spider on a dew-covered web I took in the early morning back in September.

The competition at this web site is extremely challenging - there are hundreds of amazing photographers. It's an honor to have even been selected, and although I've been participating here for about a year, it's the first time I had an image make it to the finals for judging.

NCCA Statewide Photography Competition Finalist

Two of my pieces were just accepted into the Newaygo County Council of the Arts 2007 Statewide Photography Competition!

ONE of the pieces has taken Honorable Mention, but they haven't told me WHICH one!

What do you think? Which one would you choose? Leave me a comment by clicking below and let me know which one is your favorite (please click to enlarge the thumbnail image):

Into the Realm:













Frozen Fractals:

The show runs from April 25 through May 26, 2007 with an opening Reception & Award Ceremony on Friday, May 4, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

I will be attending the Reception - so if you feel like a little road trip - come on over to Fremont! Click HERE for a map to the Artsplace.

It's Official!

I just received word this morning my work was accepted to have a booth in the Art Sales Tent at Festival of the Arts 2007 in downtown Grand Rapids. Festival is the largest all-volunteer arts event in the nation!

A three-day arts celebration, held the first full weekend in June in downtown Grand Rapids. It encompasses almost all of downtown Grand Rapids with six performance stages; lots and lots of food booths offering ethnic delights of all kinds; singers, dancers, thespians, visual artists, and performers from all over West Michigan; more than 20,000 hard-working volunteers; and over half a million people in attendance.

Visit the Festival website for more information

Art Tents on Calder Plaza - June 1, 2 & 3

- Friday	Noon - 9 pm
- Saturday	10 am - 9 pm
- Sunday	10 am - 5 pm

West Michigan's finest artists and craftspeople sell their wares, including pottery, jewelry, folk art, photography, handmade paper, metal sculpture, wood sculpture, fiber art, glass sculpture, watercolors, acrylics, and oils.

Be sure to stop by and say hello - and be sure you bring an extra shish-ka-bob with you...

Cottage & Lakefront Living Art Show

Whisper in the Woods Nature Journal is hosting an art show in conjunction with the West Michigan Cottage & Lakefront Living Show at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids.

The art show will offer decorative and functional art based on nature, wildlife and everything outdoors. I will be just one of a number of terrific artists featured. For information on artists, attractions, times and tickets, visit http://showspan.com/clg.

2007 Dates & Times
Friday, April 20	3pm - 9pm
Saturday, April 21	10am - 9pm
Sunday, April 22	11am - 5pm

	Admission (PUBLIC)
	Adults:		$8.00
	Children (6-14):		$4.00
	5 & Under:		Free

Please stop by for my full line of nature-based photo cards and a variety of prints, and be sure to register at my table to win a free 11x14 print!

Need Some Exercise?

Link to: maps.google.com

Type "New York to London" without quotations.

Read instruction #23 - and don't forget your goggles!

The Japanese Sauna...

I don't normally post crazy, off-beat things here in my blog - but this video is SO funny I can't help myself:

Frozen Easter Eggs...

We just came back from our Spring Break in St. Louis, and it is SNOWING hard here in Michigan. The poor Easter bunny is going to freeze his tail off. Yikes! With the wind chill - it's only NINE degrees this morning.

I think we better just leave a key for the Easter Bunny to hide the eggs indoors this year...

Speaking of Easter - our friends in St. Louis have a new baby - and he's the cutest little guy EVER! I can't resist sharing his adorable photo with you. He's THE "Easter Egg Hunt"!

We did a little photo session with him on Tuesday evening. We were going to put him in an Easter basket outside in the tulips, but he was less than pleased about having to wear the bunny ears and all. We did manage to get a great photo of him later - click on the thumbnail at left for an "Awww! How CUTE!" reaction.