[Contest] Rockin' | Southeast Missouri Photographer

Don't kill me. Just kick me, I can handle that.

These days, I don't know whether I'm coming or going. That's good, right? Well, if you were a participant in the 1,000 Rockin' Fans Contest on my Facebook Business Page, then you're probably anxious that it's taken me two weeks to blog the winners of the $50 gift certificates. Well, I'm here to tell ya, kick me, but don't kick me in my ovaries or my hands. For obvious reasons.

This was such a fun contest and so many "likers" came out to vote for this image amongst all of the them:

Isn't she a doll baby? In all, there were 48 people that voted for her image by leaving a comment. My client will receive a beautiful 12x18 Float wrap of this winning image. Thank you to each and every one of you for taking the time to vote.

So, now onto the winners. I used Random.org to randomly select the winners. As you can see, the winner of the first $50 gift certiciate is #2 (Julie Cude) and the winner of the second $50 gift certicate is #41 (Cynthia Connelly). Both of you, please email me so that we can discuss your winning options.

On a sidenote, I'm working very hard on some sa-weeeet ideas for Stephanie Greenwell Photography. I'm so very excited about the direction my business is heading and I can't wait to share with you all what I have in store. And just a reminder, Christmas Mini-sessions bookings are underway, only a few more openings are left.

Congrats to the winners of the 1,000 Rockin' Fans Contest and thank you all for participating!

[Family] Special | Kennett Missouri Photography

Grab a tissue. I mean it.

GRAB A TISSUE RIGHT NOW! I'll even give you a minute to do so.

Last year, before I had my precious baby boy, I decided to hold a contest for a deserving family. (Go read it and then come back here. And have your tissues handy.)

After receiving their nomination, I just knew that in my heart, I wanted them to win, but I kept my wishes to myself since I would be having some other folks decide on the winner.

And let me clarify, every nomination that I received touched my heart. Sometimes, as humans, we forget that so many in our community have such pain and tragedy in their lives. I have to admit that I lose sight of it, being busy with my own life, as we all are. Each of the nominations were completely worthy of winning the contest and maybe someday I can offer more of these sessions.

Through varying schedule conflicts and weather mishaps, my session with this family took place in July. I have to admit that I was nervous in meeting this family. Probably more nervous that they would think I'm just off my rocker and nuts!

We met at a nice field on the south side of Kennett, Missouri. (Yes, Sheryl Crow's hometown. And yes, I'd like to meet her someday.) The sun was glorious and when everyone got out of the van, I wanted to just cry. Not out of sadness, but just knowing that this family was meant to win this session.

These kids are totally awesome. Fun-loving, polite, full of personality, gracious, well-mannered, adorable, cute, sweet, well-mannered. Yeah, I said it again, because I can't stress how great these kids were. And the parents, well, you know God placed these special children with these parents for a reason. Patient, kind, loving, funny, oh Dad, you were a hoot and I bet there's a lot of fun to be had at your home!

After delivering their order, I received the following message from Michelle on my Facebook page:

"Ok so I'm so glad I didn't open my pictures in front of you! Girl you are AMAZING!!! Of course all of the pictures are just perfect but the one you did of my babies.....BEAUTIFUL!!!! It's just perfect, it made me cry. I know that's silly but it really did! I have to take about 100 pics of my little 2 year old to get one of her looking anywhere near me. Nobody can believe that you didn't have to ask her to look the way she was in that picture. The teenagers, well I hardly ever get a real smile from all three at once, YOU DID IT!!! We all just love all of them so much and want you to know how much we appreciate you! The contests you do are so neat and so sweet of you to do for people! Thank you so much!!!"

All the more confirmation that I love what I do. I love the feelings that are evoked when my clients view their images. And most of all, I love knowing that they are proudly displayed in their homes as a reminder of that special time in their lives.

To the J family, you left an impression on me, on my heart. When I have days of struggling in the parenting department, I've thought of you all and the daily challenges you face. I know it's not easy, but I know there's no greater reward than to see the smile on your children's faces and to hear their sweet words and to have their loving arms around you. You are in inspiration to parents everywhere.

And to the children, you can't imagine how much I was impressed with you. From your sweet, loving gestures to your kindness to one another to your constant laughter and smiles. So many lessons could be taken from each of you in this day and time. Kara, I hope you had a great first day of high school, and you know, you've got two older brothers to watch out for you! Keith and Kevin, you guys rock! I hope have a rockin' year in school! And Miss Alayna, don't give your siblings too much trouble! Thank you all for being so awesome!

Get your Free on | Hayti Missouri | Stephanie Greenwell Photography

It’s contest time again! Can I get a “whoop, whoop”? *fists pumping in the air*

I’m so excited to announce another contest because you all are the reason why my business is growing. And can I just say that I feel so very blessed? I am. And thank you.

In honor of hitting 700 fans on my Facebook fan page, I’d like to offer a couple print credits to be used when you book your session in 2010. And hey, this is open to anyone who has already booked their session for 2010, and session will take place after contest ends.

Here’s what you need to do: Leave a comment in this specific blog post about your favorite picture. It can be of your kids, your significant other, your dog, your house, a bug in a bush, heck, it could be a blurry picture that you have no idea what it is, but you just love it. Make sure you’ll be able to share that image with me if you are the winner(I want the evidence!).

But it gets even better.

You have a second chance to win if you comment on the actual announcement about the contest on my Facebook fan page(and you have to be a fan). Same thing, tell me about your favorite picture. And try to keep it clean. But dirty trucks and messy faces are fine.

The winner will be selected at random using a Random calculator and the results will be posted, along with the winners. Each winner will receive (1) $100 print credit to be applied to their print order. That's $100 in free prints! (And for even greater savings, I'm currently offering 30% off Custom Art Collections for a limited time!)

The contest will end on Sunday, February 28, 2010, 3:00 p.m. CMT.

And I know rules are made to be broken, but not these rules:

1) Only one entry per person/family only per chance. For instance, Sally can post one time to this blog post and one time to Facebook, thus giving her two chances to win. I don't want to have to disqualify anyone, so please don't make me do it.

2) Only one person/family can win once. Sally can't win both chances.

3) Print credit applies to Custom Art Collections only.

4) Print credit is non-transferable. Sally can't win and give to her friend. But I hope Sally will tell her friend to enter.

5) Print credit cannot be applied to session fee or session deposit.

6) Session must be booked for 2010, as print credit expires December 31, 2010.

7) Have fun and be nice!

So, wipe the slobber from your chin, click on "Comments" below, and tell me your favorite picture. Then head on over to my Facebook fan page, and post on the Official Fan Page Contest announcement. And make sure to fan me, if you're not already a fan! The contest will end on Sunday, February 28, 2010, 3:00 p.m. CMT, so you better get crackin'!

Christmas Giveaway | Southeast Missouri Photographer

A little while back, I announced a little Christmas giveaway for a deserving family. I received several nominations that were very heartfelt and sincere. It's nice to know that people are so thoughtful of others and think so much of others during difficult times. So before I announce the winner, I just want give some needed thank-you's.

Thank you to God for blessing me this year with another beautiful, healthy child to add to our growing family. Thank you to Him for my other children, who at times are quite rambunctious, but they are good as gold and they love me unconditionally as I do them.

I give all the glory to Him for allowing me to start this little photography business. And many thanks to all my clients of 2009 who took a chance on me and allowed me to photograph them, their children, and/or their families. I'm beyond grateful and I only hope that my business will continue to grow in 2010.

Now, back to the announcment. I decided to not be a judge in this contest, since I knew most of the people that were being nominated. There were three judges and they had no clue who each of the nominated families were since I removed all mention of names in the emails I received. I wish every nomination could be picked because they were all very deserving, but there's only so much time in every day that I can do this, and with a new baby, my time is even more limited. So quit babbling, Steph, get on with it!

The following is the email I received. It was very endearing and even brought tears to my eyes. And I'm sure you will feel the same...

"Stephanie,

I would like to nominate a family from Kennett. Keith, Michelle, Kevin, Lil' Keith, Kara and Alayna Johnson. We are very close to this family and they have been a blessing to us. I went to school with Keith and he is one of my husband's best friends. Keith got married soon after high school and had twin boys, Kevin and Keith, which are now 16. They will be 17 in January. Two years later they had their daughter Kara.

I am not sure when exactly that they found out there was something wrong with two of his kids but they did find out that Keith and Kara had Morquio Syndrome. Morquio Syndrome is a genetic disease of metabolism in which the body is missing or doesn't have enough of a substance needed to break down long chains of sugar molecules called glycosaminoglycans. There is a 1 out of 200,000 births this would happen and to them it happened twice. Keith and his wife divorced and she left him with all three kids.

They have had numerous surgeries over the years, had to be in bed for long periods of time, and even where the body halos. Keith did all he could do for his children. He had to quit work to care for them. They have been held back in school due to missing school due to the surgeries. This disease causes abnormal heart developments, large fingers, knocked knees, dwarfism. They have to use walkers and wheelchairs because they can not walk due to the pain. This of course does not stop them from doing things.

Keith is in the choir at school. The kids at Kennett Public Schools are wonderful to them. They are such of the best kids and truely thankful for their life. Also, it is hard on Kevin as well. He looks over both of them and it is hard for him trying to live a normal life and do things that they can never do.

Keith finally remarried a few years ago to Michelle. She is wonderful with the kids. They had another daughter Alayna a little over a year ago. (I believe the mother was the carrier of the disease so they were not concerned about that.) Alayna adores the older children. I think they love the attention.

What I have seen over the years is that whatever you could do for these children they were appreciative. Whether you gave them something new or old they still kept smiling. It is hard not to love them. What I have read about this disease is that the life expectancy is usually between 20 to 30 years old. I can not imagine knowing that your child or children may have lived half of their life. They do not ever talk about that, they just cherish what they have.

I think they are deserving of being recognized. They truly are a blessing. They do not dwell on what they have been dealt with but praise God for it. This has only made them a stronger family. The go to church religiously and do no question what they have been given but are truly thankful that God has picked them to care for these children."

Is your Kleenex soaked? Uh-huh, thought so. When I read this email, I just knew they would be picked. Being a parent, a mother at that, I can't begin to imagine that any of my children could be anything other than healthy. I know these parents have seen their share of struggles, but from the sounds of the email, they have God in their hearts and live each day fully.

I'm excited to meet this awesome family and give them something special to remind them of their strong family bond for many years to come. Congratulations and I'll be contacting you soon!

Also, thank you to Charitie Jones for the nomination. I can tell how strongly you felt about this family and I'm happy that you are also a winner with a $50 print credit and no session fee on your next booking.

Again, thank you to everyone who nominated a special, deserving family. I hope you all have a very blessed Merry Christmas and remember that Jesus is the Reason for the season! (None of that Happy Holidays baloney!)

And since it is Christmas time, here's a cute lil' dude to make you smile even more...

Baby Giveaway

Uh, no, I'm not giving away my baby-to-be. So get that idea out of your head!

Now, onto the details of this post. I mentioned on my previous blog that I probably wouldn't be blogging before the baby boy gets here. However, in honor of my 20,000th hit to my blog, and that I'm one fan shy of the 400 mark on my Facebook Fan page, and the fact that I would like to do something special for a deserving family, I'm offering an awesome giveaway. At least, I hope you find it to be awesome.

As you may or may not be aware, that is if you have not been hiding under a rock, I'm having a baby boy sometime in the next week or so, adding to my ever-expanding family. With the approaching holiday season, family is all the more important and we couldn't be happier to welcome our son during this time.

What I'm even more excited about is getting to photograph my new addition with the rest of my children for the Christmas season. It's such a special time of the year, all the more sweeter with a new baby. Of course, pictures are great any time of the year, but around the holidays just makes it all the better.

This holiday season, my Christmas 2009 Special is a simple DVD collection of images for families to print at their own convenience. Read more about it here.

So, now I'm getting to the nitty-gritty. What a word(or is it two?)!

Chances are, you know a deserving family that would love to have their family photographed, but for reasons only known to them, just can't. I know there are so many people going through hard times right now, and though my giveaway isn't life-changing, I hope it will bring a smile to the faces of the winning family.

Here's the deets:
Nominate a family or your own family by sending me an email to stephaniegreenwell@sbcglobal.net. The selected family will win a free Christmas DVD session
and (1)mounted 11x14 portrait (retail value: $310). This family must live within Pemiscot, Dunklin or New Madrid counties. Tell me why this family should be selected for this giveaway. I will be enlisting the help of two judges and myself, and all details will be kept confidential. I will try my best to confirm the nominations, so I ask that you please be truthful about the family you nominate. One nomination per person please.

Please have your nominations into me by Sunday, November 15th, 2009, 12 midnight(CST). The nominating person of the winning family will receive a $50 credit and no session fee upon booking a session with Stephanie Greenwell Photography.

I hope this will get people into the spirit of Christmas and think about ways they can contribute to others less fortunate. As I previously stated, I know this isn't a life-altering giveaway, but my hope is that will bring a little cheer to a family during the Christmas season.

And the winner is...

So, all I have to say is you guys RoK! I can't believe there were 301 votes cast for this contest! There were some people wanting a freebie and I'm glad! My stats did go over 10,000 and are now at 11,640! Man, I'm about to get my hula-hoop and go at it! Uh, maybe not such a good idea right now(belly's getting big)!

Alright, a big congrats to Joey & Shea Watkins for the having the most votes on their son's picture, #5. I will be presenting your mounted 11x14 to you soon; I know you are both excited and worked hard to get some votes on here. Everyone else, keep your eyes peeled because I'll be running another contest later this summer!

Again, thanks to everyone who voted, everyone who just stopped by, and everyone for the support of my work and my blog! I love my (2nd) job!



Final Results:

Question: Vote for your fave image!
Answer times selected answer distribution (%)
1. #1 17 6%
2. #2 26 9%
3. #3 23 8%
4. #4 7 2%
5. #5 100 33%
6. #6 11 4%
7. #7 16 5%
8. #8 3 1%
9. #9 31 10%
10. #10 67 22%
Summary: 301 votes
http://www.stephaniegreenwell.com

10,000 Maniacs

Not really maniacs, but more like 10,000 hits to my blog will be coming up pretty soon, probably after I post this to my Facebook for all to see!

So what am I talking about? Well, if you'll look to the right side of my blog and see my viewing stats, you'll notice that I'm almost at the 10,000 views for my blog! How super-dee-duper is that? I'm sure it's a little more, but I just started tracking my stats in January 2009, so this is a maj-ah accomplishment for me and my blossoming business!





In honor of this, I'd like to hold a contest of sorts. You know, something to give back to my clients for showing me some great love in the last few months. Because, you know, that's how I roll, so I'm returning the favor in the form of a freebie.

Like, a *free* mounted 11x14 print(ret. $70) to the winner of this contest. Don't tell me, I know...I'm da bomb, fo' sho'!!

So vote on any of the top 10 images(as voted from emails and comments) from now until June 10, 2009, 12 p.m. CMT. Once all the votes are tallied, the winner will be contacted and will receive their prize. Only one vote per computer every 24 hours, so make sure to tell your friends, shout it from the levees, or just post status updates on Facebook! (FYI: Families with more than one child, I only included one child in order to give others a chance!)

Once again, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for the love you've shown! I can't wait for the next contest!

Now, hurry, voting begins....

RIGHT NOW!!!!


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