HeartsApart.org

Posted October 01, 2011 In Military, Portraits

A few months ago, I came across HeartsApart.org, a relatively new organization that matches deploying military members with photographers to capture images of them and their families. The organization then takes several of the images and prints them on a unique waterproof card that the service member can keep in his pocket while deployed. How cool is that??

As soon as I heard about HeartsApart.org, I knew I wanted to get involved. As a Marine spouse, I would’ve loved to have been able to give one of those cards (filled with gorgeous photographs of me of course!) to my husband to take to Afghanistan. I applied to be an affiliated photographer right away. You can imagine how excited I was when I found out that my application had been approved!

I have been able to do two photography sessions for HeartsApart.org so far, and hope to continue to work with them in the future! Here are just a handful of my favorite shots from those two sessions.

Here is a little more information about HeartsApart.org from their website:

HeartsApart.org was created to keep families connected while our military men and women are serving abroad. Through the efforts of our community’s finest photographers, HeartsApart.org provides our soon to be deployed servicemen and women with pictures of their spouses and children. The photographs are printed on waterproof and durable bi-folded cards, which fit securely in their uniform pocket. HeartsApart.org believes that our military personnel deserve and need the memory of their families to carry them through the difficult times that lie ahead.

Founded in North Carolina, home to Pope AFB, Seymour Johnson AFB, Fort Bragg, Camp Lejeune, MCAS Cherry Point and MCAS New River, we have begun our volunteer efforts in our own backyard but hope to organize and mobilize photographers across the country.

The goal of HeartsApart.org is simple. As long as servicemen and women are in harm’s way and separated from their families, we will be taking pictures. There is no end to the project – just a commitment to continue to serve our Armed Forces while they continue to serve us.

If you or your spouse are preparing for an upcoming deployment and would like to be blessed with gorgeous photographs to help ease the separation, please contact the Project Director at [email protected].

Happy Autumn, everyone!

xoxo,
Lauren


Camille and Megan – Fallbrook Senior Session

Posted September 16, 2011 In Portraits

So did you really think I spent an entire afternoon with two gorgeous girls, without taking a single photograph of the two of them together?! Of course I didn’t! Who wouldn’t love to schedule a senior session with their best friend?

Here are some of my favorite images of Camille and Megan together, as well as a handful of the details that Nicole and I had put together.

If you picked up a dictionary and looked up the word “fierce,” you would stumble across this next image. Wow, these two ladies were absolutely r-o-c-k-i-n-g this shoot.

Thank you, thank you, thank you AGAIN to the fabulous Camille, Megan, and Nicole!

xoxo,
Lauren


Megan – Fallbrook Senior Session

Posted September 15, 2011 In Portraits

Here’s part two of my day with Nicole Benitez!

I mentioned that she had contacted two senior girls to come model for us, so please meet Megan! Megan was a blast to photograph! Check out those amazing baby blues!

Thank you, Megan, for being a great sport! It was awesome working with you! And many thanks again to Nicole!!

xoxo,
Lauren


Camille – Fallbrook Senior Session

Posted September 14, 2011 In Portraits

A few months ago, I was perusing Facebook and saw a post that set me back a minute or two. A friend had posted about a local photographer that was holding an auction to raise funds for a military family. A Marine Corps Sargent had lost his three-year-old daughter and Nicole of Nicole Benitez Photography was raising funds to assist with the funeral costs. Gulp. I realize that the money was probably the last thing on this family’s mind, considering that their precious girl was no longer with them. But, since I didn’t personally know them, I thought that my contribution–though not large by any means–would be able to assist them and lift some of the financial burden.

Nicole was running an auction, so I immediately bid on a few items. One of the items I bid on was a one-on-one mentoring session with Nicole. Though I was outbid at the last moment, I asked Nicole if she would honor my final bid in exchange for her donating an additional mentoring session. You should have seen how excited I was when she said yes!

So, here we are, months and tons of emails and Pinterest pins later, and I was able to meet up with Nicole for our one-on-one day. We met at her house in Fallbrook, where she went over some business basics and we chatted about styling portrait sessions. She had contacted two high school seniors, with whom we met up at the Dinwiddie Preserve in Fallbrook. We set up a rustic Americana scene and shot until we lost sunlight!

Here are some of my favorite images of Camille, who was fabulous to work with!

Thank you, Camille, for spending your Sunday afternoon with us! It was awesome to get to know you. And many, many, many thanks to the generous Nicole Benitez! You rock!

Stay tuned for Megan’s post tomorrow!

xoxo,
Lauren


Labor Day 2011

Posted September 06, 2011 In Families, Portraits

What better way to spend Labor Day than hanging out with two fellow Marine wives who are also photographers?! Yeah, that’s what I thought! :)

Yesterday, I met up with my friends Stephanie and Yvonne at Love Boat Sushi for lunch, then we headed over to Yvonne’s house to play around with some studio lights she has. We used their daughters as models and I did my best to show them how to use a two-light setup for portraits. I may have gotten a little distracted by all the little ones in the room, but we had a fun afternoon nonetheless!

Here are just a handful of the shots I captured.

Aren’t they just darling?! :)

xoxo,
Lauren

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