This year marks my first year ever participating in Help-Portrait. Many of you might not have any idea what Help-Portrait is. In short, Help-Portrait is a movement among photographers doing portraits of people that are less fortunate. This could be single mothers, orphans, the sick, your neighbor, the homeless. This may not mean much to you but to a family that lives in a homeless shelter that has never had the family professional photographed together, it means the world. Photographers aren't the only ones who can volunteer their time and talent but hairstylist, make-up artist, and even counselors can give what they have been given and share it with someone less fortune. The events are held by local photographers getting together on the HELP-PORTRAIT COMMUNITY and finding places to host these events. Since starting last year, the event is held in almost 60 countries!
This was my first Help-Portrait event but this will definitely not be my last. I haven't done much charity work before but will be trying to do much more now. The feeling you get when you photograph a family for their first time ever and see their face after you show them the photo, all together and smiling, really means more than I can say.
We started photographing Saturday morning at 9AM with families then moved to individuals throughout the day until around 5pm. I have to say it was one of the fastest Saturdays I've had in awhile. I wanted to post a few photos from that day and chose to post some of the individuals that were taken that day. You may notice that I just posted their eyes. I feel that in some you can tell the joy while in others you still see the hurt. You don't need the entire photograph to tell there were many emotions going around that day.
Lastly it was great meeting and networking with the other local photographers there and hopefully it won't be the last time we all hang out!!
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