Captured by Jess Cutest Kid Contest, 2010

To kick off the holiday season, I am running a special photo contest for my Facebook followers! I am proud to announce my first, CUTEST KID CONTEST!



Please read below to find out how to enter, who can enter, how to vote and what you will win! ;)


HOW TO ENTER:
Simply e-mail me (capturedbyjess@ymail.com), FB inbox me (Jessica Hamlet Bilbrey) or post your child's photo on the Captured by Jess business page wall. I'll collect the entries and post them into an official contest photo album here on Facebook.

HOW TO VOTE:
You must have a Facebook account and be a fan of Captured by Jess on Facebook. Once your child's photo is placed into the official contest album, you cast your vote by placing a COMMENT under the photo. Only comments will count and only ONE comment will count per person, per photo. This means you can vote ONCE for as many photos as you like.

EXTRA VOTES:
If you "LIKE" Picture Perfect Props on Facebook and leave a WALL COMMENT saying you were sent by Captured by Jess' Cutest Kid Contest it will count as an additional vote for your child. It is REQUIRED that you add your child's NAME in the comment for it to count however. Send family and friends over with your child's name and each of their comments will count as extra votes as well!

Visit Picture Perfect Props on FB: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Callisburg-TX/Picture-Perfect-Props/122188261151389



WHO CAN VOTE:
Anyone, besides me! ;( Spread the word by posting the link/"sharing" the photo album or photo on your own Facebook wall. Send messages to all of your friends with the link via Facebook inbox or e-mail. The more of your friends who vote for your child, the better chance you have of winning!

Link to share: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=580225&id=371192960343

WHO CAN ENTER:
Anyone, anywhere! You can submit your own child, your niece, nephew - even your neighbor! As long as they are aged 2 weeks - 14 years. You can enter in each child in your household but the contest is limited to only ONE child in the house being able to win.* Parent permission is also required for entry. Keep in mind, your location does not exclude you from entering! I can travel up to 30 miles outside of Gainesville, TX, beyond that will require a traveling fee. Of course, anyone is welcome to drive to me!

HOW TO WIN:
The child's photo with the most single entry COMMENTS will be the winner!

CONTEST DATES:
I will take photo submissions from Wednesday, December 1st through Wednesday, December 15th at 10pm (CST). You will then have an extra 7 days to rack up the votes! Voting will be cut off Wednesday, December 22nd at 10pm (CST). The winners will be announced Thursday, December 23rd!


PRIZES:
First Place will receive a FREE SESSION with a disc of 15 digital negatives including usage release PLUS your choice of hat by Picture Perfect Props!

Second Place will receive a FREE ONE HOUR SESSION with a disc of 5 digital negatives including usage release! (There is a requirement of 15 contest entries for the second place prize to be awarded.)

Third Place will receive a $45 GIFT CARD to Captured by Jess to be used towards the fee for your next booked session. (There is a requirement of 25 contest entries for the third place prize to be awarded.)


This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. You are providing your information to Captured by Jess and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for contestant photo posting by captured by Jess.You must completely release Facebook from anything regarding this contest to enter and acknowledge that this promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.



NOTE: Free prize sessions are subject to scheduling and availability. There is no cash value to the prizes nor are they transferable. $45 Gift Card can only be applied to the session fee of a newly booked session, it can not be used for any prior session(s).


*To be fair to all participants, if you enter -for example- three children into the contest and they come in 1st, 2nd and 3rd, first place will go to your household. Subsequently, 4th and 5th place winners will then be moved to 2nd and 3rd (as long as they are not in the same household as well).

I know, I know, I know.... {North Texas Photographer, Children's Photography, Wedding Photography, Family Photography}

I totally suck a big toe! LOL! I am sooooooo behind on my blog, it is UNREAL! But the good news is the reason I am so behind is because I am SO busy booking sessions! Once the weather got nice, my calendar filled to the BRIM! I am currently up late (oh, 3am right now) working, waiting for a card filled with my latest session to upload and thought I'd take a few minutes to stop by here! Since I don't have a lot of time for a large update, here are some quick peeks at what I've been up to since my last post!

First up was the large family shoot I had! It was back in July and sooooo flippin hot! We managed to make it through the 3+ hour shoot with smiles on our faces and great photographic memories for the whole family!



Next I had the pleasure of shooting an engagement shoot for a wonderful couple and we wound up with some amazing shots for them to treasure forever.



I then had some free time w/o any appointments so I took the chance to do my own little girl's 4th birthday photos (which were months late). Zoey is a total ham for the camera when she *wants* to be. We tried for 4 different outfits and set-ups but she melted down by the fourth. However, I can't complain because I have some great photos of her regardless. This is one of my absolute favorites from the day!



So then September hits and the appointments start rolling back in and first up with Kaylena and her 2nd Birthday photo shoot. She is an absolute little angel and completely gorgeous to boot!



My next session was for another 2nd Birthday shoot, this time with Brayden who is my husband's cousin's little boy. talk about a lil stinker!! Boys, right?! ;) He wasn't too into taking photos but I managed to snag some shots of this handsome little man anyways! ;) I took my daughter's drum set and let him rock out on it, here's a collage with several shots included.



So I started realizing that I was seriously lacking in the teen arena so I wrangled up another one of my husband's cousin's kids, the amazingly gorgeous Hillary, and drove around for 3 hours taking her photos! ;)



October rolls in and I get booked for a family shoot, and little did I know then that my family would soon have a new set of life long friends. We went to the lake (I took my daughter Zoey along with me for the first time) and instantly became fast friends during the shoot. Zoey fell in love with their little girl Stormie and I just adore the whole bunch of them!



The following weekend my Mom hosted a county wide Girl Scouts event at her house and of course, I am wrangled into doing a week's plus worth of work or more! The Halloween Hoedown turned out to be a huge success and I *still* haven't been able to add these edits to my schedule yet, but here's a shot of my Mom and I's little troop!



Next up was my Rockwall Senior Rep, Heather. She is such a beautiful and sweet girl, whom is also still waiting to see her full session. Patiently waiting, I should say because I haven't had a break to add her session into my schedule yet either.



I also offered a day of Halloween Mini Sessions, which as backed up as I already was - I shouldn't have done, BUT luckily there were a lot of no shows so I didn't come out of the day with a huge work load. Only a couple of cuties to edit ;)



Another fortune part of my Halloween Mini Session day was that a long lost friend that I grew up with (and had recently reconnected with on Facebook) decided to make the drive up for the event and I got to photograph her gorgeous brand new baby girl, Naomi!



Next up was my first Gift Certificate purchase session. A previous client bought her best friend a session as a birthday gift -how great is that? And what an ADORABLE little family they were! We had a great time on the family farm with all the old buildings and great rustables all around! LOVED that place! Currently almost finished editing their session! ;)



Next up on my editing to do list is little Mr Fito! He was SUCH a little ham! It took him a little bit to come out of the shy shell but once he did he was such a character! So adorable!!



Next up was a secret session that is a Christmas gift, I can't give away too much and obviously, can't show too much but it was so great, gorgeous subjects with a fabulous location!



I then had a break from my typical portrait sessions and got to do some Motocross photos which was a first for me. It was great being in the thick of the action and watching these guys do their stunts!



After taking a much needed break for the Halloween holiday, I took a drive down to Dallas to photograph the wedding of an Elementary classmate of mine. It was a phenomenally beautiful wedding, the couple was gorgeous and even though the night was long - it was amazing.



After driving back up to Gainesville, I had an hour to spare until my next session which was with Allie and Justin and his family. They were so nice and totally forgave all my brain lapses from my extremely long day before!



The Girl Scouts hand out little poppy flowers at the local Veteran's Day celebration each year and while we were there I snapped this shot of the fly-overs they were doing. It was a very gray and over-cast day so i added in some clouds.



This past weekend I met with another great little family at the park for their session. (Albeit with a late start because I can't remember things anymore with my hectic schedule!!) We've got another session planned for this coming weekend with more of the family added and I can't wait!




So that catches you up on what I've been doing. If only I could catch MYSELF up, life would be a lot easier! I'm looking at another full schedule coming up and prices will be raised soon. Effective December 1st my portfolio building intro rate of $50 is going away. Don't worry - I am still offering a portfolio building special rate but it is now going to be $85. Book your session now to lock in that $50 rate before it's gone!

I've also donated sessions to a couple of local school's fundraisers and I am looking forward to meeting and photographing the winning bidders of those!

As ALWAYS, catch me most frequently on FACEBOOK. You'll see new messages, special and always new photos nearly daily there!

Until next time, with more - captured by Jess....