We were very fortunate earlier this summer to work with Oompa Toy Store to raise money for Operation Smile.  April and I, along with a few other very talented children’s photographers from the area, donated our time to do ‘mini’ sessions at the store with all proceeds and donations collected for the sessions going to Operations Smile.  Elizabeth, at Oompa, organized the whole thing and did an awesome job.  For us it was quite an experience.  We’re used to scheduling 1-3 hours for a custom session (depending on ages, number of kids, etc), where we get to take our time and let the kids warm up and work through any crabby moments.  This was quite the opposite scenario; back-to-back 15 minute scrambles to find out the next child(s) age/sex, get to slightly know them, set up, often chase the kids around the store and still come up with great shots for Mom and Dad in the end.  It seemed like as soon as one session began, it was over and the next one had begun.  Normally we see kids leave our sessions ready to take a nap in the car or at home, this time we were the exhausted ones.  Sore, tired, and left asking ourselves where the last 3 or 4 hours had gone.  It was an awesome experience and was really a lot of fun and a good challenge for us.  It also reiterated to us why we choose to do ‘custom photography’ (as opposed to ‘fast food photography’)  where we get to meet and discuss ideas with our clients ahead of time, take a more relaxed approach to shooting during their session, and truly create customized works for them.  We want to share some of our favorites from the sessions in the next couple of weeks beginning with Roy.  The event raised $1300 for kids in need of surgeries and we look forward to participating again next year and raising even more. – Derrick