Giving Back: Easter Portraits

I always love it when other photographers share tips and tricks, so I plan to do the same from time to time here on the JAZ Photography Blog. Not at ALL that I think I have it all figured out! But from the land of "what I think I know", I'll try to share some information and inspiration now and then. ;0)

Volunteering is important to me, and there's a silver lining with doing volunteer photography work: you get all kinds of experience! I've done things like family portraits for Candlelighters' Family Camp, event coverage for Lane Pregnancy Support Center and Wild Ones Youth Ranch, and all kinds of projects at church (from VBS coverage to staff pics for the web site to brochure pics...). Today I thought I'd share an idea that some of you, my fellow photography obsessed people, might want to try...

Easter Portraits! I teamed up with another photographer at church, and we gathered a crew to do Easter Portraits for guests at our church on Easter. We thought, "Hey, everyone's already all dressed up, so the timing would be perfect!" We took over the conference room and turned it into a "studio" for the day. No special lighting or anything, other than wax paper taped over the overhead fluorescent lights. ;0) We just borrowed furniture and decor from here and there--the Parent's Sitting Room at church, some people in the church, etc., and created a neutral living room-esque background so everyone's beautiful Easter outfits could take center stage!

If you're a photography enthusiast looking for some experience, and especially if you're interested in portraiture, you could try this out in your own church. Depending on your skill level, you may want to team up with another photographer. Maybe you could do portraits for Mother's Day, or Father's Day, or Christmas! Our church printed an 8X10 as a gift for all of our guests. My biggest piece of advice if you decide to try this out: Do a trial run!

Stay tuned for lots more ideas on giving back while simultaneously getting experience, and also for some "how to" posts and such, like how to use a reflector, how to elicit that perfect smile from ten kids under five at the same time, etc. ;0)