Monday, November 9, 2009

Making a Difference: Help Portrait

I am going to make a difference this holiday season. I know, that's a super-corny line, but that doesn't make it any less true.

I have decided to engage myself in the Help Portrait project as fully as I can.
As such, I have become the creator of the Boulder, CO Help Portrait group, and am currently in charge of setting things up, doing some very quick networking and finding a location and subjects to photograph.

For those of you who don't know what Help Portrait is, please take a look at this video. It explains things far better than I can.



In essence (for those of you without the patience for a short video), it is a way for photographers to give back to the community by providing professional quality portraits (and prints!) to people who would otherwise probably never get the opportunity. We will be providing these portraits completely free, donating our time and the prints.

December 12th is the day of shooting, which means I'm going to be cutting this CLOSE. My last day of finals in Flagstaff, AZ is December 11. I'm going to drive back that afternooon, arrive close to midnight, and likely be up around 6am in order to get things moving.
As such, I am going to need all the help I can get organizing subjects, a place to photograph, getting the word out, getting food, etc. If you or anyone you know can help me make this project a reality, let me know!

To help keep track of everything, I have created a Boulder, CO group on the official Help-Portrait web page: http://community.help-portrait.com/group/boulderco
If you would like to be kept up to date on things, please sign up for a (free) account here and join the Boulder group. Doing this makes things MUCH more simple for me! 

If you can get involved, please sign up as part of the group there, because that's where all my communications regarding this awesome project will go.

I put a post up on Craigslist and have already received email about people interested in joining the movement and making a difference.

What I am looking for:
  1. A location where we can set up a half a dozen photographers, backdrops, lighting setups, and move a few dozen people through
  2. Photographers with portrait experience
  3. Backdrops, lighting setups
  4. FOOD for the day for photographers and subjects
  5. Advertising... I want to get the word out to people about what we're doing! The more, the merrier!

If you'd like to make a difference this holiday season, please drop me an email (matt AT vaultphotos DOT com) and let me know how you can help!