Photographing Children Contest Winner!

I am so proud and excited to announce the winner of our Facebook Group, Photographing Children contest that ended, appropriately, on Valentine's Day. The subject of the contest was CONNECTION.  Our deserving winner of Adobe Photoshop CS5 is member, SHARI YASSERI, from Minnesota.  Here is her story about the prized image:

The image came from a session I did for some friends. I visited their home the morning after a huge snowfall. I was thankful for a sunny day, since winter is often grey here in MN. The snow worked as a wonderful reflector through the east and south windows of their living room. In my image the children were on the couch with the window to the left and behind me. It was my first session using my Nikon D700 and 50mm f/1.4   at ISO 1000   f/4.5   1/80

The image captured a special ritual the siblings have of placing their foreheads together. It is easy to see the trust and adoration between the two, especially from the younger with his expressive eyes. Both children are Haitian born and have amazing stories. The little guy arrived from Haiti last year on a medical Visa weighing 7lbs at 2 months. He was scheduled to leave Haiti for the states and then the earthquake hit. Amazingly they were able to get him to the US to receive the medical care he desperately needed. He is a happy boy and continues to overcome the medial issues that keep arising. Doctors recently determined that his lack of hearing cannot be repaired, but he began crawling the day before my visit to their home and that was an amazing feat. Despite the continuing medical issues, he is thriving from the love and care his family gives. It was wonderful to be in their home to document a few moments of their family life. The moment captured in this image will be cherished.

Thank you for the opportunity to share more about it!

Shari