Best Face Photo of 2010

I didn’t spend a lot of time last year entering photography contests and I want to change that for 2011. Not really because I expect to win any contests, but because it will challenge me to take themed shots or use a specific technique.

In 2011, I’ve set a goal to enter at least 25 photography contests. This is only about two a month and I feel I may exceed this goal quickly. I thought about trying to enter 50 contests this year, but one a week seemed a lot more intimidating than two a month. I’d rather set my goal to something attainable and adjust it later on if it doesn’t seem very challenging.

For my first contest entry of 2011, I decided on an easy one: I Heart Faces’ Best Face Photo of 2010. Although I adore I Heart Faces, I’ve never actually entered any of their photo contests before. They hold one weekly, so I’m sure it won’t be my last entry on the site.

I went through all my photos from 2010. Almost all of my face photos are of my children, and it’s hard to look at photos of them objectively. There are shots I took of them where I LOVE their expression, but it isn’t in focus, or the lighting isn’t right, or I edited it stupidly. There are lots of runners-up (1, 2, 3) but it all comes back to the very first photo I took last year.

In my excitement to begin Project 365 in 2010, I took this photograph of Mr. Serious early in the morning. He grabbed his Daddy’s toothpick and, true to his nature, was very serious about trying to use it correctly. I converted the photograph to black and white because it was too distracting in color. When I posted the shot, I wasn’t happy with it at all, but it quickly grew on me and is still one of my favorites of my oldest son. Looking back, it’s amazing how much he’s changed in the past year and also how much he’s stayed exactly the same.

Update! Voting is now open over at I Heart Faces. If you’d like to vote for my shot, please visit this I Heart Faces link and do a Find for “Lynda”. My entry in the linky should be easy to find that way. At the moment, I’m entry #715. Thanks!