I just wanted to let you know that we are going to hold a meeting for photographers on Wednesday, November 30, at 7:00pm at the Lowe Mill. We will be meeting just inside the front entrance at The Happy Tummy. We just want to get everyone together to meet face to face and go over last minute details and what to expect on the big day. We will also answer any questions that you have, and make sure that everyone is signed up for the correct shifts. Please let me know whether you can attend so that I can catch you up on the details if you cannot make the meeting. I'm looking forward to meeting and talking with everyone, if you have any questions before the meeting, please don't hesitate to ask. Thanks again for helping to bring this project to life!

Joe

2011 Help-Portrait/Huntsville Photographers,

Welcome! It’s great to have you on board! Thank you so much for your interest in this project. As you all know, Help-Portrait was founded by celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart, and has turned into an international event where photographers, hair, make-up stylists, and other volunteers across the world (43 different countries) have the chance to give a person or a family something they may have never had before—a portrait of themselves.

We are so excited to be able to serve our city, and we are so grateful that you chose to share in this experience. The event date is December 10th on a Saturday from 9:00am – 4:00pm. We are planning on setting up the evening of December 9 so that everything will go smoothly on December 10.

We will set up seven or eight stations in the connection room at the Lowe Mill (the large room on the first floor). Our plan is to equip each station with a white seamless backdrop and at least two light sources; one for the background and one for the subject. The plan is to shoot tethered to an editing station where the best shots will be selected, edited and sent to the printer. We hope to have enough photographers to split between a morning (9am-12noon) and afternoon session (1pm-4pm).

So, what do we need to pull this off? We need lighting gear, triggers and your cameras. We need 16 off-camera light sources (small flashes, studio strobes, whatever) with accompanying light stands and 8 lighting modifiers (umbrellas, soft boxes, beauty dishes, etc.) to set up all the stations with a two light solution. We would like for the lighting setups to remain in place all day to allow a quick transition between shifts of photographers.

We also need people who are willing to edit the images as they come from each station, so if you know anyone who would like to do that, or if you are willing to shoot one shift and edit another, let us know.

Now that we have talked your ear off, we need to hear back from you. We need to know the following bits of information:

• Which shift (or both) would you like to volunteer for?
• Do you have lighting gear that you are willing to use for the day?

And finally, consider the following action items:

• Consider logging onto the Help-Portrait Community page (http://community.help-portrait.com/group/huntsvillealabama) and creating a profile, so that you are sure to receive all our upcoming communication as we approach the event date.
• Consider ordering the $10 black Help-Portrait T-shirt (http://help-portrait.rede-commerce.com/products/featured/clearance/black-logo-tshirt/) to wear the day of the event. If you are not able to purchase a t-shirt before the event date, we will have Help-Portrait volunteer lanyards available for you to wear.

Thanks again for helping this event to come together. Please feel free to email me or call me at 256-683-0345 if you have any questions or suggestions.