Giving Back to a Local School

Every year Damascus Christian School holds an auction to raise money to help support their school. This year I was asked to help with one of the class projects. Until today I had to keep my project under lock and key for the big reveal the night of the auction...Now that the auction is over, I am just thrilled to finally be able to share with you what the top secret project is!

Last January, one of my clients approached me with an idea she (and another mom) had for her daughter's 4th grade class project. She explained that each grade creates a one of a kind piece of art that is auctioned off along with other items that have been donated from businesses in the community. The idea to photograph all the feet of the kids in the 4th grade was a fun one and I happily agreed to collaborate with them on this project.

Angi and Lisa, two of the nicest women you will ever meet!

So, one cold but sunny morning in early February, we all met at Barton Park along the bank of the Clackamas River. I felt so guilty making the kids take their shoes and socks off and step out into the cold sand. They all did a remarkable job considering their feet were probably frozen within the first few minutes into the shoot.

This was somewhat tricky to execute due to the scale of the final canvas. I knew it would be blown up quite a bit, so I didn't want to risk the resolution being soft by simply cropping the feet from the group picture. So what I decided to do instead was to shoot their feet in sections of about 4 kids at a time. This allowed me to get a better angle as well as a much closer perspective of their feet. Once I got home I was able to create a composite of all these beautiful little toes and the result turned out great! I added a significant amount of sand to the bottom of the image to ensure that there would be adequate space for the scripture that they wanted to include.

In case you can't read it, the verse says:

"How beautiful on the mountain are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion "Your God reigns!" — Isaiah 52:7.

Saturday night I was on pins and needles, wondering how well the canvas would be received. When Lisa emailed me at 10:30 pm with the auction results, I just about fell out of my chair! Here is what she wrote:

"Alyssa,

I just returned home from the auction. I wanted to let you know that your photograph was hotly contested during the auction and sold for $1000! Yeah!!! In addition, I had a steady stream of people praising the photograph and asking about you as a photographer. I truly hope the exposure proves to be profitable for you in the future.

Thank you again for all the time and skill you put into our 4th grade auction project!
Lisa."

I feel so blessed to be able to give back to a local school where a number of my client's children attend. What fun we had!