Some of the most rewarding things I've done in my career are the things that I do from my heart. As the old saying goes...the best things in life are free! Being that the holidays are upon us, I'm inspired to write about these things. A little over a year ago, I added my name to the list of photographers that can be contacted through OP Love. OP Love is simply a group of photographers that donate their time and talent to photograph military families at no cost. Sessions are generally either a homecoming when a parent or loved one is returning from deployment, or a family photo session. For the family sessions, their is
usually one family member (parent) that is deployed. We, the photographers, photograph the families and send a small photo album to the deployed troop. I did 2 of these sessions this year. The first one was for the father of 3 young girls, one of which was a newborn, who was deployed. So, I photographed his 3 girls and send the album off. His wife didn't tell him ahead of time that it was coming, so it was a nice surprise to him to see his girls. Below are a few shots and the "Thank You" email that I
received from this very deserving member of our military:




Teri,
Good afternoon, well here where I am. As you may know my name is
XXXXXXX. I am out here in
XXXXX, IRAQ. I have been since January of 2008. My wife Vanessa and 3 girls (Ariana,
Alayna, Andrea) are still back home in San Diego, CA. You did a photo shoot for my family in my absence and I wanted to write you to tell you THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! I did receive the photo Album/CD of the shoot and they are absolutely perfect! We have never really had anyone take professional photos of our little family and to have these here while I am in Iraq is amazing! You make this Marine’s life worth something more with these beautiful pictures to remind me of what we are fighting for and also what I have to look forward to when I finally get home! I cannot thank you enough for what you did and for all that you continue to do for us out here fighting this ongoing war. I hope that in the future your business continues to thrive, expand and stays very successful. Again thank you, thank you for these pictures of my beautiful family. I will cherish them forever thanks to you and your company. As we say out here in the Marines to express motivation and approval “
OOHRAH MA’AM”!!
SEMPER FIDELIS “Always Faithful”
Labels: Op Love