12.05.09 - Dallas, TX : Behind the Scenes
Here is a detailed account of the Help-Portrait event preparations in Dallas, TX. Thanks to Austin Mann for organizing this and sending the information in. We feel certain this will help you as you plan for your event.
__________
Hey all,
We did our Help-Portrait event a little early and fortunately it turned out to be quite a success so I wanted to share with you guys some of the things we did to prepare for it. It all started a few months back when my friend Taylor called me up and told me about what Jeremy was doing with Help-Portrait in Nashville. We decided we wanted to do something like it in Dallas, so I called up a local church to see if they'd be interested in helping to provide a location for it, funding, volunteers and more. I basically told them I wanted to get some fotogs together to take pictures and give them away to people that couldn't usually afford nice photos. They loved the idea and agreed to help in any way they could.
They hooked us up with another church (Cornerstone Baptist) that primarily works with low-income families and we decided to have our event at their building. Using their facility proved to be amazing because it was a familiar location, all the folks wanting pictures knew how to get there were comfortable in that setting.
Here's a video from that day.
We then made a really, really simple flyer and distributed them to the community through the pastor at Cornerstone.
Before we knew it, we had over 800 people signed up to come out and were in need of some serious equipment and preparation... We certainly don't have the perfect solution and everyone's set up will be different with different situations, but here's what we did for ours:
We set up eight photo stations, each with a photographer and also digital tech to run the computer/printer. Everybody shot tethered. THIS WAS A HUGE LIFESAVER. There's no way we would have been able to work with so many people if we didn't shoot tethered. By doing it this way, we could have someone editing, selecting and printing favorites as the pictures were being shot. Shooting to cards and swapping them out can get so complicated fast when you're trying to keep track of what images are where, which cards have been copied, etc.
Each station had a white seamless backdrop. We got 9-foot rolls, 60 feet in length and cut the paper into four 9ft x15ft pieces and gaffed those pieces to the wall for our backdrop (one piece per station, 9ft going horizontal). If I did it again, I'd get the 12-foot rolls because 9ft just wasn't quite wide enough to accommodate all the families we had.
We worked with a local rental company, BOLT, and they gave us a great deal on all the lighting equipment and backdrops. The church provided us with about 30 volunteers, this was tremendously helpful in managing such a large group of people... it would have been chaos without them!
Here is a video that Austin did explaining the equipment needed.
Here's what we had at each of the eight photo stations:
Lighting
We had one powerpack that could handle at least two heads at each station. You really don't need anything fancy, some stations had Dyna-lite, some Profoto Acutes and some Profoto D4s... D4s were definitely preferable but not essential.
We had two heads at each station, one with an umbrella and the other to blow out the backdrop. In some cases a third head would have been nice, but again not essential. Head power extensions are a huge help when using a centrally located pack, so you have flexibility to move the lights around where you want but still keep the cords on out of the way.
We also had two C-stands (w/ arm & knuckle), one for each head, at the stations. C-Stands are heavy and cumbersome but so worth for the flexibility the offer compared to a regular tripod stand.
Backdrop
We had one nine foot seamless white backdrop at each station. 12 foot would have been better. We just taped the big sheets up on the wall.
Printers & Paper
At five of the stations we had Canon iP4700s. They were perfect... $99/each, super fast, ink efficient, small, and great quality. We also had some bigger printers (like Canon Pro9000s) in case we needed bigger prints but we never really did.
We used mostly 4x6 paper, cause that's the fastest and easiest to print. The paper we used was Canon Photo Paper Glossy 4x6.
We also used a lot of 8.5x11 for larger prints. The paper we used for that was Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss.
As for ink, I got WAY too much. The entire day of printing we replaced less than 10 ink cartridges ALL TOGETHER. That's after printing somewhere in the range of 1200 4x6s and 150 8.5x11s! I had three backups for every cartridge for every printer. I would recommend one backup and if you need more you can go get it.
To protect the prints, we put them in Easy Mounts Clear Plastic Sleeves. These really helped a lot and I wish I had gotten some for the 8.5x11s.
Miscellaneous Essentials:
Tables and Chairs
Each station had an 8 foot table. This provided room for the laptop, the printer, extra ink/paper and lenses etc. We also had a couple chairs/stools available for the digital tech and also for the people if they felt more comfortable sitting for their picture.
Power Extensions
You don't want to get caught somewhere without power. What if for some reason you have to shoot outside instead of in the parking lot? Have plenty lengthy power cords on hand.
Gaff Tape
Can't get enough of this stuff. We used to keep our tether cable secure in camera, to hold up our backdrops, to tape down cords so people wouldn't trip and so much more.
15 FT USB cable for tethering
We used these to to connect the cameras to the Macs. We had 10 ft extensions available too, but didn't really need them.
_______________
If you have any questions, email info@help-portrait.com and we will connect you with Austin.
__________
Hey all,
We did our Help-Portrait event a little early and fortunately it turned out to be quite a success so I wanted to share with you guys some of the things we did to prepare for it. It all started a few months back when my friend Taylor called me up and told me about what Jeremy was doing with Help-Portrait in Nashville. We decided we wanted to do something like it in Dallas, so I called up a local church to see if they'd be interested in helping to provide a location for it, funding, volunteers and more. I basically told them I wanted to get some fotogs together to take pictures and give them away to people that couldn't usually afford nice photos. They loved the idea and agreed to help in any way they could.
They hooked us up with another church (Cornerstone Baptist) that primarily works with low-income families and we decided to have our event at their building. Using their facility proved to be amazing because it was a familiar location, all the folks wanting pictures knew how to get there were comfortable in that setting.
Here's a video from that day.
We then made a really, really simple flyer and distributed them to the community through the pastor at Cornerstone.
Before we knew it, we had over 800 people signed up to come out and were in need of some serious equipment and preparation... We certainly don't have the perfect solution and everyone's set up will be different with different situations, but here's what we did for ours:
We set up eight photo stations, each with a photographer and also digital tech to run the computer/printer. Everybody shot tethered. THIS WAS A HUGE LIFESAVER. There's no way we would have been able to work with so many people if we didn't shoot tethered. By doing it this way, we could have someone editing, selecting and printing favorites as the pictures were being shot. Shooting to cards and swapping them out can get so complicated fast when you're trying to keep track of what images are where, which cards have been copied, etc.
Each station had a white seamless backdrop. We got 9-foot rolls, 60 feet in length and cut the paper into four 9ft x15ft pieces and gaffed those pieces to the wall for our backdrop (one piece per station, 9ft going horizontal). If I did it again, I'd get the 12-foot rolls because 9ft just wasn't quite wide enough to accommodate all the families we had.
We worked with a local rental company, BOLT, and they gave us a great deal on all the lighting equipment and backdrops. The church provided us with about 30 volunteers, this was tremendously helpful in managing such a large group of people... it would have been chaos without them!
Here is a video that Austin did explaining the equipment needed.
Here's what we had at each of the eight photo stations:
We had one powerpack that could handle at least two heads at each station. You really don't need anything fancy, some stations had Dyna-lite, some Profoto Acutes and some Profoto D4s... D4s were definitely preferable but not essential.
We had two heads at each station, one with an umbrella and the other to blow out the backdrop. In some cases a third head would have been nice, but again not essential. Head power extensions are a huge help when using a centrally located pack, so you have flexibility to move the lights around where you want but still keep the cords on out of the way.
We also had two C-stands (w/ arm & knuckle), one for each head, at the stations. C-Stands are heavy and cumbersome but so worth for the flexibility the offer compared to a regular tripod stand.
We had one nine foot seamless white backdrop at each station. 12 foot would have been better. We just taped the big sheets up on the wall.
At five of the stations we had Canon iP4700s. They were perfect... $99/each, super fast, ink efficient, small, and great quality. We also had some bigger printers (like Canon Pro9000s) in case we needed bigger prints but we never really did.
We used mostly 4x6 paper, cause that's the fastest and easiest to print. The paper we used was Canon Photo Paper Glossy 4x6.
We also used a lot of 8.5x11 for larger prints. The paper we used for that was Canon Photo Paper Plus Semi-Gloss.
As for ink, I got WAY too much. The entire day of printing we replaced less than 10 ink cartridges ALL TOGETHER. That's after printing somewhere in the range of 1200 4x6s and 150 8.5x11s! I had three backups for every cartridge for every printer. I would recommend one backup and if you need more you can go get it.
To protect the prints, we put them in Easy Mounts Clear Plastic Sleeves. These really helped a lot and I wish I had gotten some for the 8.5x11s.
Tables and Chairs
Each station had an 8 foot table. This provided room for the laptop, the printer, extra ink/paper and lenses etc. We also had a couple chairs/stools available for the digital tech and also for the people if they felt more comfortable sitting for their picture.
Power Extensions
You don't want to get caught somewhere without power. What if for some reason you have to shoot outside instead of in the parking lot? Have plenty lengthy power cords on hand.
Gaff Tape
Can't get enough of this stuff. We used to keep our tether cable secure in camera, to hold up our backdrops, to tape down cords so people wouldn't trip and so much more.
15 FT USB cable for tethering
We used these to to connect the cameras to the Macs. We had 10 ft extensions available too, but didn't really need them.
_______________
If you have any questions, email info@help-portrait.com and we will connect you with Austin.
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11.16.09 - VERY IMPORTANT.
Dear friends of Help-Portrait,
A few quick points of interest.
Due to some recent situations where people have begun to leverage the Help-Portrait brand and meaning to promote themselves or their company, we, the organizers, thought it would be helpful to provide some guidance on what you can expect from participating and leading Help-Portrait events:
1. Help-Portrait does not have any sponsors. Help-Portrait is NOT a non-profit or for-profit organization. We've heard of a handful of H-P events that have found companies to help offset the cost of the printing, which is fantastic. But, we've decided that H-P will not accept sponsorships of any other kind. So if you go to a planning meeting and they say claim otherwise, leave and contact us immediately. In fact, it's safe to say that unless you hear it from us directly, do not believe it.
2. No individual participant should be asked to give money to join Help-Portrait. Because we are not an organized entity and we don't take sponsorships outside of underwriting printing costs, there is no where to give the money. So, if you are asked to make a donation to Help-Portrait, don't do it. (On the other hand, if there are three of you planning an event and one person paid $30 for the printing and you decide to split that cost, that is absolutely fine.)
3. You should not be asked to join any company, join any society, or join anything. Remember, this is simply photographers and volunteers getting together with the purpose of giving time and photos to families in need.
4. If you come across an individual or group that has mislead you, please contact us immediately (info@help-portrait.com).
5. Above all else, this is about giving. Avoid the ones that are taking.
Thank you so very much for being a part of this amazing (and international!) movement. We are just blown away by the response and the huge amount of heart that we are seeing. I guess when over 4,000 people agree to do something out of the goodness of their hearts, we're bound to see some try to take advantage.
Thanks for being a giver.
A few quick points of interest.
Due to some recent situations where people have begun to leverage the Help-Portrait brand and meaning to promote themselves or their company, we, the organizers, thought it would be helpful to provide some guidance on what you can expect from participating and leading Help-Portrait events:
1. Help-Portrait does not have any sponsors. Help-Portrait is NOT a non-profit or for-profit organization. We've heard of a handful of H-P events that have found companies to help offset the cost of the printing, which is fantastic. But, we've decided that H-P will not accept sponsorships of any other kind. So if you go to a planning meeting and they say claim otherwise, leave and contact us immediately. In fact, it's safe to say that unless you hear it from us directly, do not believe it.
2. No individual participant should be asked to give money to join Help-Portrait. Because we are not an organized entity and we don't take sponsorships outside of underwriting printing costs, there is no where to give the money. So, if you are asked to make a donation to Help-Portrait, don't do it. (On the other hand, if there are three of you planning an event and one person paid $30 for the printing and you decide to split that cost, that is absolutely fine.)
3. You should not be asked to join any company, join any society, or join anything. Remember, this is simply photographers and volunteers getting together with the purpose of giving time and photos to families in need.
4. If you come across an individual or group that has mislead you, please contact us immediately (info@help-portrait.com).
5. Above all else, this is about giving. Avoid the ones that are taking.
Thank you so very much for being a part of this amazing (and international!) movement. We are just blown away by the response and the huge amount of heart that we are seeing. I guess when over 4,000 people agree to do something out of the goodness of their hearts, we're bound to see some try to take advantage.
Thanks for being a giver.
11.12.09 - What if I'm alone?
We know there are some of you who have signed up at the COMMUNITY SITE, started a group for your city or town, and you are the only photographer around.
For starters, just because you are the FIRST one to sign up on the community site in your area doesn't mean you are the only one! Recruit other photographers or friends that you know and get them to join as well. Make sure you start a group at the community site so that any other photographers who join at a later date will be able to join up with you.
But- if you really are the only one- Is it still possible to have a Help-Portrait event on 12.12.09 (or any day) if you are alone?
Absolutely.
Here are a couple of ideas for you if you are the only one:
- Contact a local hospital. There is probably a children's wing, or children's hall that you could easily photograph in a day. You could then get the photos printed quickly and return them to the nurse/contact person to have the portraits delivered.
- Contact a community center in your area. Explain Help-Portrait and see if they would be willing for you to photograph the people in the community center on Saturday, 12.12.09.
- Contact a local boys or girls club. Check with the contact person to see if there would need to be permission from the parents, but this could also be a cool gift for the kids to take home to their parents!
- Feel free to recruit friends or neighbors to go along with you. Even if they aren't a photographer, it would probably be helpful to have a second person with you to keep up with who has been photographed, etc.
- Photograph people around you. There may be people who need portraits that live very close to you- maybe even your neighbors! So think about people that you know- helping people in your own community is great.
If you are going to do this project alone, we think that is awesome! Just make sure you are in a safe place and have a contact person that you are in communication with at the local non-profit organization.
For starters, just because you are the FIRST one to sign up on the community site in your area doesn't mean you are the only one! Recruit other photographers or friends that you know and get them to join as well. Make sure you start a group at the community site so that any other photographers who join at a later date will be able to join up with you.
But- if you really are the only one- Is it still possible to have a Help-Portrait event on 12.12.09 (or any day) if you are alone?
Absolutely.
Here are a couple of ideas for you if you are the only one:
- Contact a local hospital. There is probably a children's wing, or children's hall that you could easily photograph in a day. You could then get the photos printed quickly and return them to the nurse/contact person to have the portraits delivered.
- Contact a community center in your area. Explain Help-Portrait and see if they would be willing for you to photograph the people in the community center on Saturday, 12.12.09.
- Contact a local boys or girls club. Check with the contact person to see if there would need to be permission from the parents, but this could also be a cool gift for the kids to take home to their parents!
- Feel free to recruit friends or neighbors to go along with you. Even if they aren't a photographer, it would probably be helpful to have a second person with you to keep up with who has been photographed, etc.
- Photograph people around you. There may be people who need portraits that live very close to you- maybe even your neighbors! So think about people that you know- helping people in your own community is great.
If you are going to do this project alone, we think that is awesome! Just make sure you are in a safe place and have a contact person that you are in communication with at the local non-profit organization.
11.05.09 - What I Learned While Being Homeless
What is it like to be homeless?
What I learned While Being Homeless
This is a collection of articles from people who have been homeless before. And now, on the other side, they are writing about what that life is like and practical ways to get out of it. It is an interesting read for sure.
We hope that as you read these articles, you will see again the importance of helping other people feel valuable and cared for.
What I learned While Being Homeless
This is a collection of articles from people who have been homeless before. And now, on the other side, they are writing about what that life is like and practical ways to get out of it. It is an interesting read for sure.
We hope that as you read these articles, you will see again the importance of helping other people feel valuable and cared for.
11.02.09 - Advent Conspiracy
It's safe to say that Help-Portrait was completely inspired by this Advent Conspiracy video. What an amazing message no matter your background or beliefs...
10.12.09 - Nashville Help-Portrait :: Allister
One of the photographers from the Nashville Help-Portrait event, Allister Ann, blogged about the event. She also posted some of her behind-the-scenes pictures from the day, like this one of photographer Kelli Trontell.
You can see the post at ALLISTER ANN'S BLOG .
You can see the post at ALLISTER ANN'S BLOG .
10.11.09 - Nashville Help-Portrait :: Kyle
Here is the blog post from Kyle Chowning, one of the Help-Portrait organizers and the guy in charge of the COMMUNITY SITE .
- - - - - - - - - -
In August of this year, I sat down with Jeremy Cowart, a well-known and respect photographer, and we shared a meal while he told me about this idea he had. He wanted to rally photographers across Nashville, and maybe even the US, to come together on 12/12/09 and give portraits to people who were unable to afford it. His idea was called Help Portrait and his slogan was, "Give pictures, don't take them." Immediately, I was drawn to the idea and volunteered to help.
In late-August, the Help Portrait website was launched in conjunction with this video:
Today, just 44 days since we launched the concept, here's what's happened:
* well over 30,000 views of the video
* 35,277 unique visitors to the www.help-portrait.com website
* 3145 people have signed up to learn more
* 3312 Twitter followers
* 3456 Facebook "fans"
* 1318 people have signed up to participate
* 217 locations around the world and at last count over 30 countries
WOW! Who knew that this simple idea would turn into a worldwide event?!?
Today, I had the pleasure of joining 15 photographers and a makeup artist to do a trial run at the Nashville Rescue Mission. helpportraitTo put it simply, today was amazing. We saw and heard stories that I'm sure we'll never forget.
One lady, after getting hair and makeup done, stood in front of the camera and started crying. She said, "I've just never felt special before."
A 53 year-old man stood in front of the camera, noticably excited. When asked, he said it was the first time he'd ever had his picture taken. EVER.
One guy must have had a hundred pictures taken of him. Clearly, this was a gift to him. He couldn't get enough of it.
And on a different note, when I walked around and asked onlookers if they wanted their picture taken, one guy said, "What would I do with it? I don't have anybody to give it to." Another said, "I haven't had my picture taken since going into the military in 1971." When I encouraged him to have it taken anyway, he simply said he wasn't interested. I wondered why?
What I learned today is that Help Portrait, something a handful of us have been trying to organize for 44 short days, isn't an idea, or a movement, or about taking pictures. It's about telling people that they matter. Lee Ann Dichtel, our liason for the Mission said it best when she said, "You have no idea what you're doing for these people. Most of the time, when people see them walking on the road, they turn around and go the other direction. So to give them the opportunity to look them in the face and show them how beautiful they are, means a lot."
Again, wow!
I'm honored to play the role that I've been graciously given in the Help Portrait story. I can't wait to see what happens on 12/12/09.
- - - - - - - - - -
You can see more pictures from the event on Kyle's blog.
- - - - - - - - - -
In August of this year, I sat down with Jeremy Cowart, a well-known and respect photographer, and we shared a meal while he told me about this idea he had. He wanted to rally photographers across Nashville, and maybe even the US, to come together on 12/12/09 and give portraits to people who were unable to afford it. His idea was called Help Portrait and his slogan was, "Give pictures, don't take them." Immediately, I was drawn to the idea and volunteered to help.
In late-August, the Help Portrait website was launched in conjunction with this video:
Today, just 44 days since we launched the concept, here's what's happened:
* well over 30,000 views of the video
* 35,277 unique visitors to the www.help-portrait.com website
* 3145 people have signed up to learn more
* 3312 Twitter followers
* 3456 Facebook "fans"
* 1318 people have signed up to participate
* 217 locations around the world and at last count over 30 countries
WOW! Who knew that this simple idea would turn into a worldwide event?!?
Today, I had the pleasure of joining 15 photographers and a makeup artist to do a trial run at the Nashville Rescue Mission. helpportraitTo put it simply, today was amazing. We saw and heard stories that I'm sure we'll never forget.
One lady, after getting hair and makeup done, stood in front of the camera and started crying. She said, "I've just never felt special before."
A 53 year-old man stood in front of the camera, noticably excited. When asked, he said it was the first time he'd ever had his picture taken. EVER.
One guy must have had a hundred pictures taken of him. Clearly, this was a gift to him. He couldn't get enough of it.
And on a different note, when I walked around and asked onlookers if they wanted their picture taken, one guy said, "What would I do with it? I don't have anybody to give it to." Another said, "I haven't had my picture taken since going into the military in 1971." When I encouraged him to have it taken anyway, he simply said he wasn't interested. I wondered why?
What I learned today is that Help Portrait, something a handful of us have been trying to organize for 44 short days, isn't an idea, or a movement, or about taking pictures. It's about telling people that they matter. Lee Ann Dichtel, our liason for the Mission said it best when she said, "You have no idea what you're doing for these people. Most of the time, when people see them walking on the road, they turn around and go the other direction. So to give them the opportunity to look them in the face and show them how beautiful they are, means a lot."
Again, wow!
I'm honored to play the role that I've been graciously given in the Help Portrait story. I can't wait to see what happens on 12/12/09.
- - - - - - - - - -
You can see more pictures from the event on Kyle's blog.
10.10.09 - Nashville Help-Portrait :: Annie
Annie Downs, a volunteer with Help-Portrait, blogged about her experience at the Nashville event.
- - - - - - - - - -
So my friend Jeremy came up with this idea called Help Portrait.
And when I heard it about Help Portrait, I raised my hand and said, "ooh ooh! I wanna help! I wanna!!" Apparently I whined and begged just enough that Jeremy had to give in and let me help him. I saw deep value in what Jeremy wanted to do- give the overlooked an opportunity to be the focus.
But I'm not a photographer. I'm an organizer. A details girl. A "let me take care of that thing so you can do THAT more awesome thing" kind of gal. And so that's my job at Help Portrait. Me likey. I love taking care of the details for people who need to put their effort elsewhere.
The official Help Portrait event is on Dec. 12 all around the world. You can see my friend Kyle's post - he's a detail dude as well- and he has posted a ton of stats about Help Portrait so far. It's insane. And beautiful. Insa-utiful. [Coined it. ] Here in Nashville, we had a practice Help Portrait on Friday at the Nashville Rescue Mission. About 15 photographers came and photographed a few dozen people. And it was AH-MAZING.
Again, my detail girl role came in really handy because I got to just watch. I watched photographers tear up as they overheard one woman say, "I've never felt special before." I watched a guy retake the same picture over and over again, trying to find the exact. right. pose. I watched as women floated from backdrop to backdrop, taking individuals and group shots, completely carefree.
For that hour, or 2 hours, the men and women of NRM felt valued. Seen. Noticed. Loved. Beautiful.
During that short amount of time, the only thing that mattered was how big to smile or which foot to put forward or how many friends can fit in one shot. Not how to pay the bills. Or how to get out of some terrible situation. Or how to find the next meal.
It was a day that I won't soon forget. And I get to do it again on December 12.
I learned that taking someone's portrait doesn't rescue them from poverty.
But it does rescue them.
- - - - - - - - - -
You can see more pictures from the event on Annie's blog.
- - - - - - - - - -
So my friend Jeremy came up with this idea called Help Portrait.
And when I heard it about Help Portrait, I raised my hand and said, "ooh ooh! I wanna help! I wanna!!" Apparently I whined and begged just enough that Jeremy had to give in and let me help him. I saw deep value in what Jeremy wanted to do- give the overlooked an opportunity to be the focus.
But I'm not a photographer. I'm an organizer. A details girl. A "let me take care of that thing so you can do THAT more awesome thing" kind of gal. And so that's my job at Help Portrait. Me likey. I love taking care of the details for people who need to put their effort elsewhere.
The official Help Portrait event is on Dec. 12 all around the world. You can see my friend Kyle's post - he's a detail dude as well- and he has posted a ton of stats about Help Portrait so far. It's insane. And beautiful. Insa-utiful. [
Again, my detail girl role came in really handy because I got to just watch. I watched photographers tear up as they overheard one woman say, "I've never felt special before." I watched a guy retake the same picture over and over again, trying to find the exact. right. pose. I watched as women floated from backdrop to backdrop, taking individuals and group shots, completely carefree.
For that hour, or 2 hours, the men and women of NRM felt valued. Seen. Noticed. Loved. Beautiful.
During that short amount of time, the only thing that mattered was how big to smile or which foot to put forward or how many friends can fit in one shot. Not how to pay the bills. Or how to get out of some terrible situation. Or how to find the next meal.
It was a day that I won't soon forget. And I get to do it again on December 12.
I learned that taking someone's portrait doesn't rescue them from poverty.
But it does rescue them.
- - - - - - - - - -
You can see more pictures from the event on Annie's blog.
09.24.09 - Heather
Photographer Jean Labelle did a Help-Portrait event in September and here is what he wrote on his blog afterwards:"
Just an update to let you know that Rebekah and myself have just finished our first Help-Portrait assignment. This was a tough one as it was for a beautiful 11 year old girl at Rogers House who does not have much time left.
To be perfectly honest with all you, when I initiated this project in Ottawa, I envisioned taking portraits of seniors in nursing/retirement homes, happy children, single moms, people of modest means etc. When I received the call from CHEO on September 8th and they described Heather and her condition, I was a little nervous because of the responsibility and importance of these photos.
We had a a good shoot last Thursday and came away with some awesome shots for Heathers family.
I spent the weekend editing my shots and on more than one occasion Nicole and I got teary eyed seeing Heathers beautiful eyes and their gaze back... as Nicole said, it's as if Heather is looking back at us through the eyes of an old soul...
This particular session has touched me like no other and will stay with me for the rest of my life. I'm sure that Rebekah feels the same...
Perhaps later we may post a few pictures of Heather... just not now...
Thank you Rebekah so much for your support and contribution to this shoot... I cannot thank you enough!
Thank you also to Colina who was scheduled to participate in this particular shoot but came down with a cold and could not be near Heather. I know you were with us in spirit, thank you!
- - - - - - - - - -
The young girl in the pictures, Heather, passed away just a few short weeks later. You can see the pictures from the shoot on Jean's blog.