In an interesting convergence of professional skills, one of the participants in Celebration of Smiles Day 2013 is Dr. Allyson Hurley, who is both a Certified Professional Photographer and a cosmetic dentist who is a Master of the Academy of General Dentistry and an Accredited Member of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Dr. Hurley’s family dental practice is located in Bedminster, NJ. She is being joined in her April 20 event at the Bedminster Library by Tony Koebli of Images by J and A Photography in nearby Clark, NJ.

Allyson’s long-standing interest in photography accelerated when she wasn’t satisfied with average “before and after” shots, which she knew she would need when pursuing her accreditation by the Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry. Tony became her mentor ,and through his tutoring, she earned her Certified Professional Photographer status from PPA. In addition to his studio work, Tony enjoys going on location to do environmental photography for seniors, engagements sessions, weddings and families. He has earned multiple awards at the regional, state and international level in PPA. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and mentors other photographers.

Repeatedly named by her peers as among “Top New Jersey Dentists” by NJ Monthly magazine, Allyson believes that Celebration of Smiles Day is a perfect charitable cause for her to support as a dentist-photographer because it helps to fund the work of Operation Smile. While she thoroughly enjoys her genera dentistry practice, she has a special passion for changing lives by repairing fractured front teeth on young people and restoring smiles on older patients. She is the only woman in New Jersey to earn accreditation from the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

The image shown here is typical of the patient photography Allyson as created for her business website, www.allysonhurley.com. The site also hosts some examples of her nature photography, which you can see at this link. Allyson presently is working on a photo book to be titled The Power of Flowers.