Yes I’m still here :) Just getting accustomed to the wintery weather of Illinois and all the mounds of snow surrounding our house. It’s been a crazy change of scenery moving from California to Illinois, but a fun adventure too.

And with fun new adventures also comes a fun new look for the LCP website. I’ve combined both the main website and the blog into one BlogSite so there isn’t any more need for the back and forth. It’s all here in one happy place. I do have to warn those who don’t know of my design bug fixation… don’t be surprised if things happen to look different again come springtime!

Hope you are all having a marvelous 2012 so far!

Since then, seeing images like these next few, and even more as each new day begins, makes me wish I could do more than just pray, and feel incredible sadness for Japan…

(photos courtesy of Kyodo News/Associated Press/Reuters)

But tonight I proudly join in on a great crusade of giving, led by the wonderful people of Utterly Engaged and Ever Ours, aptly called “For Japan With Love”. This website leads everyone to collaborate together by spreading the word of a very noble organization, Shelterbox, one of the first to be on site and assist the Japanese people with much needed items.

For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to our fundraising page for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.

Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.

And to even further spread the news, it would be great if many bloggers the world over would participate in tomorrow’s Bloggers Day Of Silence. While not posting on any of your blog(s), you can also proactively spread the news about donating to Japan, to the many various causes and organizations available, such as ShelterBox, The Red Cross, Save The Children, and Doctors Without Borders, whether via facebook, twitter, or word of mouth.

My family and I will support however we can, and we will continue to pray for those who have suffered the devastating effects of the earthquake and tsunami, and we hope you’ll join in too.

I woke up yesterday and received a pretty wonderful email that’s really helped to start this year with a bang! I’m honored to say that I have been awarded the WeddingWire.com Bride’s Choice 2011 Award!

The Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes and celebrates excellence in quality and service within the wedding industry, as determined by over 750,000 newlyweds. Being a recipient of this award means that Lorelei Conover Photography is ranked among the top 5 percent of all wedding professionals nationwide, and I owe it all to my amazing wedding couples. Thank you!!!

Visit our WeddingWire page here: weddingwire.com/loreleiphotography

(Click the image to check out the real thing)

It’s simple and right to the point, which is what I wanted my web presence to be for this round of designing madness, and I’m just hoping I’ll stick to it for a while (redoing websites take a lot of time!)

In other news, I have some pretty fun shoots to share with you, some I can’t because I’ve submitted them for possible publishing (so we’ll see how that goes), and I hope your November is pretty fabulous so far. We’ve got a couple of weeks to go and Thanksgiving and that yummy food will be here before we know it!

7/30 through 8/2 – Anchorage, Alaska
8/23 through 8/26 – Laughlin, Nevada
9/16 through 9/20 – New York/Brooklyn, New York

I re-designed the main portfolio site a little bit here and a lot a bit there. Does it make you wanna jump into the cool beach shores? :)

(btw, the awesome action shot photos of me is by the even more awesome Jeremy Chou of Jeremy Chou Photoworks :)

And in that spirit of “closeness”, I’ve decided to hold a fun photo challenge for you! Below is a close up of an object, of which I would LOVE for you to guess what it could be. And only TWO rules stand in front of you:

1) Your guess can ONLY be entered as a comment onto my facebook page post about this contest, and

2) In order for your guess to count, you must be a fan or “like” my facebook page :)

Pretty simple, right? Oh, the winner gets a pretty nifty gifty, not to mention bragging rights!

So head over here and enter your guess in by May 25th! In the result of duplicate correct answers, we will pull those names out from a hat and will pick the lucky winner! :D

Here’s what I’m entering… the contest calls for photos that show red, or having a meaning that’s “red”. And well, you’ll find red is everywhere in our every day lives. Because red is: simple, sophisticated, scintillating, just like Lola… and just like life, red is Art :)

I think what I love most about Google is the fact that behind all the creative and technical geniuses that make up the resources we get to use and play with and connect to each other with, is that most, if not all of these resources, are 100% FREE. Which to me, makes them one of the most generous companies on the planet.

And they certainly don’t forget the many many brides and grooms out there who are in the midst of planning their wedding day. Whether you’re in the very early stages or the big day is just around the corner, these Google Docs are available for your use, free!!, to help out with your planning and even gather all those awesome photos you’ll be left with when all is said and done!

So go on and check out the awesomeness, many will be glad you did!

(click on the screen shot)

Please pardon me while I drool.

Presenting Lorelei Conover Photography, formerly known as “Words In Pictures Photography”. A little back story, I started my business ten years ago as a website and graphic designer, under the WIP name. I design pretty much everything, from graphics, logos, business identities for clients, websites, and of course my exclusive line of photo card announcements and invitations. When I began offering professional photography four years ago, I did it all under the same business name. Last year I was doing some thinking and wanted to do some restructuring in my business and have my photography stand alone, with just my name, so here it is!

All the success I’ve had since venturing into my career as a professional photographer has been so amazing, and I owe it all to God’s good blessings, and of course to my clients, family, and friends, whom without their patronage and support, this wouldn’t have all been possible! That being said, I am so excited to bring out my new website design, the new logo, and of course this blog that I finally got around to starting.

Oh, and for those who aren’t familiar with the the background of my first name and the new logo… Lorelei is derived from a German folktale about a mermaid who lured ship navigators to their dooms with their alluring singing, much as the ancient Greek Sirens did. Now, I’d rather not be affiliated with murderous mermaids, but I do love to sing, so I guess we’ll just forget about the morbid part of the story. :P