Last year I was honored to be able to give back a little for Giving is Awesome.  This was the winner last year and she was so deserving and thankful.  I knew I had to do it again this year so I am really excited to announce this years.

You know someone. You know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family’s spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone. I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography — $950 worth, to be exact. A session and a high res digital negative cd with print release will be awarded to the deserving winner.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a $100 print credit. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* The nominee must reside in the greater Portland, Oregon area. Tell me who you know, what they’re experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.

* You must e-mail me the full story : jenifer@polkadotphotography.net BY December 20th!!!

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve — get nominating! I can’t wait to read all of your entries!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season — and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

With love,

Jenifer

Just a quick note to let you know that I’m out of town from Friday the 16th until Monday.  Enjoy your weekend. (0;

and a quick post from the mini sessions mentioned in the post below……..

and the man of the hour mr. nicholas getting a smooch from her after their shoot.  he is seriously the most deserving little boy and i am so thankful to everyone that helped make this fundraiser a success!

I had a photography fundraiser for a client whose son has SMA.  We raised $1600!!!!!!!!!!!! You can read Jessica’s blog here and here is the link to donate (even $5 helps and would mean so much to this sweet family).  We had a great turn out and did quite a few 20 min mini sessions, and they have been so patient waiting to see these. Up first is this gorgeous family.

Writing this post brings me to tears. I have known that I would be writing about this for a few months now and couldn’t bring myself to do it until I read a blog post from Jessica. You see Jessica is a client of mine. An old friend that I actually have knows since high school. She found me online and booked me for her belly photos when she was pregnant with sweet Nicholas. I could go on and on about what a sweet and amazing person Jessica is and I mean this with every bone in my body. She allowed me to capture their family from the beginning and I have been doing just that for the last year and a half. I consider myself so incredibly blessed to have this be my job but even more so when we got the news of sweet Nicholas.

You can read Jessica’s blog post here to get the full story and her version would be way better than mine. Jessica found out just a few weeks before his 1 year session that Nicholas had SMA. A genetic disorder that means their time with their sweet baby boy would be cut short. I cry as I even type this and can’t even begin to grasp what they are going through and cannot even begin to comprehend. Just recently though some new information has come forth that could mean a cure for SMA in Nicholas’s lifetime.

I am doing a fundraiser for them for their friends but also wanted to reach out to my blog readers and ask for help. Any amount….I mean any….even if it is just $5 would make such a difference. I challenge every one of you to take at least $5 and donate it to this amazing amazing cause that could potentially save this sweet boy. You can read Jessica’s post here that explains it all. If you donate please leave a comment on this post and let me know. I would love to see all the people that do it.

If you would like to make a donation in Nicholas’s name, you can click on this link:http://UniteForTheCure.com/Donate/ It explains all the directions for donating via credit card and by check. To make a donation via credit card you will go to this page and then click on the green donate button, which will then take you to the Families of SMA donation page specifically set up for Unite For The Cure. Please remember to write “Gustafson Family” in the “Message” section, so that they can keep track of their goal. For checks, please make checks payable to “Families of SMA” and be sure to write “Unite For The Cure/Gustafson” in the MEMO on the check, so that this donation goes specifically to the Unite For The Cure campaign and to our overall goal. You can mail checks to:
Unite For The Cure
c/o Gwendolyn Strong Foundation
27 W. Anapamu Street, #177
Santa Barbara, California 93101

Help me give away a $1000 custom photography package.

You know someone. You know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round reminder of their family’s spirit, love, and beauty.

You know someone. I guarantee it.

I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience complimentary custom photography — $1000 worth, to be exact. They will receive a 1-2 hour session, a full resolution CD and printing rights, a set of 4×6 proofs as well as a $200 print credit to apply towards any wall display. A package worth $1000.

Oh, and the best part? The person who nominates the winner receives a $125 print credit. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?

The rules:

* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar-vacation-home in Paris does not qualify as sincere financial need.)

* The nominee must reside in Washington or Oregon and be within my local area. Tell me who you know, what they’re experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well.

* You must e-mail me the full story : jenifer@polkadotphotography.net by Christmas Eve at noon PST.

The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve — get nominating! I can’t wait to read all of your entries!

Open your heart to someone this holiday season — and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.

With love,

Jenifer