January Photo of the Month: Kelly Scaccia
Congratulations go to Kelly Scaccia for winning the NoBS January Photo of the Month. The theme was New Beginnings. Here is Kelly's story:
"I'm going into my sixth year of being a NoBS member, and have made great friendships with many people on this board. I attribute much of my knowledge and growth for both my studio and myself as a photographer from the information posted here and through the friendships I have made. It's hard to believe how time flies.
Many of us members have had our share of exciting and joyous times as well as rough and difficult ones. Sometimes those roads can keep us astray from NoBS for a while, but we always make our way back, right? That's exactly what happened almost three years ago when my niece, Angelina, was diagnosed with Leukemia at 17 months old.
Naturally, my time was consumed with being there for my twin sister, Tammy, my niece and the rest of the family. If I wasn't shooting, I was at her house, on the phone with her, getting her out to get her mind off things or popping in at the clinic on chemo days to help out. Once in a while, I'd post my niece's progress on the boards, but I received many private messages from board members asking how she was doing. If I ever neglected to say it, thank you for keeping her in your thoughts and praying for her.
The right words don't exist to describe what Angelina's two and a half years of chemo treatment have been like for the family. It has been a learning experience for us all that each day of life is a gift and every one of us is a blessing to another.
The Oncology unit at Children's Hospital of Michigan (Detroit) installed a bell, separate from the lobby so it could be rung by the patient receiving his or her last treatment in private. I remember the day when my twin called me, crying, saying she just heard the bell ring for the first time. They were tears of happiness for the family who were closing their chapter on treatment and tears of hope that their day would come soon as well.
On Wednesday, July 27, 2011, it was Angelina's turn to ring the bell. The doctors encouraged each of them to ring it, and when it came Tammy's time, this image says it all...
The image was captured at 1/125 second at f/6.3, ISO 400. I bounced the flash using an SB-800, and of course, the body of my Nikon D700."
