Aperturaphoto.com shares beautiful behind-the-scenes shots of the first ever Help-Portrait Indonesia. Recipients of the photos were 170 girls aged from 6-18 and 10 others from an all-girl orphanage in Jakarta. More than 50 volunteers made the day possible, chronicled in this personal essay.
Click here or the image above to follow Help-Portrait events globally through Instagram photos tagged #HelpPortrait.
This is it! The third annual Help-Portrait is about to begin. We can’t tell you how excited we are to see this movement grow to the size it has – thousands of you in 56 countries across the world are signed up to make a difference in people’s lives in your own communities this weekend. We’re thrilled at the level of teamwork, camaraderie, compassion and resources that will come together to allow others to feel valued, seen and heard.
As Help-Portrait 2011 begins to roll out across international timezones, we wanted to give you a few last-minute reminders.
EVENT REPORTING
Most importantly, don’t forget to track and report your numbers. We’re looking for the number of photographers, volunteers and portraits given. At the end of the event, head over to http://bit.ly/help-portrait2011 and fill in the details. This allows us to share the global impact of Help-Portrait with the public, media and potential sponsors. This helps us engage more photographers so that next year, we can do even more.
MEDIA LOVE
SHARING PHOTOS
Lastly, we can’t wait to see your photos this year. Whether you upload on your personal blog, local Help-Portrait site, Facebook, Flickr or other means, please make sure to include the Help-Portrait watermark, get the proper release forms signed, and include “Help_Portrait” in the file titles so we can see the photos when doing a Google Image Search.
We’re anticipating great things this year. Let’s go!
-Jeremy & the Help-Portrait team
Our friends at ScottKelby.com asked the Help-Portrait team to guest blog today on their site. Our volunteer staff gives some insight into what we do for H-P and how it’s impacted our lives. Check it out for a sneak peek at what goes on behind-the-scenes.
Read more: “It’s Guest Blog Wednesday featuring the Help-Portrait Team!”
How would you answer the questions they posed to us? Respond below:
This is a fun addition to the new apparel in the Help-Portrait store this year. These original Lens Bracelets designed by Adam Elmakias are made from durable black silicone with debossed red stripe and Help-Portrait Logo.
It also comes in a black 50MM style.
These bracelets were donated by Adam so all proceeds from your purchase will provide support to the Help-Portrait events, programs and services for the less fortunate. Visit the creator of the Lens Bracelet, Adam Elmakias.
This tutorial shows you how to use our new Help-Portrait Photoshop templates for HP Photo uploads.
This is a guest post from Frank Doorhof, who helps lead Help-Portrait in the Netherlands (help-portret). This is a look at how he got involved and how the Dutch do Help-Portrait.
My name is Frank Doorhof and I’m based in the Netherlands. In “normal” life I’m a fashion photographer specializing in teaching workshops and shooting artists and models (and everything that is interesting in short).
When I joined Kelbytraining and taught my first PhotoshopWorld I got the chance to meet up with a photographer I really looked up to, Jeremy Cowart. And although we all are normal people (some more normal than others) Jeremy struck something with me, not with his photography (which I love by the way) but with the “other” work he did, one being Help-Portrait.
Now let’s make one thing very clear, I’m really busy as is Jeremy, but sometimes you just HAVE to do something, no matter what the costs, and while hanging out with Jeremy and getting to know him a little better I knew that I wanted to participate in Help-Portrait for 2011. But that is not really something I wanted to do small scale.
I knew there were some participants in the Netherlands in the previous years, but I really did not hear much in the media, or forums, magazines, etc. So I thought that it would be great if we could get all the Dutch photographers together and make a real fist towards the media, and as the saying goes over here “many hands make work lighter.”
I could not image that the responses would be so overwhelming.
We started a website with a small forum where people could join the “movement” and where could meet each other. Before we knew it there were so many people wanting to participate that I decided to assign certain regions to certain people.
After this the most difficult part started, and that’s getting the media into the project, somehow the media seems to be less than interested in the project. The main problem is that they want a “famous” person in the “picture,” so at the moment we are just doing that.
In November we will release a Dutch theme song for Help-Portrait by a female singer and we hope that this will get us the media attention we need to make it a bigger success. However even if we don’t get the media attention it will probably work out fine. At the moment our team is contacting several organizations like the Salvation Army, local authorities, nursing homes, and we’re trying to get them to include small flyers for the people to visit help portret.
For our own location we have secured a wonderful school building. We choose this location because it’s in the middle of Emmeloord but still a bit hidden, meaning people can park in the shopping center and walk to the school and enter it without people seeing them. I’m doing the Help-Portrait sessions in my hometown, and we have a smaller community meaning some people will feel a bit hesitant to enter the building if everyone can see them going in; often people are a bit proud and don’t want to admit they are in need of help. In the bigger cities this is less of a problem and I know that some region heads have secured larger buildings that are easily accessible.
We will greet the people with coffee, tea and cake (the cake will probably be made by a nearby restaurant that has a lot of mentally challenged people working for them; in exchange for the cake we’ll give them nice images of course).
In our location we will setup seven studios. Each photographer will have his/her own studio and shoot tethered to a laptop. These images will be send to a NAS in the meeting space (which is nice and large and is in the middle of the studios) with the numbers of the studios. People can go there and choose with our editors the images they like, and they will be printed by Epson printers and given to the people.
One studio will be fitted with a large white seamless and people will be asked if they’d like to leave a note on they print. One print will be given to them and one print will be shared for the Help-Portrait movement with their story.
I don’t know how the other locations will work, this is how we work, but we communicate this to the region leaders and I think in the end it will all look a bit the same.
Our running projects at the moment:
We secured one of the largest printers in the Netherlands, Oypo, to take care of ALL printing we need on locations were the photographers cannot print themselves, they will also make a special space on their harddrive for all images with 0% margin, so people can order more or make posters etc.
This week has been very hectic with interviews and press releases that have gone out to all media, plus we are contacting some artists I know to see if we can get them on board to push the media.
It’s an ongoing battle, but we are 100% confident that Help portrait will be a huge success over here, the people are working REALLY hard, we’ve seen books with hundreds of pages of plans and region leaders running it like a small movieset with setlists, press releases etc., and some people are just doing it alone.
For the people who are participating we are now in negotiations with a printer to get small door posters with the Help=Portrait logo. This is why we think the media is so important: the logo has to be recognized by people.
Helping with that for the month November we have several so called “stopper” adds in a lot of magazines that are released nationally and are well read.
One thing I would like to add:
When I started organizing this I set one goal. I wanted Help-Portrait to be the best experience for the visitors in the Netherlands, but I also realized that if we were to communicate with the media it had to be uniform, so I clearly stated that national attention had to be run through our team, the reason for this is very simple. As a photographer I don’t need the attention of the media, I want to concentrate the focus 100% on Help-Portrait. Up until now all media attention has worked this way and has gone rather flawless.
Every country will do it differently of course, and every country has people with different needs. In the Netherlands there is some need for help but we have a reasonable good social system so we are a bit more flexible with the people we will help, I know for example that in some areas there is also a focus on visiting people in care houses, hospitals and street children. In the end it all boils down to one thing.
Give a message of hope.
Let people know that they are still there, and that there are people who care.
The hidden sadness of people can be irrelevant about having just enough money but it’s a feeling of not being worth anything and being forgotten, with Help-Portrait in the Netherlands we will also aim for those people and let them know that also they are worth having a great photograph.
We wish you all a GREAT 10 December, and our hats are off to Jeremy for getting a world movement into motion.
Introducing the vision for the 2011 Help-Portrait event on 10 December 2011. Founder, Jeremy Cowart, explains how we’re doing things a little different this year.
Sher
Help Portrait Project
Sher | 03/11/2011 6:15 pm
Sally White
Sally, Eric and I were thinking that we could come take portraits at the DHC. See the attached video. The participants would get a copy that they could give for a holiday gift, we could post a copy at the DHC. They don't have to give one to pat on line, altho some might want to. What do you think? Let's talk more if you're interested. Julia
Sally White | 05/11/2011 5:44 pm
We recently announced some big changes to Help-Portrait. 1. We’re going to start showing the photos if the subjects want us to. 2. We’re going to have them draw and write on their actual photos and tell their stories. 3. We’re going to hand the cameras over and let them do some shooting.
I’m so excited to show you what this looks like, finally.
I ran a small Help-Portrait event Sunday in downtown Los Angeles at what’s known as “The toughest block in the U.S.” We were at the Union Rescue Mission at Skid Row. I’m new to LA and had no idea what to expect. But I was excited about trying all our new ideas this year: showing the photos, telling the stories ON the photos, having people sign model releases, handing the camera over, etc…
Here’s how each went:
Handing the camera over: Easy. No-brainer. They loved it. I had several people telling me about how they had wanted to be a photographer in the past but had to give up due to their situation. Their eyes lit up when I told them that they could be the photographer this time. It was a big deal and made me really excited to hand over my camera…
Showing their photos: Every single person happily signed a model release. (We’re absolutely okay if someone doesn’t want to. We will always respect and honor those wishes.) But each person was almost giddy at the idea of their photo being splashed on our website and on the Internet. In fact, some of them asked me to “promise” them it would go online. They asked for our web address and wanted to know when they could see themselves on the Internet (we’re working on a solution to that right now). Just like the photos themselves, this is also something we take for granted: having our photos online. It’s very special for someone to have a nice picture online that they can send to relatives, etc., especially in time for the holidays. This new direction was a big hit.
The stories on the photos. I printed at least two pictures of every image – one for them and one for us. For our picture, they wrote something ON the photo. I told them to write anything. Literally anything. Whatever the day meant to them, or whatever they wanted to say to the world or about themselves. This was their chance to speak their minds. I don’t have to explain how powerful this was. You can see for yourselves below.
With all these new additions, it made it very clear that this year is going to be more special than ever. I cannot WAIT to see the stories and photos that emerge from your events in a few weeks.
Til then!
Jeremy
em
this is absolutely beautiful. so excited about this.
em | 25/10/2011 5:00 pm
adhit
i love the idea, that's wonderful thing
adhit | 25/10/2011 5:06 pm
Dan Falvo
Love it. !!!
Dan Falvo | 25/10/2011 5:08 pm
Ivona
I love this...love everything about it. The mother/daughter photo got to me...
Ivona | 25/10/2011 5:09 pm
victoria mitchell
i can not wait to see the action here in Nashville! super pumped :)
victoria mitchell | 25/10/2011 5:13 pm
Dani
God bless you all
Dani | 25/10/2011 5:13 pm
lise
beautiful!
lise | 25/10/2011 5:17 pm
david
Great twist to a great project.
david | 25/10/2011 5:19 pm
Eric
Awesome... what a great way to give back. Can't wait for this year!
Eric | 25/10/2011 5:19 pm
Heather
What an awesome thing to do! Just made my day seeing this and the good you have done.
Heather | 25/10/2011 5:19 pm
Jack
This is much more inspirational than thanking the photos and just giving it to them. I love it.
Jack | 25/10/2011 5:34 pm
Erin
Amazing! How empowering.
Erin | 25/10/2011 5:34 pm
Andre
This is awesome. Really looking forward to the big day!
Andre | 25/10/2011 5:40 pm
Sohail Khwaja
most wonderful idea. Kudos.
Sohail Khwaja | 25/10/2011 5:42 pm
jana
amazing. so beautiful and powerful it made me cry. keep up the good work.
jana | 25/10/2011 5:59 pm
Kari Nichols
I don't know any of these people, yet can't wait to see the next picture & read the writings of each one of them! You do such important things, and they're all based out of the perfect place in your soul!!! I would love to be a part of this someday soon!
Kari Nichols | 25/10/2011 6:08 pm
Tara Leigh
This is incredible. I love their faith! So encouraged by the people in these photos.
Tara Leigh | 25/10/2011 6:10 pm
mightymission
Amen!
mightymission | 25/10/2011 6:10 pm
Gail
The portraits tell part of the story, the messages tell more--wonderful idea!
Gail | 25/10/2011 6:34 pm
Leroy Skalstad
With all the hardships that come from living on the streets the one thing I remember the most is the loss of individuality. Thanks Jeremy for helping raise awareness that each person is a unique soul. Leroy, Formerly homeless Vietnam veteran .
Leroy Skalstad | 25/10/2011 6:46 pm
Jorge Ivan
I am no longer associated with the photographer who introduced me to your project. I do remember however that there was an agreement with an entity that had agreed to donate 8 X 10 prints. It might have been Wallgreens. Is that still in place? I'm considering offering my services and recruiting make up people and maybe hair stylists but can't afford the printing costs. Please advise. Thank you.
Jorge Ivan | 25/10/2011 6:49 pm
We Could All Take A Lesson From JEREMY - Kari Nichols Photography
[...] recently read Jeremy Cowart’s post on HELP-PORTRAIT and was so incredibly inspired! Recently, Jeremy ran a Help Portrait event at Union Rescue [...]
We Could All Take A Lesson From JEREMY - Kari Nichols Photography | 25/10/2011 7:19 pm
z. lynn
Beautiful!
z. lynn | 25/10/2011 7:44 pm
Help Portrait 2011 « Portnoy Media Group
[...] This past Sunday Jeremy Cowart was working his magic for the next chapter of Help Portrait in 2011. In keeping with the tradition of Help Portrait from previous years they’ll be respecting the privacy of any and all who would like to have their portrait taken but this year they are asking those who are being photographed to share their story. Jeremy just posted an update with the vision for this years event – Check it here [...]
Help Portrait 2011 « Portnoy Media Group | 25/10/2011 7:57 pm
Jen May
It was definitely an incredible event--looking forward to doing it again on Dec 10th!
Jen May | 25/10/2011 9:30 pm
Stewart Uy
For a few years now I"ve been taking portraits of the homeless people i've come across and was able to spend some time with. I love what you're doing here and I praise God for putting into your heart reach out to those who are looked over. I wish I had the materials to allow people to write on their photograph! That idea is genius!!!
Stewart Uy | 25/10/2011 11:06 pm
Daralynn
This is awesome!
Daralynn | 26/10/2011 12:53 am
Branden Harvey
I love this.
Branden Harvey | 26/10/2011 1:16 am
Ivan Boden
Awesome.
Ivan Boden | 26/10/2011 2:12 am
Scott Huck (@scotthuckphoto)
this is fantastic! I can't wait to participate again this year!
Scott Huck (@scotthuckphoto) | 26/10/2011 2:15 am
che roa
SUPERB! <3
che roa | 26/10/2011 2:17 am
Kathy Fulton
The BEST!! So inspiring and honest.....beautiful!!
Kathy Fulton | 26/10/2011 3:44 am
Holly
WOW....speachless.
Holly | 26/10/2011 4:28 am
Richard Danter
Inspiring.
Richard Danter | 26/10/2011 9:08 am
Teena McMichaelname*
LOVE IT !!!!! This is a wonderful idea! Whoever thought this one up deserves a medal. May this help many, mant ppl. And open the eyes of those who can help.message*
Teena McMichaelname* | 26/10/2011 12:59 pm
Mark Bush @ Catchlight Photography
I'd love to see this done in Evansville! Count me in!
Mark Bush @ Catchlight Photography | 26/10/2011 1:10 pm
Lilimar
WOW!!! Amazing how much a stranger can teach you if you take the time to listen to their story.
Lilimar | 26/10/2011 2:48 pm
Connie Riley
GREAT pictures & stories of how GOD is working in their life. Thank you for sharing this. I want to help in DALLAS area, just day and time hasn't worked out. I want to take pictures. Blessings
Connie Riley | 26/10/2011 3:43 pm
Help Portrait Hosts Pre-Event at URM | Union Rescue Mission
[...] information about Help Portrait and photos Please Click Here blog comments powered by Disqus [...]
Help Portrait Hosts Pre-Event at URM | Union Rescue Mission | 26/10/2011 3:46 pm
Wonderful Wednesday – Skip1, Steve Jobs, Love My Dress, » Alex Beadon Photography
[...] absolutely loving where “Help Portrait” is going, and what they have achieved so [...]
Wonderful Wednesday – Skip1, Steve Jobs, Love My Dress, » Alex Beadon Photography | 26/10/2011 5:04 pm
Thank You All Who Have Signed-Up!
[...] 1. These photos can NOT be used for your portfolio. But we can share photos with the subjects story ONLY if permission is granted by the subject. Releases will be available. Stories can be shared here, on your personal blog, the official Help-Portrait site, etc as long as it abides by release rules (don’t portray the subject in a bad light, and remember these photos are to create a sense of worth so be careful with how you present them). You can find out more here: http://help-portrait.com/2011/10/the-future-of-help-portrait-2 [...]
Thank You All Who Have Signed-Up! | 26/10/2011 6:32 pm
Shannon McFerren
NOW I'm excited! This will touch them, but God will touch me more, I have a feeling.....
Shannon McFerren | 26/10/2011 8:28 pm
Juli L.
This is so wonderful! Thank you to all of you for sharing. What beautiful people! :)
Juli L. | 26/10/2011 8:40 pm
Jenny Hansen
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! You guys are truly amazing! Such an inspiration!
Jenny Hansen | 26/10/2011 9:02 pm
Matt Carter
I loved seeing all of these photographs with each person's unique individual touch. Thank you for doing this. I know it's encouraging to not only the subjects of the photos, but also to myself and everyone who sees these images. Thank you for serving and glorifying God the way that you do through Help-Portrait!
Matt Carter | 27/10/2011 5:57 am
Charlene Chavez
This is great to lift up their spirits and remind them they are people and that they matter no matter what their story is!
Charlene Chavez | 27/10/2011 5:28 pm
~AR
Awesome! Love the idea! The personalization of the portraits is extremely moving! I'm going to talk this over with the other photographers that are doing the event I'm doing the H-P event with this year, and I know we're going to use some of these ideas! Great job!
Do you happen to have a PDF of the release you used? Would make good resource material for the event.
~AR | 28/10/2011 7:37 pm
Happy Monday – Fun Finds #8 « Tuuli Platner Photography
[...] Help Portrait is one of the best ways to use photography for good – and here’s the evidence. [...]
Happy Monday – Fun Finds #8 « Tuuli Platner Photography | 31/10/2011 8:59 am
Stephanie D
All of these amazing photos made me cry. I love their stories and the new changes. Can't wait to be part of this amazing event this year!
Stephanie D | 10/11/2011 9:34 pm
Help-Portrait: Photographers giving back through photography « The View From Here– laurensouch.ca
[...] become the photographer. The folk over at Help-Portrait did a mini event this past weekend, and the stories and photos shared on their blog are truly [...]
Help-Portrait: Photographers giving back through photography « The View From Here– laurensouch.ca | 30/12/2011 5:44 pm
From the beginning of our movement nearly three years ago, photographers and volunteers around the world have embraced the Help-Portrait ethos: that is giving, not taking photos. It’s never been about the photographer or his skills or what he has to offer. It’s always been about connecting with and giving back to the subject. And you all have gotten that – really gotten that – since day one. It’s been amazing to see such a generous spirit permeate these events around the world.
Because of that, countless stories have emerged. From families who have never had their portrait made together, to mothers and daughters reconciling, to rehabilitated men starting a new life symbolized with a picture …. Help-Portrait is rife with stories of hope. The stories that Help-Portrait events generate make up the most magical and meaningful part of this movement. And we’ve neglected to tell them. Until now.
(I, Jeremy, as the founder of this movement, felt it was best to not show the photos. I didn’t want this movement to be about photography. But I underestimated you and the rest of the community. You all instantly caught on to the spirit of Help-Portrait and I’m so grateful for that. But now I’m realizing just how much we’ve kept the world from seeing and experiencing. This year, I want to let them in our little secret.)
On that note, we have three big announcements to share. (Please keep in mind that these are simply ideas and options for your event, and by no means mandatory to be an official Help-Portrait event.)
Now before you get too panicked, hear us out.
Simply put, we’ve been hiding the magic of Help-Portrait. We’ve kept more than 100,000 portraits and 100,000 stories all to ourselves. Now imagine how our movement would grow if we shared these photos and stories? The movement spreading = more lives being impacted. That’s our singular goal.
And of course, if anyone does not want their photo shown for any reason, we will completely honor that request and keep the portraits private. In addition, portraits will never be sold or used to make a profit.
We’ve seen in years past that many people WANT to tell their story and share their photos. For the first time, they’ve seen themselves in a new light. They’re proud and WANT to let the world know how far they’ve come. We want to allow them to do that!
We’ll follow up with complete details about how to share the photos in the coming days. One requirement is that they must have the Help-Portrait watermark in the bottom right corner before posting or sharing. We’ll give you everything you need.
But let’s not just post pictures on the Internet, let’s truly make this a party and celebrate these stories of hope, reconciliation and reunited families!
That’s right. Put your camera on a tripod or just simply hand over your camera. Let a child take a photo of his mother or vice versa. Let a former gang member take photo of his friends. Let a sick child take a portrait of her friend. Let them take a photo of YOU, the photographer, for fun. Let’s encourage creativity and let our subjects discover the pure joy of photography, and let’s encourage them in their gifts. This isn’t about us anyway, right? So why do we need to take the photos? Let’s be the teachers, not the photographers, this year.
This is a new vision for the actual portraits that we’re excited to tell you about.
Imagine doing a Google Image search of Help-Portrait and seeing thousands of portraits pop up and each photo has a simple story told on it by the person in the photo. Just a couple lines… “Reunited mother and daughter after 30 years of separation”… or “This portrait represents the new me and where I’m going”… or “I’m going to beat this cancer.”
Or maybe the photo just has a simple drawing on it or something funny. Maybe the subject wants to draw bunny ears on themselves or their favorite number of their favorite athlete.
What we’re saying is: What if Help-Portrait now becomes an art project?
Kids can use stickers, glue, glitter – whatever inspires them. Markers, pens, paper … words, phrases, stories … there are no parameters here. Just bring your art supplies and provide them with whatever you can. We believe that the portraits will transform into works of art that reflect their subject.
There are a couple ways of going about this:
: one for them to modify and one for them to frame. We’ll need you to share the modified art prints in a special Help-Portrait Flickr group after they’ve been watermarked with the Help-Portrait logo. (We’re okay if they just draw the Help-Portrait “hand” in the corner as the watermark.) We believe this unique set of art images will generate new interest in the movement and help us reach even more people in years to come. (And imagine the Google Image Search :)
OR
Just be sure you scan it or take a photo of it before they leave if they want to share it.
And of course, they don’t HAVE to do the art project. If they just want their portrait as usual, that’s okay with us as well.
Whew. So that’s it! Big changes huh? We couldn’t be more excited. It’s a new direction but the principle remains the same: This isn’t about us. Let this truly be a collaboration between the stylists, photographers, volunteers and the beautiful people we’re serving that day. Let’s break the walls down. Let’s pull out all the stops and make this a year that changed everything.
Ready?
-The Help-Portrait Team
Peter Khauo
I love it! I think the idea is wonderful. I can't wait for it to start again this year!
Peter Khauo | 19/10/2011 9:31 pm
James
This is actually just diluting the industry even more. There are already too many people expecting free photos.
You don't see people in other industries giving away their time and expertise away for free, just to help.
James | 19/10/2011 9:44 pm
Joe
That's really cool guys! There's nothing like the magic in a child's eyes when they hold a camera for the first time... good stuff! We made it a point ourselves to stick with who ever we shoot throughout the whole process, so we can learn their names and their stories. You guys are doing great with the updates and the news. Thanks for the added motivation to get going this year!
Joe | 19/10/2011 9:57 pm
Tom
James, You have missed the point by so much that all I can do is shake my head. Jeremy, everyone at HP, this is wonderful. It's exciting to think of the impact this will make.
Tom | 20/10/2011 12:10 am
Amandalynn
James, you're out of touch about what HP is about dude. This isn't about giving away service to your mooching neighbor or family friend, it's about giving back to your community. Furthermore, MANY professionals in other industries donate time and talent for causes they believe in. If you don't want to find the meaning in this movement, fine, but you're complaining to the wrong crowd.
As for the original post - I love the artistic, community art element being incorporated into it, but I'm a little bummed this announcement wasn't made sooner.... It's coming somewhat late to those of us who have already been working hard at other plans.... I'd love to be able to incorporate some of these ideas into my local hp event, but it would have been nice to have gotten this direction/suggestion earlier. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing the results from other groups :)
Amandalynn | 20/10/2011 1:23 am
Sharley
James, actually there are other industries willing to donate their time, resources, money and other things, especially during the holiday to help those less fortunate. Perhaps you need to rethink you career choice or maybe just rethink your outlook. It's a shame that someone will try to put down an organization that is about helping people.
Sharley | 20/10/2011 1:46 am
Kyle
James, is a construction company that volunteers their time and provides materials to build a house for Habitat for Humanity or similar organization for a family that otherwise wouldn't ever afford to live in their own home going to destroy the home building industry? No, that's dumb logic. Go troll somewhere else.
Kyle | 20/10/2011 2:15 am
lindsay
First off.. i ENTIRELY disagree with James..
HOWEVER, I just wanted to express some concerns.
1) There needs to be SPECIFIC guidelines for sharing photos, even if only through the HP website. Rules such as "no personal branding or watermarks on HP images". This will stop people from trying to promote their own business through HP portraits. To me, that was the main reason why, as an organizer, I really pushed the rule of NO PORTRAITS ON THE INTERNET. I hated seeing people trying to use those photos to push their own brand in the vein of HP.
2) I don't like the idea of giving the camera to people to take portraits. I believe that really dilutes the message of Help-Portrait to GIVE portraits. I had found that the reason people were so moved by this movement was because they never had the experience of working with a professional photographer and getting that PROFESSIONAL picture. Even if a photographer sets up all of the lighting and puts the camera on a tripod, that person is not getting the experience of a professional portrait. I dont know about you, but I feel that the photographer behind the camera makes all the difference in the world - even if it's just a pre-set lighting set up. It's the pro who can really get the right moment and the perfect picture.
I feel that by adding the element of creativity and art to it you are completely missing the point which is to give people something that they would love to have in their homes but wouldn't have without HP.
I love the idea of writing a message. We actually did this in a few ways. Firstly, each person got an ID number - after the event they were encouraged to send a request for the digital files using their ID number - in that request form there was a check box asking "Would you like your picture and story to be shared" and then a comment field for them to tell their story.
We received SOOO many really great stories that way yet we were able to avoid the mess of a craft area and didn't dilute the concept of giving great PORTRAITS and having the experience of feeling beautiful.
When you start adding things to the experience of feeling great about yourself and start asking people to not only feel great about themselves but then to get creative adn write and draw, i think you might be asking alot.
We also had a LOT of things for people to do while waiting. We didn't have lines - we had stations and people had numbers. We had magazine racks and a kids play area as well as food and music. We never felt that the people waiting were being cattle called in to line at all.. and we did about 300 portraits!
lindsay | 20/10/2011 3:32 am
Jerry Voelker
I love this idea. The most amazing moments before were capturing pictures of people and families that had never had a photo taken. I love the idea of letting them capture the images. I'm excited by the idea of a little kid taking a picture of their parent - you know it is something they will be proud of for the rest of their lives.
Jerry Voelker | 20/10/2011 4:34 am
Tamara Okoti
Lindsay: Kinda liking the idea of a form for them to fill out while they wait, with their story.
Otherwise, I think that adding all that art stuff would create a bit too much mayhem plus mess. Last year we had trouble with one big paper and felts for the kids as it was. Secondly I agree that this is pretty late coming, and if you would like us to be able to share photos of any kind, you will have to provide a very good model release for everyone to use. I also agree that handing your camera to someone would take away from the "professional session" experience, however, I can see this working well with the candid photographers we will have around.
Tamara Okoti | 20/10/2011 6:38 am
Alan Mars
I like #1 and I like #3. I'm a little cautious though about #2. I'm a little scared handing over a $3500 camera/lens to someone who doesn't know what they're doing. This makes me want to bring my old Rebel XT with a kit lens instead of my 5D Mark II and 24-105 L Series Lens which would really be a shame.
Alan Mars | 20/10/2011 10:44 am
carandavis
Thanks for the feedback, guys, keep it coming. We also have another blog post coming with more detailed specifics.Thanks!
carandavis | 20/10/2011 12:30 pm
carandavis
Also, the team wanted to add that these are ideas and options for your event - we're not saying you have to do one or all or any of them. We think these ideas could help infuse some new life and creativity into Help-Portrait events but leaders and team members should manage their local events as they feel is best for their community.
carandavis | 20/10/2011 4:21 pm
Lindsay
@Tamara - if you are going to put pictures ANYWHERE you absolutely have to have at least a model release, so if you want I can post the release that we used for you all to use as a template for creating your own. The release included the question "whats your story" and "do you want your story shared with your photo?" and "do you want your story shared but leave your photo out"
We had published some stories not on our website, but in our press kit (all stories/photos were with permission). If you wanna see that you can download it here
http://help-portraitNEWHAVEN.com/HP-PressRelease2011.pdf
Lindsay | 20/10/2011 8:09 pm
&
pertamaaax... :D
isdah ahmad | 11/12/2011 9:22 am
I'm honored for having a chance to lead this first event. But kudos to all the volunteers who made it happen. They are the real rockstars. :)
Gladys C | 11/12/2011 3:37 pm
yeahhhh, yg penting handuknya :D
yulius rianto | 12/12/2011 9:21 am
Next year Will be much more Photog, Places, Models and fun.....
Eano | 13/12/2011 2:03 pm