Photographers, lets volunteer this Holiday season

Today is Thanksgiving. A time when a lot of people do soul searching, look back at the year that practically has gone by and think of all the things they should be thankful for. That may be enjoying good health, having a job, having a roof over one's head, or food at the table. Sadly, everyone is not that lucky. There are many folks out there for whom each day is a battle. A struggle to feed their children, to find shelter at night, or to find any kind of job. For those unlucky ones, it is sometimes hard, or practically impossible to see light at the end of the tunnel.

But there are ways for those altruistic folks out there to give something back to the community. Go to San Diego Magazine for a listing of charitable opportunities and events in the area. But since my specialty is photography I will go over a couple options we have, as photographers, to volunteer our time and talent to help out others in need.

Help-Portrait
This year, on December 12, photographers around the world will be leveraging their skills to give a glimmer of hope to those going through rough times. Portrait shots will be taken of those who are out of a job, homeless, or in any way going through a difficult situation. The idea here is to just bring a smile to their faces, make them feel like they're stars, and in the process give them hope. Check out this YouTube video that shows what that sort of event looks like. If you have a camera (you don't have to be a pro) think about maybe volunteering some of your time. Check out the San Diego Group page for details about time and location.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS)
This organization administers a network of almost 7,000 volunteer photographers in the U.S. and other countries. Professional portraiture services are provided at no cost to parents grieving the loss of a child. If you are interested in volunteering your time and talent for this worthy cause join the NILMDTS network.  

So visit the sites above and see if that's something you'd like to do; or find other ways to offer a helping hand. There's always someone in need who will truly appreciates your support. Have a great Thanksgiving.

NILMDTS photo shoot

Today I shadowed another photographer on a NILMDTS shoot. The tiny subject was a 3-week-old girl diagnosed with trisomy 13, which is a genetic disorder that affects 1 out of 10,000 newborns. In addition to displaying several of the many simptoms associated with this disease, like cleft lip or palate, and mental retardation, many of the babies affected by this disorder also suffer from congenital heart disease. And sadly, 80% of children with trisomy 13 die during the first month.

I was there as an observer, since this was the first case I was involved in, but also as an interpreter, being that the parents only spoke Spanish. The photographer did her job very professionally as I watched (she's already done several of these sessions), and everything proceeded so smoothly that I sometimes forgot what made this child so special. If you had walked in during the session you would have thought it was just another newborn portrait session, with the parents posing and holding their baby so proudly. But then, I would remember again that this child will be leaving this world soon. As I write this, and ponder about the whole thing, I can't help but think that by the time those proud parents receive their picture CD in the mail (about two weeks) that little girl will probably be gone.

The baby was fast asleep in her rocker, where the last pictures had been taken. "You look at my little girl and you don't really see anything wrong with her, but God knows why he does things", her dad said to me as we were getting ready to leave. What do you say to that?

My temp home studio

I've always been more of a mobile kinda photographer. On weddings and other events obviously I'm going to be shooting on location, but with portrait photography you either shoot in a studio setting or at a location agreed with the client. For the latter my philosophy is that my mobile studio is comprised of whatever fits in the trunk of my car. And since I always like to be prepared I always carry at least one camera, lens and flash and some basic accessories in the trunk. A tripod, light stand, umbrella and collapsible reflector completes the portable lighting setup. You never know when the need to do a quick shoot will arise.

Still, I've always wanted to try out shooting in a studio just for the heck of it. Not that I will be spending a lot of time in a studio in the near future, but I always like to keep my options open. So a couple weeks ago I purchased a backdrop stand, visited a friend of mine who's in the textile business, and freeloaded on several types of cloth to use as backdrops. It's nice having friends, right?

This weekend I finally had some time to setup the stand, put some backdrops on it and start shooting. The cool thing about this type of photography is that you have control over pretty much everything. Background, lighting quality and direction, etc. On location there are some things you provide, like extra lighting. Some things are there that you may choose to use as part of your shoot, like a cool brick wall full of graffiti. And mother nature calls the shots on pretty much everything else, like how much time you have before that nice setting sun disappears.

So there's pros and cons for both studio and on location photography. But like I always tell other photographers, try out everything you can, at least once. You may be surprised. For years, I was more of an available light photographer, using flash only at parties and other events. But when I tried using off-camera flash with umbrellas and other light modifiers on location, trying to replicate the studio look out on the street, I was hooked.

So just for the fun of it, I will setup my temporary "studio" in my living room every so often, and post the results to my blog.

Above, a picture I took of my youngest kid. I wanted to give it a vintage look so I played around with some textures and colors that I added to the original image.  Main lighting provided by Nikon SB800 through umbrella to camera left. Sun light through window at camera right used as fill.