Last spring, my friend Camille sent out word that she was was planning to travel to China on a mission trip with a group called Show Hope, a non-profit organization who assists with grants for US families wishing to adopt children and also provides medical care for special needs orphans. When I heard that Hampton Road Studios had donated a Day in the Life session to help fund the trip, I was so excited. I have made no secret that our own Day in the Life video is one of my most treasured memories. I still cry when I watch it. I love it so much that we had another short film made during our family photo shoot in the spring and plan to make it an annual tradition.
I talked with Ashley and Camille about their plans and how I could help and then posted the announcement for the session on my blog. Within minutes, the session was booked! It all happened so fast, I couldn’t believe it. And what’s even better is that I don’t think there could be a more perfect family for the donated session than the Darlings. Sara and Mike adopted their son, Cohen, from Ethiopia in 2011 with the assistance of a Show Hope grant. They wanted to give back to the organization while capturing who they are as a family right now. I later learned that Sara and Mike kept a very detailed collection of photos and videos of the adoption process, so I love that the Day in the Life video is almost an extension to that.
The morning of the shoot, we all met up at a local park for the photo portion of the session. Matt and Ashley had been with the Darlings since early that morning and stayed with them afterward to continue to film. I had such a fun time with them and love seeing how the two parts came together for this special family.
The Darling Family | A Day In The Life from Hampton Road Studios on Vimeo.
I had an impossible time narrowing down the photos to include here. Two year old Cohen is such a beam of light. He has the most electric little personality and was full of silly faces and smiles. And Sara and Mike… it was obvious from the first hello that these two are special people. They have so much love and adoration for their son, and I wholeheartedly admire their outlook on life with him. These are just a “few” of many, many favorites!
Without knowing, we scheduled the Darlings session for the day after Camille returned home from her trip. From all accounts, it seemed to be a success. It was so cool to know in advance the impact our small project had on her taking such a wonderful trip. I hope you’ll take a quick minute to read a journal entry from her time there. And also be sure to head over to Hampton Road Studios blog to read their thoughts on the project.
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by Amanda
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