HUGE room full of TONS and TONS of photographers…. not only was the room full of PHOTOGRAPHERS… they were full of WOMEN Photographers. SCARY. There was a seminar at WPPI last year that had a panel of female photographers talking about their businesses and how they handled “LIFE” while working full time in this crazy industry. There were about 7 women on the Panel and then one woman hosting the event. She casually mentioned that she felt like “Oprah” standing up there! So, me being the obnoxious person that I am… I tweeted the panel and said something along the lines of
“Well if this is like Oprah, I think we should all walk away with a FREE GIFT!!!:)”. It was a joke….a joke that I didn’t tell the girls next to me because I was afraid it was just a little too cheesy. Ten minutes went by and I forgot about it…. and it happened. The host of the evening picked up her ipad and said into the microphone “Oh, haha, Let me read you all this funny tweet!”. As soon as the first few words came out of her mouth I realized it was my tweet and I cowered down in my chair….. hoping that would be the end of it… but no…. she ended the tweet and asked the audience “Um, is Katelyn James here?!”. AHHHHHHHHH!!! Oh gosh!!! Jasmine waved and I lifted my hand up just enough to be acknowledged and then immediately sat down. That was embarrassing. But the story isn’t over YET! The Host said “Well Katelyn James it’s your lucky day because you ARE going home with a gift! You’ll be receiving a FREE Sigma lens!”. WHAT?!!! My shame immediately turned into gratitude! WOW!!! Making a fool out of myself actually PAID OFF!! There’s a first time for everything!!!
After the seminar was over, I went up to the stage to meet the host and give her my address. Jasmine walked over and after I thanked her for my beautiful wedding images… she looked at me and said “I know you don’t shoot with Sigma Lenses”. This was true…and if I knew Jasmine at ALL, I should have known what was about to come out of her mouth. She looked at me and said “Give it away… blog about it, hold a contest and pay it forward to someone who needs it”. If you haven’t fallen in love with Jstar yet…… I’m sure you just did. She has a heart of gold and a brilliant outlook on business and the power of giving.
So after a year of this little guy sitting in the back of my closet, that’s what I’m doing! I’m giving away a Sigma 50mm 1.4 Lens (for Canon) which unfortunately means I have to have another contest. I told Michael about my plan to do this and he said “Really? Why are you doing this to yourself again?!”. I struggled big time with the last contest because people worked SO hard on their posts and I could only pick ONE winner! It killed me! So this time I’m making it a little easier on myself! If this lens would be an amazing addition to your collection of glass and you want to win it, here is what you need to do:
1. Since this is probably the biggest “RE-GIFT” I’ve ever done…. I want you all to leave a comment telling me about the CRAZIEST thing you have every RE-GIFTED! (Don’t worry, your great aunt Louise won’t read this and find out you re-gifted her fruit cake!)
2. The last thing you have to do is SHARE this post on FACEBOOK! When you share this link, just tag Katelyn James Photography in the post so I can see it and you’ll be eligible to win a $500 lens!!!!!! Woohoo! (make sure you have “liked” the page before trying to tag it! Sometimes Facebook is weird with it’s tagging so I totally understand if you have technical difficulties!!)
** Remember: If you have never commented on the blog before, I have to approve your comment so you may not see it immediately and include your EMAIL in the comment box so that I can get in touch with you if you are the winner! **
The winner will be announced RIGHT HERE on this post on FRIDAY!!!
EDITED TO ADD!!! CONGRATS TO Julie Mancini Photography!! SHE WON & SHE’S GOING TO REGIFT IT AGAIN TO HER STUDENT WHO IS IN YEARBOOK! (I was yearbook editor in high school and I would have LOVED to have had a REAL lens!!!)
Thanks for reading!
— Katelyn
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