Photos for a Good Cause: Smiles for Sacrifice

I have been inspired by Oplove.org to begin my own photo shoot donation system for military families in need of a helping hand, called Smiles for Sacrifice. Families of service members are a special breed of people. They choose to sacrifice the comforts of home and  luxuries of  a "normal" life to keep our country safe. I love my sailor and appreciate everything the military stands for, but the families behind that service member often go unseen. Life happens while our soldiers and sailor's are away and I want to help preserve those moments. I will donate one photo session a month  (or more depending on availability) to a family who has served (or continues to serve) our country. This family will need to be nominated by a member of the family itself, or a friend who realizes how special they are. My goal is to reach out to those who may not be able to purchase a professional shoot otherwise for a homecoming, birth etc. There is no application process, and no details need to be shared, just a nomination on the honor system. The photo shoot will include a CD of images and a full release so that those images can be purchased anywhere. It will also include the option to purchase those photos from my website GilesSmilesPhoto.zenfolio.com at a discount.

To support this mission, I will donate 10% of all print sales to my Smiles for Sacrifice  fund. This will pay for CD's and shipping costs, as well as print discounts for these special families.

 Do you know a service member who could use photographic services free of charge? Or would you like to donate to my Smiles for Sacrifice  fund? If so please contact me at GilesSmilesPhoto@yahoo.com

Fine Print: Donations cannot be made when using the coupon code "welcome."

Reunite this military family

Would you be willing to prepay for a photo shoot so that a military family could travel back home for a few weeks? You need photos for family Christmas cards, and I need money to buy plane tickets.  I don't need to give you the sob story. Of how the last time I've been home, back east, was over a year ago.  Of how we don't have enough money to fly all five of us, and we don't dare try driving that 2,100 mile trek with our unreliable vehicle. Or how I have a baby that hasn't met most of her cousins, much less friends. But we can help each other!

It would take approximately 15 people to commit to prepay for a $50, 1 hour session, to pay for my three daughters and myself to fly across the country. This one hour session can be here in San Diego this summer, or in Kentucky in the first three weeks of October (which is when I hope to fly out.)

Sessions will include: Free full resolution photos. If you'd like to order high quality photos on multiple kinds of professional paper at a low cost, those are also available on my site.

 I will then send paypal invoices to those who signed up (you can pay with debit or credit card, no paypal account required). I will stop taking appointments August 1st. Once all have paid, I will purchase my tickets and we can start scheduling!

If you would like more examples of my work visit Gilessmilesphoto.zenfolio.com . If you have any further questions, email me at GilesSmilesphoto@yahoo.com. Please share with friends.

Diving into the world of blog buttons

This is a test. This is only a test.

Daddy Look-a-like contest

OMG she looks just like her father! Have you heard this about your kids, your husband, yourself? Well, use it to your advantage by submitting a photo of your "twins," for a chance to win an awesome photo package! Email your favorite picture of sons and dads, daughter's and dads, and dads or moms with grandpa to GilesSmilesPhoto@yahoo.com. I will collect photos until Sunday, June 12th. I will then post them on my Giles Smiles Facebook page  for your friends and family to vote for them. Each "like" counts as one vote. The owner of the photo with the most votes at the end of the day Friday, June 17th wins. Please only one photo per family. And invite your friends! The more the merrier!
 Prize: 1 hour photo shoot with image cd
             plus 1 8x10, 2 5x7s, and 8 wallets

Just for submitting your photo, you will receive a $5 credit towards a summer photo session! (must be used by September 1st 2011)

Test out my Example gallery

I have opened a sample gallery for viewing.  This gallery will help you visualize what your password protected client gallery would look like.  All prices set in this example gallery are true to life, and do not reflect any discounts. As you may remember, I am running a special currently so your prints would be less. Feel free to look around.  Make sure if you want to test out the buying process, not to input any credit card information or you will in fact receive pictures of  Tarin Cake and Pops at your doorstep. Sign the guestbook and let me know if you have any questions or concerns.  Click HERE to be taken to the home page. From there, you can either look for the client example gallery, or click on clients.  The access code is: example.  The password is also: example. Thank you for helping me test drive my page, and I hope to see your face on it soon!