The brainchild of celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart, Help-Portrait is a movement of photographers, coming together in every major city, to use their photography skills to give back to the community. On December 12th, photographers around the world will be grabbing their cameras, finding people in need, and taking their picture. When the prints are ready, they get delivered.
This video is some of the behind-the-scenes work that Jeremy and a handful of fellow photographers have been doing in preparation for the main event. For more information, be sure to check out their website at http://www.help-portrait.com/
Last weekend, with Tropical Storm Bill approaching, we set out to photograph the beautiful wedding of our Balloon Ride winners, Kimberly and Rob!
As we arrived at Kimberly’s house, Myrna Burgos, the makeup artist, was putting the final touches on Kim’s mom, so we took a few minutes and scouted around for some good locations to take shots of Kimberly and the girls. I have to say that the house was a photographer’s dream! It had beautiful, natural light coming in everywhere, furniture and walls with elegant patterns and mirrors in all of the right places! We used almost every thing that we found in our shots! When we were done with everyone, we headed out just ahead of the limos and made our way to the church in Highland Lakes New Jersey.
After the ceremony, we followed the bridal party and parents up to the Highland Lakes Country Club for some shots in the park and along the waters edge. Both Loretta and I watched some really dark clouds moving in as we photographed the girls, guys and group together. As we prepped for our final shot, I felt a few drops hit my neck. Two clicks later, the skies opened up and it poured! Luckily, the limo drivers were close by with an umbrella …
On our way down to the Meadow Wood Manor in Randolph New Jersey, it rained so hard that we could barely see where we were going! Luckily, we got all of the shots we needed just before it started – so Loretta and I were happy!
The rest of the night was perfect as well. The cocktail hour for the guests featured a 50’s era Burgers and Fries diner as well as a huge ice carving of the Staten Island ferry – the place where Kimberly and Rob first met. They even had the entire Meadow Wood Manor to themselves – which enabled us to photograph anywhere we wanted!
As the night went on, we pulled Kimberly and Rob out for a brief few minutes here and there so we could grab some extra shots and before we knew it, the night was already over! Here are some sneak peek shots from their wedding!
Today, we received a great review on WeddingWire.Com from Stephen And Claire, our Hawaiian Luau wedding couple …
Chris and Loretta were fantastic!!!! They were extremely attentive to my needs. They gave me great ideas to make my wedding even better than it was! They arrived at the wedding early and stayed a lot later than I thought they would! They were extremely thorough and professional. They knew that I had a very tight budget therefore they worked with me so that it was possible for me to even have a photographer there. Wanamaker Photography is Awsome,Awsome,Awsome!!!!!!!!
I never truly realized the value of what we, photographers, provide individuals and families, until recently. It was a week ago, June 21st 2009 – Father’s Day, when the importance of being a photographer and photographs in general really came into light.
Overall, Father’s Day Sunday was a beautiful day. After raining for nearly 3 weeks straight, we finally had a day where we could head outside without getting soaked. Loretta and I headed up to Sussex NJ to cover a soccer game for one of our leagues, High Point Soccer Club. However, my Mom had made early reservations for a Sushi restaurant in Monoroe NY, called the Plum House, so that we could all take my Dad out for his favorite dinner on Father’s Day. We covered the first of two games and handed control over to Tom, one of our freelance photographers, so that we could head out and meet up with my parents.
After an incredible dinner, we took a detour past our old house, talked with an old neighbor and headed back to Westtown. At home, we enjoyed cake and coffee while my Dad opened all of the gifts we had gotten him. Everyone did surprisingly well since he never really provided us with a list of what he wanted. As the night went on, my Mom spoke up and asked us all to head out on the deck so we could take some group photos with her new camera (one that she got on Mother’s Day last month).
We took a big group shots, shots of just the boys and shots of just the girls. There were even a couple shots in there with the dog. After looking at the picture, I realize why I stay BEHIND the lens …
… but we all laughed and headed back inside to finish out the evening. Around 10PM, Loretta and I decided to head home as we had a bit of a drive and lots of work to do the next day. What happened next has forever changed the lives of each one of us …
As we were getting ready to leave, including my brother and his girlfriend, my Dad collapsed in the garage. We frantically tried CPR to try and bring him back – but we all feel that he was already gone before the first responding EMS technicians even arrived. The ambulance arrived and took him to the hospital as the technicians continued to try and bring my Dad back – but at 10:40PM, he was officially pronounced dead.
What started out as a beautiful day, ended in horrible tragedy for our entire family. My Dad was only 64. In the days that followed, a range of emotions hit us all – but Sean and I held together what we could and worked on putting a tribute together to be played during his viewing services. As we combed through boxes and boxes of photographs, it was then that I realized how important being a photographer really is and how much value it provides families – whether they realize it or not.
Nearly each day, we photograph high school seniors, families, weddings, events and sports – never fully realizing that the images we are capturing could be the last images of that person. When we speak with some of our clients, they tell us that is has been 10 or more years since they last had a family photo taken. 10 years is a long time, especially when your entire life can change in the blink of an eye.
While many may not see the value of a photograph or what goes into producing that image, all I can say is that I am happy that our family has photographers because we may have never captured the final image above. To me, the image above has more value than anything in this world because it is the last image we took together as a family!
What Clients Are Saying
Chris and Loretta were extremely professional and very upbeat. They made our wedding experience delightful and the picture taking went smoothly. I would use them again in a heart beat. — Monica F.
