Operation: Love ReUnited: The Cutest Little Big Guys in Town!

Posted on May 7, 2009

*I’ve purposely omitted the families name, or refrained from using it in this post, at the families request for privacy.

A few days ago, we had the pleasure of photographing two of the handsomest little guys I’ve seen in a VERY long time! Their mom called us a few weeks ago, wanting to schedule a session for her and the boys, since her husband is currently deployed, and really could use a boost! We were so thrilled to be able to help her out with that! She got the boys all dolled up in some of their daddy’s gear, and we got down to shooting. They were fascinated by our cats, who apparently thought that the boys were just visiting to give them special attention. We had such a great time you guys, thanks for coming by and letting us photograph your awesome family! We’ll be sending an album overseas for dad soon!

Roz

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OpLove: Ft. Bliss Event

Posted on May 4, 2009

It’s been nearly a month since we photographed the departing soldiers of the 4-1AD, and the families of the deployed 11ADA and 93MP, on Ft. Bliss. I know, a month is an absurdly long time after an event, for me to just be getting to the blog post! In the missing 30 days, we’ve been editing and organizing our own 2500+ images, coordinating with the 20+ participating photographers, and trying to get back in front of the thousands of images captured during the weekend. Most of the Soldiers from the 4-1AD departed this past weekend, so these albums are going overseas as quickly as we can get them done!

I personally had an incredible time photographing 50 families in 2 days (although I was ready to come home and sleep by the end of it!) All of our photographers were absolutely blown away by how gracious, how patient, and how grateful each and every Soldier and family was. OpLove owes a major, major thank you to the 4-1AD for dinner on Saturday, and for the services of CPT Carpenter, without whose help this weekend would not have been possible. Overall, about 850 families (estimated) were photographed during the event; I believe that sets a new record for Operation: Love ReUnited, for most families photographed in one weekend.

We’re working hard on getting a gallery of all the images up. I know it’s taking a bit longer than I’d hoped, but thank all of you for being so patient! This is easily the largest event I’ve ever been involved with, and I underestimated the amount of work and time involved in getting this many images ready to go.

Here’s a *very* small sampling of the images Roz, Marie, and I captured; look for more (in the form of an online gallery) soon!

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Operation: Love ReUnited – Connie, Graham, & Nichelle

Posted on May 2, 2009

Last Sunday Connie and her husband Graham and their daughter Nichelle came up to the studio for an OpLove Session! Immediately, I wanted to steal Nichelle away forever – she is the sweetest most good natured little girl I’ve photographed in a very long time! And look how super cute she is! Graham is about to deploy in a few weeks, and Connie really wanted to have photos done before he leaves. So many of our soldiers that we’ve photographed are deploying this weekend. I woke up this morning thinking that I must call all of the families we’ve worked with over the last few months and check on them, because I know this weekend is going to be a hard one.

I can’t imagine the sacrifice these families make for us. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for keeping our country and our citizens safe. You truly rock.

Roz

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OpLove: Erin and Jaime + 2 Cuties!

Posted on April 24, 2009

Our other appointment Sunday, was down in El Paso, at our favorite Memorial Park. This was another Operation: Love ReUnited Session, and as always, it was a real treat. We met Erin and Jaime, and their two kids- Colin and Harper for a fun family session! The weather was gorgeous and we had a lot of fun playing around, and taking pictures. Jaime will be deploying soon, and we’re glad to be able to get some photos of him with his family before he goes overseas. Every session we do as OpLove photographers is such a blessing, and such an honor. The love that these families clearly have for each other and for our country is humbling, and makes me so grateful.

Erin and family, it was so nice to finally meet you guys, I’ll post these up on Facebook for you ASAP!

Roz

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I was on TV!

Posted on March 15, 2009

If you missed my television premier last week, I was on the KVIA noon news broadcast to talk about the upcoming OpLove event, which is taking place on Ft. Bliss on 4-5 April. We’re looking for local businesses and individuals who will sponsor the photos for a Soldier with the 4-1AD – a single family sponsorship is only $10! You can donate at the OpLove website; your donation will provide an album of family photos to one of the deploying members of the 4-1AD Highlander brigade, heading to Iraq this spring for a year-long tour of duty. We’re organizing this event to make sure each Soldier is able to keep his family close to his heart during the separation. All photography is being donated by local photographers and members of Operation: Love ReUnited, who are traveling from across the country just to be a part of this weekend. For more event information, or if you’d like to volunteer to come out and help, visit our OpLove page.

Holly + Family: Operation: Love ReUnited

Posted on March 8, 2009

Our second session today, was another Operation: Love ReUnited endeavor, this time with Holly and her three kiddos! We shot at Memorial Park again, since it seemed the logical place to do them, and we had a TON of fun. Her two boys, Micah and Malijah are a year apart – I thought they were twins at first! They’re such sweethearts, and their sister Alisha is beautiful. We ran around the park, taking photos on the cool stone bridge, and in trees. The boys really enjoyed climbing in the trees there – I have admit, they’re perfect for climbing!

One of the pictures we did is of each kid in their dads army jacket. Each jacket is a little different, they represent the jacket their dad was wearing at the time they were born. Their dad is already deployed, and so these pictures will surely mean a lot to him when he receives them in Iraq! We’re looking forward to photographing their entire family when he’s home on R&R sometime this summer!

Thanks for letting us photograph your family Holly, we had a total blast!

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