Winnah!

Wowzaaaa, thank you all so much. Last night this lil blog picked up an award for Best Photo Blog at the Maryland Outstanding Blog Awards (Mobbies) thanks to all of the times you guys voted! It’s nice to receive an award for a blog I dedicate a lot of time and effort to. It’s safe to say that after a little over two years this blog has become apart of my daily routine and has connected me with the communities of photography, journalism, social media and the local Baltimore blogger scene in so many ways.

My acceptance speech went something like this,

“Thank you all so much, I’ll write a more meaningful speech later when I’m safety behind my computer screen.” 

I loathe public speaking, especially when the spotlight is on me. I like talking to people but having a hundred pairs of eyes focused on me makes me a deer in the headlights. I’m more of a one-on-one conversation type of girl here so apologies for the lame speech. In promise of my first speech, here’s a blog post thanking you in a proper way!

You guys have always supported me in all of my writing and photo endeavors whether it’s by voting for me in a silly contest, sharing a story I worked hard on, or even simply liking and commenting on my content. I want you all to know that it really means a lot to me that I have such a huge circle of support coming from family, friends, peers, colleagues, professors and even strangers, that one really blows my mind. I appreciate every share, like, vote, comment, and critique on what I put out there for you to absorb. Thanks for being the fuel to my fire!

*I would like to take the time to discuss something that was brought to my attention this morning. There are a lot of people who are super bummed that they didn’t win. I understand – it’s cool to win a Mobbie Award. You get a little hat, a certificate, free advertising and bragging rights. However, it’s really important to understand that this contest is a reader voted one AKA it’s a popularity contest. While that may seem not fair, it technically is since social media runs on popularity, generally speaking the more followers you have, the bigger your blog will be. While all of the people that won this year have awesome blogs and amazing content (I checked), sometimes people that win an award won’t always be the literal “best” in their category – they just have the best followers who take the time to vote for them. If you didn’t win it doesn’t mean that your blog sucks – there are too many great blogs out there for them all to win!

It really made me sad (just kidding, no it didn’t) that a handful of people across Facebook were insinuating that I only won my category because I shoot for the Baltimore Sun (the creators and hosts of the Mobbie Awards). Let’s clarify that right now before it escalates. The reason I even freelance (note, freelance not staff – as in I don’t work on the inside) for the Sun is BECAUSE OF THIS BLOG I STARTED TWO YEARS AGO. If it wasn’t for this blog, no one would have even noticed me. So before you throw shade at me, sit down and get your facts right. Maybe people making these jabs and comments should take the energy they are putting into negativity and being salty sallies and put it towards improving their own blogs. I have a huge support group that voted for me every day, who had their friends friends moms vote for me, not to even mention the awesome followers I have here on WordPress as well.
Come on guys, this is supposed to be lighthearted and fun.
* Cue Forest Gump Voice* “That’s all I’m gonna say about that”
In the words and actions of Justin Berk‘s acceptance speech, I’m just going to “shake, shake, shake it off”.

Now that that’s out of the way, check out these awesome photos of the awards show by fellow Sun freelancer Steve Ruark. 

Andrew and I at the Mobbie Awards. Taken by Steve Ruark.

What’s next? I’ve been doing the black and white photo challenge! I’ll be doing a few blog posts discussing black and white – both film and digital – why it’s important and how to edit for it. 🙂