Isaiah - ready to go with the camera 5/19/08

It's their last week of school, and last 2 weeks of life at Renaissance Village which closes May 31. Cynthia took them out to enjoy the spray park today, and when we arrived any of the children attending were wet and happy. Isaiah insisted on taking pictures today, and even dried off so he could do it. I couldn't keep up with him since he was very active with his people shots. I wish I could leave the camera with him 24/7.





Here are Camera Lady's...the ones I took.

April 17, 2008 - Plenty of photographers today :)

This was Adrian's first time with the camera. :) She even handed over the camera to Timothy to grab some images of herself.



Timothy was thrilled with his few shots.



Joseph's was so attached to the camera that his mother had to insist that it was time to leave.



Darrell had two goes today.





Brittney enjoyed a longer photo session, and was disappointed when we the CF card filled.

April 4, 2008 - Kaya has her day and Bruce tops off the set

Kaya really enjoyed herself today behind the lens and really got into capturing some animated expressions of her friends. Bruce took the last 4 photos in the set.





Keep in mind that the number of children is dwindling as FEMA is putting on the pressure to make sure that everyone is out of the trailer park by May 31, 2008. We're working on creating a special collection of their photographs with them.

Joseph behind the lens - A natural

Last Friday 3/14 was a beautiful afternoon for being outside and running around. Upon arrival, the kids were having a great time playing Duck Duck Goose with Cynthia so I took a few shots of them in action.


Joseph was super persistent in using the camera, and once I gave it to him he kicked into being a 'natural' and had a great time. It's tough to pick a favorite from these.

A return!!!!

Two weeks ago I returned to see the children with camera in hand. It was their first time meeting Eve and they really enjoyed holding her. I think this was the first time there was something they wanted more than the camera.

A few shots in here were taken by Dontrese and Kaya. 2/22/08



One week later Eve was still more popular than the camera. Joseph did take one shot that he says he'd like framed.



The children have until May 31, 2008 to find another place to live.

Halloween 07

A handful of these were taken by Javonte. The others were by me since the children were so into the action of their afternoon.

Javonte - 10/19

I made a quick visit on 10/19 and couldn't resist Javonte's request to use my Canon. Besides the first and last two images seen here, he took all of the 134 photos. I can't wait for him to see them as he was so happy and excited with the camera, as usual. (The last two shots are of Javonte himself)

Dontrice - sweetest

9/21/07



Dontrice is the sweetest little girl asking to use the camera in such a quiet way while the bigger kids are going nuts over it. She's patient, and when the others were done with their turns, she had her chance. I held the camera for her as she took one shot and seem satisfied. After seeing it, her brother asked for one of himself, and she took that too. She seemed very happy, and really appreciated her try. :)

Donald the photographer revealed

9/21/07



Nearly everyone was gone, yet Donald still requested to use the camera while he waited to be picked up. It was interesting watching him find subjects, and as he spotted things he framed them intentionally to get what he wanted. He was most excited about his football shots today, and got a good chuckle out of by pregnant belly ending up in the images of his sister Dontrice. He also had the time to scroll through other children's shots in the camera, which he wanted to do privately, and commented on their different formatting strengths and weaknesses. "She cut off his face. He should have been in there." He had a natural way about him today, and was intrigued by the capacities of the camera body too.

Arthurnisha finally

9/21/07

Arthurnisha has always been excited to take pictures, and today wasn't any different. It didn't bother her that we had to head inside and start clearing out, and couldn't wait. The only thing that held her up were her sticky hands and face, and she found a few different ways to clean up. ;) She's very confident using the camera and working with people.

Josheia

9/21/07

Josheia has taken shots inside before, but today was his first time with it in the playground. Once the popsicles came out he was happy to pass on the camera. :)

Roger first time

9/21/07

Roger was all over Kaya during her shoot wanting to see the images she had taken right away. Once I reassured him that he'd have his turn, he began counting down the minutes until he'd have it in hand. For his size he handled the camera well, and really enjoyed the different types of shots he could take. I loved how he got in the middle of the action without hesitation. It was fun for me to block the incoming balls. ;)

Kaya again

9/21/07

Kaya was the first today to jump into using the camera. This time it was with my Canon XTi. She felt comfortable with it right away, and I watched in amazement as she negotiated the playground territory seeing what images she wanted right away. I had to take some deep breaths with her waving it around at higher elevations, but very psyched with the new perspective she brought into things.

Corielle and Courtney

9/7/07

Donald - Oooh, can I?

Donald, 9/7/07

Grace - Mommy, I want to see the little camera please

Grace 9/7


Grace loves doing the Mommy thing and being a photographer. It's funny today because she took a few video clips of Mary without knowing it. "Why doesn't it click?" She's a great assistant as many times she doesn't get a turn at using a camera while here because they are in such high demand.

Kaya kicks in

Kaya's first set 9/7

Isaiah - Call it volcano!

Isaiah kicked in right after Kaya today, and couldn't be taken away from the camera. he even turned it back on after signing off so he could take a picture of his mother. :)

We viewed his pictures before getting them online and he really giggled at Ms. Mary's silly face shot. He wanted the set called "Volcano".

Brittney's Princess Pictures

Today Brittney was first in line with Grace to use the camera. She was very excited and kicked into action without hesitation.

I'm sitting with her right now, and we're going to talk about her favorite picture(s).

"My favorite picture was my mimi posing and holding a box. When she held the box up to her she just started smiling."

"I didn't like that picture (img 170) because I told her to look at me but she didn't."

Photography collective - June 28

This given day had many of the children begging to take pictures. They used the camera in 10-15 slots because of the high demand, and really enjoyed themselves in the resource center.

Unfortunately, my camera malfunctioned in the midst of the action because of a design flaw in the original Canon Rebel. We backed up with the one step camera for a bit, at the end of the session that camera fell out of my hands and onto the concrete. Yikes, two cameras broken, but only after the children had a good time.

I'm still digging for the record sheets of everyone's names who participated. I haven't seen many of the children due to their changing summer schedules, but now that school has kicked in again, they'll be back and ready to view their images.