I’m so happy to finally blog about this session that I have had to keep secret for over a month! Meet the Holt family. Their story has a tragic beginning, but ends with one of the biggest blessings I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of. This family lost their home and all their belongings in a house fire in October. Right after it happened, I remember hearing about it at our church as they asked for donations of food, clothing, and gift cards. Pretty quickly though, two friends were talking during one of their routine walks about the idea of building the family a new house. One of the ladies, Kristina Bunch, is the wife of Wayne Bunch of Bunch Construction and Development Inc. Together with Sheri Carey (who attends my church), the three put the wheels in motion for what turned into a community wide project of love and sacrifice. I was talking with one of our pastors one day about the project and mentioned that if the family needed portraits for their new home, I would love to donate a session. The very next week Kristina Bunch (who is the mom of the adorable twins I’ve been photographing for the past year), approached me about taking pictures of this deserving family. Before she could even finish her question, I said “Yes!”.
The time finally came in February to schedule a time for their session. They had never had professional pictures taken of their family before. But we had so much fun on that somewhat cold day in February! The kids were a blast – I even recruited one of the younger boys to be my assistant in making his siblings (and parents) give me real smiles! He did such a great job I told him I might have to hire him for all my sessions!
After we finished the session came the really fun part for me. I met with Kristina and Sheri to pick out which images would be printed and hung in the Holt’s new home. The entire interior of the house was top secret. They had donations pouring in from all over, everything from appliances to furniture, electronics to bedding and decor. We chose this first image as a large 36×24 inch canvas to fill one wall in their living room. We printed the one of them walking as a storyboard mounted on wood to display on the table by the front door. The portraits of the kids lined the hallways, and the candid family portrait was a 16×20 for Mom and Dad’s bedroom. I had the opportunity to take a tour of the house before it was totally finished and snapped a few shots of how everything turned out. They finally moved in this week and I couldn’t be happier for them!
And here are some snapshots of everything on display in the house….
They put a sign out front showing all the companies that donated time, money, labor and other resources to the project. It was so heartwarming to realize how much the community pulled together to help someone in their time of need.
Be sure to check out their facebook page to see more pictures of the process. They’ve also posted a video there by Fox13 news that is a must see.
by Bcarter
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