My Other Big Project

I have been hinting around at another project I’ve been working on, and today I’m finally going to reveal it.  It has nothing to do with health or fitness, other than the fact that I was stressed enough about it that I didn’t eat and probably burned 1000 calories from worrying. 😉

A little over a week ago, a dear friend of mine, Angie, called me requesting a favor.  (For reference, it was Angie’s mother-in-law who “named” my website.)  The husband of one of Angie’s coworkers had recently suffered through several very serious medical issues all at once, and he was still in the hospital, a month later, trying to recuperate. 🙁

Angie’s coworker was spending nearly all of her time at the hospital, which was quite a ways from her home, and all the medical bills as well as her inability to work was putting a severe strain on her budget.  Angie mentioned that one thing her coworker had had to forgo during this time was having senior pictures taken for her son.  When Angie learned this, she immediately thought of me and my love of photography, and she wondered if I would be willing to do pictures for this young man.

To say I was honored that she would think of me was an understatement, but to say I was positively scared to death of doing it was even more of an understatement!  I have actually had a few requests from family members to do this exact thing, but I have always turned them down, telling the person that they didn’t want to trust something so important to an amateur.  This time, however, as nervous about it as I was, I felt in my heart that this is what I was meant to do…use my minimal photography skills to help people who really needed it.  So I agreed, with the absolute understanding that I would not be paid for this at all.  Knowing that I wasn’t being paid made me feel a little bit better about doing this for them, because at least I knew that if they turned out awful, they wouldn’t lose any money, lol!  Not to mention, it made me feel good to know that I could help them in my small way.

So, we set up a date and a location, then I stressed about it for days, doing all kinds of research on different photography blogs and sites about senior pictures.  When the day came, I felt completely unprepared, but God was smiling on us in at least one way–it was a beautiful day, mid-60s and partly cloudy.  That’s crazy weather in Michigan for mid-November!  I wanted to throw up a little when I saw them arrive, meaning I was actually going to have to do this, but I smiled through it all anyway, because I wanted this family to feel good about this session, since I knew they were going through such difficult times and I wanted to make them feel relaxed and good about what they were doing.

After each picture I took, I looked at my camera and secretly wanted to cry or scream in frustration–as usual, the lighting perplexed me, and I knew I wasn’t getting it right.  Not to mention I had no idea how to “pose” someone for a senior photo shoot.  But I muddled through, thanked them for the opportunity, and promised to get them done as soon as I could.

Now, before I get to the next part, I have to backtrack a little:  just a day before I had received Angie’s phone call, I had sent an email to a photography friend/hockey mom friend of mine who had moved out of our area this summer.  I asked her if she could recommend a site where I could buy some Lightroom “presets”…she had been the one to turn me onto Lightroom, and I figured she’d have some good suggestions.  Well, instead of pointing me in the direction of a paid site, she sent me, free of charge, all the presets she’s ever developed!  There were at least 60 of them!!  I was astonished at her generosity, but not surprised, because she’s that kind of person.

After I loaded up all those pictures, I started playing with her presets, and the most amazing thing happened…I started to understand how the the settings worked in Lightroom!  I started off with a few of her standard presets, and then I began to play with them.  I did some research, and discovered how photographers can use the software to make minor adjustments that can take crappy pictures and turn them into something pretty darn good.  I learned how to fix my awful lighting, how to remove those little skin imperfections that all teenagers have (LOL), and how to make certain parts of the picture “pop” while fading out the background.

I have to say, when it was all said and done, that I was pretty damn proud of what I had accomplished.  Would someone pay top dollar for this work?  Definitely not. But was it something I could at least offer to this family with confidence that it would suit their needs? Yes!

So, after all that…here are just a few of the 25 or so pictures that I ended up with.

Devin played roller hockey, so you know I loved getting a shot of him with all his trophies. 😉

The last one is my favorite.  Devin’s mom and girlfriend tagged along for the pictures, and as we were walking around the park doing the shots, Devin so very kindly asked me, “Do you think we could get a picture of me and my girlfriend?” Awwwww. 🙂  Of course I said yes, and I was pretty happy with the result…

So that’s my big project.  It was a HUGE stretch out of my comfort zone, but I’m so glad I did it.  Necessity, as it turns out, is not only the mother of invention, but also of education! 😉 It is my hope that these pictures help give this family a little bit of joy during their difficult time. If you all could keep Devin’s dad in your prayers, I would appreciate it, and I know his family would, too.

Thank you all for reading this post!