We all know that running a photography business is not easy. But last month at Imaging USA, we celebrated The Ball Studio's 100 years as a PPA studio! Holly Peterson is the latest generation and PPA member of this long history, and she accepted a special acknowledgement from PPA President Don Dickson during the PPA Council Meeting for her family.

Holly's great-grandfather, William Ball arrived in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1912 by way of working on the railroad. An artist at heart, he founded The Ball Studio, which has continued to this day to be owned and operated by his family. One of his sons, Robert, fell in love with photography as well, and turned his attention to strengthening the studio's business foundation. (Robert even became a PPA President.) The family business next came to Robert's daughter Mickey and her husband Keith Peterson, who embraced color (and even put in a color lab). And for the past 30 years, Holly has been involved, expanding into a 4,000 sq. ft. studio with five employees.

In that time, The Ball Studio has seen its share of challenges. They've survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, the recession of the '70s, two studio fires and more! So how have they stayed successful for so long?

"We're always adapting and changing...except for one thing, the motto laid down by our great-grandfather: "Reputation is a responsibility as well as a reward," says Holly. "We never centered our studio brand around an individual, but on the concepts of quality, craftsmanship and reputation. And to fine-tune those concepts, we've been members of PPA since the beginning."

Congratulations Holly and the entire Ball Studio family!

Congratulations to PPA Member Mimika Cooney on the publication of her new book "Boutique Baby Photography". The book was published by Amherst Media.

As a specialist in maternity and baby photography in Charlotte, NC, Mimika shares tips and practical advice to photographers seeking to enter the baby and maternity market in her book.

Read more about Mimika and her new book here.

PPA member Jeremy Cowart was recently featured in an article on CNN.com. The article focuses on Cowart's non-profit, Help-Portrait.

Help-Portrait provides professional quality portrait photographs to people who otherwise could not afford them. Read the full article here.

Cowart was also recently featured in the July 2011 issue of Professional Photographer magazine.

PPA member Jim DiVitale, M.Photog.MEI.Cr.,API,F-ASP, will open his first solo fine art exhibit on Friday, October 28th at the Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur.

The exhibit, which is titled "Shape and Shadow", will be displayed at the Art Institute of Atlanta-Decatur through November 24, 2011.

"It is a collection of 20 of my multi-image illustrations of both studio and architectural subjects," DiVitale says of the exhibit on his blog.

You can take a look at the images of the prints hanging in the exhibit on DiVitale's blog. Click on the picture in the left of the blog post and it will pull up a photo gallery of the prints.

So, if you're near Atlanta between today and November 24th, stop by to see the exhibit and support a fellow PPA member. 

PPA Member Betsy Pinover Schiff recently had her new book "Windows on Central Park: The Landscape Revealed" published.

The landscape architecture and graden photographer includes 143 photos in her new book that reveal the textures, patterns and colors of the Central Park landscape in all seasons. In addition, sixteen well-known people including Candice Bergen, Donald Trump, Giorgio Armani and Paul Goldberger express their thoughts and feelings on what they see from their own windows.

Pinover Schiff is the other of six other landscape architecture and garden photography books. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, Architectural Digest, House and Garden, New York Spaces and Landscape Architecture magazine.

Congratulations to Betsy on publishing her new book!

IMAGE © BETSY PINOVER SCHIFF

PPA Member Jen Hillenga, M.Photog.Cr., of Memento Images in Savage, MN, recently won a Golden Camera Award in the Federation of European Professional Photographer's European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards.

More than 700 photographers from 25 countries participated in this year's competition, making Hillenga's first-place finish in the International category very applause-worthy! She has been invited to the Photokina Exhibition in Cologne, Germany, on September 22nd to accept her award during the FEP European Golden Cameras ceremony.

If you'd like to learn from this award-winning photographer firsthand, don't miss her pre-convention "Boudoir: Bold & Beautiful" Imaging USA class on January 14, 2011.

Read more about Hillenga here.

Read more about the competition here. 

PPA member Debbie McFarland, CPP, of the Memory Cottage studio in Fayetteville, Georgia, recently launched a new division of her studio with the goal of improving women's self-esteem.

McFarland's new division, Red Velvet Epiphany, photographs women who feel vulnerable about their self-image to get rid of negative feelings about themselves and embrace the bodies they have.

"Our internal thoughts are our biggest obstacles," McFarland said. "I want to help ladies find their own kind of beautiful however they can feel beautiful."

She says that she was inspired to start Red Velvet Epiphany after living "40 years with no self-esteem" and hating everything about herself. One day, McFarland says that she underwent a transformation that made her realize she was perfect the way she was.

"It completely changed how I looked at myself and others and I really wanted other ladies to feel this epiphany as well." McFarland said.

McFarland has photographed women who are turning 50 and don't feel good about themselves, new moms and even chemotherapy patients.

"We have had such amazing feedback from ladies that say it has been life changing for them!" McFarland said.

Read more about Red Velvet Epiphany in this article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Read more about Debbie McFarland here.

Have you been featured recently in your local news? Send your press to PPA's Online Content Editor, Chris Homer, at chomer@ppa.com.

PPA member Whitney Elizabeth recently traveled to Port Au Prince, Haiti to photograph the ongoing earthquake relief effort.

During her nine day trip in April, the Santa Barbara, CA based photographer documented the days of volunteer doctors and nurses from the organization New Reality International.

The group of doctors Elizabeth accompanied treated 2,000 patients in mobile clinics and preformed 43 surgeries.

Elizabeth was able to capture images of clinics, surgeries, tent cities and candid shots of the people of Haiti.

"It was the most incredible nine days of my life and I hope that my photographs will bring much needed attention to relief efforts for Haiti as the people are still struggling, especially with the rainy season upon them," Elizabeth said of the experience.

You can view Elizabeth's photos of Haiti on her blog, http://www.whitneyelizabethphoto.com/blog/haiti/.

Read more about Whitney Elizabeth here.

Have you been featured recently in your local news? Send your press to PPA's Online Content Editor, Chris Homer, at chomer@ppa.com.