I typically shoot landscape stuff and jaunt into people photography here and there.... i've learned a lot over the last few years and do enjoy shooting people, just hate the business of chasing that business..... i'm sure a lot know what I mean....

I was deep in thought the other day about my business.... part time photography does not lend itself to wanting to waste time chasing people and convincing them to pay me to take their photos.... that's not fun for me and I want to have fun..... other than landscape... what can I do that would be fun in people photography.....?

Then it hit me..... 'tis the season and all, Give back from where you received in life!

I was born with a cleft lip/palate and spent a lot of time via surgeries, clinic follow ups, studies, symposiums and classes at Shriners hospital during the first 17 years of my life.... I recall that they offered recreational class/groups to build confidence and such, like dressing cool and choosing colors... make up to hide scars and other stuff where kids could feel more confident in their condition.....

My thought is to give back to that program and have fun photographing kids that have issues with their appearance to make them feel better......

I have reached out to the local Shriners here in PDX and am awaiting a call back to see if i can get something set up.

My question is this... is there anything business wise (other than model releases) I should be thinking about? I don't plan to charge anything for these shoots and my time doing it all would be a donation - i'm just "paying it forward" and plan to shoot, process and give the images away (while retaining copyright) to the kids/parents. I just want to make sure that anything that could cause problems for me is thought about and that I am making the best use of the time as possible, am I missing something that would make this better......?

Hoping to have the facility give me the space to work in to shoot (easier for the kids to be there as I have no studio) and plan to use the campus and also green screen things.....

If this was your "pay it forward" project, how would you organize or plan it?

Thanks for the assistance

Lee

You might want to look into the Help Portrait project if you haven't already. It was founded by commercial photographer Jeremy Cowart.

http://help-portrait.com/

Hi,

That sounds like a very nice photo project.

Admirable too, if you can do it for free.

Best wishes for a successful project.

My Simple Suggestion: Send them a photo of you (a self portrait would do) along with your pitch. You are someone who understands the image issues of cleft lip/palate, and a photo of you should serve as a good example of what you can do for someone who also has the same condition. Show by example, in other words.

Thanks Eyeball, I will look into the website and check it out tonight. Appreciate the feedback.

Steady Hand wrote:

My Simple Suggestion: Send them a photo of you (a self portrait would do) along with your pitch. You are someone who understands the image issues of cleft lip/palate, and a photo of you should serve as a good example of what you can do for someone who also has the same condition. Show by example, in other words.

Great idea Steady and thanks... hopefully if I hear back (huge organization), they'll provide an email address where I can send a photo to the contact person. This is good advice and I will use it as soon as I get the chance.

I am hoping that something pans out... my daughter loves helping with my photography and loves helping others and can see her getting into this project with me - I think while fun for me, it could be great for her too..... who wouldn't be a winner with a project like this?

i'll keep you posted with whatever happens.....

Lee

Lee Wiren wrote:
Steady Hand wrote:

My Simple Suggestion: Send them a photo of you (a self portrait would do) along with your pitch. You are someone who understands the image issues of cleft lip/palate, and a photo of you should serve as a good example of what you can do for someone who also has the same condition. Show by example, in other words.

Great idea Steady and thanks... hopefully if I hear back (huge organization), they'll provide an email address where I can send a photo to the contact person. This is good advice and I will use it as soon as I get the chance.

I am hoping that something pans out... my daughter loves helping with my photography and loves helping others and can see her getting into this project with me - I think while fun for me, it could be great for her too..... who wouldn't be a winner with a project like this?

i'll keep you posted with whatever happens.....

Lee

I am interested to see how the project turns out for you (I am an optimist and assume it will get the green light).

Send me a pm whenever you post anything in the future, as I might miss the post on the forum while traveling. Don't want to miss it.

Check out what Arnold Adler (NYC) did in the interest of community. http://www.arnoldadler.com/work.asp#. It's in an area called "featured" and named "Faces of Friends Project."