You've been waiting for it.

A few weeks ago, I read this amazing short story by a friend of mine, Sarah Ann Noel. She was inspired by the comments of her readers wondering if there was more to the story. Being the creative genius that she is, she has challenged her fellow writers to see how they would contribute to the story.

And to make it super fun, it's a contest. With a prize and everything. Woohoo! All the fun details are here.

So for all my writer friends, have fun with it, pass it along to others, and check back to see the next piece of the tale.

hey writers!

I can't tell you why you need to tune in to Sarah Noel's Musings on Friday, but I will tell you that you're going to want to. It's something fun and different and I'm excited to be involved.

Click on the link above and stay tuned!

denver arts week. il posto.

I originally discovered my passion for photography while filling my art credits in college, so much of my early portfolio work is art photography. When I got involved in portraiture and event photography, I haven't spent as much time on art photography as I used to.

So you can imagine my surprise when I was asked to show some art pieces for Denver Arts Week in November. It's actually been almost a month since I received the invitation and I'm still a little floored. And also excited.

Denver Arts Week runs from November 6-14th and features a number events, as well as local restaurants and artists teaming up to celebrate art in our fair city.

My work will be shown at Il Posto, an Italian eatery featuring the work of Chef Andrea Frizzi. Il Posto will be celebrating the "complicated simplicty of Italian food and wine" during the week. In addition to dinner, they are also open for "Ora Felice" each day.

They are located at 2011 E. 17th Avenue. Call 303-394-0100 for reservations.

I'll never forget the last photography class I had in college -- we had to create a series of work to show. It took me over a year just to decide what I was going to attempt to work on before I ever enrolled in the class. At least this time, I was able to get an idea of what I wanted to show. Although editing the collection down to a few pieces has been a challenge -- I've already rejected a few of the prints after not liking the way they flowed with the other pieces, and changed them out for others. I am certainly picky, that is for sure.

The series that I will be featuring during the week comes from the amazing dance performance I was fortunate enough to photograph this summer from the Isolated Incident performance group's "The Things They Say."

Dance is amazingly beautiful to watch, although challenging to photograph, but I was lucky to snap a few shots to capture the beauty of movement. To see a small preview of the work that will be shown, please click here.

I invite you to come out and celebrate art with me during the week, and I hope you'll stop by Il Posto and enjoy the pieces I've chosen and some awesome food.

more great info from christine boulton.

Christine Boulton is not just your average wedding expert. She's a wedding industry goddess. So it's no wonder that I follow her Wedding Dish blog pretty regularly and love the comments and insights she provides "from the other side."

Having worked as a banquet manager for the first two years of my professional photography career in an effort to really understand the wedding industry, I can relate to a lot of the information and insight she provides on a regular basis. The wedding industry is fun and exciting, but it is also stressful and demanding. Trust me, I once had to reassure a Mother-of-the-Bride, three times in as many hours, that yes, the signs directing guests into our hard to find driveway would be out on the street at our agreed upon time of 4 p.m. She called at 10 a.m.

A recent post really hit close to home. It was all about realistic expectations when it comes to your photography.

I don't want to do the points highlighted to be given a disservice, so go ahead, have a read.

Since I tend to be a complete and total overachiever/perfectionist, shooting weddings stresses me out. Big time. But one of my mentors once told me that when you lose that bit of care that causes you to stress, that's when you lose your edge in this industry. I still believe it to be true.

So believe us, our sleepless nights, high rates and taking three weeks to process your images are because we want to make sure that the memories of your wedding day are captured and documented perfectly.

now on twitter

For those of you that know me, I have resisted getting a Twitter account for as long as I possibly could. In fact, I even teased my sister for getting one for her business. But alas, the more I read, the more I learn, the more I know that it's just a necessary part of doing business in the electronic age.

So follow me already, would ya?

allyson's art.

I have recently had the pleasure of becoming the official photographer for artist Allyson Porter Daley. Allyson is a mixed-media artist in Northern Arizona. She has a variety of items that she creates and sells, and all of her work can be found at http://www.allysonsart.com/.