Missions Photography {destination photography}

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:33:14 +0000

Yesterday, on Facebook, a friend from college asked me a question. He asked, “Do you ever take pictures of ugly people?” “All the pictures I see you post are of very good looking people.” I honestly did not quite know how to respond. I had to ask myself if I ever really did photograph ugly people. I thought about it for a while. All of my clients live in America, live in nice homes and many of their photographs center around joyous events–marriage, new baby, growing family, the pivotal high school senior year–my clients (and myself) enjoy a pretty awesome life and I get to participate with them by capturing those good times. The joy and the laughter and the enthusiasm for life are the kind of things I want to bring out in a client’s photograph.

So, do we ever photograph ugly people? No we don’t but…we photograph beautiful people in ugly situations. Some of you know that we shot our first wedding in 2004. The real spark for photography actually began prior to that wedding. It was on a mission trip to the Dominican Republic with Healing Waters, a nonprofit that brings water purification systems to third world and impoverished countries. Chris and our daughter, Mallory, will be going to Haiti next month to video and photograph another project for Healing Waters. There are plans for a second trip to Haiti later this year as well as a trip to Nigeria for a different water project. It is such a privilege to document these beautiful people living in such challenging conditions. When you toss that next half used water bottle or leave the faucet running, remember these folks, these beautiful folks that live in ugly conditions.

Julie

Red Rocks Africa Gala

admin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 06:06:55 +0000

This weekend, we got to be involved in something very cool. Red Rock Community Church hosted a fund raiser to send an amazing family to South Africa. Lincoln and Jenny Smith (and their FOUR kids!) are a missionary couple that have a huge heart for the children of Africa that have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. They have committed to live there and serve at an orphanage / rescue shelter that is a place of hope for the smallest, most helpless victims of this crisis.

Red Rocks Church put on a phenomenal evening of food, music, silent and live auctions to raise the $215,000 needed to fund this family and this ministry. The food and entertainment were over the top! The decor was unbelievable! Red Rock Church meets in a warehouse in Heritage Square Park in Golden. (It’s kind of the running joke – the church in the Creepy Theme Park!). Somehow Cori Cook of Cori Cook Floral Design and her crew of volunteers were able to convert this warehouse setting into a showplace. The decor was beautifully mastered by Scott, the designer at Decor’n More.

One of the coolest projects was Lincoln’s vision to use art to raise money for the people of Africa. He brought sheet metal from a shack-home in Africa, gave pieces of it to local artists, and let them create original art from it. Some created paintings, sculptures, 3-D relief. It was so amazing to see what artists came up with. (I even contributed a piece to the mix). To learn more about Lincoln and Jenny’s work in Africa and their vision to use art as an ongoing project to fund missions, go to Orphan Art Project.

Lincoln and Jenny Smith tell their compelling stories

the silent auction

the live auction

Tulu, the puppy, was an auction highlight. He goes to a great new home and some orphans get some much needed help.

Todd Ballard and the band rock out

The dance floor was packed for most of the night. Where do you get a giraffe that big?

Chris Sharber Photography » non-profit photography

Missions Photography {destination photography}

Red Rocks Africa Gala