Help-Portrait Cork - Denis MacSweenys - How it went
I first read about Help-Portrait on sxc.hu. A long-time user Leroy, posted in the sxc.hu forum about this idea, executed worldwide on the same date, of helping others for Christmas as photographers, giving our time and skills to those less fortunate.
Organising the venue
With only a week to the deadline, I started organising Help-Portrait Cork. There was a Cork Help-Portrait group on the web site, but no details on the event, so I decided to call into my contact Barry from Denis MacSweeny Photo Shop, and ask for the use of his studio. Not only did Barry give me the use of the studio after I pitched him the idea, he also offered free 8×10” prints to each person.
Organising photographers and getting the word out
The idea gathered momentum. I made up some posters and flyers, which Eamon Warn kindly printed and laminated for me free of charge, along with some laminated badges for the photographers.
Having emailed Cork Camera Group, a number of members expressed their interest, so I kept them updated on events, while making up a press release for all the local print publications and radio stations, which I emailed along with a pdf attachment of the designed poster. I notified NASC, a center for asylum seekers, and they kindly forwarded my email to other groups they are in contact with, and put some posters in their building. I also notified the center for teenage parents and gave them a poster for members, I put posters up in the local Cork City Library and Credit Union, I gave community leaders a heads up and some posters (lots of posters being handed out), and of course I used my web site, twitter, facebook, any and all means of getting the word out.
With two days to go, I looked at the Help-Portrait web site again, and found the Cork group had activated, and had posted about their Help-Portrait event in the Clarion Hotel. Having spoken to their organiser Paul O Mahony, it seemed we had targeted different groups of people entirely, which I think worked out great, because more people got photographed!
Behind the scenes
In all we photographed 7 groups of people, all families. For each shoot we tried to vary the photos, from the family group portrait, to portraits of just the parents, or Dad and child, Mum and child, etc. It took around 40+ minutes to photograph each group, depending on the number of people/combination’s. We then burned a selection of images onto cd, and their photographer brought them downstairs with the cd to pick out their favourite one to get printed. They got to keep the cd so the images we didn’t print on the day, they can still save, email, or get prints in the future of them!
With the date being a Saturday, and so close to Christmas, the shop was very busy, and it probably would have suited better with how we organised our shoot, to hold it on a Sunday. If it doesn’t go against the rules, I would hold the event next year on the Sunday instead! Either that, or use a home printer, but to be honest, getting the professional prints really was great.
Here’s a tiny sample of the pictures taken:
Our Cork Camera Group team! :)
Thanks
I want to say a big huge THANK YOU to Barry and all the staff of Denis MacSweeny Photo Shop for their patience, generosity and time, and massive THANKS to all of the photographers from CCG, without their time, expertise and team-work, it never would have happened. Thanks to Eamon Warn for providing us with posters and flyers, and photographing our ‘behind the scenes’ shots (among other errands), and to Nathan’s girlfriend Evelyn, for being our emergency make-up artist!
You all did a really good thing. And when those children grow up, these will be the pictures they look back on, so I think everyone involved should be very proud of both the work we produced, and the generosity of spirit this project entailed.
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Help-Portrait Cork
“The brainchild of celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart, Help-Portrait is a movement of photographers, coming together in every major city, to use their photography skills to give back to the community.
On December 12th, photographers around the world will be grabbing their cameras, finding people in need, and taking their picture.”
I’m very happy to announce that Denis Mac Sweeney Photo Shop have donated both their studio space, and free prints for this event..
We have around 10 professional and amateur photographers on board now, and if anyone has ideas for groups of people to invite just give them the details below!
What? Help-Portrait Cork (help-portrait.com)
Where? Denis MacSweeney Photo Shop, Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork
When? 1pm, Saturday, 12th December
Who? Anyone that could not afford a professional portrait otherwise
How does it work if I arrive? We want to make you feel special, we will have a photo studio, a professional photographer, and a stylist. We take your photo, make you look and feel fabulous, and right downstairs we print the photo (8×10 inch glossy print) and give it to you to take home, all free, all for Christmas! :)
View more videos on this event on youtube
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Help-Portrait Cork - Hopefully!
Here are the details:
“The brainchild of celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart, Help-Portrait is a movement of photographers, coming together in every major city, to use their photography skills to give back to the community.
On December 12th, photographers around the world will be grabbing their cameras, finding people in need, and taking their picture.
When the prints are ready, the photographs get delivered.
Yep. It really is that easy.
And by the way, we don’t want to see your photos. This is about GIVING the pictures, not taking them. These portraits are not for your portfolio, website, or for sale. Money isn’t involved here. This holiday season, you have the chance to give a family something they may have never had before- a portrait together.”
Read more at the help-portrait.com web site. If anyone has a contact among any members of the public who would enjoy getting their portrait taken, or knows a stylist, or has a camera, or even a great organiser, please get in touch!
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Creativity and financial management
Where does creativity come from? Your environment, your life experiences, your brain, your subconscious, your heart, your soul?
Annie Leibowitz almost lost the rights to her entire collection of work this year, due to major financial mis-management. This is a woman who has carved out a glittering career for herself photographing some of the most famous people in the world. It did raise some questions in my mind. Who manages Annie’s money? She is renowned for having some of the most expensive and extravagant shoots out there. She may blow her budget on a shoot, and if she is not happy with the results, do the entire shoot again, paying all assistants, renting equipment, covering model costs etc, for another day. I can see how she ran herself into financial difficulty but here is my conflict – as a creative person, I respect Annie for never stopping until she gets that shot. I find it honourable and commendable as a professional to see someone keep going regardless of cost to get the best possible result. It means the standard of her work is exemplary because she is clearly a perfectionist.
But creative people have always been, and will always be, limited by money. It’s honorable and commendable to keep re-shooting until you get that shot, but is it sensible when you have bills to pay?
Creativity and financial management sound like they should never be spoken in the same breath, but unfortunately, most creative efforts are either made to be commercial, or they at least have to stay within budget. The creative challenge is to be as creative as possible, within the restrictions put on you, and this can take a lot more skill, preparation and creative thinking than going out there with no restrictions at all. What do you think?
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Working for yourself is like..
being a hustler. Well, you are a hustler.
From the charges you come up with, to the business ideas that will drive your freelance work/company, you hustle. Your clients will barter. They don’t really care whether you’re on minimum wage, whether you have adequate sick pay, or a pension, they just want you to work for the lowest price possible. And if you offer it up for free, they will happily take that.
What happens if you give the client what they want? Well, you go out of pocket, and therefore out of business. So you hustle. Every day. With a different face to the client everytime but the same message.
A good hustler doesn’t back down. A good hustler knows the minimum price to stay afloat, and won’t go under that, EVEN if they might lose the client. You simply can’t sell a service without making a profit. So you have to be prepared to walk away, a little like the street trader on the side of the road. You can barter sure, but if you offer that trader a price too low, he/she WILL walk away. What’s surprising though is, you often raise your price again once you realise how much you really want that item. And that’s what happens in real business, it’s like the wild west. And in a recession, oh boy it gets worse, so much worse.
So you have to hustle even harder, and that will work.. because a good hustler doesn’t put all his eggs in one basket. So just stick to the basics!
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Term papers
Your Article Is Very well Written Cant wait to read more. I would like to thank the author of this article for contributing such a lovely and mind-opening article.
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