2009 FLARE Competition Winner Announced!!

Thanks to all of our entrants for being so patient with us while we worked so hard to narrow all of these down to one! What a TOUGH job!! But with no further adieu, here is our FLARE Grand Prize Winner!!

Drama by Shanna Ingram!!!


Shanna will receive:

$500 Cash!
$300 Gift Certificate to Michelle Black's Resources
$250 AsukaBucks from Asuka Book
Free Flash Template plus One Year Free Hosting with BluDomain
Lensbaby 'Composer' with complete optics kit
Online Marketing prize worth over $2000 from Folio Mojo
Loktah Super Sampler Giveaway Worth Over $200.00
Print Credit worth $100 with Free Shipping from Mpix
Free One Year Membership to WPPI
DVD Set from Davis Impact
An 11x14 Damask frame from Elements Frame Co

Three featured pieces at Michelle Black and Jessica Price's Flare Exhibition in Zanesville, Ohio

Our 4 runners up are:

Date Night by Lori Barbely



Father and Son by Jan Paul Yap


Sunny by Shanna Ingram


Good Times by Jessica Fajardo Photogrpahy



Those 4 will receive:

Choice of a wristlet, neck strap, or lens cozy from MyFunkyCamera
$75 gift certificate to Lensbaby
$75 gift certificate to Michelle Black's Resources
$50 AsukaBucks
$25 Gift Certificate to BluDomain

Chance to exhibit your piece at Michelle Black and Jessica Price's Flare Exhibition in Zanesville, Ohio

Our top 9 are:

Date Night by Lori Barbely
Father and Son by Jan Paul Yap
Sunny by Shanna Ingram
Cindy by Luis Aguirre
Doppelganger by Elle Moss
Epic Love Story by Christi Nelson
Good Times by
Serious Sunset Thoughts by Gina Oh
Taking Back Roads by Jennifer Hogan

These 9 will receive:

$25 Print Credit plus Free Shipping at Mpix!

We will be in touch with all of our winners in regards to their prizes!

Thanks to everyone that entered and we hope to see you all again next year!

Judge Thomas Beck & Sponsor My Funky Camera!

Today we are profiling Thomas Beck and My Funky Camera for their support!



When Thomas Beck picks up a camera, his goal is to create commercial and editorial photography that extends beyond what is expected. As proprietor of Beck Photographic, he applies a method of interaction to understand and convey the essence of businesses, people, and environments. He is lending his valuable time to us to assist us in our very difficult judging process. Please lend your support by visiting his site as well!

Gabi, of My Funky Camera creates neck straps, wristlets, and fabric covered composition journals for those of us that want something a little less ordinary - you have to check these out! The fabric is so fun and as much as I LOVE my Nikon, these beat the heck out of my yellow and black strap lol! Head over and take a look around!

As always, thanks so much to our sponsors and judges and good luck to all of our entrants!

Week 3 Sponsor/Judge Feature!

This week's featured sponsor is AsukaBook USA! AsukaBook is an international company located in Bend, Oregon. Their headquarters, Asukanet, started manufacturing coffee table books in Japan in 1995, and continues to print and bind books for clients worldwide. Asukanet (Japan) asked Kevin Kubota to be their USA representative in 2005 and thus AsukaBook USA launched in March of that year; and has been booming ever since. Kevin is also the owner of Kubota Image Tools, Kubota Photo Design, and Red Boot Design. "Our business mantra is to Empower Photographers, and everything we sell and do is designed around that simple principle. If it won't help you make money, or become a better photographer, we won't offer it." AsukaBook USA was one of the first companies to offer professional quality coffee table style printed books for photographers. They offer a superior product with a polished look and feel that is very popular with photographer's clients. AsukaBook products have received the Hot One award in 2005, 2007, and 2008. AsukaBook is proud of these accomplishments and strives to continue to innovate and provide customer service that exceeds all expectations. Our featured judge for the week is Scott Perry of Think Photographics! "Think Photographics started off as a hobby, we never really thought it would end up where it has. Although we mainly aim to shoot weddings (no pun), we do a lot of portraiture as well. We find all kinds of joy and gratification from seeing people in Love. Our style has developed and become refined and we believe it alone makes us stand out from other photographers in our area." Please be so kind as to visit our judge and sponsor sites! Its the least we can do in return for their generous prizes!!! Thanks and good luck to all of our photographers!

Your Weekly Top 10 Poll! Please vote for your favorite image!

So we've carefully rounded up the first week's Top 10! Take some time to look over them all and then vote for your 1 favorite image for the week at the poll to the right!

Remember - this is not a vote for the overall winner! This is a chance for all of you to vote for your People's Choice Winner to win a 1 year membership to WPPI!!! Thank you and good luck!

Jessica & Michelle

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Week 3 Sponsor/Judge Feature!

Cheryl Muhr is an Austin-based photographer specializing in contemporary maternity, newborn, child and family portraits, as well as editorial and commercial work for magazines and companies across the United States. Her wildly successful workshops for professional photographers, The Secret Photography Workshops, teach new and already working photographers how to build profitable, natural light photography businesses while maintaining balance and joy in their lives. Spend some time looking through Cheryl's website, her work is inspiring to say the least!

WPPI Wedding and Portrait Photographers International wants you to be the best that you can be, so they provide you with exclusive information, programs and professional services to help you with your photographic artistry and business needs. They're constantly bringing their members new benefits and new industry information. Check out their latest benefits, and find everything you need to know on their website. There's never been a better time to build and develop your personal support network. Joining WPPI will give you the resources you need to succeed.

WPPI has graciously donated two memberships for our contest - one for the Grand Prize winner and one for the People's Choice Award that will be voted on by you so keep your eyes on our blog for the voting to come!

As usual, please support the wonderful judges and sponsors bringing you these great prizes by visiting their sites and having a look around!