Photographing Andrew and Whitney gave me an idea for a great giveaway. It's that time of year when girls are buying gorgeous gowns for prom ... and then hanging them in the back of the closet for the next twenty years. Before you have it cleaned and hang it up or put it on ebay, why not use it for some beautiful photos?

I'm giving away a free photo session for anyone willing to have a little fun in their prom dress. If you're a high school junior or senior (or even if you're already in college and just need an excuse to pull out your old prom dress), this is your chance to unleash the model inside. Don't procrastinate though, I'll be choosing a winner Friday April 25. If you're interested, just send me an email with a photo (or link to a photo) of yourself along with a description of your dress. Friends or couples can apply to have a session together.

Details: The session will take place on a weekday evening in the next month, and you must be willing to get your dress dirty. You don't necessarily have to "trash" it, but a willingness to sit/lie on the ground is a must. The photos will be uploaded to an online gallery for viewing/ordering, but no purchase is required. Check out this blog for photos from photographers and seniors all over the country who are having fun in their prom dresses.

The server that hosts my photo galleries will be doing a platform upgrade during the night March 13/14. Please notice that the galleries will go down for a few minutes during this time. Even though most people will be in bed when it happens, I would hate for someone to start a large order late Thursday night and then lose it when the upgrade takes place. The exact down time is unknown but will occur between midnight and 6AM on March 14.

I'm going to be doing a bit of end-of-the-month cleaning in the next few days and will be taking down all expired photo galleries. That means that all the procrastinators out there have one more day to get in any final orders for those galleries. (The expiration dates are listed at the top of the galleries.) Galleries can be extended if you contact me before a gallery expires.

Marcus and I spent yesterday up in Kingston at the Whitestone Inn wedding show. We met some great vendors, saw some old friends, and chatted with the couples. It's always nice to revisit Whitestone which was the site of my own wedding in 2004. They have excellent food and beautiful grounds, and I highly recommend visiting if you're planning a wedding or just a romantic weekend away.

I did leave Marcus on his own with the booth just long enough to check out the bridal show over in the chapel and snap a few photos of the girls in the courtyard. It was great to see two of my former brides, Sarah and Allison, there modeling their dresses.

Congratulations to Jill for guessing the city correctly today! (I actually had two correct guesses today with the second coming from a photographer). It is Prague, capital of the Czech Republic - one of my favorite cities and a great honeymoon destination. It's just big enough to have plenty to do but not so huge that you're overwhelmed.

If I had posted descriptions with the photos then it would have been too easy to google, but here they are:

Photo 1: Narodni Divadlo, The National Theater at night. One of the city's many trams is passing in front.

Photo 2: The net vault ceiling in St Vitus Cathedral. This gothic cathedral is the biggest and most important church in the country. It is located within the walls of Prague Castle and took almost 600 years to build from start to finish.

Photo 3: Josefov old Jewish Cemetery. This 15th century cemetery was created during a time when Jews were required to bury their dead inside their own town district. Once the cemetery was full, bodies had to be buried on top of each other in an estimated 12 layers which is why there are so very many tombstones. In contrast, the New Jewish Cemetery across town is only half full because it was built for the generation of Jews that ended up in Nazi death camps.

Photo 4: View from the top of the Old Town Hall (Staromestska Radnice) in Old Town Square (Staromestske Namesti).

Photo 5: The Orloj astronomical clock/calendar on the side of the Old Town Hall. The astronomical dial dates to 1410 with later additions of a calendar dial and an hourly display of moving sculptures. Crowds gather in front of the clock each hour to see the show.

Photo 6: The tower gate on the Mala Strana side of Charles Bridge with St Nicholas Church in the background (one of 3 St Nicholas churches in the city).



Photo 7: View of the Mala Strana district with St Vitus and Prague Castle (Prazsky Hrad) on the hill in the background. Photo taken from the top of the Charles Bridge tower on the Old Town (Stare Mesto) side of the Vlatva river.



Photo 8: View of Old Town rooftops with St Francis of Assisi Church in foreground. Taken from the same bridge tower as the photo above but looking the opposite direction.



Photo 9: The dancing building "Fred and Ginger" by architects Frank Gehry and Vladimir Mulunic. A top-of-the-line restaurant is located on top with offices on the floors below. The building doesn't quite fit with the rest of the city's architecture and was controversial when first built in 1996.