Locals: Support Family Portraits for Underrepresented Families

Hey locals! A local not-for-profit photographers' collective that commits a portion of their photographic profits to helping underrepresented families capture, preserve, and share their memories is having a free BBQ and holiday family photoshoot at Hoover Park, Redwood City this Saturday December 17 from 11-2pm. They are offering a free professional portrait session and framed ready-to-hang print.

They ask only that folks bring a food item or a $10 raffle item or gift card for the families in need. There will be a videographer on hand filmingthe  promo, so please show your support!

Thai Chu from AliveByShooting.com leads the collective and is also a friend of Leo's; here are some wonderful portraits he's taken of Leo; these are the quality of portraits that will be available:

The photographer's collective also "collects and distribute old digital cameras to families through a collaboration with nonprofit agencies in developing nations. Currently, we are working with Islas de Las Hermanas and Peace Corps on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua. This island of 30,000 is one of the poorest communities in Nicaragua, and none of the families in the communities we work with own cameras or have even seen themselves outside of a mirror. With our digital exchange, when their memory cards are full, their prints are developed in the US, shipped, and distributed free of charge. Please donate your digital cameras, accessories, and bilingual manuals by contacting [Thai]."

The Bunny Hop 2011

Local org AbilityPath held a special Caring Easter Bunny event just for Leo & his friends this morning, with Bunny social stories, practically-no-wait photo ops, and (most importantly for our guy), complimentary mini-croissants. We got to spend time with several of our friends, and we all appreciated the low-stress community socializing. So, thank you, AbilityPath. It was a very sweet morning, which I especially appreciated since Leo's spring break plain wore me out, and the girls' spring break is just starting.

I love the photo the kids took during the event. It may not be magazine cover quality, but I think it represents our kids so well -- Mali hamming it up, Iz making sure everything's OK, and Leo thoroughly enjoying the moment. This is who they are.

Freaky Friday Kids Photos

Gorgeous or freaky? I don't quite know what to think. My mom loves these pictures of the kids, which were shot during our winter break family reunion -- but I'm not used my kids' images being altered beyond color-correction and cropping.

For comparison, here's one of my favorite shots -- from the photos I took during same session. This is Mali with a bunch of her cousins, who obviously share some D'artagnan/goofball genetic material.

What do you think? What's your preference for photos of your kids? Touched up or not?