Six Days in Haiti

I've been here in Haiti for six days. And it feels like a month. I've seen so much. I feel as if my heart, my head and my camera are going to burst. There is so much to capture and I can't move fast enough. There is so much to digest and my heart can't take it. This has been a journey of a lifetime. I don't know how to go home.
   

It is very difficult to see this kind of poverty. I've seen poverty. I'm lucky to have never lived in poverty. I never realized how lucky though until now. But this is extreme. This poor country has been stripped of so much and not just from the earthquake. And yet it still shines.

Our team traveled an impossible route to a small town of Manac yesterday. I hiked four hours in and four hours out with food and friends and water and hiking shoes and nothing to carry but a camera. And it was difficult, to say the least. There were rocks moving under your feet, mud making you slip, tall grass hitting you in the face and keeping you from seeing the trail that was on the edge of a cliff at times, and the sun was beating you on the head like it's raining rocks on you. 

   

An entire community of Haitians who barely eat two meals a day, without shoes, without water carried on their backs and on their heads (YES!) all the supplies to build a school in Manac. Think about the metal, the concrete, the wood for shelves, for desks, for chairs along with all the tools to make these buildings. They wanted their children to learn so much that they carried every piece of that school four hours up these mountains. Then they began to build a school, A COMMUNITY, with their own hands. They broke ground. They sang. And a school rose up. There is so much more to this story. This is just a piece. 

   

I was explaining to a friend how beautiful the light is here in Haiti. Everything glows. 'Luminous' might be the word I'd choose but still it's not a strong enough word. After being here for only six days— having feeling so loved, so welcomed, having children hold my hand and follow me with giant smiles and giggles, having elderly women make me promise to come visit again and kiss me, having families show me their tiny, tiny but beautiful homes with so much pride — I'm convinced that the only reason this country shines so bright is because of the people.

   

We shot stills and motion — which means we shot a lot. It'll be another journey just editing and digesting this amazing, life-changing experience. 

Please visit Haiti via this link:

http://tinyurl.com/sixdaysinhaiti 

Mother's Day photo shoot

Man have I been slacking off on the blog posts! I've been working a lot lately. More to come on that later. But today is May 1st and on that day every year I start taking names for my Two Birds Mother's Day shoot where one single mother has a chance to receive a professional photoshoot with me. Please email me your name if you're interested. I will pull one name from a hat on Mother's Day. It's simple. Very much the opposite of your life if you're a single mom! Follow this link for more information.  
  
Happy Spring!
  

• This gift is for single mothers only. 
• One entry per family please.
• Submit your name via email to kimATkimlowe.com or by posting your name as a comment here. Submissions will not be accepted after May 11, 2013, 11:59PM.
• All submitted names will be placed in a hat and one name will be pulled on Mother's Day. You will be contacted by May 13, 2012 if you've won. If you don't hear from me then please try again next year. This will be an annual Mother's Day gift.
• The winner will receive jpegs from a one hour photo shoot.
• Any single mother is welcome to participate but you will need to get into Boston for the shoot. We will decide on a specific location after the winning name has been pulled.

• Previous recipients can reenter after three years. 

Eight shoots, one day!

The Two Birds 'Holiday Card' Fundraiser

The crew and the volunteers arrive. They don't know the families, the bidders. They don't know the children who'll receive warm clothes because they donated their time and talent. But yet, they walk through the door and leave their personal lives outside the studio. They volunteer for one reason: the kids. 

   

It's all about the kids—the children arriving with their parents to be photographed and the children who will receive coats and clothes, the ones who will be able to play in the snow this winter in winter clothes, not spring clothes.

   

So I thank you. I thank you if you shared a post about the fundraiser. I thank you if you bid and lost. I thank you if you bid and won. I thank you if you volunteered the first, second or third year. I thank you if you volunteered all three.    

   

It's not an easy day. It's eight professional shoots in less than six hours. The stylists lay clothes out for the kids with as much effort as they do for a big client. They make the kids feel like rockstars. The hair and make up artists give the children a glow and a sense of confidence—they make the kids feel special. The volunteers snatch the kids up in their arms and play with them like they've known them for years. That amazes me. Every year. No one spends time on their phone. No one is reading the newspaper. Every person in the studio is present — fully present. It's a unique day.  

   

I love that one little girl kicked her parents out of the shoot because she was having so much fun and wanted all the attention. I love that I got to meet Chickie. I love the emails from parents weeks later telling me their children are still talking about the photo shoot. I love that 7 families have been repeat customers. I love that the children sit on my lap and take pictures of their family with my camera. I love the little boy who tickled me to death. I love when I receive the families' holiday cards in the mail. I love the five adopted vietnamese children that made me stand up and dance my heart out. And I love that we raised $3050 this year. 

   

I am changed by this project. Unexpectedly, forever changed. I am full of joy and gratitude.

   

Two Birds 2012

This is not just a photographer putting your child in a chair and taking their picture. Not even close! 
   
It's a wardrobe stylist having cool clothes ready when your child arrives, letting them play dress-up and be silly. It's a hair and make-up artist ready to curl, straighten or tease your child's hair and then put a glow in their cheeks. And then you've got a photographer whose energy rivals a 3 year old's ready with her camera. 
    
Here's a clear picture of what you get:  
http://tinyurl.com/2BIRDSVIDEO
   
Bidding begins Oct 15th! Start here: 
http://tinyurl.com/C2C2BIRDS2012

TWO BIRDS: The Stylists

The kids don't come to this event to see me, the photographer. I'm okay with that. They come for the "star treatment." They come for the stylists.They want to get their hair styled and their cheeks to glow. They come bouncing through the door excited to see what clothes the stylist has brought for them. And that's the cool part — the wardrobe stylists find out a week in advance who the families are, they see photographs of the kids, get their sizes, and then go shopping for clothes to fit that child specifically. It's pretty cool! The stylists make the kids feel like rockstars!! Not me. They're amazing!
    
One day, eight spots. 
Bidding begins October 15th. Follow this link if you're interested in making a bid: http://tinyurl.com/C2C2BIRDS2012
    
Follow this link to see a behind the scenes video.
   

We've been very lucky to have some of Boston's top hair + make-up artists and wardrobe stylists with these great agencies: 
Ennis, Team and Zero2Sixty.

TWO BIRDS [ behind the scenes ]

You get more than just great photos. And you give more than just a coat. 
   
More info to come in October. Photoshoot will be held in Boston on Nov. 3rd this year. For more information click here http://tinyurl.com/C2C2BIRDS2012.
     

Two Birds 2012

Our annual holiday card fundraiser for Cradles to Crayons is happening on November 3rd this year with bidding beginning Oct. 15th. Please save the date for your fancy photo shoot with your very own wardrobe stylist and hair + make-up artist! More information coming in October. Click here for more information. Click here to view the final pics from last year's fundraiser.
    
And definitely click here to view the behind-the-scenes video of the fundraiser last year. 

  

TWO BIRDS 2012: Mother's Day

You take pictures of your kids all the time. Sometimes your wife or husband takes pictures of you with your kids. But if you're a single parent then who takes pictures of you with your children? Well, Two Birds, is going to help with that. If you're a single mother, submit your name for a free photoshoot with me (http://www.kimlowe.com/). On Mother's Day, my son will pull the winning name from a hat.

THE DETAILS:
• This gift is for single mothers only.
• One entry per family please.
• Submit your name via email to kim@kimlowe.com or by posting your name as a comment here. Submissions will not be accepted after May 12, 2012, 11:59PM.
• All submitted names will be placed in a hat and one name will be pulled on Mother's Day. You will be contacted by May 13, 2012 if you've won. If you don't hear from me then please try again next year. This will be an annual Mother's Day gift.
• The winner will receive jpegs from a one hour photo shoot.
• Any single mother is welcome to participate but you will need to get into Boston for the shoot. We will decide on a specific location after the winning name has been pulled.
    
Happy Mother's Day!

Follow me on facebook for more information.

   

Kim Lowe Brings Holiday Cheer to C2C

PDN's Barbara Goldman posted this about me and my recent work with Cradles to Crayons and Boston Parents Paper:


Kim Lowe is one very talented woman who wears many hats. She is a Boston-based mama and a kids and lifestyle photographer. She graduated from the Art Institute of Boston and became an art director-designer at several big-time ad agencies including Hill Holliday and Arnold, and even managed to win a few awards. With ten years of ad experience under her belt, Lowe decided to put it all to use doing something she loved more. She opened her own photo studio in 2003.

Recently Lowe was contacted by Susan Flynn, Associate Editor of Boston Parents Paper, to shoot their December holiday cover of  Clara from The Commonweath Ballet's 'The Nutcracker.' As an avid reader of BPP, Lowe was thrilled to do the assignment. Because the publication is free, they offer full-page ads in exchange for work that is done for the publication. The ad space did not really work for Lowe and her audience, but she knew of a group who could use the exposure and promotion, especially at this time of year. Lowe used the ad space to help promote the kids non-profit organization Cradles to Crayons. C2C was founded in 2002, with the mission of providing children ages 0 to 12 some of the most important basics of life—free of charge. These basics include clothing, school supplies, toys and much more. They provide all the physical goods that help children feel safe, protect them from the elements and help them to learn. C2C was thrilled but unfortunately didn't know how to pull an ad together in just two weeks. Lowe put on her hat as art director. She used one of her shots of a little boy bundled up in the snow, wrote the headline "With your $25 donation a child gets a winter coat. And the freedom to bury himself in the snow," and also designed the body and copy of the ad. Which she said was "...easy and fun."
    With the ad created for C2C, she started work on her shoot for BPP, set for Sunday October 30th, notable this year as the weekend of the great snowstorm that hit the whole Northeast. Lowe was scheduled to shoot young ballerinas of The Nutcracker in a dance studio that also happened to be dark, was in a basement and had no windows or natural light. As luck would have it, the dance studio had a power outage from the snow storm, and Lowe had barely any light for the shoot or heat for her young dancers. They had to bundle up in coats to stay warm between shots.
    The challenges mounted but the ever-resourceful Lowe used a monolight and a few carefully placed reflectors and was able to capture the grace and joy of the young ballerina Clara meeting the Nutcracker. "The girls were real troopers," says Lowe. The BPP magazine with Lowe's cover of Clara jumping for joy came out December 1st and can be found all over the state. In her e-mailed response to Lowe, Associated Editor Flynn could not have been happier, "The photos look terrific! Lots of choices, which is great. You have so much fun energy and helped to make the ballerinas feel relaxed. Thank you!"
    The C2C ads that Lowe created will run in the Boston Parents Paper, Boston Business Journal and on local billboards, all space offered up for free. They will also appear in Old Navy stores across Massachusetts as they help C2C collect donated kids clothing this holiday season. “I was happy to do this for Cradles to Crayons because it's been a tough year for them and the families that depend on them. They need all the exposure they can get,” says Lowe.
   
And still there’s more, Lowe also donates her photography for her “Two Birds" fundraiser that she began two years ago that also helps the C2C organization. She posts 45-minute time slots on her Facebook page, and parents can bid on those timeslots to get holiday pictures taken of their kids. Their entire bid is donated directly to C2C. “It's not just sitting down and getting a pretty picture taken — each timeslot also has a hair and makeup artist and a wardrobe stylist to pamper the kids and make them feel like superstars. It's pretty cool,” says Lowe. "Some of the kids don't care about getting their picture taken -— they're just excited to have their h+mu and wardrobe created by a professionals." The entire crew donates their time and talent—it's really a group effort. Photography retailer EP Levine, also in the Boston area, donates the lighting equipment, and different photographers donate their studio space each year.
    Kim Lowe certainly knows the meaning of gift giving with her photography for all seasons. You can see more of her kids, lifestyle and product work on her site and also on PDN's photoserve. For more information about Cradles to Crayons, please visit their site at www.cradlestocrayons.org.
   

TWO BIRDS: The End Result

18 amazing kids + 12 parents + 1 pair of pink smelly socks + 8 balloons + 1 moose + fake snow + 5 wardrobe stylists + 4 make up artists + 5 crew + 1 photographer = $2150 raised for Cradles to Crayons. Not bad for a day's work! That's nine shoots in less than seven hours. Let's just say there was a lot of coffee, hugging, kissing and dancing going on. Happy Holidays everyone!  


Follow this link for more photos.

I Love Boston!

And I love working in Boston because some of the most talented and generous people live here. Stylists and hair-makeup artists from Team, Ennis and zero2sixty are offering up their Saturday for the Two Birds Cradles to Crayons fundraiser on Nov 5th. How I suckered them in to doing this, I'll never know. But I'm honored to have them on board!

   

This is a steal — you get photos taken by a professional kids photographer, ten digital files to keep, hair + makeup and wardrobe styling done by Boston's top stylists all under an amazing lighting setup donated by Levines in a beautiful Boston studio... easily a $750 deal for a $200 donation. The warm tickley feeling you'll get in your belly donating to this great cause is worth 200 bucks alone. 

   

Bidding ends today at 9PM. http://tinyurl.com/C2Ckimlowe

   

TWO BIRDS: I love repeat customers!

One of the parents who bid on and won a spot in last year's fundraiser just posted this on her blog:
   
"...by reminding you of a post I did last year telling you about this amazing photographer, Kim Lowe, who not only gives her time, but corrals a bunch of other people (stylists, makeup artists, studio owners, assistants) to give theirs, to organize a daylong photoshoot-a-palooza, all to benefit Cradles to Crayons. Yep, you get a fancy photoshoot of your kids, perfect for holiday cards, and Cradles to Crayons gets all the money.
   
Kim calls it Two Birds. I call it the best idea, ever. To sign up for this year's event, in Boston on November 5th, click here. Starting bid is $150, which is a fraction of what a this kind of private photoshoot would cost you.
      
I'll be there again. Look for this girl with the huge smile:"
   

4 of the 8 spots are filled with the same families from last year. I love that! Check out her blog too "holidayhouserules". It's worth a trip. 

TWO BIRDS Superstars

These two wonderful, talented artists are offering up their Saturday, Nov. 5th to assist me for the fundraiser. Yes, all day. Now I promised them that I'll sing xmas carols to them, give them bathroom breaks, keep babies from spitting up on them and that I'll feed them yummy treats. I'm not sure I can keep any of those promises. (Wink, wink.)

Not only are they wonderful people, they're wonderful photographers. Check out their work! 

Joshi Radin
http://www.joshiradin.com
Cara Brostrom
http://carabrostrom.com/

Two Birds 2011

I don't know how Cradles to Crayons does it every year, but they get winter coats, boots, clothes and books to six kids with $150. I can barely dress myself for 150 bucks! They're amazing! 
 
So I'm happy to announce that we're doing our Two Birds fundraiser for Cradles to Crayons again on Nov. 5th. Bidding begins today and ends Nov. 1st. Please spread the word!   

http://tinyurl.com/C2Ckimlowe

Two Birds: Dave Bradley

To launch our Two Birds 2011 fundraiser, I'm posting about Dave Bradley who has generously offered up his photography studio for our holiday card fundraiser. 

   

Now Dave knows that 20 wild kids will be running around his studio, climbing the walls, hanging from light fixtures with 25 grownups trailing behind them with hairbrushes, clothes, candy and cameras.... and he still said 'Yes.'

Check out Dave's work: http://www.davebradleyphoto.com/

A little more info on my facebook page. 

Two Birds: Panera

After a week of "No, No, No..."—today I got a "Yes." I thought getting a small food donation for my crew for the fundraiser would be easy. I was wrong. I asked Wholefoods, Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts and none of them could help. But then, last year's producer on this fundraiser, Kate Geskos, told me to try Panera. I did. And they're donating more food than I think my crew can actually eat. (All the chocolate croissants are mine. Just sayin it now so there won't be any confusion later when I hoard them in my camera bag.) 
   
So if you have the choice of getting your afternoon cup of coffee at Wholefoods, Dunkin Donuts, or Panera... choose Panera. 
   

I'm trying to be better about updating this blog on the progress of our Two Birds holiday card fundraiser for Cradles to Crayons than I was last year. Please stay tuned! 

Two Birds

We're doing it again — bidding starts mid-October. Every penny donated goes to Cradles to Crayons! You get a fancy photoshoot with me and a less-fortunate child gets a coat and boots for Winter! Two birds, one stone. 
   
More info to come via www.facebook.com/kimlowephoto.    

TWO BIRDS: Happy Mother's Day

I received so many moving, emotional emails from single mothers in the Boston area after offering to give a free photoshoot to one single mother. Who knew one small thing to me could be so big to someone else. I take it for granted that I always have someone to take pictures of me with my kids. 
   
The single mothers I heard from are all wonderful, selfless and inspiring women. I only wish I could offer each of them a free photoshoot. The winning name was pulled this morning. (This is an annual event every Mothers Day. Please try again next year.) 

TWO BIRDS is my little itty bitty way of giving back. I do two charity events a year [ usually mothers day and christmas ] as well as probono work for local kids organizations throughout the year. Click here for more information.  

TWO BIRDS: Mother's Day

You take pictures of your kids all the time. Sometimes your wife or husband takes pictures of you with your kids. So if you're a single parent then who takes pictures of you with your children? Well, Two Birds, is going to help with that. If you're a single mother, submit your name, or your friend's name, for a photoshoot with me, Kim Lowe. On Mother's Day, my son will pull the winning name from a hat. Happy Mother's Day!

       

Visit my facebook page for more information — click here.

   

THE DETAILS:
   

 • This gift is for single mothers only. 

• Submit the names of your children (i.e., Jack D., Susan D., etc.) which will give you more options to win. One entry per child.

• Submit their names via email to kim@kimlowe.com or by posting them as a comment here. Submissions will not be accepted after May 7, 2011, 11:59PM.

• All submitted names will be placed in a hat and one name will be pulled on Mother's Day. You will be contacted by May 9, 2011 if you've won. If you don't hear from me then please try again next year. This will be an annual Mother's Day gift.

• The winner will receive a cd with jpegs from the one hour photoshoot along with a print of their favorite shot.

• Any single mother is welcome to participate but you will need to get into Boston for the shoot. We can decide on a specific location after the winning name has been pulled.  

TWO BIRDS Fundraiser: the result

It's a sunny day. I'm driving my son to school. We're singing. I'm drumming on the steering wheel. We stop at a red light and over my shoulder I notice a little boy standing at the bus stop with his mother. He's young, probably about four years old. Looking all handsome in his Boston Red Sox jacket. It's a cool jacket. He's not wearing a hat so I notice his beautiful brown hair. I catch him looking up quickly, searching for the bus, before hiding his face again. His hands lost in his pockets. 

    

As I watch this little boy, I see my son. I don't smile even though it's a beautiful picture — problem is, it's 22 degrees out today. It's January 17th and this little boy is dressed for June 17th. His jacket is not a winter coat. His feet are in sneakers, not winter boots. His head is exposed to the snow falling.         

   
On that corner, in that tiny second, my relationship with Cradles to Crayons sprung. 

   

Cradles to Crayons is an amazing kids organization that helps get coats, clothes and more on kids who desperately need them. We recently raised $1580 for C2C with our first annual Two Birds  fundraiser. $1580 ensures 64 kids will make it through a cold New England winter with the proper coats, boots, clothes, books, toys and more. 64! 

  

What's "TWO BIRDS?"

It's simple—parents want a nice picture of their kids for their holiday card and less-fortunate kids need winter coats and clothes. So parents bid on a timeslot for a professional photoshoot with me and their entire bid gets donated directly to C2C. Two birds, one stone. For more information follow this link.

  

The amazing TEAM:

The fundraiser may have started as a small hope, a small idea, but it certainly didn't end that way. The studio was filled with an incredible team of stylists and assistants—all of them donating their time. The day was beyond perfect—we moved seamlessly from one shoot to the next. Nine shoots in six hours — that's 13 kids and 16 parents. Whew! The energy was real and the mood was spirited and playful. Each person I've listed below is deserving of the word "Amazing!"   

   

The producer: Kate Geskos

The assistants: Henry Hung and Meagan Beauchemin

The hair-makeup stylists: Heidi Wells, Coco Grace + Christine Morse

The wardrobe stylists: Christen Mitchell + Tara Peek 

Kid wrangler: Deborah Duffy

The studio space was donated by: Eric Kulin

The lighting equipment was donated by: John Curtis

The RESULT:

We were also lucky to have amazing families to photograph!! Here are my favorites — one pic from each of the nine shoots from the day.