2015 HPI Photoshoot

Every year we team up with the Plymouth Congregational Church on Prospect to shoot portraits for local families that don't have the money to have portraits otherwise. The Homeless Prevention Initiative helps poor families stay in their homes. We meet at the church and take portraits from 12pm to 5pm, then we pick our best picture for each family and we frame it. We provide the framed print, several more unframed prints of various sizes and a CD/DVD of their best images to each family before Christmas. Many of the families give their pictures as Christmas gifts. I have taken part in the HPI shoot many years and the families are always very appreciative. This is an easy way to bring happiness to many people.

Contact Information

Contact Mike if you have any questions or want to volunteer.
FCDCC contact: Mike Barry - 970.207.9253 or info@fcdcc.com
HPI Coordinator: Joyce DeVaney JDeVaney6@Comcast.net
HPI Coordinator: Ruth Lieurance rlieuran@gmail.com
(Lorrie has worked with us in the past, but she retired.)

Location

Plymouth Congregational Church at 916 W. Prospect Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526

Schedule

• 11/14 @12pm-5pm - Shoot at the church (actually shoot from 1-4pm)
  
• 11/14 - 11/27 - Photographers process images and pick their best for each family
• 11/27 - Deliver CD/DVD of processed images to Mike Barry
• 11/28 @7pm-9pm - Judges choose best of the best images for each family
• 11/30 - Submit images to printer
• 12/8 @7pm-9pm - Assemble packages
• 12/12 @12pm-1:30pm - Distribute packages at the church

11/14 Shoot at the church
We should arrive after 12pm and setup our equipment. Families will start arriving about 1pm and we should be ready for them. We will take pictures of the families from 1pm-4pm. Joyce and Ruth will try to book 5 familes every 1/2 hour (35 possible clients). There is usually a slow time where we take a break and eat lunch. We need to finish at 4pm or 4:30pm and have everything taken down and out of the building by 5pm. We will have plenty of people at the church to help you load, unload and setup/break down equipment.

11/14-11/27 Photographers process images
Each photographer will sort through their pictures and pick their best image for each family. This picture should be cleaned up and formatted to fit in an 8x10 frame. Sort through the remaining pictures of the family looking for good pictures that they might like to have. Save all your "good" pictures and the "best" image to a directory on a DVD. Use JPG format, 300dpi resolution and use your highest quality. Please leave plenty of room around the family because we will be formatting them to (1)8"x10", (4)5"x7", (8)wallet size-2.5"x3.5"

11/27 - Deliver CD/DVD of processed images to Mike Barry
You can put the pictures from multiple families on one CD/DVD because I will be combining all the pictures for each family and writing one CD/DVD for them. Please deliver your pictures to me by 11/27. I need to have your images by end of day 11/27 because we will be judging them on 11/28.

11/28 @7pm-9pm - Judge images
We will meet at Mike's house at 7pm to pick the best picture for each family. We usually gather around Mike's computer, look at the pictures submitted by each photographer for the family and the group chooses the best one. We should be able to finish in about an hour, but it might take 2 hours.

11/30 - Submit images to printer
Mike Barry will format the selected images for 5"x7" and 2.5"x3.5", the originals will already be 8"x10". Then I will submit them to WHCC: 1x8"x10" and 4x5"x7" and 8x2.5"x3.5" for each family. Cost: 1x8"x10"=$2.20, 4x5"x7"=$4.60, 8 up wallets=$2.20 or $9.00 total for each family. I will also write a CD/DVD for each family with the "best" image and "good" images.

12/8 @7pm-9pm - Assemble packages
We will meet at Mike's house at 7pm to frame the 8"x10" prints. We will put the framed prints, the other prints and the CD/DVDs into an envelope for each family. We should be able to finish in 2 hours.

12/12 @12pm-1:30pm - Distribute packages at the church
We deliver packages for each family to the Plymouth Congregational Church. Joyce and Ruth will have a table or two setup that we can lay out the envelopes. Most of the families will drop by and pick up their pictures, and Joyce and Ruth may take a few envelopes to families that can't make it to the church.

Volunteers

This is a great opportunity to learn portrait photography. We like to have a mix of experienced portrait shooters and inexperienced shooters, so we can team them together, and make the event more fun for us and more effective for the families. Here is the list of volunteers that I have so far. I would like to have more volunteers for all positions.

• Photographers bringing equipment: TBD
• Photographers not bringing equipment: TBD
• Helpers: TBD
• Judges: TBD
• Assemblers: TBD
• Materials gatherer: Bobbi Futterer
• Distributors: TBD

Photographers
We like to team up inexperienced photographers with experienced photographers so we can have 2 photographers at each of the 5 stations. This is a great opportunity for both photographers to learn from each other. If we have extra photographers we can always add a third photographer to some of the stations. Both photographers should take pictures of each family that comes to their station. This will insure that we have multiple opportunities for a picture for every family, which is important because getting multiple family members to pose at the same time is not always easy. The photographers are responsible for taking the pictures, processing them and delivering them to Mike on time. During the shoot we will setup 4 photo stations in the main hall and 1 photo station in the adjoining fireplace room. Each station should have two photographers. If you are bringing your equipment for a station, bring a backdrop, lights, props, chair/stool and camera equipment.

Helpers
There are several roles for helpers at the shoot. We need a helper or two to sit at the front desk and check in the families, make their name cards and explain the process to them. We also need guides to take families to at least 2 of the photo stations and make sure that both photographers at each station take their pictures. We may need helpers to help with posing if the photographers want some extra help.

Judges
The judges will meet at Mike's house to pick the best picture for each family. We usually gather around Mike's computer, look at the pictures submitted by each photographer for the family and the group chooses the best one. We might have 20-40 familes with 2-6 pictures for each family to evaluate. We should be able to finish in about an hour, but it might take 2 hours.

Assemblers
The assemblers will meet at Mike's house to sort all the pictures and assemble packages for each family. We will have a stack of pictures from WHCC, DVDs with other good pictures from the photographers, envelopes, frames and name tags. We need to sort the materials by family, frame 1 8x10 for each family, label the envelopes, and stuff everything into envelopes. This should take about 2 hours.

Materials gatherer
We need frames for 8x10 pictures, envelopes that will hold a framed picture + several sheets of prints + a DVD, labels for the envelopes, black markers and name labels for the shoot.

Distributors
We bring the envelopes with the framed pictures, sheets of prints, and DVD to the church on a Saturday in December. Most of the families come to the church to pick up their pictures, and Joyce or Ruth may take a few to the families that aren't able to make the distribution date. The families are always very thankful.