TheBuzz

All for Jimmy V

I had the pleasure this past weekend of shooting for a wonderful cause. My friend Ryan Joseph and I were asked to shot for ESPN to document the Dick Vitale Gala in Sarasota, Florida. It was to raise money for the V Foundation. The money raised was to help the fight against cancer. I have had a love affair with basketball all of my life. I had the opportunity to play basketball in college and after that I put up my sneakers aside and picked up the whistle. I coached high school basketball for 10 years at my old high school. I have sat under the teaching of so many great coaches like Bobby Knight, Roy Williams, Pat Summit, Dean Smith, Pat Riley, and my high school coach Steve Doty.

While photographing at this gala, I was amazed at a side I have never seen of these great men. They were willing to give up not only their time, but also their money (and lots of it) to help with such a worthwhile cause.

Coaching is a like a brother hood. They stick together and help out each other. I find that not only amazing but inspiring.

Over the next yea, Ryan and I will be doing a book to document what these coaches everyday life is like (all proceeds to benefit the Jimmy V Foundation). We see them as these great thinkers on the hardwood. However, after spending some time with them, we were more impressed with how they are with their family and friends. That's the side everyone needs to see. If you would like to help, contact the V foundation. The money raised on this night was to help with Pediatric Cancer.

Seniors (Its Time for 09)

It's that time of year again, GRADUATION!! With graduation comes the passing of the baton to the next leaders of the class. Each year we celebrate this momentous occasion as high school juniors begin the extremely exciting journey to the class of a SENIOR. This Saturday we had a celebration for them. We want to send a big thanks out to all of you that came by. It was so fun to watch you laugh together during your photo booth sessions and entertain Washington with karaoke in the street. We wish we could bottle some of your energy!

During the celebration, everyone that scheduled their senior session was entered into a drawing for a shopping spree at Pink Sugar Boutique. Congrats to the winner, Jenna Haste of Dunlap. Big thanks to the Girls at Pink Sugar ( Erin and Cory Crusen) for being a part of our open house.

If you missed the open house, you can actually still experience a bit of Pink Sugar with a 20% coupon off of any one clothing item when you book a senior session with Portraitlife before June 15th. (call the studio for more details 309-444-8514).

While we are talking about young people, make sure you pick up a copy of our latest newsletter (Northwoods mall or the Portraitlife Studio). It's an inspirational story of a young girl name Meghan Hirschmann, owner of Bezales. Bezales is not your ordinary company. The driving force behind Bezales is certainly not your average corporate leader. Instead, the Bezales story is about family, values, hard work and creativity — not to mention the vision of a 16-year old entrepreneur. So pick up a copy of "Lifestyle" and learn more about Bezales.

Big Sky Country

Julia and I had just back from Montana where we shot the beautiful wedding of Paul & Tenneil. Here are a few of our faves. It was our first time to the Big Sky Country. I really enjoyed driving fast on the open roads! I kinda felt like Ricky Bobby (Mom I am going fast) haha. If you would like to see more images check out our new wedding website at www.jeffreyandjuliawoods.com. Enjoy

I know I know...

Thanks for all the hate mail I have received due to my lack of blogging. haha! (I can't believe it has been almost 5 months since my last post.) Julia and I have had such a wonderful winter and now spring. We have been on the road for most of it. It's been great to meet so many of you during our travels.

Well, all I can say is that I am back and I will try to make every effort to post at least once a week. That way I can catch you up on what we are up to. Which most of the time just seems like insanity.

One thing we have going on this month is our last "exposed" workshop until the fall. So, we wanted to have some fun and get our good friends at Blu Domain involved. We had a contest to give away a free seat. The catch was contestants had to draw a stick figure of Julia and I. It was so fun to see all the creativity that you all put into this.

We have to admit we were really overwhelmed with the response. We recieved over 450 emails. Here were the four finalist.

AND THE WINNER? Bonnie Novotny

When she incorporated our children it seriously melted our heart. We look forward meeting you Bonnie.