Help Portrait
The holiday season brings many of us great memories, family experiences and giving gifts to those we love. Many of us even document these times with photographs so that we can look back and remember the good times that we had. Christmas 2011 was a very special year for me both personally and photographically. This year I decided that I would participate in a charity event called Help Portrait. This event has been going on every year for three years straight all over the world. The idea is very simple. Shoot a portrait – Print the portrait – Give the portrait. As simple as this sounds, the results are amazing. The event that I participated in was held at El Puente in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY. Families from this community who can’t afford to have their family portraits created came to the event and were given the gift of a photograph. I can’t tell you how many families I saw leave the building with enormous smiles on their face. One family that I photographed (the one you’ll see me shooting in the video) was particularly special to me because the mother pulled me to the side to let me know how grateful she was. That hit me hard. I’ve never participated in any kind of charity event before. To hear just how important this family portrait was to her and her family really made a strong impression on me. I am really looking forward to participating in next year’s Help Portrait.
To see the video that ABC World News with Diane Sawyer filmed at Help Portrait, go to THIS LINK. You have to sit through a quick commercial but I promise it is worth it.
Old Friends Give The Gift Of A Portrait
I also had an opportunity to work with some old friends of mine for a Christmas gift to their father. My old next door neighbors, who I haven’t seen in close to a decade, got in touch with me through Facebook and asked that I photograph portraits of them. I’ve known these two girls for basically their entire lives. Although we didn’t stay in touch with each other after I moved from my old home, we did keep up with each other’s lives through Facebook. So when they asked to have me photograph them for their father’s Christmas gift, I was very happy (and honored) I knew that I would create something special for them. I wanted to keep their portrait simple and minimal in composition so that the complete focus is on the two sisters. I referenced a bunch of photos of The Olsen Twins and other celebrity sisters to come up with some ideas for this shoot. The reference photos were presented to the girls and they loved the direction that I decided to go in for their shoot. The basic idea was simple fashion and fun interaction between the two girls. My good friend Erica Flamm Pennant handled hair and makeup styling for this shoot.
