Tooting my own horn

I found out this month that I won a first place in the feature photos category for the Associated Press' Illinois contest for our division. 

I actually went to this dance studio on a lark because we needed a stand-alone photo for the next day's paper, and nothing else had panned out that day. Valerie was calling the studio from the office to see if I could stop by as I was checking them out on my mobile web from my car. We then called each other, not knowing that we had both come up with the same studio at the same time. I mean, really, kids in tutus make great photos. I've done it before. A lot. Believe me. I realize it's not groundbreaking. 

So I shot some of the first part of the rehearsal, with the girls running around like crazy. Nothing was really catching my eye. Until I saw Abigail. She reminded me of myself. Goofing off. After getting her first name just by hearing the instructor get her attention every couple minutes, I went into the waiting room to find her designated parent to see if it was okay that I run her photo in the paper and to get her last name, etc. I stood in the doorway to the studio lobby and tentatively said, "Is Abigail's parent here?" Her dad looked up at me and says, "The loud one?" Yep, she reminds me of me.