ellipsis…

Jeremy Cowart and the Help-Portrait team launched a new video that sums up 2009. watch out for details on Help-Portrait Vancouver 2010, things are going to start rolling very soon. if you are interested in being involved please send me an email.

a thank-you video to all of the people who made Help-Portrait Vancouver a huge success.

Help-Portrait Vancouver was an overwhelming success! the Grace Mansion was full of joy and laughter. the makeup artist and hair stylist were buzzing making women and girls look beautiful. Mark Hildebrand and Kathi Reid filled the room with music. photographers were making people smile and laugh and giggle with excitement. and when the printers starting rolling off prints, it was priceless to see people’s reactions to their portraits. it was such an amazing experience to watch it all unfold before me.

the day went off without a hitch. all of my worries disappears as the first family walked through our doors. that was one of my favourite moments. we all had been waiting for our first family and a photographer suggested we take a group photo of the morning crew. just as we were about to take the picture the first family walked in and we all turned and cheered and clapped, we almost scared them away. lol! my heart jumped and the day had officially begun. everyone seemed to get into a good rhythm, a relaxed joyous rhythm. the day honestly flew by so quickly. i’ve watching the videos that Steve Tan has produced over and over again. they capture the day so well.

by the end of the day we took approximately 175 portraits of families & individuals, which translates to having about 430 people walk through our studios. pretty amazing that we were able to touch that many people. this is just the beginning. there is much more Help-Portrait to come!

the morning crew

the afternoon crew

mr. leigh culpin taking a portrait

bernard ng firing away

michael moore’s larger than life personality

Steve Tan, the resident Help-Portrait Vancouver videographer, has produced two videos of our event. watching these videos almost make me cry. they capture the day so well. i’ll let the videos do the rest of the talking.

Help-Portrait Vancouver

Help-Portrait Vancouver “Let It Shine”

this is the first, but definitely not the last post you’ll see about an awesome project called Help-Portrait. the idea around Help-Portrait is simple, find someone in need, take their portrait, print their portrait, and deliver them. the idea is from photographer Jeremy Cowart and he just launch a brand new Help-Portrait website detailing everything. Help-Portrait events will be happening worldwide on December 12th.

here in Vancouver, myself along with a great group of photographers and with the help of the Nehemiah Foundation are holding a Help-Portrait event in the lower east side. the Salvation Army has been kind enough to sponsor us with a space that we can use, and details are starting to come together. i really believe in the impact this project can have. even the video below, which is a test run, shows you how a portrait can impact a person. community is such a big thing for me, both personally and professionally. it’s rare that a single project will bring both together to help the community we live in.

if you would like to be involved with Help-Portrait Vancouver please email me, or visit our Facebook page.