Love...just in time!

I recently had the honor of shooting an emergency homecoming session for one of our servicemen, Patrick. He was released from his deployment and brought home early, courtesy of the Red Cross' assistance, to be with his family during a very difficult time! His 10-month old daughter, Adalyn, was just diagnosed with a heart condition that will require surgery soon. He also has a beautiful wife, Kim, and a 4-yr old daughter named Sophia that has been holding down the fort while he was away. It was a last minute session that not only kept the family and myself on-call for weeks, but also another OpLove photographer to fill-in just in case I couldn't attend. Long story short of lots of dates & time changes, Patrick made it home safely to reunite with his loving family! The Patriot Riders were there as well as a few Tulsa news crews. It was so great to be there for this family & capture their photos.

Here is a news link from Fox in Tulsa with the wife interview before the homecoming: http://www.fox23.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3340838
And the footage during the homecoming: http://www.fox23.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoid=3340915

Two Homecomings & Tons of Smiles

In the process of my getting caught up, I am posting two of my recent homecoming sessions. The first was for Sandy, Johnathan, and the kiddos. I met Sandy and her kids, Ally & Matthew, at the airport for the long-waited arrival of daddy. Everyone waited in anticipation, including myself. As soon as Johnathan walked thru the gate, everyone started crying including the waiting passengers! This loving family immediately clutched each other in a huge embrace and fell to the the ground. Tears, smiles, words, kisses, and hugs all came flooding out. Even as we were leaving, no one wanted to let go of their beloved hero. It was a true privilege to meet this wonderful family and to capture such a special day for them.

The second homecoming was for Michael. His wife, Michelle, contacted me just 24 hours before his return. Luckily, I was able to reschedule a dentist appointment and meet them at the airport despite the last minute notice. Michelle, their kids (Beau, Jack, & Julie), and I were able to get to the actual gate for his arrival. The family anxiously awaited for his arrival and planned their "attack" as they saw the plane approaching. Michael barely made thru the door before he was swarmed by his loving family. After they all got their immediate needs of hugs & kisses filled, we walked to the security checkpoint. Once there, Michael's mom as well as other friends & family were waiting to welcome him home. It was a great homecoming reunion, and I was so grateful that I was able to attend!

A Family Reunited

Last week, I had the pleasure of going to Ft Sill, OK for one of our military homecoming ceremonies. The family is a previous client of mine from when I did Justin's pre-deployment session last June. It was such an honor to see him coming home. Amber and J.J. met me on base at 2:30am (yep, the ceremony was actually at 3am). J.J., who is about 5 years old, was sooo emotional! Before the soldiers arrived, he cried in disbelief that his daddy was actually coming home and clung to his "daddy doll". Finally, all the soldiers marched into the stadium. After a few quick words from the COs, they were dismissed. Everyone started running in every direction - searching and embracing their loved ones. We searched and searched the gym but couldn't find Justin. I called his cell phone repeatedly to find out where he was, but he never answered. Finally, Amber got a hold of him. Suddenly, like in a movie, the crowds parted and there he was! J.J. took off like a rocket and jumped into daddy's arms. Everyone started crying, including myself. It was an amazing homecoming that was full of tears and smiles and hugs...despite being in the wee hours of the morning. I even got a big hug from Justin in appreciation for coming to support his family. Just awesome!!! Here are a few pics from Justin's homecoming and his family finally reuniting.

 

 

Oyyy!

Ok, it's been over a month since my last post. So obviously once again, I am behind on my blogging duties. But that is just a given for me, especially at this point! It is now almost 1:00am. I have to stay awake until 1:30am, which is when I can start getting ready for a 3am homecoming ceremony at Ft Sill. (Yes, I am that dedicated to our military families!) So none-the-less, I am sitting in a hotel room...alone...in the middle of the night...trying to stay awake to provide a free homecoming session for an OpLove client. I'm trying to stay busy because if I fall asleep, even the loud wake-up call via the hotel won't wake me. I did 10 sessions today, all before 4pm, so I am dragging butt!

Last Sunday, I hosted an Oklahoma OpLove Photographers Meet & Greet Party. It was at the Bob Hope Pavilion at Stars & Stripes Park on Lake Hefner. We didn't have many photogs show up, but I was grateful for those who were able to come! I was able to meet a few new photogs, which is always great. I also got to see a fellow OpLove photog, who is also one of my clients. She gave me updates on her hubby's deployment status, which I always appreciate! It is such an honor to work with so many dedicated people...I am truly grateful for each of them!

I have attached a few pics from our Meet & Greet party!

The Goodie Bags for each of my OK photogs.

Our Grill Master Mike, and helper Peyton (aka Bubba).

Daddy's Home!!!

If little Greyson could talk, those would have been his words..."Daddy's Home!!" I met Emily and 15-month old Greyson at the airport for Travis' homecoming. They had made an adorable sign with Greyson's handprints all over it. He was also wearing a special welcome home shirt. Travis had been gone for about half of Greyson's life, so they were a little worried if he would recognize daddy when he walked thru the gate. Luckily, there was no problem with that. Greyson was all smiles - as was the rest of the family.  :)  Here are some pics from Travis' homecoming.

Love was Reunited

Here are a few pics from my recent homecoming session with Larry. His beautiful wife, Rebecca, and there as well as their 3 kids, and his parents. They had a custom banner made for his arrival and decorated the vehicle. They were full of excitement for his arrival and gracious to wrap their arms around him again!

OpLove Session Scheduling

It is official...I have started scheduling OpLove sessions for all the upcoming deployments. I know that within the next 60 days, there is an entire brigade leaving as well as some others. Normally, pre-deployment sessions have to be done within 30 days of departure, but because of the sheer volume of requests I have been receiving, I am allowing them earlier to ensure ample time to get everyone. For those families that contacted me this summer/fall about their pre-deploy session, I am currently working on emailing you all for scheduling times. If you have not heard from me within the next few days, please contact me again. I have a list of people, but I am human and occasionally prone to error.  :)

For anyone military or that has a military family member about to deploy (or come home from), let me tell you a little about OpLove. We are a national 501(c)(3) non-profit group of photographers that provide free sessions and an album to deploying servicemen/women. There is no pressure or obligation to purchase anything. It is our way of giving something back to the men, women, and their families for the sacrifices they make. For more information, you can visit OpLove's website by clicking this link: www.OpLove.org  To see some of my work for OpLove, visit my website at: www.ABCPhotography.net  In addition to the free session and album, I also provide 2 sets of photo dogtags and an 8x10 print (for the family). All my sessions are done on-location anywhere you want to go.

Here are a few of my favorite OpLove pics from previous sessions.

 

(The photos and other content of this publication do not imply any endorsement or recommendation by the Department of Defense.)

I am finally caught up...yayyy me!

To all of my extremely patient clients, I have great news! Your orders have been shipped. Yep, every order (with 2 exceptions) has officially been shipped. I have two clients that are deployed, one will be shipped first thing tomorrow as I just got his address today, and the other I am still waiting for his address overseas.

It has been quite hectic with all the recent orders trying to juggle my print lab, the book publisher, and the specialty store that donates the new OpLove dogtags. I appreciate your patience these last 2-3 weeks! You all are the best! And for all my recently deployed OpLove clients, I look forward to seeing you at the homecomings!  :)

Army Wife Magazine Article

I mentioned several weeks ago that I was interviewed by Brandi, the Editor-in-Chief of Army Wife Magazine about my participation in Operation: Love Reunited (OpLove). The online article was released in June's issue. Here's a link to the article. The article link is about 1/3 of the way down on the left side of the page of the home page.  Thanks, Brandi, for the publicity and help in getting the word out about our organization!!!

Also this last Saturday, I had a session with Brandi and her family in Medicine Park, OK. I'm still processing their photos, but be sure to check back later this week to see some of their pics!

Animoto Videos

I just wanted to say that Animoto ROCKS!!! I sampled their services with an OpLove promo video a couple weeks ago (see previous post). The video was awesome, to say the least. I have had sooooo many comments on how great and beautiful it was, and it even brought some people to tears, me included. So anyways as I mentioned before, I've added their videos as part of the freebies that I provide to my OpLove clients. Animoto is such a wonderful company because they donated their services to OpLove photographers for our military clients!

I just finished making a video for one of my fav OpLove clients: Jay, Mandi, Lance, and now baby Liam! I've known them for almost 3 years and have had 3 OpLove sessions with their family. It has me teary-eyed previewing the video because you can actually see all the love that they share! And it doesn't help knowing that he'll be shipping out again soon, and the family is moving far away during the first part of July.  :'(  So I won't get to photograph his homecoming. But I can truly say that I am proud to know them, and I greatly appreciate his service and their sacrifices! It has been an honor to have the opportunity to be a part of their lives and to photograph such important occasions.

My OpLove Promo Video

I just created a new video for promoting Operation: Love ReUnited. The video is comprised of images I have taken over the last several years of my OpLove clients including pre-deployments, currently deployed, and homecomings. Click here for the link to the video which I will also post under "Recommended Links" at the bottom of this page.

I have carefully considered and reviewed this service provided by Animoto. As a result, I have decided to start providing a video with the session photos on disk to each of my OpLove client's as an added gift. Animoto is providing this video conversion service to all OpLove photographers free-of-charge for our clients. So stay tuned for videos to be posted of my OpLove sessions.