Don't ya love when you stumble across something that makes your heart skip a beat?! 

It happened to me. Today. 

I was just sitting down at my desk after cleaning up lunchtime messes when I saw my Facebook newsfeed refresh. My friend, Otis, had excitedly posted a congratulatory status in honor of his friend's recently published book making "Lulu's Staff Picks List." Being a curios person, naturally I had to check it out. So I googled the book title, "I Love You In A Circle,"  and came up with a Facebook page dedicated to it. 

Upon landing on the FB page, I saw a modest number of 'fans' and thought to myself..."This book is practically unknown!"  And if you know anything about me, you know that I LOVE things that are a little more 'the road less traveled' versus the hottest new trends. I love to catch a little glimpse of undiscovered talent or fall in love with a musician who nobody's ever heard of. I had a small exchange with the author, Brenda J. Cornett, on her page in which she directed me to the book's website, where it can be purchased.

I click the link.

The page begins to load.

*heart skips beat*

My arrival to the site is met with a virtual book reading...and I am i love! I listened to what I assume is one of the author's kiddos read the book and clang a spoon on a water glass every time the virtual page was to be turned. I love every choice the author made regarding this book and it's online presentation. The words are heartwarming and express familiar feelings, the art is to die for, and the audio presentation made me feel as though I were peering in on an intimate, cozy moment between a mother and child reading a book together. So perfect in it's imperfection. 

I am excited to purchase this book. My daughter turns 3 in July, which, surprisingly, is just around the corner. She loves books. She loves to have me read to her. I know she will love this book and it will have a perfect home here in our collection of well-loved stories. 

How many times can I use 'love' in a post?? A lot, if I really mean it!

So I wrote this all up once and the blog builder locked up...all lost. Oh well.  Here's the condensed version:

Easter was incredibly soggy here in Southern Indiana. We did our best to squeeze in an egg hunt while the rain broke for a short time. There wasn't much that day that was picture-worthy...I'm disappointed. Especially considering my grandma's dogwood tree was in bloom and gave us the most perfect petaled backdrop. I wish we could have had a drier day to take advantage of it. 

Most of the shots I got were of Tali since Kai was too busy pouting that he didn't get the golden egg. When I finished processing the images last night, I ended up with a black & white series of Tali that has a film feel to it. The images are darker and moodier than I normally do. They remind me of the black & whites you see in a newspaper. I have been itching to get my hands on a film camera and limitless funds for film and my own darkroom. So for now this is as close to film as I can get: mimicking the 'film look' digitally. 

You know what I'm talkin' 'bout....

Everyone has a picture of themselves or their kiddo all dolled up for Easter, sitting with Mr. LongEars himself....and screaming their head off. It's a milestone in every family's journey to get the screamer on the bunny's lap. It's practically a rite of passage. Every child must be tormented by a stranger in a 6 foot bunny suit. It's what makes us American!

 In the moment, many parents are disappointed they didn't get the shot they wanted. I personally think the pictures are priceless! So I'd like to reward the parents who spent hours getting their little one ready, standing in line behind the velvet ropes, and smoothing things over with ice cream afterwards. Send me your Funny Bunny shot. I'll take submissions between now and Tuesday 4/26 @ 12noon Eastern time.  The winner will be chosen by me and a guest judge and will receive a $50 credit toward a session, print, or fine art product of their choice.  Winner will be announced Wednesday. 

Email submissions to JaimeFlemingPhotography@gmail.com

Well you've done it! You helped me reach 800 likes on the Facebook fanpage. As promised, it's now giveaway time! If you want to enter the drawing for a free session (locals) or a free 11x14 print of your choice, you need to do 2 things:

1. Share my fanpage or my website on facebook or twitter.
2. Leave a comment here, linking me to where you shared.

If you share in more than one place, make a separate comment for each one to get 2 entries. (Example: If I shared the website on Facebook, I'd post a comment on this blog with the permalink to my facebook profile and make a separate comment with the permalink to my twitter profile showing where I shared the website.) I'll use a random number generator to choose which comment entry is drawn.

Contest closes at 3:00pm EST Tuesday, April 5, 2011.

GOOD LUCK!!!