ellipsis…

i have the privilege of working with such an amazing group of photographers! huge props to Leigh, Arne, Bernard, Tony and Michael! you guys rock!

what am i talking about? well, on Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010, myself, the amazing crew above, the fantastic Steph Forster and a group of makeup artist and stylists had the honour of holding a Help-Portrait event at BC Children’s Hospital for terminally ill patients and their families. the experience was truly amazing! to see the personalities of some of the kids just come bounding out when they are all dressed up and are in front of the camera, words can not describe.

the day started off with a little boy named Kade. he walked in on our pre-event meeting with Diane, the Director of Child Life Department. Kade was dressed to impress, shirt, tie, vest and dress pants. he told us all that his favourite person was Mr. Bean and he dressed up like him. it was evident that Kade was at the hospital for some heavy medical treatment; our initial wide eyes all turned into big smiles as he worked the room. Kade definitely set the mood for the rest of the day.

the day was filled with kids like Kade. Arne made faces to make someone smile and Leigh ended up on the ground to take the picture of a giggling baby. we had brothers have their pictures taken, the older brother commutes in to Vancouver daily to see is little (6 foot 2) brother. he had been in the hospital for 7 weeks and really hoped he could go home in a week or so. 7 weeks was the shortest length of time in our group of patients. along with the kids, it was really good to see moms and dads smile. moms who hadn’t thought about makeup in a long time getting makeovers, and dads having their hair professionally styled probably for the first time.

we were asked a lot ‘why were doing this?’ and Arne’s answer i think sums it up perfectly ‘because we can…’ we have the ability to give something that most photographers take for granted. a picture is worth so much. we are happy, no overjoyed, to give.

stay tuned, this year isn’t done yet! December 4th is our big event at Union Gospel Mission.

go to www.help-portrait-vancouver.com for all of the lates news and information.

Help-Portrait Vancouver 2010 is just around the corner and we have started a food + toy drive. If you would like to be involved you can become a community drop-site and start collecting items. All items need to be collected by December 1st. You can download the media kit here for more information.