another magical day...

it's so hard to put into words 

what happens when 52 volunteers get together 

to put smiles on the faces of 381 people

but i'll try

this is madison's third year to be part of the world wide help-portrait event

and every year, it just keeps getting better and better.

due to the nature of the event, we don't share any of the photos that are taken on help-portrait day,

except for those that we take of each other. 

{respecting the privacy of the families that visit us is our number one concern}

as always, when a bunch of photographers get together, it's one big photography geek fest. 

and guess who hates having their photos taken the most. that's right. photographers.

this is the father of one of our volunteers 

and he sang and played his guitar during the entire event in our waiting/reception area.

we also had a "magic balloon maker man" 

{as described to me by one of the little boys getting his photo taken}

who brought smiles to many little faces

this year, for the first time, we were thrilled to have volunteers from mary kay 

prior to the first photos

we have to make sure the lights are all set up correctly and triggering properly and since we're all big goof balls. well. you get the idea. 

it's obvious who the photographers are, as their cameras rarely leave their sides. 

{just look for all the camera straps in the photos}

~

this is kelly and he is the farthest thing from serious, but i think i caught him discussing something intently with someone else. and after a tiny editing, i really liked the photo. so even though it was probably the most serious face seen the entire day, i had to add it in.

if only i had been able to shoot all of our volunteers, so you could see more happy faces like this

this is frank and our third year to work together with help-portait.

we're the only pentax shooters of the bunch

so we have a special language all our own.

this. well this is "come on, really. another photo of me. but i'm a photographer"

and

honestly, he'a a big goof ball teddy bear that makes us all laugh

many thanks to barry 

{i referred to him as bank robber barry} 

and his wife carol 

{in the black jacket above this photo}

as they were HUGE in this years event 

during lunch, we took turns sneaking into the kitchen and eating the wonderful donated pizza.

and who to my wandering eyes did appear, but my daughter and her boyfriend.

{my sweet hubby also volunteered again this year}

all of my photos kind of looked the same to me as i was looking at them, 

so i ran them all through different presets in LR3 just for fun. 

{because it was a FUN day with FUN people}

with her back to the camera is jenny, who along with her husband andy, 

run the river food pantry. this is the second year that they have invited us to

turn their pantry into one huge photography studio for the event.

the channel 27 news crew

these two were also HUGE at putting this years event together and honestly

i'm not sure we could have done it without them

{keeping faces hidden}

i caught this little one waiting patiently for her photo 

and

these little girls dressed as princesses 

who absolutely took our breaths away

i have a few more photos i'll share this week, as i had the opportunity to shoot my daughter and her boyfriend in all their true goofiness and a few photos of the children of one of our volunteers. 

but for now, i hope these photos let you all know how amazing this event truly is and was.

~

so with another year behind us, we're already talking about next year's event. 

help-portrait was started 3 years ago and madison has been part of it every year.

the very first year i was one of 8 volunteers. 

this year we had 52. and next year, well i can only imagine how large we'll be.

~

if any of you want to learn more about having your own help-portrait group where you live

let me know

i'd be more then happy to share with you how to get it all started

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