FREEDOM kids KimberlyElaine365 D39

It is amazing what a small idea can turn into in just about a week. Imagine if there had been more time to prepare for Freedom Photo Shoot, how many would have participated? It makes me wonder how big this event could actually get. As soon as I came up with the idea I shared it with a few people who gave such a warm response it made me decide to announce it as an event. I hoped to maybe have 5 or 10 kids come and be in a Freedom image together. Instead we had over 25 kids! It was wonderful to see all those people come out for this event. It was wonderful to hear the response from all those same people and it was wonderful to see all those Freedom Kids.

I didn't realize how much this was all going to mean to me. Honestly two weeks ago, I was just coming up with ideas for my 365 project when I got this image of the Freedom Kids in my head and I couldn't get rid of it. As soon as I thought about how to get all those kids together, Honor Flight popped into my head. Although I myself am not military, growing up in Dayton right next to the air force base makes anyone have connections to Veterans and the service they have given to us. My husband realized last week right in the middle of planning this event that all four of our grandfathers served in World War II who along with terminally ill Veterans happens to be the group currently being flown to D.C. by Honor Flight. It is quite a remarkable thing to realize that all 4 of your grandfathers committed to such a heroic an honorable task. It also makes you realize just how many people in this country care so deeply for freedom.

Although it was hard and stressful to organize an event like this in such a short time it was so worth it. It made me feel so good to hear about all the people who wanted to donate gift certificates or their time & talent towards a raffle to help get more monetary donations for Honor Flight. There were a lot of community members who donated something up until the very last minute, it blows my mind to think of what others would have done had I actually given them ample time to prepare.

The above image is my favorite image of the chaos behind an event like this. I knew ahead of time that arranging something like this with kids on a hot day would be a challenge and there would probably be some unhappy or even crying kids. To a photographer who likes to capture candid shots and reality, this is a perfect scenario. I love all the images I captured that day, I love the happy ones and I love the sad ones. They all symbolize freedom to me, the good times and the bad times that we all get to live out everyday because of the freedom our Veterans have given to us.

Ahhh, the Freedom Kids. Adorable just as they are. I felt it was important to color tone this image, I gave it an aged look and then pulled the red, white and blue from the kids outfits. I feel like the color effect gives it such a patriotic feel and I think I will most likely use it for the Veterans card.

I think I realized just how hard it would be to get a good Freedom image with all the kids as soon as I saw how many were showing up. I am very happy the the image I ended up having the most children in (above) although I wish it could have had everyone in it, that is just about an impossible task with small children involved. That is why I knew it was important to get some individuals of the kids too and they were eating the camera up, it was adorable.

My favorites are always the individuals, especially when they are right in the middle of something and don't even notice you. Those images always turn out to be the favorites.

 I hope I was able to get some individual shots of all the children that participated, but with a public event it is hard to know for sure. That is why I would like to offer $50 off a session fee to any family who participated in Freedom shoot. The discount will be good if you book your session and get a deposit in before the end of July. This could be used towards a session in another month as long as the session is booked with deposit before July 30th.

I have so many more images of the kids to edit and will be working on them in the coming weeks along with a couple designs for a card for the Veterans. Check back in a few weeks to get updates on the progress and there will be a link to view the Freedom Kids images. I know everyone is anxious to use the images from the shoot but I would really appreciate if you would keep the images intact as they are if you choose to link to your own accounts. There will be opportunities once all the images are processed for parents and family to purchase group shots, individuals and any collages or designs that were done in the process. It will also be possible to purchase image files and rights & participants will receive a watermarked web file for posting to their own facebook accounts. All prints sold in the weeks after the gallery is posted will have 50% of profits donated directly to Honor Flight Dayton.

I really want to thank everyone who was involved in this. My entire family was such a big help from watching my daughter, to making star shaped rice krispie treats, storing donations, donating stickers for the kids and of course all the hands on work they all did the day of. There were many members from the community that donated and they will each get recognized in the card for the Vets. For now I would like to just mention who they are as I always like to help those who are helpful to others. Some of these businesses were so warm and generous it just blew me away and I will continue to use all of their services. So just a little mention of who these people are: My Favorite Muffin in Centerville, Massage Therapy by Ashley B. Calcutta-Hasting LMT, Athena's Bridal, Rocky's Pizza Ring, Katie's cosmetics (avon products), Balloon & Party Loft, Dairy Queen (near intersection of Alex-Bell & 741), McDonalds (by SICSA in Kettering). 

I want to personally thank you all for what you did to make this even happen. Even down to my littlest participants, just your presence was appreciated and I'm sure we will have a fabulous thank you card for the Veterans to come from it!