Shoot & Share Contest, 2019

*resharing the same blog post I posted on my photog blog here

I LOVE me a good photo competition. I’ve entered a couple recently and I figured I’d share some of my entries (and placings!) for the 2019 Shoot & Share contest!

This is an annual contest that is held at the beginning of each year and it’s 100% free (woot!) and open to anyone! There are a ton of different categories: from phone photography to landscapes to births and passion portraits, and each person can submit up to 50 images. And then voting is open to the public and it’s kinda cool how it’s done because you just keep voting for the category that pops up and you can pick your favorite image of the 4 that they show you then it brings up a new category and 4 more images!

Welp, go big or go home, right?!? I went all in and submitted 50 images and had so much fun voting and seeing my images pop up as the rounds went on. When the contest was over I was so thrilled to see the results, especially for my first year entering in this contest! I had 23 of my 50 images place in the top 30% or higher — two were finalists and one made it to the top 100!!!



I thought I’d share with you the individual images that placed and their categories. I am so honored and proud of how my snaps did in this contest! I cannot WAIT for next years and I’ve already started setting aside pics from my shoots this year to enter.

Pets/Animals Category
24,540 total entries
Top 100 finisher, placing 37 out of 24540!

This is one of my favorite images I snapped and I am so happy with how high it placed! Annie and I totally lucked out with an awesomely empty morning at the Zoo and Kali the Polar Bear was allllll about those pictures that morning!

Passion Portraits Category
3009 total entries
Finalist, placing 104 out of 3009!

This is the image that was the most important to me and I am so glad it was so well received (and SO CLOSE to the top 100!!) as it really showcased my postpartum after the loss of our sweet Clark. I actually have this printed on metal and it’s next to my bedside giving me a daily reminder of our littlest guy. So much emotion and love wrapped up in that one picture.

Birth Category
6231 total entries
Finalist, placing 345 out of 6231!

This kid had SO MUCH HAIR! And it was one of my favorite births to snap from 2018 — his mama is one of my most favorite people and I just loooooove that she let me share his snaps and story with the world!

Pets/Animals Category
24,540 total entries
Top 10% to round 11 (of 12), placing 575 out of 24540!

Ahhh, Scoots! Any pic with him in it will always hold a special place in my heart. I just LOVE this pic of all of the kiddos clearly enjoying bath time about 1000 times more than Scooter. I actually have it blown up in the kids’ bathroom!!

Kids Category
52,643 total entries
Top 10% to round 10 (of 12), placing 1295 out of 52643!

Is there anything simpler than a kid catching snowflakes in their mouth!??! I love this simple black and white pic of Rosie catching snowflakes during our first snowfall of the winter…and I love how her eyes are covered so she didn’t get any snowflakes in them!

Newborn Category
39,479 total entries
Top 10% to round 10 (of 12), placing 1942 out of 39479!

This is one my my all-time favorite Fresh 48 images and I just love the simplicity of baby laying in the bassinet with the soft afternoon sun filling up the background behind her. This was one of my closest calls to make it to a birth — got there about 4 minutes before she was born via emergency c-section! But what a story she has to tell when she’s older!

Newborn Category
39,479 total entries
Top 10% to round 10 (of 12), placing 2912 out of 39479!

I am OBSESSED with capturing those tiny details of newborns, especially fresh baby feet! This is another one of my most favorite Fresh 48 snaps and little Chloe here was SO GOOD for her brand spankin’ 12 hours old pics!!

Kids Category
52,643 total entries
Top 10% to round 10 (of 12), placing 3209 out of 52643!

So many people asked if I did photoshopping on this pic and I did not! It was 100% straight off of the camera like this — just the perfect glitter placement from Rosie blowing it onto the path by our house. I just looooove how this turned out and was one of my favorite pics of Rosie from last year!

Kids Category
52,643 total entries
Top 20% to round 9 (of 12), placing 5676 out of 52643!

Another bath snap of my kiddos — a very candid one at that! These are some of my favorites to capture and I’m so glad it got so much love!

Birth Category
6231 total entries
Top 20% to round 11 (of 12), placing 652 out of 6231!

Hands down (or up and out?!?! haha!) one of my all-time favorite birth snaps! While I didn’t share any other pics from this twin birth, this sweet mama let me share this one and enter it into a few contests and I’m soooo glad she did because I absolutely LOVE IT. Birth is so freaking amazing and I’m so thankful I get to call this my JOB!

Birth Category
6231 total entries
Top 30% to round 9 (of 12), placing 1521 out of 6231!

This little lady made a fast and furious entrance and mama literally waited to push until I got there! BUT I MADE IT and was able to capture her incredible birth and I am forever grateful because I had 3 of sweet Magnolia’s birth photos place in the top 30%!

Birth Category
6231 total entries
Top 30% to round 10 (of 12), placing 1272 out of 6231!

Another one from sweet Magnolia’s birth. I want to note this WONDERFUL nurse and how we’ve become buddies and I’ve got to be at TWO more of her patients’ births in the past couple of months! Again, can you say dream job?! I LOVE the people I get to meet with doing this job I love so much!

Birth Category
6231 total entries
Top 30% to round 9 (of 12), placing 1749 out of 6231!

Again, OBSESSED with the baby feet! Capturing those footprints getting done is one of my favorite things and I LOVE LOVE LOVE making sure the births I snap get these included in their galleries!

Kids Category
52,643 total entries
Top 30% to round 8 (of 12), placing 11344 out of 52643!

Ahhh, Disney! What a magical trip we had last year and even though the park was SO CROWDED I somehow managed to create a bit of magic and snap this pic with nearly NO ONE in the background! Rosie, who wasn’t even 3 at this time, was just so excited to be there in her Cinderella dress in front of her castle, I was so glad I was able to get this shot!

Families Category
41,257 total entries
Top 20% to round 8 (of 12), placing 7544 out of 41257!

This is one of my most FAVORITE families — I’ve lost count how many photoshoots they’ve done with me over the years and I am just OBSESSED with them and their love for fun, candid snaps! Cannot wait to see what we capture for them in 2019!!

Birth Category
6231 total entries
Top 30% to round 10 (of 12), placing 1380 out of 6231!

Ahhh, one of my most favorite families and birth stories to capture! I just LOVE this image and the pure joy of happiness and excitement on their faces finally meeting their baby girl! Gosh I love this job SO MUCH!

Birth Category
6231 total entries
Top 30% to round 9 (of 12), placing 1646 out of 6231!

This is one of my most favorite OBs to work with — I think I’ve snapped 6 births with her and she is just AMAZING! This was another wonderful mama’s birth story I got to capture (yay team green!) and who I’ve become close with after getting to attend her little lady’s birth. Oh! This image has been going around a bit and was even named one of the best hospital photos by PopSugar! Super cool!

That Just Happened Category
6103 total entries
Top 30% to round 10 (of 12), placing 1363 out of 6103!

This image makes me giggle every single time I look at it. It was totally a split-second click that made his hands look like the pup’s teeth and it just CRACKS ME UP! I’m glad others found it funny too :)

Newborn Category
39,479 total entries
Top 30% to round 8 (of 12), placing 8055 out of 39479!

Simple pics are my fave, especially during Fresh 48 snaps. This guy was the calmest little Fresh 48 cucumber I’ve ever snapped and I could have taken about a billion pics of him during this session! So glad he got some love from others too!

Kids Category
52,643 total entries
Top 30% to round 7 (of 12), placing 12319 out of 52643!

Annie and the gumball machine. I don’t know why I love this pic so much (maybe cause it’s under the window the big kids call “Goose’s Window” after my grandma), but maybe it’s the simplicity of it and little pops of color. Either way, I love that others loved it too!!

Kids Category
52,643 total entries
Top 30% to round 7 (of 12), placing 13460 out of 52643!

I adore this pic — even though it’s only half of Patrick’s face, I LOVE the subtle raindrop on his eyelash and dirt on his face and it just perfectly sums him up: ALL BOY!

Travel/Landscape Category
28,552 total entries
Top 30% to round 8 (of 12), placing 7527 out of 52643!

I took this pic in Scotland on our trip last summer and I don’t know what I love about it so much — the colors, the old castle, that there are no tourists in it (!!!), but yeah, I really loved it. And I’m glad it got some likes and love from others too!!

Kids Category
52,643 total entries
Top 30% to round 7 (of 12), placing 11957 out of 52643!

Is there anything better than siblings holding hands and a soft warm sunlight glow highlighting them from behind?! I think not! Plus I love that they have their TinySuperheroes hats on too.

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Welp folks, that is it! So happy and proud of how my snaps placed this year and eternally grateful to the families who let me share and submit their snaps to this contest! I wanted to show all 50 of the pics I submitted so you can get a glimpse into some others too that didn’t place but I am still super proud of that were entered in the contest (and hey, none were eliminated in round 1 so yay, right?!?!). I cannot wait for next years!


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