Without question, this was another tough contest. Before I announce the Five Finalists to you, I want to thank the people who sent hundreds of Fatherhood images to us. I read every email and looked at every photo at least twice. During the process, I found myself crying, laughing, and standing in awe of what you have captured. Having come from a painful relationship with my own dad, I thank all of you who entered images. Every image was healing and full of passion. The finalists below are only a sampling of what was entered, but what a sampling they are!

Five roles of fatherhood came up again and again in the hundreds of entries. Not only are these finalist images artistic, but they are also a much larger representation of the different roles.

The first role of fatherhood is being a Playmate.

Finalist #1, Happy Food Spot, by Sarah (mama and wife to these two)

Doesn’t this image bring a complete smile to your face? When I opened it up, I almost fell out of my chair. It’s wonderful! The composition is fantastic! We see just enough of the lettering above and just enough of the sidewalk below. Study that for just a moment. The top third and bottom third are both minimal–adding a beautiful simplicity to the overall image. I even like how the two aren’t totally centered, off centered by just a smidgen. This adds forward motion to the two of them. The image also reveals a wonderful connection between the dad and his daughter. Dad is totally her playmate. And the combined green background and fun lettering take it to a whole new level!

The mama behind this wonderful photo is Sarah. She is out of Chicago. Her email signature revealed that she also contributes to Shutter Sisters. Tracey Clark and a bunch of other beautiful women host the awesome website, Shutter Sisters. If you haven’t, make sure you check out their site and Sarah’s too! You will eat it all up! (back to the photo) Sarah said her husband and daughter are two peas in a pod. Doesn’t that phrase have a whole new meaning with this photo! Thank you Sarah for sharing Happy Food Spot!

The next role of Fatherhood is Protector.

Finalist #2, Water Balloon, by Sara (Sara with no h )

The timing of this shot is unbelievable! Not only did Sara catch the exact moment of the dad catching the water balloon. But she also caught the little girl’s hands. Her hands reveal the intensity of the energy in this moment. This is also a beautiful example of Less is More. We don’t need to see the faces to know this little girl is both scared and relieved at the same time. Dad is there to protect her. In Sara’s words;

When I look at this photo, I can just feel my father’s arms around me. I can feel him protecting me. I can feel the security in his voice and in his laugh. Even though this child is only being protected from a water balloon, I can just imagine the feelings she had as she slowly opened her eyes to realize that yes, her daddy kept her safe once again!

When looking at the photo submissions, I have a system that helps me ignore the names of the sender. You can imagine how excited I was to find that this was Sara Montgomery! She attended two of our workshops and is now doing family photo shoots and has a wonderful blog. Enjoy! This woman is an inspiration! Sara, thanks for sharing your gift with us!

The third role is Provider.

Finalist #3, Falling Asleep Under the Truck, by his wife Lauren.

This image brought me to tears. Lauren shared how her husband repairs aircrafts for his day job. And then Lauren lost her job and Brian decided to start repairing cars at night for extra cash. After a 10 hr. work day of working on planes, he has fallen asleep under the purple truck. There is so much more to this man that Lauren has shared. But I want to continue the focus on not only his commitment to Provide, but also how Lauren caught the spirit of a Provider.

His dirty, oily hand in the foreground of the shot says so much about this dad. And the fact that he’s asleep on the garage floor, need I say more? Again, Less is More. We don’t need to see his sleepy eyes to know he’s exhausted. It also looks like Lauren added a vignette to this which is a soft blackening around the outer edge of the image. You can do this in Adobe Lightroom under the vignette tab. Sometimes people over use vignettes, but I think the vignette in this image adds a certain “hush” to the image. Lauren, thank you for not only sharing this amazing image of Brian, but for also sharing your story. You are both incredible. What a honor to feature your image here.

The fourth role is Timelessness.

Finalist #4, Skateboarding with Dad, by Renee (mama and wife)

Why timelessness? I look at this picture and I see myself walking into a stationary store someday and buying a Father’s Day card with this image on it. It is the classic vintage shot of dad doing something crazy with the kids. Timeless…that’s what it is. I also love the composition too. Of course we fall in love with the little girl smiling at us and dad behind her, but I’m really loving the other one behind them. She’s the sweetie with the purse trying to catch up.

This little girl’s presence in the image adds motion and speed to the dad and daughter on the skateboard. Try to picture this image without the little girl running behind them. It could almost look like they were just standing on a skateboard. But because the little is running we feel the forward motion in the skateboarding. Wonderful Renee! Well done!! I also love how Renee turned this image to black and white. I like to use black and white toning when I want to accentuate emotion or a sense of timelessness. This image is the perfect fit!

The last role a father plays is Enduring Love.

Finalist #5, Photo Shoot for Dad and His Sweetie, by Carrie (wife and mama)

I’m struck by how the expression on the dad’s face brings me to a pause. I feel myself exhale as I take in all the enduring love that comes through in that simple furrow of the brow. She is playful and in love with dad; he savors every moment of their connection. The tight frame with a simple, blurred background helps us come close. We can almost her his breath. Imagine this picture if there was distraction in the background behind them. Carrie’s thoughtful composition has made all the difference. Her focus is sharp on dad’s face and because of this we are overwhelmed by the emotion he reveals in a single moment–the strength of his enduring love that will not end no matter how many miles separate them.

It was wonderful to find that Carrie had entered this picture. She lives in Florida and attended our Sonoma Workshop. Carrie wrote that when she got home from the Sonoma workshop her husband told her he wanted to be her first “real” photo shoot. Would she do a photo shoot of him and their daughters? He wanted Carrie to pretend like they were clients and wouldn’t even let her drive with them to the park. Instead he and the girls picked out their clothes and met Carrie at the photo shoot location. First, what an amazing gift to give his wife, to call her out as an artist and assign value to her time and art. There’s a handful of you husbands out there (like our avid male blog commenter, Jeramy. What would we do without you guys?)

He also wanted these photos because he was being deployed again and it will be several months before he holds his girls. Carrie hasn’t been able to look at this series of photos since he left. But for us, she was strong and shared them. What an incredible gift you have given us Carrie. What a gift you are. Thank you.

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These are the Five (AMAZING) Finalists for June’s Fatherhood Photo Contest! I hope they give as much inspiration to you as they have given to us.

Now it’s your turn to vote! Yeah!! Brian and I invite you to post a comment and vote for your favorite finalist (you only get to pick one ). The most important part to voting is sharing a few words about why you picked the image you have. These comments are better than any prize we could offer. Your feedback, no matter how short, helps the finalists

There will be One Final Finalist who wins a $100 Home Depot certificate to share or give her hubby.

We’re also going to give $20 Starbucks cards as two Random Voter Awards. This means if you post a comment and vote, you are automatically entered into a drawing where two people will win the Random Voter Award.

One more way to win! If we hit 400 votes (which hasn’t happened yet), the #400 voter will also win a $20 Starbucks card! But here’s the catch. Voting ends this Wednesday night at midnight PST.

Time to email your friend and get them voting for a finalist and possible week’s worth of coffee!

p.s. I was going to finish up the engagement session for the blog yesterday, but my mom came over and we ended up canning Ginger Peach Jam. Oh, it’s so yummy! But the slide show is coming soon!