i nominate my husband for always taking pictures of everyone else, even at his inconvenience, because he wants people to have nice pictures of their families. (oh, and the fact that we have no fun pictures of our own family is a million reasons over why he should win this.) thanks guys, what a cute idea!

I would LOVE to nominate a friend from high school, Stephanie Baloy. She is a beautiful woman who lives for God. Last Mother’s Day my husband and I totally forgot to order flowers for his mom and so I thought through some problem solvers. I emailed Steph and asked her for the hugest favor, deliver cupcakes to my Mom-in-Love. Steph is a pastry chef, a singer&songwriter, and she does it all in the hopes of glorifying God’s kingdom. Each year her and her church go back to the Philippines on a missions trip.

And she’s HUMBLE. LOVE it!!!

(Some of her websites, http://lightinmyheart.blogspot.com/, http://www.youtube.com/saviorking77, http://www.youtube.com/cryinmyheart05)

Ciao!! && Thanks for such a great example!! God bless you two!

WOW! I love this. Giving back always feels so good. Especially to someone that gives, never expecting to get something in return. I would love to put my daughter Shannon into that category. She is the friend that will drop anything to help. Whether it be watching a friends children or cooking a meal. She recently helped put together a vow renewal ceremony for friends that never had a wedding. Her heart is so big and tender. A photo shoot for her and her family would be something she could never do nor afford.
Thanks Mark and Candice
Blessings to you!

I nominate my hubby! He spent allll day yesterday cleaning and organizing our church’s high school room. Big job! And he did it without asking! He has THE biggest servant heart, and I could list so many things he does! Plus of course if he wins a shoot I benefit and get photos w/ him!

I nominate my parents. They are alway encouraging me and helping me through difficult, happy, and fun times. All parents should be appreciated more.

My boyfriend is a youth pastor. He works hard week after week not only with the youth but also the Spanish ministry and the church as a whole. When he started doing ministry, he quit his full time job with benefits and came to work for only a sandwich a week He is still underpaid (as are most people in ministry), but NEVER complains. He joined the army reserves in hopes of supplementing his income and not being forced to get another job that would take time away from his ministry. He is about to be deployed to Iraq for a year, but hasn’t complained once. He is always doing little nice things for people he doesn’t know… as funny as this is that you mentioned in your blog… the other day he bought 2 people that he didn’t know coffee… and sat and talked with them. It’s just who he is.

The only thing is, that because of his deployment… I don’t know if he’d be here the day you do the shoots, if you choose him.

What a fabulous idea!!!! The people who are going to be photographed by you are so lucky. This is so nice of you to give back. Great example for all of us!

I cant stop checking my computer! I love all of your stories! Its going to be hard to pick a few winners

I nominate my my sister Megs who went into the army at the age of 17 and served for three years. Now she is going to school to be a teacher and I am so thankful for her serving our country

I spy with my little eye Regis w/ a Starbucks!

I would like to nominate my boyfriend Jeremy because he works so hard at a hospital helping people everyday. He often comes home totally drained and tired. But I am so glad he is helping people all the time.

I am so in love with this idea to give back! You guys are SOOOOOO awesome. It reminds me of a couple days ago… my friend Jodi brought me thai food and made me two mixed CD’s out of nowhere! I love when people just spontaneously surprise you. She definitely deserves a photoshoot!!!!!!!

i would like to nominate my sister, becky. she always has a soft spot, but one thing that she always does is give to a homeless guy by her work. she is always buying bagels for lunch so she usually buys a gift card and hands it to the gentleman. she is always helping others and always offering to help in any way she can. she is always thinking of others and i hope that this time, she can have someone think of her!

I would love to nominate my good friend and work partner, Niko. Over the 5+ years that I’ve known Niko, I’ve learned to appreciate life more and see the brighter side of things. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t offer some form of kindness to a friend or stranger, whether it’s a kind word to someone on the street or pulling over to help a broken down car on the freeway. Really. We work on a film set where people often get caught up in material things and forget to step outside their world. The other day Niko came up with an idea to raise money on set for http://www.pablove.org/ foundation (children with cancer). He persuaded our director to match whatever funds he raised over 3 days. The director thought he’d only reach $500, but he tripled that and made $1500 for this amazing local foundation (with the matched contribution, he raised $3000). Not only does he do large things, but he also does small acts of kindness like bringing my husband and I dinner on Chemo nights when he was in the hospital. Or lunch on chemo days. He is getting married in the fall. I know that he would love an Esession with his fiance Bren. You will understand how infectious his kindness is if you pick him and meet him!!!

Jennifer Berry. This is honestly the ONLY person I can only think of who is deserving of, at the very least, recognition for her amazing dedication to the well-being of everyone. With her compassion towards others and her willingness to overcome enormous obstacles is an inspiration in itself. Within the last 12 months Jennifer’s husband Steve was diagnosed with cancer. A less then perfect wedding gift for couple who’s been married for 14 months. Although there was a light at the end of Steve’s tunnel the road to get there wasn’t a easy one. As anyone who has dealt with cancer knows the most you can do is take it day by day. Appointment by appointment. And as the doctors changed, the hospitals changed, the condition of his tumor changed and the overall day to day operations of their lives changed one thing did not. Jen. She remained the same incredible person. Always there pushing on, refusing to give up when it would be so damn incredibly easy to do so. And all the while juggling family, friends and a demanding job. The reason Jen deserves to win isn’t because she’s a phenomenal wife or an amazing friend. It’s because everyday she woke up and came into work, in the midst everything going on she still went out of her way to “say hello, how are you?”. She continued to always make herself available to anyone who had a problem. She always kept on giving. This and so many other reasons is why she should have that chance to have her outer beauty show as much as her inner beauty does.

I would love to nominate my mom. She spends all of her time taking care of other people, working, and giving back to her church while taking no time for herself. Recently, I was having trouble finding a place to live and she offered up her living room (she doesn’t have any free bedrooms) for me and my dogs to stay in, even though it would have been incredibly inconvenient. She is a single mom of four daughters, takes care of her mom and of her uncle who is mentally challenged. Last year, she really wanted to have family pictures taken and I can’t think of a better Mother’s Day present than to have amazing pictures taken of the 5 of us. Thank you so much for the chance to win this!

I know it is after 5 but I will post anyways. I would nominate my husband. He is amazing. During the past couple of months he has been a huge source of my strength. We had three boys in our home who we were going to adopt and then they were taken from us because the grandparents decided that they couldn’t be adopted. My husband, A.J. was incredible during this whole process, from the moment we found out that they would probably move until the day they walked out the door (after we prayed over each of them) and even afterwards as we tried to pick up the pieces and figure out how quiet the house is and how I just needed to stay busy for the first several weeks – cleaning out the office and the rest of the house just to stay busy . I have no idea what I would do without him.

By the way, I just wanted to say that it is awesome that you guys are using your talents and gifts to give back to the community. I love it when people hear a message and actually ACT!

i was so sad i had to miss the gtg. next time!

What a darling show stealer you’ve got there!! And what an awesome idea!!

I just wanted to say that this is so awesome of you to do.

As a photog myself I often do this for friends of friends going through tough times: divorce, cancer etc. It’s the little thing.

Indeed CA has the best photog industry in the states, would love to meet up next time.

[...] few weeks ago we ran a great little contest on our blog for anyone who has “given back” to our community. The winner would get a short, but very  SWEET blog post, and photo shoot done by [...]