Another December has rolled around and Help Portrait has finished.  Help Portrait’s mission is to provide portraits for families in need.  This year I participated in the Maple Ridge / Pitt Meadows group, probably 20-30 volunteers doing everything from greeting, photography, hair and makeup, food and snack preparation and everything in between.  I got into this several years ago when I heard about it and wanted to increase my photography skills, and now I’m doing it because I can see the difference it makes in people’s lives.

It’s incredibly rewarding to see families who maybe haven’t had a good photo done getting treated to the full movie star treatment, and show up in front of the camera feeling, and looking, like a million dollars.

I’m not going to lie.  Sometimes it was challenging.  The first family that was brought to my photo station was a mom, son, and a little girl about two who burst into tears the second she saw me.  “Don’t worry, it’s probably not you, she’s scared of everyone.”

Greeeaaaaat….  I’m not used to dealing with kids at all, but luckily some of the other volunteers were, though she really just had to cry herself out until I was able to get a photo with minimal tears and red cheeks.  Another later group had a 10 year old boy who thought having a funny face, or his fingers in his mouth or nose (or both) was a great way to have a photo done.  Lets say his mom was even less impressed than I was.

Not all kids caused problems, some were awesome, cute, adorable, and more than willing to give their mom/brother/dad/granny/best friend a big hug on camera.

Lots of wonderful people trusted me behind the camera this weekend, and it brought me great joy to be able to be a part of a team that can give back to them.

Here’s a little setup video from the point of view of the volunteers as we setup.

Here’s to all the wonderful people I got to spend the day with, can’t wait for next year!

Update: There is a nice article in the Maple Ridge Times about the event by Ashley Wadhwani.