Giving Back – Heartfelt Photography
As a photographer, there’s often one question I hate little more than “I was wondering if you’d take a couple shots for me for free?” However, as human being, I think there’s something to be said for photographers and videographers offering to do shoots for which people can never repay you.
Heartfelt is an organization based in Australia that operates through photographers who volunteer their time. It’s the kind of opportunity that you cant walk away from without having something inside of you churned up. It’s not for the light hearted. Each session is a photojournalistic portrait session. Each session is done for a family who has just experienced a stillborn, permature or ill infant, or has had an infant born with terminal disease.
Fiona Lumsdaine, who primarily shoots fine art portraits, weddings, corporate, and event photography is a photographer who offers her time to Heartfelt. When I saw the images from one of her recent sessions, my heart was a little torn.
I have great admiration for any individual who can walk into a room with strangers who have just experienced incredible loss, mourn with them, weep with them, and help them preserve a memory of the son or daughter they will never raise.
Fiona shot these images on a D3S and D700 with a 85mm f/1.4, 35mm f/2 , and 50 f/1.4.
Although Heartfelt exists only in Australia, the same organization operates under a different name elsewhere. If you’d like to look into it a little more and do not live in Australia, check out Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.
