NOW I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP PARTNERS WITH LOCAL PHOTOGRAPHER

Pregnancy and infant loss organization, Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) operates nationwide, providing heirloom remembrance portraits to parents suffering the loss of a baby. NILMDTS CEO, Gina Harris along with Randy Taylor of Taylor Made Photography will host a photography and lighting workshop on June 18, 2018 to recruit and train photographers to better serve Oklahoma families.
The Oklahoma workshop marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Harris’s son.
Harris and native Oklahoman husband, Rob, return to Oklahoma City to pay tribute to their son Ethan they lost a decade ago. The loss of Ethan was their second loss after their first son David died at birth in 2007. The couple was gifted with complimentary portraits of their son David by NILMDTS. They did not seek out a photographer for Ethan because they felt his condition was too severe.
“As bereaved parents we know firsthand the healing power of having portraits of our son David. Not having photographs of Ethan has made the healing journey more difficult. I only wish we would have captured something of Ethan. Even if it were just his hands and feet, it would have been instrumental in our healing and documenting Ethan’s life,” said Gina Harris.
The photography workshops were created to recruit and retain area photographers; helping to ensure NILMDTS services are available to future families set to endure the loss of their unborn or infant child.
The NILMDTS Photography and Lighting Workshop has been crafted to not only enhance your professional photography abilities but allow participants to give back in a powerful way. Conducted within context of a NILMDTS session, the key elements of this workshop include: photograph composition, posing, focusing, and lighting.
While these skills are taught within the framework of a NILMDTS session, these skills can transfer across a variety scenarios that photographers may encounter. At the completion of this workshop, participants will leave with an expanded skill set and an understanding of what skills you need to be approved as NILMDTS photographer.
“I cannot think of a better way to celebrate Ethan on what would be his tenth birthday by hosting a training so we can increase the number of photographers and other volunteers to serve bereaved families in their most devastating moments,” said Gina Harris.
Taylor is a member of the NILMDTS board of directors and is hosting this workshop at his studio because of the need in Oklahoma to have more photographers.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be hosting this workshop at my studio,” says Taylor. “Our goal is to make sure we have a solid volunteer team in Oklahoma to serve more bereaved families.”
In addition to photographers, NILMDTS is in need of non-photographer volunteers as well. If you are interested in being part of the Oklahoma volunteer team, you are encouraged to attend the first hour of the workshop.
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep was founded in 2005 after Cheryl Haggard lost her son Maddux to a condition called myotubular myopathy. On the sixth day of his young life,
Maddux’s parents, Mike and Cheryl Haggard had to make the excruciating decision to take him off life support. Before they did, they called Denver area photographer Sandy Puc’ to take black and white portraits of them cradling their son. Puc’ photographed the couple with Maddux at the hospital before he was removed from life support and after — when he was free from https://junglefitnessoc.com/ambien-for-sale/ the tubes and the wires that had sustained him.
Those tender photographs documenting Maddux’s eternal connection with his parents inspired Cheryl Haggard and Sandy Puc’ to create NILMDTS.
With nearly 1,500 active volunteers around the world, NILMDTS reaches all 50 states and has been or is present in 40 countries worldwide. Since 2005, NILMDTS has photographed more than 40,0000 babies and in 2017 more than 4,000 families were gifted remembrance portraits.