June Featured Artist and Giveaway...Part 1 Ends 6/16

Our first featured artist for June comes from the great state of Colorado. I'd like you all to meet Tatiana of Tatiana Rene Photography. This woman does absolutely fabulous work and when we saw her shop we knew we had to spread the word!!

We asked Tatiana to let us in on a little of her life and she happily obliged with her great answers to our questions:

How did you get started in photography? "As a child, I always loved the camera. I began modeling school when I was 9, so the camera has always been a part of my life. When I moved to Colorado during 7th grade, modeling was no longer a part of my life because I lived in a very small town tucked away in the Rocky Mountains. Modeling was unheard of there, plus it was too far away from any large city. So, I began taking pictures of my friends and family. When I moved to Hawaii after high school, I fell in love with landscapes. I have been taking pictures since. "

How did you choose your business name? "Tatiana Rene Photography. First and middle name. Simple. I love the name that my parents gave to me, so I decided to keep it as my business name as well. I mean, Kandinsky and Picasso didn't change their names on their artwork. =]"

How did you find etsy? "My mom actually started my Etsy site for me. She read an article somewhere about people being successful on Etsy from selling their artwork. So, she was really excited about getting my artwork out there and started my site. Kelela means Cheryl in Hawaiian. Cheryl is my mother's name. I could have started a completely different shop with my own name, but I love my family so much, so I wanted to keep my mother's Hawaiian name on my shop. Family is number one to me. They will be there for you no matter what happens."

What is your favorite crafting tip? "Photoshop to brighten and sharpen contrast is my love. You can take a great picture, but it will be even greater if you Photoshop it up a little bit. But I don't like to "over-Photoshop" it. Using filters and altering pictures too much tends to take away from the actual shot. "

What inspires you? "Everything inspires me. When I look at things, I imagine what it would look like in a photograph. I'm not kidding. I take pictures with my eyes before I actually take the photograph. Although flowers are somewhat cliche, I do love photographing them. Most of my work is centered around flowers and landscapes. Only recently have I began breaking away from that and started to become more urbanized in my work."

Is there anything else that you would like our fabulous readers to know about you? "I really want to be a fashion photographer someday, but my introvertedness tends to get in the way. I get super nervous taking pictures of people. I hope to overcome that fear. Someday you will find me at the end of runways in New York and Paris. =] "

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Tatiana, and when I saw only a few I mean it. If I could by her whole shop...I would!!

Now for the best part...Tatiana has graciously agreed to give a beautiful greeting card featuring one of her photos from her Natural Beauties Collection. To enter visit her shop and come back here leaving us a comment with your favorite pictures name. Want to get a second entry? Blog, twitter, or facebook about this blog feature and leave us a separate comment with a link.

What a great way to get a wonderful piece of art from an up and coming photographer we are sure to hear about in the future!!!


This contest will end at midnight EST on June 16th. Enter now to make sure you don't miss out on this fabulous opportunity. Once winner has been chosen they will be contacted and have 48 to respond or another winner will be drawn at random.