Leslie Does it Again!

At the recent Professional Photographers of America International Print Competition, Leslie got all four of her entries accepted to be exhibited in Nashville this January! Here are her 4 images! The First image was chosen as "Best of the Best" in what is called the Loan Collection". This image will be published in a book. Also, because all four images were accepted Leslie will receive a Photographer of the Year Silver Award.

Be A Friend

With all this social networking biz, it sure is hard to keep up with all of this, including blog entries. We are very active on Facebook , so look up our Fan Page under "Meritage House of Photography". If you become a fan, we will wave the session fee for you, a $400 value! This will be good for either local outdoor sessions or in the studio.

Oh! Here are some recent Senior portraits we took of Jeremy. We photographed his sister, Nikki, some 3 years ago and we'll probably do Zack's in about 3 years (guess I'm not allowed to retire!)

How to Find Us

So, as most of you know, we spend a lion's share of our time at the retreat on Dillon Beach. We do, however, have a place to meet with all of you in Livermore! We are sharing a space with Ultra-Spective and typically, we ae there on Thursdays and Fridays. The staff at Ultra-Spective are wonderful people, so as we get more settled with them, they will be very helpful on the days we are not there. Stay tuned!

One Dream Fulfilled

One of my dreams have been fulfilled as of the first of this month. For years in this profession, I never thought I'd be ever asked to serve on the national level of my professional photography association. I was elected last January as a director to the Professional Photographers of America. It is an honor to serve the more than 22,000 members of the worlds largest professional photography association. I've always wanted to help fellow professionals become the best they can be, both photography and business wise. It will be exciting to serve!

Spirit and the Soul Registration is Online!

The Spirit and the Soul series of workshops at the Dillon Beach Retreat is approaching with the first class "Transformations" in March. You can now register online at our website here. Transformations is very popular, so sign up now. There are only 6 spaces available for each session (we booked up all of the sessions last year). Also, book Transformations at the special rate of $450 which includes 2 nights stay! After March 1, it goes up to $650. Spirit and the Soul in July already has students signed up. If you are interested at all in recapturing your "artistic mojo", sign up for this course. This course has a prerequisite of either a PPA advanced degree, CPP credentials, or completion of our "Zen of Photography" workshop. Come on out to the Retreat and experience a learning environment that is second to none!

When Art is Art

In our Spirit and the Soul lectures, we teach our students the difference between Photography and Art. "What? Are you saying photography is not an art?" you would query. No! What we are saying is that you have to look at photography as a medium, very much like a paint brush/painting is a medium. The Art is what you create from that medium. It is the process that comes out of your heart that is the art. The sooner we can all understand this simple concept, the more we can call ourselves artists, without having to place a medium tag with it. i.e. Photographic Artist.

Whoa, Looks like I've been away a while

October! It's booking up for both the beach portraits and the early fall portraits (fall comes late in these neck of the woods with early November being the prime time. The best time for the portraits are starting at about 20 minutes before sunset, so, I can only do only one session a day. Why is October the prime time? Two things, the weather is perfect with low wind, and the quality of light. The light is a lot warmer than in the spring. Also, the time of day is ideal for families with small children because the session times are around 6-6:30, instead of the 8-8:30 times in the summer.