I have a WINNER

Oh my gosh, this contest was so hard to judge. I had so many fantastic enteries! The challange I gave was to come up with a creative Lifestyle session involving your family, and I had to pick the one that I most want to shoot.

You people did not disappiont me. Holy cow, I was blown away and I wish I could photograph them all at no charge. But there can only be one winner, so I'm thrilled to award Marilyn Peebles with the Grand Prize of a free session, plus all of the images on CD.

Here is Marilyn's winning entry:

We love Gruene, Texas. Prior to having kids, Jonah and I spent many weekends there listenting to live music and staying at the Gruene Mansion Inn for a mini-getaway. It is still a place we love to take the boys on Friday afternoons to listen to the sound checks at Gruene Hall or have a frosty beverage at the Grist Mill while the boys play in the open field. The kids love to get a scoop of ice cream or a candy stick from the General Store. So, I thought it would be fun to have a "Tour of Gruene" session, with pictures doing our favorite things there: dipping our toes in the river, eating ice cream on the stools at the General Store, playing pool with the boys and listening/dancing to music at the Gruene Hall, spinning under the stars in the open field by the Grist Mill, etc. I think it would be fun to celebrate our Texas roots with pictures with the boys in Gruene.

What I love about Marilyn's session idea is that absolutely everything I was looking for is here: a beautiful and interesting setting (its Gruene, for pete's sake!), various things to do that involve the entire family, and it is something that has history and meaning to the family. I can't wait to have these images for myself, can you imagine how special they'll be for Marilyn?

I want to give a huge THANKS to everyone that entered. There wasn't a single idea that I didn't want to photograph, so if anyone would like me to do their session I will give you a BIG discount. Huge. The only ones I can't do are those who requested a Halloween session, and that is because, well, I'll be photographing my own kids that night.

Congratulations Marilyn, I'll see you soon from behind my camera!