I am so excited to invite ALL of you guys to the regional premiere of When You Find Me- the film that was based on our photograph.  It premieres at Citrus Stadium Park Mall 20  (7999 Citrus Park Town Center Mall, Tampa, Florida) at 6:30 pm on Thursday February 16th! Here is your official invitation, I’d love to see familiar and new faces there!

if you have been hiding under a rock… let me catch you up.

Last summer i got an email from my sweet nephew, Chet Kruse.  he mentioned i should enter my photography in this contest-  Canon Project Imagin8ion.  Never having entered a contest before, i checked out the rules and regulations and felt confident it wasn’t a popularity contest (vote for me!) but a true and honest collaboration between creatives…. one of those being Ron Howard (director of A Beautiful Mind, Apollo 13, among others). The project asked photographers from all over the united states to enter photographs that fit into one of 8 themes  (Relationship, Mood, Character, Setting, Obstacle, etc) and the winning 8 photographs would go on to inspire the next movie by Ron Howard. Likely, you saw this TV commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-Eesvx8GM0&hd=1

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have my photograph be made into a movie?  sign me up. I entered this photograph of a woman in labor breathing through a contraction as her husband supports her. I titled it ‘too much’ – an ambiguous title- so that the Canon team could interpret it a multitude of ways and use their creative minds to come up with a storyline based on that event. it is, after all, called project imagination…

and then made it into the semi-finals.  and then into the finals.  and then Canon called me one morning to congratulate me on being the winning photograph of almost 100,000 entries, and that my photograph would go on to inspire this film.

Needless to say, i was overwhelmed, pulled my car over because i was shaking so hard and crying in disbelief.  Ron Howard had seen my photograph.  and then….. he had picked it.  as.his.favorite. and then he created a little video blog talking about my photograph, why he chose it, and said my name. i was all ‘oh you know. that happens every day. Ron Howard just talking about my work. it really isn’t a big deal…” – ok, that’s a lie. i was floored. i may have peed my pants. just a little. shhh….

it was easily one of the most impactful moments of my entire life, and i am still in a state of disbelief. Lets get real for a minute here… My photograph was probably not ‘THE BEST’ in any of the categories. it wasn’t lit with 20 heafty-duty expensive lights. it wasn’t even edited in photoshop. It was the Raw image, converted to black and white, and submitted. but it was a moment of true emotion, a real moment in the most emotionally charged moments of that mother’s life. It is, in those moments of birth, where a person’s true character shows, and the relationships they have. It spoke to Ron, Bryce, and the Canon crew, and lended a story-telling aspect to the film. you’re left with so many questions- what is going on? is she dying? will she be alright? is she possibly having a baby? where are they exactly? … and i believe it is because of these questions that are left on the table that it was intriguing to them and was used well in the film. photographs that are emotionally charged are the ones that leave the permanent burned image in your mind long after you see it. that is the ultimate goal for any visual artist. They asked us all to talk about our photographs:

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meanwhile, Bryce Dallas Howard was busy  directing the motion picture already. they had scripted the whole movie around the 8 winning photographs that fit into each one of those themes (mine won the ‘relationship’ category). They created a trailer which kept everyone anxious to see the film at the world premiere. I still get goosebumps when i watch it…

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they flew us out to New York (my first time!) for the world premiere of the film and after party and we all felt like celebrities between the red carpet event, the media and press, and the VIP treatment.

And created this AWESOME little video of what the premiere was like!

The film was then screened at Sundance Film Festival, and will have other appearances and (hopefully!) nominations for some pretty awesome awards ceremonies.  So now that you’ve had to wait so long, here is your turn, Tampa area friends, to see the film.  I’d love it if you could join us this thursday to watch this creative collaboration and hang out with us! We’ll also be having another premiere in Madison Wisconsin for all our northern followers and clients as well, so stay tuned Wisconsin!

thank you so much for everyone that has followed us on this incredible journey, supported us, and rooted for us.  I’d love to see you there!