Lease Family

In April I set a goal for myself to reach 100 likes on my Facebook page by May 1st. I was offering a free mini shoot or 50% off a full shoot to one of the wonderful people who helped me to reach my goal if I hit that 100 likes by May 1st.

On May 2nd I had the privelage of announcing that Anne Marie Lease a long time friend and former co-worker had won. Anne Marie wanted to do a family session so we began planning and that brings us to today. On saturday I had the honor of taking these family photos for her family.

This was a fun shoot and despite the wheather trying to be stubborn and rain or have unruly winds we got the shoot done.

It was a joy to be able to capture so many special moments for the Lease family and to catch up on old times. I worked with Anne Marie several years ago and she always made my day when I got to see her. I meet the rest of her family a few times while working with her also. I am very thankful to all those whom I have had the pleasure of working with in my past and look forward to working with even more people in my future.

Here is just a few of the wonderful pictures we took. I have also entered one of them in a Father's Day photo contest.

This is the photo that was entered in the Rock My Edits Father's Day contest.

Voting starts on June 20th.

Special Daddy and Daughter moments

A little girls first love is her daddy. He is the one man a little girl and even a big girl can always rely on. I had the honor of capturing this special moment with Travis and his little girl Tinley. Travis such a wonderful dad and loves his kids so much. I have actually choosen this photo to enter another photo contest to celebrate Father's Day.

Voting for the contest will begin on June 20th so I will repost the link and this blog then.

Check out Rock My Photography to see more details. I love how the contest work with them. No registration to voters and no hassle. Just 2 clicks in 30 seconds that is it. I hope you will join us and Vote starting June 20th it would be an honor to win.
http://www.rockmyphotography.com/fathers-day-photo-contest/

Remember voting starts June 20th!!! Please mark your calenders!!!

Thank you so much!!! :-)

You never know what will happen if you slow down for a moment to enjoy life

Many of my friends and family know how much I love to take photos of flowers and our surroundings just as much as people. I find myself snapping a few each and every photo shoot for just because it is the precious things that bring in so much beauty. Earlier this week while out for a walk I found a field of wild flowers and lavender. I loved it so much I took a few photos. As I was walking through the field I got lucky. There was a bee collecting nectar and also a beautiful lady bug in a gorgeous yellow bunch of flowers. I don't normally get excited over bees because I am very allergic but this one caught my eye and did not want to leave the flowers it was on even with me clicking away.
I love moments like this when I can capture the little tiny things in nature. I first started taking picture as a child of little things like this. Most of those pictures have disappeared as the years have gone by and with the many moves I have had. Whether from being a military kid, serving in the military, or just everyday life. It was so nice to take a break from all the chaos and just stop and try to smell the beauty in the air. I say try to smell because the High Ranch Fire is not far from my house so the smoke has made me stuffy. Here are some the photos I took the other day. Remember to stop and slow down to enjoy the little things in life. They disappear and go by without us realizing it is to late sometimes.

Girls just wanna have fun

I spent monday afternoon with 3 awesome young ladies. Dori, Stephanie, and Hanna all had photos done. We did their shoots together and added in some fun group shoots. All the girls are from Colorado Springs and Monument. Dori and Stephanie are cousins and Stephanie and Hanna are really good friends. Dori was needing photos for a talent agency. Stephanie is getting ready to finish cosmetology school. Can anyone say makeup artist! :-) I am excited about having more than one I work with. Hanna is a little dare devil whom climbs everything but was a blast. She is almost finished with highschool. They were all so much fun and absolutely hilarious. Hanna decided she was hot and took a walk in the river, Stephanie ended up joining her but they had fun. Dori was just all around funny making jokes and getting everyone laughing.  It was so much fun spending time and getting to know these beautiful young ladies. Here are just a few of the photos come on over a take a peek around the site to see more. Thanks again ladies for letting me capture some of your precious memories to cherish for a lifetime.

High Park Fire

On June 9, 2012 a small fire started in the High Park area. Initial reports stated it was a small 2 acre fire and that crews were in route. Not to long after that report the winds and dry climate turned that small fire into a fire fighter's nightmare. Many residents have been affected and so many are just waiting for information. The community has come together to help out so many whom have been affected. I have heard horror stories from some that have been affected. My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those families along with the men and women fighting to get control of what has become a very large very. At the last report just a little while ago the fire has grown to 37,000 acres, over 100 structures have been damaged or destroyed. Here are just a few photos that I have taken from my home and areas near my home. This morning I went outside and the mountains have completely disappeared. The fire as of right now has no containment and crews are working to evacuate as many as possible that may be in the way of the fire.

Now on Twitter

Yeah, I am now on Twitter. I can befollowed at @amberhicksphoto

I am so excited about the changes I am making so that I can always be on contact with my clients and supporters of my work. Thanks so much everyone for joining me on my wonderful journey.

OTTS "Sweet Summertime" Giveaway

On the Spot Studio is having an awesome give away with lots of vendors to celebrate 16k fans on facebook. That is an awesome accomplishment. I decided to go ahead and enter to see if I can win one of the awesome things they are giving away from the 50+ vendors they have. Head over and check it out. http://onthespotstudio.com/2012/06/sweet-summertime-giveaway/#comment-3939

The blessings of positive influence

Not to long ago, I started my journey to acheive my goal. I have faced many challenges in my life and really wanted to do what made me happiest, creating art. Photography had always brought me joy. With the encouragement of my wonderful husband and my beautiful mother in law I took the plung. My first goal was acheived with the help of family in friends in reaching a goal of 50 likes on my facebook page in 2 weeks. My second was to reach 100 likes by May 1st.

On April 28th I hit 102 likes on facebook. The original goal had been set with my mother in law. I wanted so much to celebrate with her but she had past away the previous evening from a sudden heart attack.

(This is the very first photo I ever took of my mother in law the first time I meet her. It was taken with a little point and shoot camera.)

So with that piece of my heart aching I really wasn't in the celebrating mood. She was a huge inspiration and a very big motivator in the ways she talked with me for hours about doing what made me happy. She encouraged me with words that I could do this, I could reach my goals of being a successful photographer and bringing a photo to life.

This brings us to my recent encounters with a wonderful group of photographers I meet through networking. I found that I was so inspired by all of the positive feedback they give and by the ways they encourage the people they talk with. They don't post negative things about other photographers, they never are mean in the way they give advice, and they are always kind in how they encourage you to reach your goals. These types of people are really hard to find. I have been beyond blessed and have had so much encouragement and positive feedback from them in the past few weeks.

I have realized through these photographers, that yes, while I do not have my dear wonderful mother in law to talk to about the many endeavors I take on I still have others. I have my family, I have my husband, my close friends, and now I have them. I may have lost one person and the pain still comes in waves but I have realized that in losing I have gained more than I could ever imagine. With the encouragement of those around me I decide over the weekend to enter a photo contest. It was scary at first but I am proud of myself for doing it. I know that my mother in law would have wanted me to continue to reach for my dream and acheive all the goals I had set with her. I haven't only done the goals she and I set with networking on facebook but I have exceeded them. I now have over 1,000 fans on facebook and 900 of them I have gotten in the last month. For that I say thank you. Thank you to everyone who took the time to help someone reach their goal.

I am hoping to reach my next goal and yes it does have to do with the photo competition but it isn't to win. Winning would be nice I would love to be able to get some of the software that these wonderful people I have recently meet use. My goal is to learn. Learn from the experience so that I can continue to improve and grow to become the photographer I have set out to be.

The photo contest is being done by one of the wonderful people I have meet and many of the photographers I have meet are in it. Winning isn't everything it is the passion I see and the learning experience that I am truly blessed with. Thank you to all these wonderful women for helping me to overcome a loss in my life that nonw of them even knew about. It has taken me a lot to write this blog but I am thankful that I did for it actually has helped me to understand how lucky I am to have so many positive influences in my life.

Rock My Photography Hit me with your best shot {photo contest}

I am so excited to announce that I am going to be entering in a photo contest. I have been so inspired by some of the photographers that are part of the followers at Rock My Photography I decided I needed to try this out. After all you never know until you try. I love photography so much and it truly makes me enjoy life. So I hope you will come over and join in the voting starting June 5th. I would really love to win!! It is a great prize that will help me continue to grow into the photographer I want to be.

http://www.rockmyphotography.com/

http://www.rockmyphotography.com/rock-it-like-it-win-it/

This is a photo I took a few weeks ago of a wonderful women. She is a single mother of two wonderful little boys and recently she lost over 100 pounds. It was such a joy to be able to take her first family pictures since her weight loss. You can't see all of her in this photo but it does show what a remarkable mother she is. She actually has nicknamed this photo "Priceless". Hope you all enjoy the photo as much as I do.

Head on over June 5th and help me win!!! Vote, Vote, Vote!!! Thanks again to Rock My Photography for this awesome opportunity. :-)