When my co-worker, Mia, encouraged me to enter Becky Higgins’ big photography giveaway, three thoughts came to my mind:
1. Awww, Mia! She is so sweet to think of me.
2. What’s a photography giveaway?
3. Eh, it at least sounds fun, where do I sign up?
And that’s when the adventure began.
I started by visiting Becky’s website and read all about her. Scrapbooking professional and founder of Project Life, Becky is passionate about individuals creating happy lives and documenting them. She also strongly believes that every family should be professionally photographed and decided to make it happen for deserving families/loyal blog readers in local communities across the country. Just like that, the giveaway was born.
This is how it worked: Becky announced her vision on her blog (for photographers from all over to donate their professional photography services and for a select number of lucky families to win a free photo shoot). From there, she opened up the floor for the photogs to enter the giveaway. Becky committed to blogging about each, advertising their services and categorizing the submissions by geographic location. A handful were showcased every day for the month of May, giving readers ample time to “apply” to work with a photographer in their area, with reasons why they wanted to be selected. The respective photographers would evaluate the comments and select the winner, leaving it up to both parties to schedule the shoot on their own.
I couldn’t wait to be apart of this amazing vision. After pulling together sample images for advertisement purposes and composing an email to Becky, I re-read the giveaway rules only to be met with disappointment: turns out I had missed the entry deadline (by more than a month!) Deciding to give it a shot anyway, I pushed send.
Imagine my surprise when she responded and let me participate because she’s that awesome! I’m so glad she did, because if she hadn’t, I wouldn’t have met Kristin.
The blog entry about Her Side Project earned 22 comments, but I just couldn’t get one of them out of my mind:
I was completely sold by the description of her three wild and crazy boys, her strong desire to capture her family in Austin (holla!) and the fact that it would be their first family photo shoot. I notified Becky I had selected a winner and from there Kristin and I scheduled her family shoot for the first open slot in mid-July.
Meeting and photographing this beautiful family was a great experience I can’t fully put into words. They are such kind, outgoing, loving and enthusiastic people. The boys, though young and full of energy, were cooperative and enjoyed taking pictures. We spent a few hours playing in a city park, a location I chose for the green, lush grounds, gorgeous downtown backdrop and fun water fountains designed for kids to run around in.
After giving Kristin her photo package, I received the nicest email from her. I nearly cried as she expressed her sincere and thoughtful thanks. Here is a snapshot:
“I don’t how on earth to possibly express to you how much I love the photos you sent!! They are above and beyond what I had hoped and dreamed possible.” – Kristin
Other parts of her note touched on the very reasons why I am a photographer – primarily to capture moments in people’s lives, creating somewhat of a visual time-capsule. I couldn’t ask for a more meaningful testimony! Thank you, Kristin.
Lastly, I must admit that am completely in awe of Becky Higgins. The fact that she took her passion, developed a vision, and turned it into a reality, is impressive and inspiring. Becky, thank you for creating this opportunity for photographers and wonderful families. Kristin, thank you for submitting your comment. I am so glad we met and that you have family photos to cherish for a lifetime! You may not know it, but I think it means as much to me as it does to you.
