rtp blog

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to photograph a beautiful family with such a powerful connection and apparent bond.  You could tell that the children were close with their parents and that this was a home with much love and respect.  I had a ton of fun photographing them not only in their home, but as they roasted marshmallows, had popcorn catching contests, and in the sunset light on the Jamestown beach.  The family is obviously beautiful, but some of my most favorite moments were being able to capture the love of the mom and dad as they held each other closely.  It is difficult to relax with someone a few feet away with a camera, but they were able to relax and just love one another.  The images of their connection remind me that in our busy lives the most important relationship in families is often between the parents, as this is the bond that holds the entire family together.

The mama wrote a beautiful testimonial that I wanted to share.  I just love my job!

“It was time for our annual family photo shoot!  I usually did them myself, being a hobbyist-photographer.  I had decided I wanted to go with a professional this year and had found Lisa, owner of Red Thread Photography, through a homeschool group.  We exchanged emails and set the date.  Lisa made a personalized phone call to ask questions about our family, find out our personalities, and desires for our photos.  She is very warm, friendly, and easy to talk to.  Lisa arrived at our home on a beautiful fall afternoon.  The photo shoot went off smoothly.  I felt confident that there would be many good shots.  We changed positions and locations often.  The kids loosened up and became comfortable with Lisa quickly.  It was a great experience and took all I had to wait patiently to view the photos.  The link came soon and we viewed the photos on Red Thread Photography website.  As the music played in the background, a slideshow played of my family.  I saw the dimpled, freckled grin of my 8-yr old son in his most casual positions, the gentle beauty of my 10 yr old daughter, and the new maturity and kindness of my 13 yr old boy.  There were shots of my husband and I that took my breath away . . . the views that I don’t see behind my own lens, the look in our eyes that choked me up, the embraces that melted my heart.  The slideshow continued with all five us, together in our casual state, just enjoying being together.  As we watched the slideshow, the kids were captivated and silent and my husband and I held hands with tears in our eyes.  I knew I would get great photos from a professional photographer, but Lisa went above and beyond my expectations.  She captured my family’s true personalities, expressions, emotions, and relationships.  The lighting and angles were perfect.  I couldn’t be happier.  She did an amazing job!”    D.D.  Williamsburg, VA

I loved capturing the beautiful connection between this mother and her daughter.  There is something so special about witnessing the tender and quiet moments between a mother and a child whom she obviously loves dearly.  Feeling so lucky…

Have you been meaning to donate to charity?  Have you been meaning to have portraits of your children created?  Well, please read further to see how we can accomplish this together…

I probably sound like a broken record : ) but as I have mentioned before, I feel so very fortunate- I have a loving and healthy family, friends, a job that I love and plenty of the things that we need in life (food, shelter, security, education) plus a little extra for the things we don’t necessarily need but like to have or do.  But, when I think about all of the people in the world, who are just like me in that they want a safe place to live, the necessities (food, clean water, shelter) for themselves and their family and education to better their circumstances, but don’t have access to these things, it makes me very sad, sick even, when I truly imagine myself in their situation.  It is easy to get distracted and focus on the daily “stuff” that needs to get accomplished and loose track of and forget that there are people around the world whose situations are so very dire.  For quite some time (as many of us have, I believe)  I have pushed those difficult thoughts aside and continued to focus on what what is directly in front of me (schooling my children, client work, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, taking out the compost, laundry… and a million other things.)  But, in the back of my mind, I have always thought “what if I did what I love…photography…and then instead accumulating more of what I don’t really need, donate the money I would have made to charity instead.”   When I mentioned this idea to my husband I think he thought I was just a bit crazy and idealistic, as we certainly could benefit from the extra money for travel, a bit more saved in case of emergency, putting additional monies aside for our children’s education and our retirement.  Besides, what could one person do? But, there are people, vulnerable children and babies out there who are suffering so terribly or worse, that I wanted to try to do my small part to help them. 

So, now is finally the time!  I have decided, with my husband’s support, to donate all of the proceeds from session fees and Image CD sales (which are my biggest seller) to charity for the month of August, 2010.  I have selected CARE (www.care.org), a humanitarian organization that works to fight global poverty, as the organization to support.  I have donated to CARE in the past because it is a reputable charitable organization which helps those who are most desparately in need with over 91% of the money it rasies going to directly to the programs it serves (as opposed to funding it’s adminstrative or advertising costs).  CARE also places emphasis on empowering women and ”working alongside poor women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty (care.org)”   Therefore, I am comfortable that the monies I am directing their way will be used to make a positive impact on the lives of those who are most desparate for help and support.  For more information regarding the services that CARE provides, please visit their site, www.care.org.  Also, please check out these clips below.  They are moving, inspiring…

 So, the details… for all sessions that take place during the month of August, 2010, clients will make a donation directly to CARE for session fees and Image CDs, instead of paying Red Thread Photography.   My goal is to raise thousands of dollars and in an ideal world we would raise at least $5,000-$10,000 during this fundraiser.  This would mean a significant investment of time, energy, and resources on my part as my ideal client load is one to two clients per week, given I homeschool our children.  To raise the amount of donations I am targeting would mean a significantly larger number of clients per week.  To do this, I am going to need your help.  Because we are new to NoVa and have not had the time to build up a network of supportive clients and friends in the community, I am asking that if you support this cause, to please spread the word regarding this fundraiser.  

So, lets do something meaninful together.  I will capture beautiful images of your child(ren) that you will treasure forever, while you make a worthwhile donation supporting those in this world who desparately need our help .  

Again, please spread the word to your friends and family!  Take care! 

These are images of a homeschooling neighbor, Sarah, I recently completed.  Unfortunately she and her family moved out of state : (  My children had so much fun playing together with them and I had a wonderful time getting to know her parents.  We miss them very much!  Sarah was a pleasure to photograph and to know!  Hopefully we will see them again soon!