NO SPAM - - March News from Sunlight Inspirations

March 2015

Sunlight Inspirations Newsletter

Catching up . . .

In This Issue

NANPA Showcase . . .

Pantanal Book. . . .

Social Media and BLOG

Quick Links

NANPA online showcase

My Photography Website

Pantanal Book
Natural Exposures Blog

Well, I am well past due for wishing you a happy New Year so I'll start by wishing you a VERY belated one and I hope that your year is off to a good start! I have elaborated on this in a couple of blog posts (links below), but after the holidays and end of the year shows, I needed to take a little time to recharge and "go within" a bit. Plus, I must admit I felt like I'd been inundating your inboxes a bit heavily with all the news regarding December shows, etc so I wanted to give you and me both a little "break" from hearing all about ME for a bit. ;o)
That being said, I just want to go back and thank you once again for all of the love, generosity and support you all expressed during the shows and holiday season, and always!! I can't tell you how much your enthusiasm for my artwork and photography means to me!! Thank you SO very much!! The "it takes a village" definitely applies for me and I appreciate all that you do to support me in continuing to put myself and my images "out there."

NANPA showcase . . .

So I took a little break from showing my artwork "physically" after the holiday shows and entered some contests and shows online. One of these was for the NANPA (North American Nature Photographers Association) 2015 Showcase. NANPA has thousands of members and every year does a call for entries for an annual Showcase of the previous year's best images. Each year a jury selects from 1000's of entries to pick what they see as the top selections to be published in NANPA's annual magazine, EXPRESSIONS. I am absolutely honored and thrilled to have 4 images which were selected for publication in the 2015 EXPRESSIONS magazine. Three of these four were top 100 Winners!!! HERE is the link to the online showcase. (The 4 images are found on pages 1, 3 and 6.) I am beyond blown away and so incredibly grateful to have been chosen.

I would NEVER have the images I entered without my dear friend Jeanne Schnackenberg, and then Dan & Tanya Cox of Natural Exposures. Their help and support has been beyond measure in finding and developing my creative voice as a photographer and literally in getting to and from the places these images were captured! Dan & Tanya (and their wonderful assistant Jill Magnum) were also generous to create a blog post about the NANPA accolade as well. You can view the blogpost and a slideshow of my 10 "finalist" images HERE.

I'll let you know when the 2015 publication of EXPRESSIONS becomes available for viewing and purchase.

Pantanal Book . . .

In the last newsletter I had to "stop the presses" and rescind my announcement for my most recent passion project . . . a beautiful photography collection of wildlife from the very endangered ecosystem of the Pantanal in Brazil. I am super excited to share this project with you and was so disappointed when there was a software glitch that ruined the first printing of the book. I must say that the publishing company, Blurb, did a fantastic job in making things right and I'm super excited that the book is available to you now. This area is extremely special to me and the jaguars especially have deeply touched my heart. I'd love for you to share the link to the book or the book itself with others in the hopes to educate and inspire others to become passionate about this very fragile and wonderous place as well. Thank you! You can find the book HERE.

Social Media and Blog . . .

Believe it or not, I struggle incredibly with the whole concept of self-promotion. While some artists love to be "on stage," that level of exposure terrifies me. Actually, in person, speaking to more than about 5 people a one time gets overwhelming. That being said, I do love to connect and I'm passionate about this whole concept of inspiring each other in whatever ways we can to be our best selves and encourage each other so I do my best to push through that discomfort. I've become fairly comfortable on with doing my artshows (especially when I have the wonderful support and creative inspirations of my talented buddies to show alongside me!! Thanks Robin Fallon, Sue Dougherty, Kristin Wolter, Missy Powell, Kristin (and Dave!) Moore and others for sharing the journey with me!). I gradually keep sticking my toes further into the social media waters and have recently added myself to Linkedin. You can also find me on Facebook and Google +.

The biggest leap for me has been to start a BLOG on my photography website. You can check that out HERE.
Please feel free to leave comments too as I'd love some feedback on that!

New Permanent Collection . . .

I'm super excited to announ ce that Blue Sky Veterinary Clinic in Bend, OR will be showcasing some of my jaguars, lion and Alaskan Brown Bear images in their exam rooms!!! Pieces are on order and should be up and ready for viewing in the clinic in the near future. I'm so excited to have this opportunity to have some of my images on display and so grateful to Dr. Chad & Tabitha Moles for wanting to share my work with your amazing staff and clients!! Thank you so much!!

AS always, thank YOU so very much for all your support!! I tend to feel like a little kid playing "doorbell ditch" sometimes when it comes to sharing and promoting my artwork . . . I push the button (doorbell/"send") and then want to run and hide but it is the support, encouragement and your enthusiasm that keeps me putting myself out there and standing tall in the doorway when you open it to receive me!! Thank you so very much!!

Sincerely,

Christine Crosby

Sunlight Inspirations