Help Portrait Vancouver 2011- A Tradition!

Last Saturday on December 3rd was the third annual Help Portrait Vancouver event at the Union Gospel Mission. This year was bigger and better than ever with 150 volunteers in total we were able to deliver portraits to over 700 people. There was lots of local news media coverage of the event and a dedicated group of volunteers Tweeted and live blogged the event all day. One of the local stations even called our event a tradition for the downtown Eastside. By the excitement and smiles on all the faces of the guests that came through you knew that they look forward to this almost as much as all the volunteers do. They say that many hands makes the lifting easy. Well this year many hands lifted the hearts and spirits of all those that experienced Help Portrait Vancouver! I'm already looking forward to next year.

This was the morning crew of photographers that kicked things off for the day.

Here we are at the end of the day for the group shot with photographers, editors and make up artists. There were many more that day but they couldn't stay for the photo unfortunately.

Help Portrait Vancouver 2011

There is one particular event of the year that I as a photographer look forward to the most and that is Help Portrait Vancouver. I volunteered for this event three years ago and have been part of it since then and each year it just keeps getting better and better. This year will be no exception and on Saturday, December 3rd we'll be putting on the event at the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver's downtown Eastside. Even before this large scale event we put on a smaller event at the BC Children's Hospital on November 2nd. A small group of photographers and makeup artists set up a small studio in the terminally ill ward and invited patients and their families in for portraits sessions. This year we were also very privileged and were welcomed into some of the patients rooms for those that could not make it to the studio. Here are two videos from that day plus a group photo of the team that made it possible.

Help Portrait itself is a world wide event that happens in almost every major city around the world so if you would like to find out more about it or volunteer then check out the site or get online and search for one in your city. There is no greater feeling than to be able to give back doing something that you love.

Help Portrait Vancouver

2010 is almost over and when I reflect back on what it was that moved or inspired me most as a photographer, I think the first thing that comes to mind is Help Portrait. The principal behind it is pretty simple. Find someone in need, take their portrait, print it and deliver it to them. The photographers do not keep or publicize any of the photos of the people's pictures that we take. It's not about fame or adding to your portfolio. It's about giving.

What makes it so special are the lives that you touch and the smiles that you see. This past year as part of the Help Portrait Vancouver group I got the opportunity to work with Ian Sheh and Steph Forster, the two leaders of the group along with some fellow photographers and makeup artist in two events. The first one was a smaller event held on November 23 at BC Children's Hospital. It was in the Child Life Department, a part of the hospital dedicated for terminally ill patients and their families. The small group of us took pictures of the kids and their families, printed them out a couple of 4x6 prints and then also gave them a CD with all their photos on it. The magic of seeing these kids faces light up was beyond words. Here's the group along with Diane from Children's Hospital. We have been told that they want us back and we could not be happier to do this again real soon.

A few days later the official Help Portrait event with venues all around the world was held on December 4th. Our group of volunteers this year for Help Portrait Vancouver grew by quite a bit from last year and we had an incredible turn out from the community of the downtown Eastside. This year instead of actually taking pictures I served as one of the group leads for the morning team of photographers. I think I actually had more fun watching the joy that the other photographers had taking pictures and interacting with their subjects. I also helped to hand out the photos to the guests and the look on their faces was priceless when they received them. Smiles from ear to ear and literally tears of joy were on some of their faces. Many of them had never had a portrait done before let alone to be treated with such a warm reception and attention by our volunteers. Check out the link to Help Portrait Vancouver on Facebook for videos and more photos.

Here I am with the morning crew of photographers. Lots of new faces in this group and I bet they will all be back next year. So proud of everyone.

Many volunteers stayed on for the whole day even as the afternoon crew came on to replace them. I know most of the makeup crew were on their feet all day making the women look beautiful for their pictures. They were incredible.

In the end the event was an amazing success and I am already looking forward to December 3rd, 2011.

If you want to volunteer just let me know.

Help Portrait - Vancouver 12-12-09

Having a way of giving back or just giving is something I always want to do with my photography. I've volunteered for workplace events and taking pictures of kids and their families with Santa but when I heard about the Help-Portrait movement I knew I had to get involved. Most of us think of having our photographs taken as something we take for granted. We'll print out a few for keepsakes or to give them to family. But there are also those who may be less fortunate or have never had a professional portrait done before. To be able to have their picture taken and getting an actual print of it to keep can be something very special.

Help-Portrait is a global movement of photographers who on December 12th this year will do just that. Take pictures but give back portraits. I've signed up to volunteer for the Vancouver group of Help-Portrait and I am very excited to be part of something like this.

I encourage all photographers to get involved in this and other events that give back to your communities and to people who really need it.