Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Sharing the love: Valentine Mini!

Courtesy photo
 
So ... this is what I'm thinking ... let's have a Valentine's Day Themed Mini Session!!! Sessions will be held Sunday, February 5th, in downtown Fayetteville (Hay Street). Starting at 10am, I will have a session every hour on the hour. Last session will be 2pm.
For $35 you will get a 30 minute session with yours truly, 10-15 edited portraits, & online viewing/ordering for 14 days. Plus, 2 Facebook/Social Media quality images to share with friends and family right away!

Valentine props will be available and you can bring your own! So bring your family, your love, or your best friends and let's have some fun!
Email SharilynWellsPhotography@gmail.com to book your session now! To book, I need your full name, how many people will be in your shoot, & your cell number. Payment for the session will need to be fulfilled either prior to the session or the day of (before your session time). I take cash, check or Paypal.

*Up to 3 people in the portrait ($10 for each additional person).
**More information on location, attire, and anything else you may need once you are booked for a session.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

More animals for adoption!

I spent my lunch with these adorable critters at the Fort Bragg Animal Shelter and Adoption Facility. Check them out! I love taking photos of these guys. They are all so lovable and just wanting a forever home.

I take the time to make these little guys look good because shelter photos make these animals look so pitiful (no hit on the shelters themselves, they have more important things to worry about — like feeding all the animals, watering them, loving them). So I've taken it upon myself to help these wonderful people find forever homes for these animals.

Here's are some examples of how a nice photo can change the way you perceive these amazing animals.

Doesn't your heart just melt when you see these beautiful animals in a professional photo? I really do believe that with the help of my work with the shelter, animals have been given a second chance. I love visiting and hearing that another animal (or two) have been adopted. It's music to my ears.

Now on to the rest of the lovelies!




This guy is Bob. When he was dropped off at the shelter, the volunteers noticed that his tail had been severed. Since then, he's had it surgically removed and is on meds until it heals up. He'll be up and running in no time! 





This little puppy girl has mange. It is curable, but she is on medicine and will need follow up treatment. I know I've said this a lot in this post, but she's is soooo lovable! She just wants to be petted. She especially loves behind the ears! She'll probably lose all of her fur by the time the meds kick in, but after she's cured, I know her fur will come in a beautiful gold! Look at those eyes!  


Because the shelter had a lot of cats, I mostly focused on them. BUT their dogs are just adorable! They've got small ones, big ones, and they're all in need! The shelter also has kittens and adult cats that'll snuggle with you all day if you'd let them! I can't say enough about adopting an animal in need. Every single one of my animals have been adopted. Out of the four, three of them came from this shelter! Hazards of the job I suppose! :-)

OpLove ReUnited: Two Lovebirds Homecoming

Let me tell you ... I love homecomings! Sure, the time schedules may be weird, and military time goes so slow, but the images I get of loved one's being reunited. Priceless.

These two lovebirds couldn't take their eyes (and hands) off each other after they were reunited. It was so sweet. I tried not to be the creepy photographer in the corner taking pictures of their intimate moments ... but man!, they were adorable!

They married just a few days prior to his deployment and really haven't gotten to spend much time as husband and wife. Just adorable.

With out further ado and stopping myself from sounding like a love sick teenager ... here are the photos! 

Got the phone call that they're on Fort Bragg!
The bus, the bus!
It was so cute. She ran to him, he swung her around and they hugged and hugged and hugged!




The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.


Do not copy, save or alter these images without the expressed permission of Sharilyn Wells Photography, LLC. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012


























Here it is people! I received my three awards this morning! I won second place in the 2011 All Army Photography Contest in the People category and two honorable mentions in other categories. After being honored in an intimate presentation, I felt like I was on top of the world. After all, the contest point of contact said there were about 5,000 entries that had to be narrowed down to 1,800 then had to be narrowed down even further to the winners. Five winners came from Fort Bragg (where I am) and of those five winning entries ... three of them were mine! How sweet is that? So, needless to say, I was walking on water. Then to my surprise, I found an envelope on the back of my second place certificate ... guess what? I won $200 for placing second! Are you kidding me? How awesome is that? Especially since I didn't even know there was a prize as part of the contest! :-) Not a clue, so that was an awesome surprise!

If you want to check out my winning pictures you can check them out HERE.  And thank you to everyone who has congratulated me, both here on my blog and on Facebook — as well as in person! :-)

Friday, January 13, 2012

Who has the best love story?

I'm so happy to be announcing this contest! I've partnered up with some other small businesses to offer the Best Love Story Valentine's Day contest!

Yep, you heard it. I'm offering up a free couple's session to one lucky in love couple! It will include 10 Facebook quality portraits to share with friends and family as well as one high resolution print to frame for the house. But that's not all!

With the help of Chrissy's Creative Creations, Pure Romance by DeAnna, and Duct Tape and Baking Pans, we're also giving up a Valentine basket full of goodies from each sponsor!!! That's a whole lot of love!

What do you have to do? Just submit your love story to SharilynWellsPhotography@gmail.com! It has to be 400 words or less and submitted by 7 p.m. on February 5th! Oh, and because we'll be swooning over your stories like love sick high school girls, we also want to see a picture of you and your love!

That's all you have to do! How cool is that?! Don't forget to share this contest with other! We want to spread our love everywhere!


Don't forget to read the rules ... and the photo session has to take place on the 11th or 12th of February in Fayetteville or near by. I can't be flying all over the country with chocolate covered strawberries! They might be eaten by the time they got to the love birds!

Good luck and submit your love story now!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Award-winning

This year, I entered some of my photography in the 2011 All Army Photography Contest ... and guess what?! I place in three different categories! I won two honorable mentions and a 2nd place. I'm so honored to be among some of the most beautiful photographs taken by military members!

There will be an awards ceremony on January 18th, and I will share with you my experiences meeting the other photographers and actually receiving my awards. I can't wait!

Here are the photos that I placed in. I'm so excited to say "Award-winning photographer!" :-)

I won 2nd place in the "People" category. This is an elderly
man take an Mid- afternoon Break in Belize.



I loved the brilliant, bright pink wall behind him. I was actually shooting from our van window when I took this. I remember this fondly because we stopped at this store to get drinks, and since they reuse the glass bottles, they poured our sodas in plastic baggies and we had to drink it through a straw. It was awesome. LOL

God's Light - Honorable Mention in the Monochrome category.

I was just leaving morning formation during my Reserve duty and the fog was rolling in. The sun was hitting it just right, it looked like God's Light shining through. I had to pull over at this park and take pictures, I just had to. It was gorgeous!

Adam's Choice also won Honorable Mention, but in the Landscape and Nature category.

This was taken when my family and I decided to go pick apples at a sort-of-nearby orchard. We brought along my son's best friend, and as he was reaching for the apple, I snapped this. It was originally vertical, but fellow photographers mentioned it might be better landscape ... and they were right.

I love how the rain drops are so crisp on the apple. I remember we drove about an hour and half in beautiful weather to get the orchard, but when we got there it start POURING. LOL, the boys were hungry, cranky, and I wasn't any better. We ended up eating our lunches in the truck and waited for the rain to stop and I'm glad we did. I got some great shots of them having a blast and hey, won an award! LOL